The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated his country's stance towards Libya, stressing that Ankara would continue to support the Government of National Accord (GNA) until it extended its control over the entire country.

Erdogan added, in a speech to his party’s parliamentary bloc in Ankara, that Turkey's entry into the Libyan arena had brought Heftar's operations to a halt.

The Turkish President expressed his support for the withdrawal of the GNA from the upcoming Geneva meetings, describing it as an important step.

Erdogan stressed that the European Union does not have any power over Libya which would enable them to take any decisions on Libya’s behalf in reference to the European Union’s decision to form a naval operation as a substitute for operation Sophia, whose mission is to implement the arms embargo to Libya, and inspect all ships heading to and from.

After a Turkish government meeting held at the presidential compound in Ankara, the Turkish presidential spokesman, İbrahim Kalın, said in a press conference held on Tuesday, that the attack by Heftar’s militias on Tripoli’s sea port was "Harassment of the capital and a strong reply was due".

Kalın went on to say, "The Turkish government discussed the attack on the port of Tripoli at its meeting, it was a failed attack, with the intention of harassing Tripoli, we replied immediately with even more force”, adding that "The situation has calmed down".

Kalın accused Heftar's forces of continuing to violate and sabotage the road map in Libya, which was proposed by the United Nations and agreed upon by several countries, as well as disruption to the Libyan economy by shutting down the oil fields, saying "The silence of the international community in light of this arrogance, begs one to ask many questions".

It is worth noting that Heftar’s militias bombed the sea port of Tripoli yesterday evening, killing and injuring civilians, as well as causing great material losses, and halting navigation within the port.