Turkish government officials including the foreign and finance ministers arrived in Tripoli on Wednesday to meet Libya's internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), the GNA said in a Facebook post.
The visit, not previously announced, included Turkey's foreign and finance ministers, the intelligence chief and the national security adviser, the GNA said in a statement. They met the GNA's prime minister, interior minister and oil company head.
Turkish support has been critical to the GNA in staving off a 14-month assault on Tripoli by the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA), which is backed by the United Arab Emirates, Russia and Egypt.
Last November, Turkey and Libya signed landmark pacts on military cooperation as well as boundaries in the Mediterranean.
Under the deal, Turkey has sent advisors to help the Libyan Army defeat the militias of warlord Khalifa Haftar.
Ankara's intervention led to a sudden shift in front lines this month as pro-GNA forces pushed back the LNA and its allies from most of northwest Libya towards the central coastal city of Sirte.
The Libyan Army recently inflicted heavy blows on Haftar and liberated Tripoli and Tarhuna, in addition to other strategic locations, including Al-Watiya airbase, from his militias.
The LNA still controls eastern Libya and much of the south, where some of the main oil fields, the source of most external revenue, are located.
However, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) and Central Bank, the only bodies allowed to sell Libyan oil according to international agreements, are located in Tripoli under the GNA.
Oil exports have been frozen for most of this year after eastern-based forces blockaded the ports, including the main ones near Sirte.
Last week NOC briefly restarted production at two of the main oil fields, but was forced to close them again after a few hours.
Libya has been in chaos since the 2011 revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi and has been split since 2014 between rival administrations in Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi.
The internationally recognized government has been under attack by Haftar's forces since April 2019, with more than 1,000 killed in the violence.
