Nicosia,
The
speaker of Libya's parliament on Saturday urged the international
community to reject the legitimacy of the war-torn country's
UN-recognised government which is pursuing closer military ties with
Turkey.
Libya has been
beset by chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed dictator
Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with rival administrations in the east and the
west vying for power.
In
a reflection of the deep political divisions, the elected parliament in
the east is allied with military strongman Khalifa Haftar, who is at
war with the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA)
recognised by the United Nations.
"In
the coming days, the Libyan parliament will take action to ensure the
withdrawal of international recognition of this government," parliament
speaker Aguila Saleh told AFP in an interview during a visit to Cyprus.
Saleh
said he had asked Cypriot Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulides to
"convey a message to the European Union so that it withdraws its
recognition of this government (the GNA)
"It is time to form a new government supported by the Libyan people and parliament."
WEAKENED
Libya's parliament has itself been weakened by the departure of several dozen anti-Haftar lawmakers for Tripoli.
Saleh's
visit follows a rise in tensions between Turkey on the one hand and EU
members Greece and Cyprus on the other in a conflict over offshore
hydrocarbon resources that has drawn in Libya.
Turkey
in November signed a deal with the GNA in Tripoli in which the two
parties lay claim to much of the Mediterranean, conflicting with rival
claims by Greece and Cyprus.
At the same time, Turkey is stepping up military aid to Tripoli, which is battling Haftar's forces for control of the capital.
Saleh also met his Cypriot counterpart Demetris Syllouris.
In
a joint statement, they called the Turkey-GNA agreement a violation of
international law, labelled Turkey's plan to send troops to Libya
unacceptable and charged Ankara was escalating regional tensions,
reported the Cyprus News Agency.
AGREEMENTS
They also discussed ways to counter Turkey's two Libya agreements, which Cyprus strongly oppose.
One
provides for a direct military intervention by Turkish forces in
support of the GNA, a move Ankara says may begin as early as next month.
The
other sets a maritime boundary between Libya and Turkey, which has
angered Greece and Cyprus as they step up plans to exploit offshore gas
reserves in the eastern Mediterranean.
Cyprus
has been divided along ethnic lines since 1974 when Turkey invaded its
northern third in response to an Athens-engineered Greek Cypriot coup
seeking to unite the whole island with Greece.
The Cyprus government has no diplomatic relations with Turkey.
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