Turkey has already stated that NATO operations should continue in a determined way.

Turkey says Attacks, killings in Misrata must stop at once

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Attacks leading to civilian casualties in Libya, particularly those targeting the rebel-held city of Misrata, should immediately be brought to an end, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on Monday in Ankara.

Speaking at a joint press conference following talks with visiting Norwegian FM Jonas Gahr Store, Davut-oğlu noted that restoring the humanitarian situation, preventing attacks against civilians and building a permanent solution are Turkey's priorities for Libya. He added that Turkey has already stated that NATO operations should continue in a determined way. “The attacks, particularly [those] directed at Misrata should cease at once,” Davutoğlu said. “NATO should also exert all necessary efforts to achieve an end to civilian casualties.” FM highlighted that the international community, particularly NATO, and the international will is against harming civilians in Libya and called on NATO, saying: “The attacks against Misrata leading to civilian casualties should be stopped. NATO has been making its best efforts and should continue to do so.” Misrata, Libya’s third-largest city and the insurgents’ last major stronghold in the west of the country, has been under siege by pro-Gaddafi troops for about seven weeks. A leading human rights organization announced on Monday that Libyan leader Gaddafi’s “indiscriminate” bombing of Misrata has killed at least 16 civilians since April 14. Meanwhile, in Misrata, a rebel spokesman told Reuters that forces loyal to Gaddafi bombarded Misrata with rockets and artillery on Monday and 17 people had been killed during shelling of the besieged Libyan city on the previous day. “Libyan government forces have repeatedly fired mortars and Grad rockets into residential neighborhoods in Misrata, causing civilian casualties,” Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said in a statement. “The Soviet-made Grad in particular is one of the world’s most inaccurate rocket systems and should never be fired in areas with civilians,” the New York-based group said. Grad rockets are munitions fired in multiple rounds from launchers on the back of trucks, which take their name from the Russian word for “hail.” HRW stressed in the statement that it didn’t find evidence of rebel activity in the areas that came under attack in Misrata. Amnesty International’s Donatella Rovera, speaking by telephone from Misrata to Al Jazeera television, said civilians were being randomly targeted by Gaddafi’s forces. “Civilians are being bombarded by Gaddafi forces. I saw cluster bombs in residential areas. Grad missiles were being used randomly on residential areas,” she said. “Residents have no place to escape to. Britain said it would provide funding for the International Organization for Migration to evacuate 5,000 migrant workers stranded in Misrata. “The position in Misrata, which has sharply deteriorated in the last few days, means there are 5,000 poor migrant workers caught out on the quayside with munitions exploding some 300 yards from where they are,” said Britain’s International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell, who is in New York for talks with the United Nations on the humanitarian situation in Libya. “Britain will give significant further humanitarian support to move all 5,000 of these workers out of Misrata by boat through the International Organization for Migration and back to Egypt,” he told the BBC.