Turkish Airlines suspends all flights to Libya

ISTANBUL – Agence France-Presse

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Turkish Airlines, the last remaining foreign carrier offering flights to Libya, announced on Jan. 6 that it was suspending all flights to the conflict-wracked country amid the worsening security situation.
      
The Turkish flag-carrier said it had suspended flights to Misrata, its only remaining destination in the country after it had earlier pulled its flights to the capital Tripoli as well as Benghazi and the inland desert city of Sebha.
      
"We have suspended our Misrata flights until further notice, due to operational issues," a company spokesman said in an email to AFP.
      
"Turkish Airlines is not operating any scheduled flights to Libya at the moment," the spokesman added.
      
The country has descended into chaos since dictator Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed in a 2011 NATO-backed uprising. It has rival governments and parliaments and is awash with arms and militias.
      
Libya's internationally recognized government said on Jan. 5 that its aircraft had bombed an oil tanker off the Islamist-held port of Derna, killing two crewmen. One of the dead crewmen was Greek, drawing condemnation from Athens.