Israel Matzav

And they consider themselves Western?

As many of you have probably heard already, on Saturday, the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved sanctions against the Gadhafi regime in Libya.

The United Nations Security Council approved the sanctions against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The sanctions include limitations on the movement of Gaddafi [and all of his children CiJ] and senior officials in his regime, the freezing of their assets, and the transfer of the handling of Gaddafi and his people to the International Court of Justice in The Hague on suspicion of war crimes.

The resolution also includes an arms embargo.

The unanimous vote means that Lebanon, which is an Arab country voted in favor, as did China, which debated exercising its veto, and decided to vote in favor. You might think that Gadhafi doesn't have a friend left in the world. You'd be wrong.

On Saturday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the United Nations not to impose sanctions on Libya.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the United Nations not to impose sanctions on Libya, warning Saturday that the Libyan people would suffer most, not Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

Erdogan also suggested the international community might be acting more out of concern about Libya's oil reserves than about the welfare of the country's people.

...

"The people are already struggling to find food, how will you feed the Libyan people?" Erdogan asked. "Sanctions, an intervention, would force the Libyan people, who are already up against hunger and violence, into a more desperate situation."

"We call on the international community to act with conscience, justice, laws and universal humane values — not out of oil concerns," he said.

We heard that excuse with Iran and Iraq too.

Maybe Erdogan would like to do something constructive by convincing Gadhafi to accept an offer of asylum?

But what's most significant about Erdogan's statement is what it shows about Turkey. Turkey claims to be a Western country and continues to seek admission to the European Union. But Erdogan's statement shows that Turkey - or at least its leadership - is an Islamist country that should not be considered part of the West.

Labels: Libyan regime change, Libyan sanctions, Muammar Gaddafi, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey, UN Security Council

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:20 AM