Libyan general: I have orders to sink any Turkish research vessel

A Libyan National Army (LNA) commander has said that he received “orders” from Khalifa Haftar to sink any Turkish research vessel that would approach the region. Faraj Al-Mahdawi's comments came in the wake of Turkey's deal on maritime boundaries with the internationally recognized government of Libya.

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The Libyan National Army (LNA)'s navy commander Faraj al-Mahdawi has expressed his strong views against the recent agreement between Turkey and the Tripoli-based government of Fayez al-Serraj, saying that he has orders from the LNA's leader Khalifa Haftar to sink any Turkish research vessel that would approach the region.

"I have an order… as soon as the Turkish research vessels arrive, I will have a solution. I will sink them myself. I have this order from Haftar,” al-Mahdawi said while giving an interview to Greece’s ALPHA TV on Dec. 9, according to the Greek Reporter.

Mahdawi, who is said to speak fluent Greek, had posted a status on Facebook on Dec. 7 in Greek, reading: We will liberate the capital, Tripoli, and destroy the Turkish dream.”

Libya has been divided since 2014 into rival military and political camps in the capital Tripoli and the east. Turkey has backed Serraj’s Tripoli-based government, while forces led by Khalifa Haftar in eastern Libya, the Libyan National Army (LNA), have received support from the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.

In June, the LNA said they had cut all ties with Turkey and that all Turkish commercial flights or ships trying to access Libya would be treated as hostile.

On Nov. 27, Ankara and Tripoli signed a memorandum on maritime boundaries in the Mediterranean Sea, after a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Serraj in Istanbul.