Turkey's foreign minister has sought to speed up the deployment of troops into Libya despite condemnation of the move by the North African country's parliament speaker.

Mevlut Cavusoglu said the Libyan conflict risks descending into chaos and becoming the next Syria if not stopped soon.

"If today Libya becomes like Syria, then the turn will come for the other countries in the region," Cavusoglu said on Saturday at a meeting of the governing AK Party.

"We need to do whatever is needed to prevent Libya from being divided and slide into chaos, and that is what we are doing. It is the legitimate government there that we deal with." he said, stressing the military and security deal signed with Libya is important.

The North African country has been dogged by war since December 2011, and the situation heightened earlier this year when self-styled Libyan National Army chief Gen. Khalifa Hafter pledged to take over Tripoli from the U.N.-backed government led by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj.

Hafter announced in early December a final push to take Tripoli from Sarraj's government, unleashing heavy clashes on the southern edges of the city.

Since 2011, the Libyan war has killed thousands and displaced millions as militant groups and human trafficking cells sought to impose their command in various regions across the country.

Mediation teams hope the warring factions can strike a deal to restore lasting peace in the country.

Last week, President Tayyip Erdogan announced his government's decision to seek a parliamentary consent to send troops to Libya to defend the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli against General Haftar's forces.

The speaker of Libya's parliament condemned Turkey's willingness to dispatch troops to the troubled North African country, calling it "unacceptable".

Aguila Saleh said in a joint statement with his Cypriot counterpart on Saturday that such a move would constitute unwanted meddling in the affairs of a friendly country.