Turkey hectically woriking to head off chaos in Lebanon

The Turkish leadership is rolling up its sleeves to help prevent a new bout of regional uncertainty stemming from Lebanon's political crisis. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accompanied by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, left for Damascus yesterday for talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani to discuss the instability in Lebanon. "With this visit, we want to discuss what we can do to overcome this crisis and what other countries in the region must do for Lebanon's stability," Erdogan told reporters before leaving for Damascus. The 14-month-old unity government of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri collapsed last Wednesday after ministers from the Hezbollah movement and its allies quit the cabinet. Hariri visited Ankara on Friday to seek support from Erdogan. Turkey, like other countries in the region, fears instability in Lebanon could have consequences for the wider region. As of Saturday night, Erdogan had separate telephone conversations with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. During a one-day visit to Baghdad on Sunday, Davutoglu also held separate conversations on the crisis in Lebanon with senior officials from Qatar and Syria. Following his meeting with al-Hariri, Erdogan told reporters that Ankara was planning to organize "a series of meetings to be attended by the US, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt."