Report: Turkish Embassy Requests Tightened Security Measures

Turkey's embassy in Lebanon has requested the security apparatus to tighten their measures at the embassy's locations in Rabieh in the wake of the latest confrontations over the Mount of Turkman northern Syria that led to the downing of a Russian plane, reports said.

“We have tightened security measures around most of the targeted embassies, and we have already embarked on that in the vicinity of the Russian and Egyptian missions,” an unnamed security source told al-Joumhouria daily on Thursday.

“What is happening in Syria in affecting Lebanon. We as security forces monitor the developments and deal positively with the diplomatic missions in the country because their safety is ours,” he added.

The source added that the embassies in general, and the Turkish one in particular, have concerns that they could be targeted following the Russian jet downing.

On Tuesday, Turkey downed a Russian warplane on the Syrian border after reports that it violated Turkish airspace.

The downing has threatened ties between two major rival players in the Syrian war and raised fears it could fuel wider geopolitical conflict, although both Ankara and Moscow have stressed they want to avoid military escalation.

In Moscow, several hundred activists hurled stones and eggs at Turkey's embassy and brandished anti-Turkish placards in a brief protest over the jet.