Turkish VP to attend Libya conference in Italy

By Ilkay Guder

ANKARA

Turkey's vice president will be in Italy on Monday to attend an international conference on Libya, according to presidential sources.

Fuat Oktay will attend Monday's dinner to be hosted by Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and talk to participants in a session of the conference on Tuesday, said the sources on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Oktay is also expected to hold bilateral talks with delegation heads of the participant countries.

Separately, Libyan officials wish this conference accelerate the country's political process led by the UN.

On Nov. 12 and 13, the Italian city of Palermo is set to host an international conference on Libya attended by Libyan political groups based both at home and abroad.

Libya has remained dogged by turmoil since 2011, when a bloody NATO-backed uprising led to the ouster and death of long-serving President Muammar Gaddafi after more than four decades in power.

Since then, Libya’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power -- one in Tobruk and another in Tripoli -- and a host of heavily armed militia groups of divergent loyalties.