Miqati Visits Turkey, Says Lebanon Boosted Measures Near Missions

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati said on Thursday that Lebanese authorities have beefed up security near foreign diplomatic missions, two days after suicide bombers struck the Iranian embassy.

In remarks to the Turkish state-run Anadolu news agency, Miqati said: “We have taken all measures to protect diplomatic missions in Lebanon.”

“All the Lebanese have been unified in rejecting the attack” on the Iranian embassy on Tuesday, Miqati said upon arriving in Ankara on a one-day official visit where he met with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Lebanese authorities said in September they had boosted security measures at diplomatic missions after a meeting of the Higher Defense Council under President Michel Suleiman.

On ties with Turkey, Miqati told Anadolu news agency that the Lebanese state seeks to consolidate relations with Ankara.

“The Lebanese are always eager for the best of ties with all friendly countries and mainly Turkey,” he said.

He hoped that the bilateral relations will remain strong politically and economically and in the tourism sector.

Later on Thursday, Miqati said after talks with Erdogan: “Lebanon is dealing with the case of Syrian refugees in a humanitarian and fraternal manner.”

“Lebanon has however been forced to reconsider its approach in a way that meets its national interests and its financial situation that can no loner tolerate more burdens,” he remarked.

“I sensed from Turkish officials a great understanding of Lebanon's positions and they have pledged to exert efforts on the international scene to help it reach a similar stance on this issue,” he continued.

He also urged Turkish authorities to exert all efforts to help ensure the release of kidnapped bishops Youhanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yazigi, Lebanese cameraman Samir Kassab, and his Mauritanian colleague who all went missing in Syria this year.

For his part, Erdogan voiced his country's solidarity with Lebanon in wake of the bombings near the Iranian embassy in Beirut on Tuesday.

He offered his condolences to the families of the victims, adding: “Turkey has suffered a lot from terrorist attacks and we condemn these forms of assaults.”

He also expressed his “sympathy with Lebanon in its attempts to tackle the case of Syrian refugees.”

“Turkey will seek all possible efforts to help Lebanon in this matter,” said Erdogan.

Twenty-five people were killed and 150 wounded in twin suicide bombings near the Iranian embassy in Beirut's Bir Hassan neighborhood on Tuesday.

An al-Qaida-affiliated group, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it is aimed at pressuring Iran's ally, Hizbullah, to withdraw its fighters from Syria.