Libya

A senior deputy of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Emrullah İşler, is paying his second visit to Libya in his capacity as Turkey’s special representative to the country, the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced on Nov. 3.

A boat packed with up to 250 African emigrants trying to reach European shores sank on Sunday off the Libyan coast and most are feared dead, a spokesman for the Libyan navy said.

The last time “Mare Nostrum”(Latin for “Our Sea”) was used as a political slogan in Italy, Mussolini’s fascists were claiming dominance over the entire Mediterranean. This time it’s different. It’s the name of the operation the Italian navy is running to save asylum seekers from drowning on the dangerous voyage in open boats from North Africa to Italy.

Turkey has suspended work at its embassy in the Libyan capital Tripoli, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on Aug. 6, two weeks after his ministry advised Turks to leave the North African country due to worsening lawlessness.

A British embassy convoy in Tripoli came under fire on Sunday in an attempted carjacking but no-one was hurt, a spokesman for London's mission in Libya said.
      
"Early this morning a British embassy convoy was subject to an attempted carjacking. Shots were fired at our vehicles but they managed to drive on and leave the area," spokesman Bob Phillipson said.
      

At least 38 people, mostly soldiers, were killed in 24 hours of fierce fighting between the Libyan army and Islamists in the eastern city of Benghazi, officials said on July 27.
      

Islamist-led militiamen have stepped up their assault on Libya’s main airport, controlled by rival fighters, which the Health Ministry said July 21 had left at least 47 dead in a week.

The fighting, which erupted on July 13 and shut Tripoli international airport, also injured 120 people, according to figures for the week until July 19.

Heavy fighting broke out July 13 between rival militias vying for control of Libya’s main airport, killing at least three people and forcing a halt of all flights in the worst fighting in the capital for six months.

Explosions and anti-aircraft gunfire were heard from early morning on the airport road and other parts of Tripoli.

A Tunisian diplomat and an embassy worker kidnapped earlier this year by unknown gunmen in Libya arrived at dawn on Monday at a Tunis airport after being freed on June 29.
   

Two Turkish citizens were kidnapped in Libya late on June 24 and their whereabouts are still unknown, a Turkish Foreign Ministry official who wanted to remain anonymous has said.