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Protesters in Libya pile pressure against Turkish ''interference''

Libya

Fresh protest in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi Sunday against what protesters claim to be Turkish interference in domestic affairs.

Turkey has dispatched mercenaries and weapons to the country’s internationally recognized government in Tripoli.

“I say to the Turkish people, you destroyed your interests in Libya, and your relationship with Libya has ended, and your reputation has been damaged. The reputation of the Turks was good here. We have Turkish buildings and Turkish companies and we have Turkish restaurants and we have Turkish workers, but now your image has been destroyed by Erdogan”, Ahmed Muftah, a protester said.

For Mansor Al-Zidani “The Libyan people are a free people, and the Libyan people continue to follow the path of the martyrs’ march, and we, as institutions of civil society and as a free Libyan people, are aware and know the scale of the conspiracy that the world is taking against us, but, God willing, we will astonish this world with our historical steadfastness.”

The protesters also carried signs in support of the east-based Libyan Arab Armed Forces.

Libya has been in turmoil since 2011, when a civil war toppled long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi. He was later killed.

The North African nation has been divided between two rival governments since 2015. One in the east, allied with Eastern commander Khalifa Haftar, and the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli.

Meanwhile, Tripoli-based officials said overnight airstrikes had hit a key military base on the city’s outskirts that was recently retaken by Turkey-backed forces.

AP

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