“There’s a Turkish concern over the events and the possibility of the (crisis) slipping to Lebanon”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt stressed on Monday the importance of maintaining stability in Lebanon to avert any repercussions the Syrian crisis may have on the country, according to Naharnet.

Jumblatt told As Safir newspaper that his meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday tackled the Lebanese local situation.

He said that they discussed the developments in Syria. “There’s a Turkish concern over the events and the possibility of the (crisis) slipping to Lebanon.”

He indicated that he shares Davutoglu’s concern “especially after the (Syrian regime) wasted chances” to resolve the crisis in the country.

In the same context, Davutoglu said in remarks published by an-Nahar newspaper on Monday that Turkey does not want Lebanon to become “another victim of the unrest in Syria and Iraq.”

“We do not want the Christians in the Middle East and the world to suffer or be regarded as second-class citizens,” Davutoglu told. The daily also reported that the Turkish FM visited on Sunday night Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel, who hosted a dinner in the Turkish official’s honor.

Davutoglu was in Beirut over the weekend to attend a conference entitled “Reform and Transitions to Democracy” organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).

On Saturday evening, he met with head of Loyalty to Resistance bloc MP Mohammad Raad, who said there were different points of view. However Raad said the two men agreed that the change in Syria should be made without foreign intervention.