ISTANBUL, March 19 (Reuters) - NATO-member Turkey will make the necessary and appropriate national contribution to implementing a U.N. no-fly zone over Libya and measures to protect civilians, its foreign ministry said late on Saturday.
'Within that framework the necessary preparations and studies are being made by civil and military authorities in co-ordination,' the statement added, giving no further detail.
Turkey has been calling for an immediate ceasefire in Libya and said it opposed foreign military intervention.
However after the U.N. Security Council decision authorising military action the office of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement that the resolution was binding on all countries.
Erdogan said on Monday he had urged Muammar Gaddafi to appoint a president with popular support as a way to end Libya's crisis.
Non-Arab but majority Muslim Turkey has become a rising diplomatic and economic voice in the Middle East.
(Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz; Writing by Alexandra Hudson; Editing by Louise Ireland) Keywords: TURKEY LIBYA/ (alexandra.hudson@reuters.com; +90 212 350 7062; Reuters Messaging: alexandra.hudson.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
'Within that framework the necessary preparations and studies are being made by civil and military authorities in co-ordination,' the statement added, giving no further detail.
Turkey has been calling for an immediate ceasefire in Libya and said it opposed foreign military intervention.
However after the U.N. Security Council decision authorising military action the office of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement that the resolution was binding on all countries.
Erdogan said on Monday he had urged Muammar Gaddafi to appoint a president with popular support as a way to end Libya's crisis.
Non-Arab but majority Muslim Turkey has become a rising diplomatic and economic voice in the Middle East.
(Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz; Writing by Alexandra Hudson; Editing by Louise Ireland) Keywords: TURKEY LIBYA/ (alexandra.hudson@reuters.com; +90 212 350 7062; Reuters Messaging: alexandra.hudson.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.