Foreign Ministry Summons Turkish Ambassador over Aoun Criticism

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The Lebanese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday summoned the Turkish ambassador to protest a Turkish statement that criticized President Michel Aoun over his latest remarks about the Ottoman era.

“At the instructions of Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, the ministry’s director of political and consular affairs Ghadi al-Khoury summoned Turkish Ambassador to Lebanon Hakan Cakil in connection with the statement issued by the Turkish foreign ministry on September 1,” the Lebanese ministry said in a statement.

It said the Turkish statement contained “expressions and a rhetoric that do not conform to the diplomatic norms and the historic friendly relations between the Lebanese and Turkish peoples and states.”

“In this regard, Ambassador al-Khoury requested a clarification about this statement and a correction of the mistake by the Turkish side, to avoid misunderstandings and preserve the special bilateral ties between the two countries,” the statement added.

In its statement, the Turkish foreign ministry had strongly condemned Aoun’s remarks, describing them as “deeply regrettable and irresponsible.”

“President Aoun’s disregard for what happened during the (Western) colonialism period, through distorting history with hallucination and his attempt to put the blame on the Ottoman administration, is a tragic manifestation of his passion for surrendering to colonialism,” the Turkish statement said.

In a speech Saturday marking 100 years since the declaration of the State of Greater Lebanon, Aoun said “all attempts for liberation from the Ottoman yoke were met with violence, killings and the sowing of sectarian discord.”

“The state terrorism that the Ottomans practiced against the Lebanese, especially during World War I, led to hundreds of thousands of victims, who were killed by famine, conscription and forced labor,” the president added.

SourceNaharnet