By Libya Herald reporters.
Tripoli, 28 September 2014:
Over 450 Turkish workers have reportedly been stranded for five days at Ghat airport, apparently trapped . . .[restrict]by fighting between armed groups.
Turkish broadcaster NTV today reported that 457 Turks sheltering at the airport were facing shortages of food and water. Some had managed to message home that they had been caught up in local violence and were seeking to escape from Libya. It is claimed that armed men have seized the phones, cash and travel documents of some of the workers They are apparently now concerned that they may be taken hostage.
It is unclear for which business the Turks are working, nor on which project they are employed. Turkish construction firms, led by Renaissance, have been involved in the building of a new airport terminal at Ghat, as well as the repair and widening of approach roads and the upgrading of power generation and distribution projects in the city, which sits close to the Algerian border.
Turkey no longer maintains an embassy in Tripoli. It was not possible this evening to contact the Turkish foreign ministry in Ankara, nor Renaissance and other Turkish firms that are involved in projects in and around Ghat.
Hundreds of Turkish workers have joined the general exodus of foreigners from the country since the violence flared up toward the end of Ramadan. One of the largest contingents, 350 men working for Turkey’s Gama construction firm, this August finally quit a project to build four new power plants in Sirte. The first unit of the one gigawatt Gulf Power Station, which the Turks had been helping to bring on line, broke down a few days after their withdrawal. Gama pulled out its people after 1,300 South Koreans also working on the power plants were repatriated because of security concerns.
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