Lebanon: Macron’s Call for Unity Government Is Based on US-Led International Consensus

French President Emmanuel Macron and Lebanese President Michel Aoun walk side by side at Beirut airport, Lebanon August 6, 2020. Thibault Camus/Pool via REUTERS
French President Emmanuel Macron and Lebanese President Michel Aoun walk side by side at Beirut airport, Lebanon August 6, 2020. Thibault Camus/Pool via REUTERS
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Lebanon: Macron’s Call for Unity Government Is Based on US-Led International Consensus

French President Emmanuel Macron and Lebanese President Michel Aoun walk side by side at Beirut airport, Lebanon August 6, 2020. Thibault Camus/Pool via REUTERS
French President Emmanuel Macron and Lebanese President Michel Aoun walk side by side at Beirut airport, Lebanon August 6, 2020. Thibault Camus/Pool via REUTERS

Political circles said that the solidarity visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Beirut opened the door to increasing regional and international contacts to provide medical and food aid to the stricken Lebanese capital.

The world has responded to France’s call for an international conference in Paris this Sunday, which is aimed at rallying aid and providing all forms of relief to the people of Beirut.

The conference, however, does not intend to secure the necessary financial support for the reconstruction of affected neighborhoods, which seems to be linked to the formation of a national unity government, as the international community is refusing to deal with the current government as the competent administration to undertake such a task.

Political sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Macron’s initiative was preceded by a phone call between the latter and US President Donald Trump, who reportedly gave his French counterpart the green light to launch his initiative.

Trump will also participate in the international conference on Sunday.

According to the sources, Macron’s call for a national unity government is based on an international consensus led by Washington, given that Paris is the most capable of communicating with the parties concerned with its formation, including Hezbollah.

The same sources said that the disaster that struck Beirut resulted in an international warning that the collapse of Lebanon would inevitably lead to the fall of its political forces, and there would be no winner if the country was not saved.

The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Macron was not against holding early parliamentary elections, but that those must be done through a constitutional mechanism. They added that the French president was convinced that the current priority was to save the country, even if only temporarily, otherwise the collapse would be inevitable.

In this context, Macron called on the Lebanese decision-makers not to involve Lebanon, at least in the foreseeable future, in the Iranian-Israeli conflict. Although the sources did not have any information about whether the French president was in contact with Tehran before his visit to Beirut, they did not rule out the presence of intermittent negotiations between Iran and the United States.



Türkiye's AJet to Start Flights to Syria's Damascus

A United Nations airliner is pictured on the tarmac of the closed Damascus International Airport on December 11, 2024, three days after the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. (AFP)
A United Nations airliner is pictured on the tarmac of the closed Damascus International Airport on December 11, 2024, three days after the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. (AFP)
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Türkiye's AJet to Start Flights to Syria's Damascus

A United Nations airliner is pictured on the tarmac of the closed Damascus International Airport on December 11, 2024, three days after the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. (AFP)
A United Nations airliner is pictured on the tarmac of the closed Damascus International Airport on December 11, 2024, three days after the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. (AFP)

Turkish Airlines subsidiary AJet said it will start flights to Damascus International from Istanbul and Ankara airports in mid-June.

AJet said in a statement that flights from Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport will begin from June 16.

Flights will initially take place four times per week before operating daily from July, it added, Reuters reported.

Flights to Damascus from the Turkish capital Ankara will start from June 17, three-times per week, the carrier also said.

Turkish Airlines resumed flights to Damascus in January after a 13-year suspension.

Türkiye, a close ally of the new government in Damascus, has pledged to support the country's reconstruction.

Ankara has already helped with the improvement and maintenance of Syria's airports, the Turkish transport minister has said.