Turkey Helps Third Country Citizens’ Evacuations
President Obama spoke to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on February 25 on the crisis in Libya and to coordinate efforts to respond to developments in that country. According to the White House, President Obama and Prime Minister Erdogan expressed their deep concern about the Libyan government's use of violence against its people, and discussed appropriate and effective ways for the international community to immediately respond. They affirmed their strong support for the universal rights of the Libyan people, including the right to peaceful assembly, free speech and the ability of the Libyan people to determine their own destiny and agreed that these rights must be respected. They also agreed on the importance of providing humanitarian assistance to the people of Libya.
A meeting between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu took place in Geneva today. According to diplomatic sources, Clinton and Davutoglu discussed latest developments in the region and US-Turkey bilateral relations.
Turkey has evacuated nearly 18,000 of its citizens since the crisis erupted in Libya, in what officials described as the largest evacuation campaign in recent Turkish history. Foreign Minister Davutoglu announced today that all Turkish nationals who had requested evacuation had now been brought to Turkey. An estimated 25,0000 Turkish citizens had been living in Libya, employed by 200 Turkish companies who are working on an estimated $ 15 billion worth of mainly construction contracts in Libya. Turkey also stated that dozens of countries had requested assistance in evacuating their citizens and that Turkey so far evacuated 577 foreign nationals. Davutoglu also announced today that Turkey was now “readying to begin a second stage that will include delivering food assistance to the Libyan people.”
