Lebanese president Michel Aoun
BEIRUT - Diplomatic tension has risen between Turkey and Lebanon after Lebanese president Michel Aoun described the centuries during which his country was under the Ottoman Empire in extremely negative terms.
Lebanese media on Friday highlighted the summoning of the Lebanese ambassador by the Turkish foreign ministry and the Turkish ambassador by the Lebanese foreign minister to request clarification and express concerns. Aoun had said the four centuries of Ottoman presence in the territory was marked by repression and injustice. After his statements, made during the celebrations for the centenary of the birth of modern Lebanon (1920-2020), Turkey said that the accusations were baseless. A poster with threatening, anti-Turkish writing on it was hung up in front of the Turkish embassy in the outskirts of Beirut on Friday, sparking a reaction from Ankara.
