BEIRUT: The Lebanese should focus solely on their national identity and distance themselves from the struggles of Syrians and Palestinians, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said from Venezuela Sunday.
“Abroad, Lebanese, Palestinians and other Arabs must unite because we have the same cause,” the foreign minister told Lebanese expats in the city of Maturin. “But in Lebanon, we must only be Lebanese.”
The Lebanese people, whom Bassil described as “Phoenicians and Levantines,” should view Arab alliances as subordinate to national identity, he said.
“We are Lebanese first, after that we can be Syrian and support the Syrian people, or be Palestinian and support the Palestinian people.”
Bassil also dealt a heavy-handed blow to Turkey by slamming the fact that many Lebanese are referred to as Turks abroad.
“We are not Turkish, the Turkish have killed us and starved us,” he said in what may be read as a reference to Ottoman rule over Lebanon. “We are not united, neither by language, history nor race - we are Arab they are not, so please don’t refer to us as Turks.”
Speaking on the Syrian conflict, the foreign minister said it was Lebanon’s duty not to betray Syria because of deep historic ties between the two countries. With Israel as Lebanon’s southern neighbor, Bassil said the country did not have many options and should therefore maintain ties with Syria.
Bassil said his commitment to supporting Syria served to ensure the war-torn country did not “consider entering our nation again and think that it needs to protect Lebanon.”
Venezuela was the fifth and final leg of Bassil’s tour of Latin America launched one week ago.
Earlier Friday, Bassil met with his Venezuelan counterpart Delcy Rodriguez Friday and signed a memorandum of understanding, a joint cooperation agreement and an agreement on visa exemptions for diplomatic, service and special passports.
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