Lebanese Prime Minister Nagib Mikati is received by the president of the municipality of Ankara on Tuesday. (Credit: Dalati and Nohra)
BEIRUT — Prime Minister Najib Mikati arrived in Ankara on Tuesday afternoon on an official visit at the invitation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with whom he will meet, Mikati’s twitter account reported.
Here’s what we know:
• According to the Lebanese state-run National News Agency, the two officials will hold a joint press conference following their meeting.
• Mikati is accompanied by the Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, Minister of State for Administrative Development Najla Riachi, Tourism Minister Walid Nassar, Energy Minister Walid Fayad, Environment Minister Nasser Yassin, Agriculture Minister Abbas Hajj Hassan, Public Works and Transport Minister Ali Hamiyeh, Economy Minister Amin Salam and Mikati’s diplomatic adviser Boulos Assaker.
• Lebanon’s Ambassador to Turkey Ghassan Mouallem will join the delegation during the discussions.
• The ministers accompanying Mikati will meet with their Turkish counterparts during the visit.
• Last November, the head of Turkish diplomacy Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, while on an official visit to Beirut, invited Mikati to Ankara.
• During talks with the Lebanese top authorities, Çavuşoğlu affirmed that his country was “ready to help” Lebanon find a solution to the serious diplomatic crisis with some Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia, which erupted at the end of October. The crisis was triggered by remarks by former Information Minister George Kurdahi on Saudi involvement in the war in Yemen.