Number 160 | April 5, 2011
Turkey Assumes Diplomatic Functions for United States in Libya
Secures Release of American Journalists
On March 22, the U.S. State Department announced that Turkey has agreed to be the “protecting power” for the U.S. in Libya and that the U.S. was “very grateful to Turkey for assuming that role.” Turkey’s role as a protecting power for the US includes acting as consular officers on behalf of US citizens in Libya and looking after American diplomatic facilities in the country. Turkey can also pass messages between the United States and Libya, since there is little communication left between the two countries.
The news came after the Turkish Embassy in Tripoli has played a key role in negotiating the release of foreign journalists held by Libyan forces, including four New York Times journalists delivered on Monday to the Turkish Embassy. The four had been held for nearly a week by the Libyan government and their release was negotiated with the help of Turkish authorities. Bill Keller, executive editor of The Times, commenting on the release said that they were particularly indebted to the government of Turkey, which intervened on their behalf to oversee the release of the journalists.
According to diplomatic sources, the Turkish embassy in Tripoli has agreed to perform consular and diplomatic functions for the U.S., Britain, Italy and Australia at their request, after the four nations closed their missions and the U.N. began to implement a no- fly zone over Libya.
