Turks leave Libya as consul general calls on Libyan government for responsibility
Some 250 Turkish citizens are leaving Libya, after a call from a renegade Libyan general to Turks and Qataris to leave the countryâs east within two days or suffer a backlash from the public.
Most Turkish nationals have left the country since the Foreign Ministry issued its own warning, Anadolu Agency quoted Turkeyâs Benghazi Council General Ali Sait Akın as saying on June 23.
âThe Libyan government is responsible for the security of foreigners in Libya. We expect the Libyan government to take this responsibility, guarantee the security of foreigners and object to the targeting of foreign workers, who have no purpose other than serving Libya,â said Akın.
Libyan Ambassador to Turkey Abdulrezzak Mukhtar, meanwhile, has sought to assure Ankara and has called on Turkey to âbe calm.â
As the Benghazi Airport is closed, efforts are underway to bring the 250 Turkish nationals back to Turkey via the airport in Labrak. They will be transferred out by Libyan Airlines and African Airlines, as Turkish Airlines does not have flights to Labrak.
The consulateâs work has been transferred from Benghazi to the capital city of Tripoli since June 14 due to security reasons, said Akın.
The spokesman for renegade Libyan general Khalifa Hafter told reporters in Benghazi on June 22 that citizens of Turkey and Qatar had â48 hours to leave,â warning that âmeasures would be takenâ against those discovered after the ultimatum, which he said started on Saturday, June 21.
âThose carrying Turkish or Qatari citizenship must leave the area between the Imsaid crossing [on the Egyptian border] and the city of Sirte [in central Libya] within 48 hours,â Col. Mohammed...
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