A senior Turkish official says Ankara has set up a range of surgical programs to treat hundreds of people wounded in the turmoil in Libya.
In an interview with Hurriyet newspaper on Saturday, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek said a ship will set sail to the North African country to aid some 450 people injured in Libya’s violence and bring them to Turkey.
“Turkey is the only country to maintain contact with both sides… We will bring the wounded. There is a deal on that,” he said.
Cicek added that the operation has been given blessing from the regime of embattled 68-year-old Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
The remarks come as Turkey has ruled out part in US-led airstrikes against Libya and laid emphasis on the need for humanitarian aid efforts.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says some 351,600 people have fled Libya for fear of violence and around 1,500 to 2,000 are making their way to Egypt each day.
According to US military officials, more than 350 aircraft are participating in the US-led campaign of military airstrikes against Libya.
Apart from the United States, twelve countries are taking part in Operation Odyssey Dawn, which began on March 19 after the UN Security Council imposed a no-fly zone over Libya to “protect civilians” from Gaddafi’s attacks.
The rising civilian death toll in Libya has set off a frenzy of speculations about the real motive behind the war in the oil-rich country, with many analysts saying that under the guise of protecting civilians, as enshrined in the UN Security Council resolution 1973, Washington and its Western allies are basically after the North African country’s vast oil reserves.
MP/AGB
via PressTV – Turkey will treat wounded Libyans.
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