Top Turkish officials received a prominent leader of eastern Libya this week, signaling a significant policy shift in the Libyan civil strife two years after Ankara lent military support to the Tripoli-based government against eastern forces led by Khalifa Hifter.

Aquila Saleh, who heads the eastern-based House of Representatives and is considered an ally of Hifter despite discord between the two, met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and parliament speaker Mustafa Sentop during a visit to Ankara Aug. 1-2. Abdullah al-Lafi, vice chair of Libya’s Presidential Council, accompanied him on the trip.

Saleh sought support for the parliament-approved government in the east, noting that holding parliamentary and presidential elections was its priority and Turkey’s backing was important to achieve peace and stability in Libya. Sentop, for his part, stressed Turkey saw Libya as “an inseparable whole” and did not discriminate between regions. The Turkish parliament’s Libya Friendship Group is planning a visit to Libya, including the east, he said.

Power struggles have kept Libya fractured since the warring parties sealed a cease-fire deal in 2020. The country ended up with two rival governments after plans to hold elections in December 2021 failed. The Saleh-led parliament appointed a new prime minister — Fathi Bashagha — in March, but the head of the internationally recognized interim government in Tripoli, Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, refused to cede power before elections. Bashagha has been unable to move into Tripoli, prevented by armed groups loyal to Dbeibah.