Erdoğan’s troubled days in the Middle East
The Turkish government decided to close the Turkish Cultural Center and trade office in Lebanon yesterday for security reasons following the kidnapping of two Turkish Airlines (THY) pilots on Aug. 9, probably by Shiite militants demanding the release of nine Shiite pilgrims who were kidnapped in Syria last year. The Turkish Foreign Ministry is trying to explain that Turkey has nothing to do with the kidnapping of the Lebanese Shiite pilgrims, although it has contributed to the efforts to free them. But Hezbollah believes that it was the Sunni militants of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighting against the Bashar al-Assad regime that captured the pilgrims and that Turkey should be held responsible since Turkey supported the FSA. In the end, it is not easy to change perceptions in the Middle East with statements alone.
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