Cairo: The UAE has criticised Turkey’s foreign policy towards neighbours, days after Ankara unveiled a controversial plan to send troops to strife-hit Libya.

UAE Minister of State Dr Anwar Gargash reminded in a tweet Turkey of an earlier promise to end problems with neighbours.

“We have the right to ask: Where is the principle of ending problems with neighbouring countries that the Turkish foreign policy called for?” Dr Gargash said on his Twitter account.

In 2014, Turkey’s then foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu pledged to pursue a policy of rapprochement and promoting joint interests with neighbours to resolve rows.

On Thursday, Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan said that his country would send troops to Libya at a request of an allied government in Tripoli, raising concerns about stoking the conflict there.

Erdogan said a bill on Turkish deployment in Libya would be presented to parliament next month.

Last month, Erdogan and Fayez Al Serraj, the head of the Tripoli government, signed contested maritime and security cooperation pacts.