Turkey strongly condemned on Tuesday an attempted desecration of the Turkish flag in Tobruk, eastern Libya by supporters of Khalifa Haftar, calling it a “heinous act.”
“We strongly condemn the ugly action against our flag in front of the temporary building of the House of Representatives during the budget negotiations held on 5 July 2021 in Tobruk, Libya,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said in a statement.
“Immediately after learning of the heinous act, our Tripoli Embassy made the necessary written and verbal initiatives before the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and demanded that necessary measures be taken to prevent such provocations and to prevent similar incidents from recurring,” Bilgic continued, saying the action was clearly meant to target Turkish-Libyan fellowship.
“This attack on our flag, which represents our independence and sacred values, will never achieve its goal,” he said, adding that the necessary response will be given by “the friendly and brotherly Libyan people before anyone else.”
Haftar’s supporters placed a Turkish flag on the street for cars to drive on it en route to the headquarters of the House of Representatives in Tobruk.
