CAIRO — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has warned against attempts "to control" neighboring Libya, state media reported on Tuesday, as tensions grow over Turkey's expanding ties with the Tripoli-based government.

Sisi's remarks come after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed readiness to send troops to Libya if requested by the country's Government of National Accord (GNA).

Erdogan, who supports the GNA, met with its head Fayez El-Sarraj in Istanbul on Sunday, after the two countries signed maritime and military deals last month.

Egypt's foreign ministry has lambasted the agreements as "illegitimate".

On Tuesday, state-run newspaper Al Ahram quoted Sisi as telling journalists the previous evening: "We will not allow anyone to control Libya ... it is a matter of Egyptian national security".

Libya has been riven by turmoil and division since a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.

It has since been split between rival administrations vying for power in the east and the west.

While Turkey and Qatar support the GNA, Egypt backs strongman Khalifa Haftar who controls eastern Libya and has been battling since April to seize Tripoli.

Sisi was quoted by the privately owned Al Shorouk newspaper as saying that Egypt "will not abandon (Haftar's) Libyan National Army".

Cairo's relations with Ankara and Doha have been fraught with tensions since Sisi led the 2013 military ouster of Mohamed Morsi, whom Turkey and Qatar supported.

Sisi reportedly addressed the bitter rift with Qatar in his remarks on Monday, saying the oil-rich country has yet to meet the demands of Arab countries boycotting Doha. — AFP