Ankara Talks on Unifying Libya’s Rival Armed Forces End Without a Deal: What Is Known

Military delegations from Libya’s rival eastern and western camps held talks in Ankara on 23 and 24 October 2026 on merging their armed forces under one command, with Türkiye mediating. No agreement has been announced. A senior Turkish official confirmed the meeting to AFP on 28 October, saying discussions “have so far focused primarily on military unification, while political unity is expected to be addressed at a later stage.” Neither Tripoli, Benghazi nor Ankara has issued a formal statement on the outcome.

Who was in the room

According to Libyan sources quoted by The New Arab, the eastern side was led by Saddam Haftar, deputy commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) and son of its commander, Khalifa Haftar. The western side was led by Abdulsalam al-Zoubi, the senior defence ministry official (undersecretary, described in some reports as deputy defence minister) of the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU). The Turkish official told AFP that military officers and diplomats from both administrations attended and that Türkiye acted as mediator.

The Libya Observer, also citing The New Arab, reported that representatives of Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar were expected in Ankara on the second day. Their role, if any, in the talks has not been described.

Where the talks stalled

The reporting so far describes progress on structure and a deadlock on authority:

• Chain of command. Al-Zoubi wanted a unified military to fall under the Ministry of Defence. Saddam Haftar wanted it placed under the Presidential Council, which holds the supreme commander role under the current legal framework, according to The New Arab.
• The commander-in-chief post. The same sources said Saddam Haftar was willing to abolish the post of General Commander of the Armed Forces, created by the House of Representatives in 2015 for his father, if he became head of the Presidential Council. Al-Zoubi wanted political posts left to the separate UN-backed “4+4” track.
• Headquarters. The sides were reported to be moving towards Sirte, on the old front line between east and west, as the seat of a joint military command.

Both delegations agreed to consult their leaderships in Tripoli and Benghazi before meeting again. No date has been set.

A preliminary document? One report says so

On 28 October the Libya Observer relayed a report by the Libyan platform Fawasel that the two men had signed a document of preliminary understandings in Ankara. As described by Fawasel, it would:

• create four regional chiefs of staff for the east, west, south and centre, with Saddam Haftar nominating the eastern and southern chiefs and al-Zoubi the western and central ones;
• place a joint command body, made up of the defence minister and the deputy commander-in-chief, over the military;
• form a joint force to secure Libya’s borders as soon as a security agreement is signed, with other provisions waiting for a political deal;
• require that body’s approval for restructuring units, setting budgets, signing security agreements and conducting operations outside each side’s area;
• distribute weapons and equipment evenly across the four regions.

The future of the commander-in-chief post was left for a later meeting. This account has not been confirmed by the GNU, the LNA or Türkiye, and it sits uneasily with the Turkish official’s statement that no agreement has emerged. It should be read as a reported draft, not a signed settlement.

Why Ankara, and why now

Türkiye backed the GNU militarily during the 2019-2020 war for Tripoli. Its relations with the east have since warmed, and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has met Saddam Haftar in Benghazi. On 23 October, after hosting European and regional diplomats in Istanbul, Fidan said conditions were “ripe to permanently secure the reunification of the east and the west.” Bringing the separately controlled military units “under a single umbrella” was, he said, one of the most important pillars, and he added that “very good news” could soon come from Türkiye.

The talks followed the eastern-based House of Representatives’ approval of the 2019 Türkiye-Libya maritime memorandum, which Greece and Egypt reject (our report on that vote). Turkish companies are also reported to be working on a Haftar-aligned air base at Jaghbub near the Egyptian border (details here), and Turkish-made Amazon armoured vehicles have appeared in an LNA-aligned parade (photos and context). Ankara is now one of the few outside powers with working ties to both commands.

It is not the only track. In April 2026 units from both the LNA and GNU-aligned forces took part together in the US-led Flintlock exercise in Sirte, the first time the rival forces had trained side by side, according to Reuters and US Africa Command. The United States and the UN mission in Libya have both pushed for a unified military.

What to watch

The open questions are the ones the Ankara round did not settle: who commands a merged force, which civilian authority it answers to, and whether military unification can move ahead of a political deal. Any signed text, a date for the next round, or a statement from Tripoli or Benghazi would be the first official confirmation of what was agreed.

Sources

• AFP via Arab News, “Turkiye hosted Libya east-west reunification talks last week: Turkish official to AFP”, 28 October 2026.
• AFP via Al-Monitor, “Turkey hosted Libya east-west reunification talks last week”, 28 October 2026.
• The New Arab, “Turkey pushes to reunify Libya as rival factions hold talks”, 27 October 2026.
• The Libya Observer, “Talks between Saddam Haftar and Al-Zoubi fail to reach agreement”, 25 October 2026.
• The Libya Observer, “Media sources: Al-Zubi and Saddam sign preliminary document on unifying Libya’s military” (citing Fawasel), 28 October 2026.
• Reuters, “In a first, Libya’s rival forces take part in joint US-led military exercises”, 14 April 2026.
• US Africa Command, “Flintlock 2026 concludes”.