Turkey says parliament working on bill to allow troop deployment to Libya

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey may need to draft a bill to allow for troop deployment to Libya and its parliament is working on the issue, Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said on Tuesday, after Ankara signed a military cooperation agreement with Tripoli last month.

Turkey backs Libya's internationally recognised government and has said it could deploy troops there if it receives such a request. Libya's Tripoli-based government has been fighting off a months-long offensive by Khalifa Haftar's forces in the east.

Speaking in Ankara after a cabinet meeting, Kalin added that Turkey would continue to provide the necessary support to Fayez al-Serraj's Tripoli-based government. Turkey has already sent military supplies to the Serraj's government despite a United Nations arms embargo, according to a report by U.N. experts seen by Reuters last month.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Alex Richardson)