By Tuvan Gumrukcu and Jonathan Spicer
ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey is making preparations for the possible evacuation of foreign nationals and its citizens from Lebanon, as cross-border fire between Israel and militant group Hezbollah continues, a Turkish defence ministry source said on Thursday.
Several Western nations have appealed to citizens to leave Lebanon while its airports are still viable, and some have made contingency plans that would centre on Cyprus and could include sea evacuations, according to Australian and British statements.
Southern Turkey’s Mediterranean coast provides another option for evacuations of the tens of thousands of remaining foreigners if Israel escalates airstrikes in Lebanon.
Turkey’s military has the “capability and resources to carry out any mission…for the safe evacuation of our citizens or foreign nationals from Lebanon,” the source said during a briefing in Ankara.
“Preliminary planning and preparations for a potential evacuation operation are being made,” the person said, adding Turkey had conducted such operations in the past and was closely following developments in Lebanon.
The source did not say which foreign nationals Turkey could help to evacuate, or what sort of planning Ankara had done so far.
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said evacuations of its estimated 15,000 citizens in Lebanon could include sea routes, while its foreign minister said there was a risk that Beirut’s airport could close for an extended period.
A person familiar with several Western countries’ contingency evacuation plans said they centre on Cyprus as the first option, and involve moving additional personnel as well as military and retainer commercial vessels into the region.
If the war escalates and affects Lebanon’s airports, spillover plans could also include Turkey and Greece, the person said.
Britain said this week it is moving troops to Cyprus and had naval ships there to be in a position to help evacuations.
Israel’s foreign minister on Thursday rejected a proposal by the United States, France and others for a 21-day ceasefire as violence continued across the Israeli-Lebanese border.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
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