Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday that his country wants a quick end to the multinational military intervention in Libya, Xinhua reported.
American and European forces rained missiles and bombs on Libya over the weekend in a campaign to slap a UN-endorsed no-fly zone over the Northern African country.
"We want this military intervention to be over as soon as possible. Libya should return to stability quickly and it should be able to decide on its own path by itself," Turkish media quoted Erdogan as saying at an economic forum in Saudi Arabia.
When asked if Turkey wanted the ouster of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, Erdogan said that when he talked with Gaddafi on March 1, he told the Libyan leader that he should step down and listen to the will of the people.
Also on Sunday, Turkey's opposition prevented NATO from reaching a consensus on the alliance's collective participation in the operation against Libya. NATO is expected to continue discussing the matter Monday.
Since the UN Security Council passed a resolution Thursday authorizing a no-fly zone over Libya, Ankara has voiced support for the decision, but also stressed that "foreign occupation forces shall not be on any layer of Libyan soil."
Erdogan is expected to meet with diplomatic, military and intelligence top brass upon his return to Turkey.