Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid tribute Tuesday to those Libyans killed fighting the Moamer Gaddafi regime, dpa reported.
Erdogan, speaking for the first time at United Nations headquarters in New York, said some 25,000 had been killed, and were "martyred" and should be remembered for fighting for a better life.
The Iraqi Transitional National Council has put the death toll variously at 30,000 and 50,000.
"I personally witnessed the demands for democracy and freedom," Erdogan said from the experience he acquired after visiting Tunisia, Egypt and Libya in the last weeks.
He called on governments to recognize the "wish of their people," a reference to those under popular protests, including Syria, which Turkey has urged to stop the killing of pro-democracy demonstrators.
Erdogan urged the UN Security Council to return all frozen assets, which mostly belonged to the Gaddafi and his family members, to the Libya people.
"We must return those assets to the Libyan people so they can live in dignity and honour," he said.
The council last week lifted the freeze of assets imposed on Gaddafi so the funds can be used by Libya's Transitional National Council in reconstruction and humanitarian efforts.
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