Lebanon denies calling on citizens to leave Turkey

Lebanon’s caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Adnan Mansour, categorically denied any truth to a report by a newspaper Sunday stating that the Lebanese embassy in Turkey called on citizens to leave Turkey immediately, National News Agency (NNA) reported. “Publishing such news confuses the minds of Lebanese and does not serve any cause, particularly in these circumstances which call for caution when dealing with any such news item.” For his part, the CEO of Middle East Airlines (MEA), Mohammad al-Hout, denied Sunday the information published by some media concerning sending a plane to Turkey to repatriate Lebanese, following the abduction of two Turkish pilots in Lebanon. “This information is devoid of any truth. MEA normally continues its daily flights (twice a day) to Istanbul and the Turkish coast,” the Lebanese news agency quoted him as saying.