**Turkey Evacuating Its Citizens!!**

21 February 2011, Monday / TODAY'S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL

Turkey has expressed concerns over the unrest in Libya and said it has begun evacuating its citizens from the Arab country after Libyans returned to the streets for their sixth straight day of protests against the country's veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi, marking the most serious uprising of his 42-year reign.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Selçuk Ünal said in a statement on Saturday that Turkey was concerned over the incidents in Libya, adding that Turkey attaches importance to the country's domestic peace and prosperity and is dismayed over the increasing death toll arising from clashes between protesters and security forces. Human rights groups have estimated 100 deaths during the turmoil -- with 35 on Friday alone.

Ünal said in the statement that Turkey's Embassy in Tripoli and Consulate in Benghazi, a focal point of unrest, are closely working with local authorities to help protect Turkish nationals in the country.

The Prime Ministry’s Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate said early on Sunday that 256 Turkish nationals have fled Libya on scheduled flights, with 112 Turks coming home on Turkish Airlines flights and the rest on Libyan scheduled flights. A plane was sent on a special evacuation flight to Libya on Sunday and was expected to come back with 281 evacuees later in the day. Two more special flights were planned to take place on Sunday, but while the first plane left İstanbul for Benghazi on Sunday morning to bring back 281 Turkish nationals, the two other planes were still waiting for permission from Libya. It was not immediately clear how smoothly evacuation flights would go, as Turkey also experienced several problems on Saturday night with respect to permission from Libyan civil aviation authorities.

The statement added that more than 600 mobile beds for Turkish citizens waiting in airports and 1.5 tons of food will be dispatched on Sunday to Benghazi for Turkish nationals on diplomatic missions.

[link to www.todayszaman.com]