By Ugur Duyan
Libya’s House of Representatives Speaker Aguila Salih has said that Turkish companies are playing an important role in the country’s reconstruction process, Yeni Shafak reports.
Salih made the remarks during his visit to Turkiye that took place at the invitation of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Speaker Mustafa Sentop. He also met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as part of the visit.
“We need to cooperate with these companies in order to complete their old contracts so that they can contribute to the reconstruction of Libya again,” Salih stressed.
Underlining Turkish companies’ role in the development of Libya, the speaker added that they want to take the relations with Turkiye to the next level.
The guest described his meetings with President Erdogan and Turkish Parliament Speaker Sentop as very productive, adding that he wanted support from Ankara for the preservation of Libya’s territorial integrity. Salih said that he informed Erdogan about the situation in Libya during the meeting at the Turkish president’s office.
“In my opinion, during this meeting, we were able to explain the Libyan picture to him [Erdogan] very clearly. We conveyed to him that the most important thing is to preserve the unity and territorial integrity of Libya. Mr. President said that they will make all necessary efforts for the stability and prosperity of Libya,” the Libyan official added.
According to Salih, he also had a very productive meeting with Sentop in terms of discussing the latest developments in Libya.
Stating that they are working to bring the bilateral relations between Turkiye and Libya to the highest level again, Salih pointed out that Turkish companies are playing an important role in the reconstruction of the country.
Salih added that there are several Turkish firms in Libya and their contracts are still in effect, but the majority of them were unable to complete their projects. He stressed that his main goal is to bring the Turkiye-Libya ties to their prior level.
Salih emphasized that Libya is eagerly anticipating the normalization of relations with Turkiye and that the country wishes to continue the cooperation that was put on hold as a result of the developments in the country.
“We think that the [Libyan] government should also fulfill this task with us [parliament]. In order for the government to complete their old contracts, they need to sit down and talk with the Turkish companies and cooperate so that they can contribute to the reconstruction of Libya again,” he said.
Salih stated that talks with the State Council on drafting a new constitution are still underway.
“When we reach an agreement, it will be presented to the Supreme State Council as well as to the House of Representatives. Of course, after the establishment of an election board, all this work will be put to a referendum and submitted to the appreciation of the Libyan people,” he stressed.