Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Thursday spoke out against those who considered the operation in Libya a "crusade.", Xinhua reported.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin recently called the ongoing air strikes in Libya a crusade, prompting debate over the intentions of the Western countries engaging in the strikes.
Speaking at the International Gender Equality Meeting, jointly organized by the Turkish parliament and the UN Development program, Erdogan said "those who use such hair-raising, frightening terms that fuel clashes of civilizations, or those who even think of them, need to immediately evaluate their own conscience."
He added that it is time for Turkey's friends in the West to see the people and the suffering in the Middle East and North Africa, not just petroleum and underground resources.
"They need to look at this geography with conscience," he said.
Meanwhile, he said Turkey's membership in the European Union would play an important role in bridging the gap between the West and the Islamic world.
Turkey has been vocally against the airstrikes in Libya from the beginning, with both the president and the prime minister saying any outside action against Libya should not include military strikes.
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