Russia and Turkey Call for Libya Ceasefire as Proxies Face Off

A fighter checks a building near the the Yarmouk military compound, south of Tripoli on July 1, 2019.Photographer: Mahmud Turkia/AFP via Getty Images

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By Selcan Hacaoglu, Cagan Koc, and Olga Tanas

January 8, 2020 at 5:16 PM UTC

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Turkey and Russia called for a ceasefire in Libya where they’re backing opposite sides in an increasingly deadly proxy war between regional powers.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Istanbul on Wednesday, when they called for a truce from midnight on Jan. 12. In a further sign of his regional ambitions, Erdogan also said his country could play a role mediating between Iran and the U.S. as their confrontation convulsed the Middle East.