ANKARA
France's some 1,000 troops still in Mali following a military operation to oust Islamist groups in its northern region are expected to leave the West African nation soon, Malian Foreign Minister Tieman Hubert Coulibaly said.
"France can't continue to stay here anymore, nor is such a thing desirable," he told the Anadolu Agency in interview during a visit in Ankara, the Turkish capital.
France has maintained an active military presence in Mali since January when it launched its "Operation Serval" against several Islamist groups that became established in the country's north.
Ansar Dine, al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA) took root in northern Mali by fighting an autonomous state declared in the region by a group among the nomadic Tuareg people.
The declaration of independence in Azawad came as a result of political instability in the wake of a military coup last year that overthrew President Amadou Toumani Toure after a decade in office.
The Malian government signed a ceasefire deal on Thursday with Tuareg rebel group National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MLNA), which established the unrecognized state of Azawad. The agreement enables the government authority and army to return to the northern provinces under rebel control.
Coulibaly said Mali was no longer in a "state of war", as no clashes between the army and armed groups have occurred recently and the Malian army has re-entered Kidal, the last rebel stronghold in the north of the country.
The deal means an important step for peace in the north and would allow for elections in the region to be held in a swift manner, Coulibaly said.
- Mali to open embassy in Ankara
Turkey is conducting an "effective" and "praiseworthy" foreign policy in Africa, Coulibaly said, indicating the Turkish government could take on a facilitating role in Mali's dialogue efforts.
"We feel Turkey's strong presence in the fields of economy, culture and education," he said.
Turkey has quadrupled the number of its diplomatic missions in the continent in recent years.
A Malian Embassy in the Turkish capital of Ankara would be opened "as soon as possible", Coulibaly said.
