In a statement, Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah described the incident as a tragic national loss, saying the crash occurred as the delegation was returning from an official visit to Ankara. He said the death was a major blow to Libya, its military institution and the wider public.
According to Dbeibah, four other officials were also on board the aircraft. These included the commander of Libya’s ground forces, the head of the military manufacturing authority, an adviser to the chief of staff and a photographer from his office.
Turkiye’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the aircraft took off from Esenboga Airport at 5:10pm GMT, bound for Tripoli. Radio contact was lost at 5:52pm GMT, and search teams later found the wreckage near Kesikkavak village in Ankara’s Haymana district.
Yerlikaya added that the Dassault Falcon 50 jet had requested an emergency landing while flying over the area, but contact could not be re-established. The cause of the crash was not immediately known.
Turkiye’s defence ministry had earlier announced Al-Haddad’s visit, stating that he met Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler and other senior Turkish military officials during his stay.
The crash came a day after Turkiye’s parliament approved a decision to extend the deployment of Turkish troops in Libya for another two years. Nato member Turkiye has been a key military and political supporter of Libya’s Tripoli-based, internationally recognised government.
Since 2020, Ankara has sent military personnel to Libya to train and support its forces and later signed a maritime demarcation agreement, which has been disputed by Egypt and Greece. In 2022, Turkiye and Libya also reached a preliminary deal on energy exploration, opposed by the same countries.
More recently, Turkiye has adjusted its approach under its “One Libya” policy, increasing engagement with Libya’s eastern faction alongside its continued ties with the Tripoli government.
