Libya asks Turkey's support for military training

TRIPOLI (A.A) - December 20, 2011 - Libyan Defense Ministe Osama al-Juwali said Tuesday that Turkey has a very strong army and asked Turkey's support for military training. In an exclusive interview with the AA, al-Juwali said that Libya wanted the assistance of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in training the Libyan army during the transition period. Libya has become a country controlled by its people in October. We are working to establish a regular army in Libya. We are studying various models for our army, al-Juwali noted. We want to make use of Turkey's experiences. Turkey has a very strong army. The Libyan army wishes to be trained by the TSK during the transition period. We are in touch with the Turkish Embassy in Tripoli for the training of Libyan troops. We will have our troops trained by the TSK, al-Juwali stressed. Touching on the recent visit made by the U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta to Libya, al-Juwali said that Panetta's visit carried high importance for the Libyans. We discussed possible partnership in the area of defense and possible contributions of the U.S. to Libya in attempts to form a regular army, al-Juwali said. All the negative developments that took place during uprisings against the Gadhafi regime are now under control. There are no problems associated with crossing the borders, al-Juwali added.