Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with General Saddam Haftar, deputy commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), in Benghazi on Wednesday as Ankara steps up diplomatic engagement with both eastern and western Libya.

Fidan’s meeting with Saddam Haftar came during his two-day visit to Libya on August 11–12, part of Türkiye’s efforts to advance its policy of supporting a unified Libya and maintaining dialogue with the country’s rival political and military centers. Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry had announced the visit as an effort to strengthen bilateral relations and discuss political, economic, energy, military and defense cooperation.

The meeting in Benghazi follows a previous encounter between Fidan and Saddam Haftar in Ankara on July 24, highlighting the increasingly active contacts between Ankara and eastern Libyan authorities.

Fidan’s visit is notable because Ankara is engaging with both sides of Libya’s longstanding political divide. On Tuesday, the Turkish foreign minister held talks in Tripoli with senior officials, including Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, before traveling to Benghazi.

Turkish diplomatic sources have described the approach as the “One Libya” policy, which seeks to support a politically and militarily unified country rather than treating Libya’s eastern and western authorities as permanently separate centers of power.

The Benghazi talks also come amid broader efforts to expand Türkiye-Libya cooperation in areas including security, defense, trade, energy and reconstruction.

Relations between Türkiye and eastern Libya have improved significantly in recent years after Ankara previously provided decisive military support to the Tripoli-based authorities during Libya’s 2019–20 conflict.

The rapprochement has included increasing political and military contacts. Türkiye’s intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalın also met senior members of the Haftar family in Benghazi in recent months, reflecting Ankara’s broader effort to maintain channels with Libya’s eastern leadership.

Fidan’s latest meeting with Saddam Haftar therefore signals that Ankara’s Libya policy is increasingly focused on maintaining dialogue across the country’s political divide while promoting national unity and stability.

Fidan’s visit is taking place as Libya faces renewed security challenges. Recent drone attacks have targeted critical infrastructure in Zawiya, while violence and instability continue to pose risks to the country’s fragile political process.

Libya remains divided between the internationally recognized, Tripoli-based Government of National Unity and an eastern administration backed by Khalifa Haftar and the LNA.

Against this backdrop, Ankara’s engagement with both Tripoli and Benghazi represents an effort to strengthen its role as an influential regional actor while encouraging dialogue between Libya’s rival centers of power. (ILKHA)