Russia managing Libya war ´at highest level´, says Erdogan

ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Russia of managing the Libyan conflict "at the highest level", local media reported Saturday, as Ankara-Moscow tensions mount.

"Russia is managing the war there right now at the highest level," Erdogan said, according to the Hurriyet daily.

Turkey and Russia are currently engaged in a war of words over Syria where the two countries support opposing sides.

Likewise in Libya, Ankara supports the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) based in Tripoli while Russia backs military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

The president has repeated the accusation that Russian security company Wagner is supporting Haftar despite Moscow´s denials.

"They are presently managing Wagner," Erdogan told Turkish journalists on board his plane after a visit to Pakistan this week.

"Yet they still stand up and say, ´there´s no link´," he added.

The Wagner Group is a shadowy private security firm and thousands of its security contractors are believed to be in foreign conflicts from Syria to Ukraine to the Central African Republic.

Erdogan insisted Turkey would continue to support the GNA as part of a security deal signed late last year.

He also hit out at the West over backing Haftar without directly naming any country. "The West still supports this man.... (He) is given arms, ammunition and money."

Earlier on Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu criticised the "very dangerous" meddling by some Gulf countries during the Munich Security Conference.

"Those countries believe that democracy in one Arab country or the region is the biggest threat for their own regime," the top Turkish diplomat added.

Haftar is backed by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, countries with whom Turkey´s relations are tense.