Turkey Ready to Help Libya Initiatives
Turkey is ready to help any initiative to end Libya's turmoil but has had no contact so far with South Africa's leader on an exit strategy for Moammar Gadhafi, a government official said Wednesday.
"We have had no particular dialogue (with South Africa) so far but it does not mean that we will not have any in the future," the foreign ministry official told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity.
"Turkey has announced a roadmap (for a settlement in Libya) and submitted it to the international community, including the African Union. We are ready to contribute to any peace initiative" for Libya, he said.
South African President Jacob Zuma will visit Tripoli next week for talks that would focus on an "exit strategy" for Kadhafi, sources in his office said Wednesday.
The Turkish official ruled out the possibility of Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu accompanying Zuma in Tripoli for the trip on May 30, pointing at Davutoglu's campaign schedule ahead of June 12 parliamentary elections.
Turkey on Monday hosted Libyan rebel Chief Moustafa Abdul Jalil in Ankara and renewed a call on Gadhafi to cede power.
Turkey's "roadmap" calls for an immediate ceasefire, the lifting of sieges by regime forces of rebel-held towns and the initiation of a "transformation process" that would lead to free elections.
Source: Agence France Presse
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