Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and leader of Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) Fayez al-Sarraj held a joint press conference following their meeting in Ankara, on Thursday.

Erdogan reiterated a call to take steps against Libyan National Army (LNA) leader Khalifa Haftar, whom he called a "putschist."

"We are closely following putschist Haftar's efforts to sell the oil resources that are the right of Libyan population to other countries illegally, in order to gain money and buy weapons and also bring in mercenaries," the Turkish president stated.

Erdogan added that he discussed the development of "new areas of cooperation" on the Memorandum of Understanding on delimitation of the maritime jurisdiction areas in the Mediterranean with Sarraj.

"In this context, we aim to develop our joint cooperation in the field of research and exploration in the Mediterranean to benefit from natural resources," Erdogan said during the press conference.

Turkey and the GNA signed in November a military cooperation pact that maps out a maritime boundary between both countries in the Mediterranean, close to the Greek island of Crete, which gives Ankara oil exploration rights in the Mediterranean Sea.

"On this blessed day, and after more than a year since the start of the blatant attack on us by the militias, terrorist mercenaries and those who support them, we are honoured to announce having liberated the capital city of Tripoli and its suburbs completely," al-Sarraj announced during the press conference.

The GNA leader added, "to the countries supporting this aggression, those who contributed to killing the Libyans and the destructions of the country, that your bet has been lost and we will pursue you legally, and now you have struck the scourge of defeat on the walls of Tripoli, despite all the support you have granted the war criminal."

The meeting comes a day after GNA forces retook control of Tripoli International Airport from the Libyan National Army.