Türkiye to evacuate citizens from Lebanon on Wednesday

ANKARA

Türkiye is sending ships to evacuate around 2,000 of its citizens from Lebanon on Wednesday, the foreign ministry said.

Two Turkish navy ships are set to depart from the port in Mersin, a southern Turkish province, heading to Beirut on Tuesday, ministry said in a statement on X.

"The total capacity of our ships is approximately 2,000 passengers," the ministry noted.

The ministry stated that details about the evacuation process would be communicated to citizens who have reached out to the Türkiye's Consular Call Center. If needed, evacuation efforts will continue in the following days.

"Preparations have been completed to meet the needs of our citizens upon their arrival in our country. Our ships assigned for evacuation will also transport our humanitarian aid to Lebanon,” the statement concluded.

Türkiye is estimated to have 14,000 citizens registered with its consulate in Lebanon.

Turkish officials said they had drawn up contingency plans to evacuate their citizens from Lebanon because of the deteriorating security situation on the ground.

Last week, the foreign ministry said guidelines for the evacuation of third countries' citizens via Türkiye have also been determined, adding that necessary preparations were underway in cooperation with nearly 20 countries that have requested support.