Libyan Foreign Minister Flees to Türkiye

Libyan Foreign Minister Najla el-Mangoush - EPA
Libyan Foreign Minister Najla el-Mangoush - EPA
TT

Libyan Foreign Minister Flees to Türkiye

Libyan Foreign Minister Najla el-Mangoush - EPA
Libyan Foreign Minister Najla el-Mangoush - EPA

 

Libyan Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush left Libya and flew to Türkiye on a government plane with the assistance of the Internal Security Agency (ISA), Israel's Ynet said citing sources.

However, ISA denied alleged reports regarding permitting or facilitating her escape, stressing that she did not pass through the official channels at Mitiga Airport.

Mangoush was suspended from her post on Sunday and was referred for investigation after Israel said its Foreign Minister Eli Cohen had met her last week despite the countries not having formal relations.

Libya's Foreign Ministry said Mangoush had rejected a meeting with representatives of Israel and that what had occurred was "an unprepared, casual encounter during a meeting at Italy's Foreign Affairs Ministry."

"I spoke with the foreign minister about the great potential for the two countries from their relations," Israel's Cohen said in a statement.

Cohen said he had spoken to Mangoush about the importance of preserving Jewish heritage in Libya.



More Than 50,000 Refugees Return to Syria from Türkiye

A boy cycles past buildings which were damaged during the war between opposition forces and the Assad regime, in the town of Harasta, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
A boy cycles past buildings which were damaged during the war between opposition forces and the Assad regime, in the town of Harasta, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
TT

More Than 50,000 Refugees Return to Syria from Türkiye

A boy cycles past buildings which were damaged during the war between opposition forces and the Assad regime, in the town of Harasta, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
A boy cycles past buildings which were damaged during the war between opposition forces and the Assad regime, in the town of Harasta, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Türkiye’s Interior Affairs Minister said Thursday that a total of 52,622 refugees have returned to Syria from Türkiye in the first month following Bashar Assad’s removal from power on Dec. 8.
Speaking at the Cilvegozu border crossing between Türkiye and Syria on Thursday, Ali Yerlikaya said that more than 40,000 Syrians had returned with family members while some 11,000 individuals crossed into Syria alone.
“The voluntary, safe, honorable and regular returns have started to increase,” Yerlikaya said.
Türkiye has hosted the largest number of Syrian refugees since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011 — more than 3.8 million at its peak in 2022.