Turkey’s Davutoglu expresses concern over Turkey-Lebanon relations

 
Caretaker Foreign Affairs Minister Adnan Mansour received on Tuesday a phone call from his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu and discussed with him the latest developments regarding the kidnapping incident of 2 Turkish nationals.          

In this regard, the Turkish Foreign Minister voiced his deep concern over the kidnapping incident, and the toll it would take on the bilateral ties should the Turkish pilot and co-pilot not be released.                   

Minister Davutoglu expressed his hope that Lebanese authorities exert their utmost efforts to release the Turkish nationals, adding that Turkey has no connection to the abduction of the Lebanese detainees in Syria’s Aazaz.                     

For his part, Minister Mansour renewed Lebanon's utter rejection to any kidnapping incident, expressing keenness on the strong relations between both countries.             

"State authorities are sparing no effort to free the Turkish pilots," Minister Mansour said.             
Mansour expressed his hope that Turkish authorities put forth more efforts to release the 9 Lebanese hostages in Syria’s Aazaz.                    

On Friday the 9th of August, gunmen intercepted a Turkish Airlines' bus at the Cocodi Bridge in Beirut and kidnapped two crew members, a pilot and a co-pilot. The bus carrying the crew members was heading from the Beirut International Airport towards a hotel in Ain El-Mrayseh.              

The incident triggered a chain of reactions mainly from the Turkish side, the most prominent being the call launched by the Turkish foreign ministry on its nationals to leave Lebanon.     

While well-informed sources linked the abduction to the case of the Lebanese hostages held in Aazaz, the relatives of the Aazaz hostages denied being involved in the operation.     

Eleven Lebanese pilgrims were kidnapped on their way back from Iran by insurgents hoping to use them for a prisoner swap on the 22nd of May. Only two have so far been released.                

Their families have vowed to continue their movements until all their loved ones have returned home "safe and sound".        

They accuse Ankara of sponsoring the kidnapping and the Lebanese government of inaptness in this regard.