BEIRUT (Dispatches) – Turkey’s foreign minister said Tuesday his country is ready to offer whatever support it can to help mend relations between Lebanon and Persian Gulf Arab nations, embroiled in an unprecedented diplomatic rift.
The spat with Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf Arab states unraveled late last month and has threatened to destabilize the new Lebanese government and escalate the country’s economic tailspin. It erupted over comments by a Lebanese Cabinet minister over the war in Yemen that angered Saudi Arabia.
During a visit to Beirut, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu urged support for Lebanon’s government to ensure the small country’s stability and that general elections scheduled for next spring take place on time.
“We have expressed our sadness over the recent crisis between Lebanon and the Persian Gulf. We received information concerning the latest developments toward its resolution. And if there is anything that can be done for the issue to be resolved as soon as possible we are ready to carry it out,” Cavusoglu told reporters after meeting his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bouhabib.
Cavusoglu said he hoped the crisis is resolved through mutual respect and diplomatic means, though it was not immediately clear how Turkey could help resolve it.
Cavusoglu arrived in Lebanon late Monday from Iran. He also met Tuesday with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
Lebanon’s Information Minister George Kordahi described the Saudi-led war in Yemen as “absurd” and an “aggression” by Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait have withdrawn their ambassadors from Lebanon in protest over the comments. Saudi Arabia also banned Lebanese imports.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement has blasted the weeks-long diplomatic dispute between Lebanon and Persian Gulf countries, saying that Saudi Arabia’s main objective out of the crisis is to undermine the Lebanese resistance group and subdue the Arab country.
On November 11, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah accused Saudi Arabia of seeking to provoke civil war in Lebanon, saying Riyadh pretends to be friends with the Lebanese people and government while pushing its allies to stand against the popular group in the country.