Ankara Condemns 'Desecration' of Turkish Flag in Libya

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu with his Libyan counterpart Najla al-Manqush in Tripoli last May. (AFP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu with his Libyan counterpart Najla al-Manqush in Tripoli last May. (AFP)
TT

Ankara Condemns 'Desecration' of Turkish Flag in Libya

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu with his Libyan counterpart Najla al-Manqush in Tripoli last May. (AFP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu with his Libyan counterpart Najla al-Manqush in Tripoli last May. (AFP)

Ankara strongly condemned an attack on the Turkish flag outside the temporary headquarters of the House of Representatives in Tobruk, east of Libya.

"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 July 5, 2021, in Tobruk, Libya," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgic said in a statement.

Belgic indicated that immediately after learning of the "heinous act," the Turkish embassy in Tripoli made the necessary written and verbal initiatives before the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The embassy demanded that necessary measures be taken to prevent such provocations and to prevent similar incidents from recurring.

He noted that the act intended to target the Turkish-Libyan friendship, adding that the attack on the Turkish flag, "which represents our independence and sacred values, will never achieve its goal," he said.

The necessary response will come from "the friendly and brotherly Libyan people before anyone else," asserted Bilgic.

In an act of provocation on Monday, Haftar supporters set down Turkish flags on a road that Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah's convoy was supposed to use during his visit to Tobruk. They stepped on the flag in a message that they rejected the Turkish presence in their country.

Meanwhile, the Libyan Foreign Ministry stressed the importance of implementing the agreements signed with Turkey regarding the country's reconstruction.

The statement came following a meeting between the Undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry for Political Affairs, Mohammed Issa, and the Turkish Ambassador to Libya, Kenan Yilmaz, in Tripoli on Tuesday.

Issa noted that the return and the resumption of operations of Turkish companies would "significantly contribute to Libya's reconstruction."

Yilmaz affirmed his country's desire to enhance cooperation relations with Libya and work with its government in various fields.

On April 12, Tripoli and Ankara concluded five memoranda of understanding and cooperation protocols in various fields during the meeting of the Strategic Cooperation Council in Ankara.



North Korean Defects to South, Says Seoul Military 

A North Korean flag flutters at the propaganda village of Gijungdong in North Korea, in this picture taken near the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, South Korea, July 19, 2022. (Reuters)
A North Korean flag flutters at the propaganda village of Gijungdong in North Korea, in this picture taken near the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, South Korea, July 19, 2022. (Reuters)
TT

North Korean Defects to South, Says Seoul Military 

A North Korean flag flutters at the propaganda village of Gijungdong in North Korea, in this picture taken near the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, South Korea, July 19, 2022. (Reuters)
A North Korean flag flutters at the propaganda village of Gijungdong in North Korea, in this picture taken near the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, South Korea, July 19, 2022. (Reuters)

A North Korean defected to the South by walking across the heavily fortified border that separates the peninsula, Seoul's military said Tuesday.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans have fled to South Korea since the peninsula was divided by war in the 1950s, but the majority cross the land border into China first.

Seoul's military said it picked up "one suspected North Korean individual on the eastern front and handed them over to the relevant authorities".

The defector was a staff sergeant, Yonhap news agency reported, who was given some guidance from the South's military during the defection.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said they had not detected any unusual movement by the North Korean military around the time of the defection.

"Relevant authorities are currently investigating and therefore cannot confirm the detailed process of the defection," or the individual's exact motivations and goals, the military said.

Local media reported that the defector walked along the road by the waterfront in eastern Gangwon province, and was wearing their North Korean military uniform when they were picked up by authorities.

It is the second defection across the border between the Koreas in just two weeks, after another North Korean made it across the de facto maritime border in the Yellow Sea on August 8.

The defections come as relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years, with the North ramping up weapons testing and bombarding the South with trash-carrying balloons.

The number of successful defections dropped significantly from 2020 after the North sealed its borders -- purportedly with shoot-on-sight orders along the land frontier with China -- to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

But after border controls eased in 2023, the number of defectors making it to the South almost tripled last year to 196, Seoul said in January, with more elite diplomats and students seeking to escape, up from 67 in 2022.

Last week, North Korean tour operations unexpectedly announced that the country would reopen to foreign tourists this winter.