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Turkey launches large-scale evacuation in Libya

Türkiye Materials 23 February 2011 22:39 (UTC +04:00)

Turkey has launched "the most comprehensive evacuation operation in history" by sending planes, ferry boats and buses to bring back thousands of nationals from unrest-hit Libya, Turkish officials said Wednesday, Xinhua reported .

According to Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim, two high-speed ferries, Orhangazi-1 and Osmangazi-1, departed from Libya's Benghazi port at 3:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. respectively on Wednesday, and were expected to arrive in Turkey's southwestern city of Marmaris after midnight. Escorted by a Turkish frigate, the two ships will bring back 3,035 Turkish citizens.

The Turkish Red Crescent has started setting up emergency tents in Marmaris for the evacuees, and the transportation minister said he will personally go down there to evaluate the preparations and greet the arrivals.

There were more than 25,000 Turkish citizens working in Libya before chaos began last week. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said early Wednesday that 5,099 Turks had been evacuated within 72 hours.

Emergency flights are also being sent to Libya. Wednesday afternoon, two flights carrying over 250 passengers were set to arrive in Istanbul and Antalya respectively.

Turkish companies based in Libya are also hiring chartered planes to evacuate their employees, but since chartered flights are barred from Libyan airports, the evacuees have to take buses to Egypt and Tunisia and board there.

As of early Wednesday morning, 286 Turks have returned via Egyptian city Alexandria, and 128 staff of Turkish construction company TAV, who were working for a construction project at the Tripoli International Airport, have been evacuated via Tunisia.

Additional vessels, such as the Chamber of Shipping's Samsun, which departed from Istanbul earlier Wednesday, are heading for Libya. Another five planes will also bring back 1,800 Turks.

"We are engaging in the most comprehensive evacuation operation in the history of the Turkish republic," Foreign Minister Davutoglu said at a press conference held Wednesday morning at the crisis center.

A Turkish man was shot dead at a building site near the Libyan capital of Tripoli, according to the foreign minister.

Turkish Consul General in Benghazi Ali Davutoglu said earlier Wednesday that Turkish citizens in Benghazi were at risk, as many of their companies had been looted or destroyed and some of the Turks in the environs of Benghazi were not yet able to reach the port.

Davutoglu said it might not be necessary to evacuate all the Turks from Libya. "It is not our intention to completely empty out Libya," he said.

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