Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Güler met with Libyan Army Chief of Staff Mohamed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad on December 23, 2025 in Ankara, Turkey.
Ministry of Defense | via Reuters
Libya’s chief of staff, Mohamed Ali Ahmed al-Haddad, died in a plane crash after departing from the Turkish capital Ankara, the internationally recognized prime minister of Libya’s government announced on Tuesday, adding that four other people were also on board the plane.
“A tragic and painful incident occurred while I was returning from an official trip from the Turkish city of Ankara. This grave loss is a great loss for the state, the military establishment and all the people,” Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah said in a statement.
Also on board the plane were the commander of the Libyan ground forces, the head of the military production authority, an assistant to the chief of staff, and a cameraman from the chief of staff’s office.
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on social media platform He said authorities found the plane’s wreckage near the village of Kesikkavak in Ankara’s Haimana district.
He added that a Dassault Falcon 50 jet had requested an emergency landing over Haimana, but could not be contacted.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.
Türkiye’s Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunku said an investigation into the crash was ongoing.
The Tripoli-based Government of National Accord said in a statement that the prime minister had instructed the defense minister to send an official delegation to Ankara to follow up on the process.
GNU Deputy Political and Communication Minister Walid Elafi told broadcaster Libya Alafral that the plane was a leased Maltese aircraft, although it was not clear when a crash report would be prepared. He added that authorities did not have “sufficient information about its ownership or technical history,” but said this would be investigated.
Libya’s United Nations-recognized Government of National Accord announced three days of official mourning across the country.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry earlier announced Haddad’s visit and said he met with Defense Minister Yasar Güler, his Turkish counterpart Selcuk Bayraktaroglu and other Turkish military commanders.
The crash occurred a day after Turkey’s parliament passed a decision extending the obligation to send Turkish troops to Libya for another two years.
Turkey, a NATO member, has provided military and political support to the internationally recognized Libyan government based in Tripoli. In 2020, it sent military personnel to the region to train and support the government, after which Egypt and Greece agreed to a disputed maritime demarcation agreement.
In 2022, Ankara and Tripoli also signed a preliminary agreement on energy exploration, which Egypt and Greece also oppose.
However, Turkey has recently changed its direction based on its “One Libya” policy and is also strengthening contact with eastern Libyan factions.
