Libyan national army commander Khalifa Haftar, who launched an offensive last year to capture the capital Tripoli from the Government of National Accord, threatened Thursday to use force against Turkish troops if Ankara doesn’t stop interfering in the country, The Associated Press reported.

Haftar’s comments came in response to the Turkish parliament’s decision to extend for 18 months a law that allows the deployment of Turkish troops to Libya. Turkish military assistance to the Tripoli-based government—including advisers, equipment and intelligence—helped stop Haftar’s year-long offensive on the capital. Turkey has also been accused of sending thousands of Syrian mercenaries to Libya.

“There will be no security or peace as long as the boots of the Turkish military are desecrating our immaculate soil,” Haftar said in comments from his eastern stronghold, Benghazi, on the 69th anniversary of Libya’s independence day. “We will carry weapons to bring about peace with our own hands and our free will.”

“The colonizing enemy has one of two choices: either to leave peacefully or to be driven out by force,” Khalifa Haftar said, referring to Turkey.