Aug 13, 2013

Ankara has launched quiet, behind-the-scenes diplomatic contacts with Syria, Iran and Lebanese tribes to secure the release of two Turkish pilots kidnapped in Beirut on Aug. 9. The strategy's first step is to distance the issue from the public agenda because Turkish Foreign Ministry officials believe quicker results are obtained if a lower profile is kept during bargaining in kidnapping cases. Officials said that in the last 11 years, 158 Turkish citizens have been saved, and Turkish Intelligence Services (MIT) and the Foreign Ministry are now conducting back-channel negotiations.

The fate of the two kidnapped Turkish pilots will be determined through both official and indirect contacts that the MIT and the Foreign Ministry are forging with the Lebanese government, leading tribes of the country and Iranian and Syrian opposition groups that have influence in Lebanon.

Ankara has made a series of official contacts with the Lebanese government and now wants the issue to wane from the agenda to make the contacts more effective.

An official told daily Milliyet that over the past 11 years they had secured the release of 158 Turkish citizens in many parts of the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan, and Turkish diplomacy and intelligence services have accumulated significant expertise in such affairs. He emphasized that quiet, discreet bargaining when the issue is removed from the public agenda is more effective. This is why MIT and the Foreign Ministry are focusing on behind-the-scenes contacts with Hezbollah and leading tribes in Lebanon, as well as with Iran, which has influence on Lebanese Shiites.

But there are two important factors complicating the Beirut kidnapping. First, it is a manifestation of sectarian strife in the Middle East. The Turkish Airlines pilots were abducted in connection to the nine Lebanese Shiites who were kidnapped in Syria and are believed to be held by the Free Syrian Army. The incident is not only related to the Shiite-Sunni conflict in Lebanon, but also to Turkey’s position as a force of influence on Sunnis. This is why Turkish institutions, the embassy, companies and persons have been under threat for quite some time in Lebanon.