ANKARA, Turkey _ Turkey's government will ask parliament in early January to authorize the deployment of troops to Libya after the internationally recognized administration in Tripoli requested help, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
The legislative motion will be the government's "first act" after parliament returns from its recess on Jan. 7, Erdogan said Thursday in Ankara.
"We'll go where we're invited, and won't go where we aren't," he said, predicting the motion will be passed within two days. "Currently, as there's an invitation, we'll accept."
Turkey has said the troops would be sent to train fighters loyal to Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, and are meant as a deterrent and not as an active fighting force. The two administrations have recently cooperated on maritime issues serving Turkey's energy interests.
There was no immediate response from al-Sarraj's government.
Erdogan had signaled Wednesday that the dispatch of Turkish troops to the North African nation was only a matter of time, saying recent commitments between the countries should be seen as a "harbinger of steps" to follow. He's repeatedly discussed the possibility of sending troops to help al-Sarraj's government battle rebel commander Khalifa Haftar, whose offensive on the Libyan capital, Tripoli, has been boosted by the entry of Russian mercenaries linked to President Vladimir Putin.
Haftar already controls most of Libya's oil facilities, as well as chunks of territory in the country's east and south. The deployment of the Russian mercenaries since September has further complicated international efforts to end the fighting.
Libya has been wracked by violence ever since the NATO-backed ouster of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, with an administration rivaling al-Sarraj's and allied with Haftar based in the eastern city of Tobruk. The instability in the divided country has made it a magnet for both Islamist radicals and migrants hoping to reach Europe.
Last week, the Turkish parliament approved a pact to defend al-Sarraj's administration. In return, it won Libya's accession to a contention maritime agreement that affirms Turkey's claims to areas where a planned pipeline to bring Israeli and Cypriot natural gas to Europe may cross.
Turkey has controlled northern Cyprus since sending troops there in 1974 after a failed attempt to united the island with Greece, and it wants a share of Cyprus' gas revenue. The pact with Libya angered Greece, and it plans next week to sign an agreement with Cyprus and Israel to build the pipeline as it confronts Turkey over maritime rights.
