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Turkey, Lebanon sign deal to abolish visa requirement
Lebanon is the latest country in the Middle East to sign agreements to end visa requirements with Turkey. Syria, Jordan and Libya abolished visa requirements for Turkish nationals in deals concluded last year.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Hariri, Erdoğan said his government was also intent on signing a free trade agreement with Lebanon to expand trade volume, calling the current trade volume -- which stands at $900 million -- ridiculous. Turkey and Lebanon are now planning to increase their trade volume to $5 billion within the next two years.
Turkey will also support Lebanon by supplying electricity and natural gas, Erdoğan said. Lebanon is expected to tender off projects pertaining to electric infrastructure to Turkish investors under a protocol signed by the two countries’ energy ministers during the visit.
Nine ministers are accompanying Hariri, who recently invited Turkish businessmen to invest in Lebanon, during his visit. Following his visit to Ankara, Hariri will visit İstanbul, where he will join the Turkish-Lebanese Business Council.
Lebanon trusts Turkey’s entrepreneurs and investors from the Gulf region when it comes to its reconstruction. Hariri also wants to revive tourism in his country -- one of the main reasons he would like to see the visa requirement abolished. The Lebanese would like to see Beirut turn into a tourism attraction once again, as it was prior to the civil war.
The transportation ministries of the two countries also signed a protocol to start a ferry line between Mersin and Beirut. Officials hope to start this line before the tourism season starts this year.
Golden age in ties
Veysel Ayhan, an associate professor at the Abant İzzet Baysal University’s department of international relations, says the two countries are enjoying “a golden age” in the history of bilateral relations. Ayhan says Turkey’s new Middle East policies, which emphasize dialogue rather than conflict, have helped Turkey be respected by all of Lebanon’s diverse political segments.
“Turkey played an important role in ending the conflict, in starting peace talks and in making it possible for a new government to finally be established. Turkey stays at an equal distance from all political segments in Lebanon. It has not favored any religious sect or distinguished between Christian and Muslim groups,” he told Today’s Zaman.
However, Ayhan notes that stability in Lebanon, with its diverse ethnic structure, is maintained at a precarious balance. Ayhan believes Hariri is aware that stability in Lebanon can only be achieved through economic development.
The Hariri family also has investments in Turkey. The family owns the controlling stake in Türk Telekom. Fifty-five percent of Türk Telekom shares are owned by Hariri’s Oger Telekomünikasyon A.Ş.; 30 percent are owned by the Turkish Treasury and the remaining 15 percent have been offered to the public and are traded on the İstanbul Stock Exchange (İMKB). Türk Telekom also owns 81.4 percent of Avea, one of Turkey’s three GSM operators. Furthermore, Türk Telekom owns 99.9 percent of shares in communications companies TTNet, Argela, Innova, Sebit, Sobee and AssisTT.
Turkey has sent $50 billion in humanitarian aid to assist in the country’s reconstruction since 2006. It has also constructed 41 school buildings in various parts of Lebanon and donated these to Lebanese officials. In his latest visit, Prime Minister Erdoğan promised to build a trauma and rehabilitation center with a capacity for 500,000 people. The project is expected to cost nearly $ 20 million. Sixteen new schools and a hospital are currently under construction.
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