We are seeing a partnership between Turkey and Lebanon as they work toward addressing the issues left behind by the downfall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
This is what Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced during a joint press conference with the Prime Minister of Lebanon, Najib Mikati, Wednesday.
Turkey and Lebanon are therefore beginning a new chapter after Erdogan stated that a new chapter has been opened in Syria. He stated the commitment of both states as neighbouring countries to working together to emphasise the importance of cooperation.
And he stressed the stability in Syria, which must be so for all countries in the region. They establish the need for effort towards rebuilding the war-ravaged nation after years of fighting.
Turkey has supposedly been dealing with Syria for so long, and Erdogan's statements coincided with the reassessing position of many regional actors. Rebuilding efforts ought to take centre stage as far as communications between the two nations are concerned, according to the Turkish president.
He indicated that the restoration of Syria would have implications to the neighbouring countries, especially Turkey and Lebanon.
Erdogan even talked about the Israeli operations in Lebanon while exchanging views on Syria. He acknowledged that those attacks were not new and that Lebanon had experienced challenges like this in recent years.
Erdogan then pledged, on behalf of the entire country, to support the people of Lebanon and accompany them in their struggle against Israeli aggression. He called on Israel to avoid further collective punishment against the Lebanese and respect the ceasefire agreements.
Mikati said, he talked about how Turkey had lent support to Lebanon in the Israeli fight, where he, as the Prime Minister of Lebanon, has been called to the Mikati-led delegation to Turkey.
He condemned Israel for taking advantage of internal Syrian chaos and succeeding in further grabbing Syrian territory. Mikati demanded international pressure against such actions from Israel.
The meetings between both heads also touched upon various other situations in the region, of which they are both convinced, Syria needs to have a united approach.
Mikati's visit comes amid ongoing engagements aimed at further strengthening the bilateral relationship and addressing urgent matters concerning both nations. The overall importance of a visit by a Lebanese delegation to Turkey was, again, seen in the light of continuing instability in the region.
Both recognised the fact that the whole south of the Middle East is highly dependent on the situation in Syria and agreed to the basic premise that stability in Syria is a prerequisite for peace in the region.
As neighbours and containing areas of play in the region, Turkey and Lebanon's cooperation on this matter will be decisive in most future efforts for diplomacy in the Middle East.
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