ANKARA
Turkey on Monday condemned the apparent execution of two groups of Ethiopian Christians in Libya by groups linked to Daesh.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said: "This hateful terrorist incident showed one more time the importance of filling the current authority gap in Libya with a government of national unity, which should be built with consensus."
The ministry stressed the importance of UN-backed talks in combating terrorism in the country, which has been riven by violence since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in late 2011.
Turkey offered condolences to the victims’ families and the Ethiopian people.
On Sunday, Daesh released online footage showing two groups of around 15 men being killed. In the unverified video, the members of one group are shot in the head in the southwestern region of Fezzan while the others are beheaded on the coast of Barqa.
The men are led by masked extremists and one identifies the prisoners as “worshipers of the cross belonging to the hostile Ethiopian church.”
He adds: “To the nation of the cross… Muslim blood that was shed under the hands of your religion is not cheap."
In February, Daesh released a video showing 21 Egyptian Christians being beheaded on a beach near the Libyan capital Tripoli, leading to Egyptian air strikes on sites believed to be under the jihadists’ control.
Libya is divided between two rival seats of government – an internationally recognized administration in the eastern city of Tobruk and rival government established in Tripoli in August last year.
