Beirut: Social Affairs Minister Hanine El Sayyed held a series of official meetings in Ankara aimed at strengthening Lebanese-Turkish relations and translating recent political understandings between the two countries into practical cooperation programmes supporting Lebanon's recovery, reconstruction and development.

According to National News Agency - Lebanon, the meetings followed Prime Minister Nawaf Salam's recent official visit to Turkey and his talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. El Sayyed was accompanied by Lebanon's Ambassador to Turkey Mounir Anouti, Director General of the Public Corporation for Housing Rony Lahoud, and media adviser Saba Marwa.

During her visit, El Sayyed met with Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur €“zdemir G¶ktas, President of Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) Governor Ali Hamza Pehlivan, TOKI Vice President Hakan Akbulut, and Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) President Abdullah Eren.

She expressed appreciation for Turkey's support to Lebanon, particularly during the recent war, and stressed the importance of building on the momentum generated by Salam's visit to Ankara to deepen institutional cooperation and strengthen bilateral ties.

In talks with G¶ktas, the two sides discussed cooperation in social services, social assistance, family empowerment, child protection, disability support, and combating violence against women. They agreed to prepare a memorandum of understanding establishing long-term cooperation through expertise exchange, capacity building, and technical assistance.

El Sayyed also met with TOKI Vice President Akbulut to review Turkey's post-earthquake reconstruction experience, particularly its rapid delivery of permanent housing and prefabricated residential units. The two sides agreed to launch technical cooperation between TOKI and Lebanon's Public Corporation for Housing to exchange expertise and strengthen institutional capacity in support of Lebanon's reconstruction efforts.

During her meeting with AFAD President Pehlivan, El Sayyed thanked Turkey and the agency for the assistance provided to Lebanon during the recent war, including prefabricated housing units supplied to Tripoli following building collapses. They also discussed implementing understandings reached between Salam and Erdogan, particularly efforts to provide temporary housing units for people displaced from southern Lebanon.

The discussions also covered expanding technical cooperation in disaster management, emergency response, temporary shelter, and post-crisis recovery. Both sides agreed to maintain coordination and gradually broaden AFAD's support to Lebanon, including a planned visit by an AFAD delegation to Beirut.

In talks with TIKA President Eren, El Sayyed discussed expanding the agency's development assistance to Lebanon and reviewed its ongoing projects across the country and its international development experience. Both sides stressed the importance of establishing a direct partnership between TIKA and the Ministry of Social Affairs to better align Turkish assistance with the ministry's priorities.

El Sayyed said the meetings reflected a shift toward a more practical phase in Lebanese-Turkish relations based on institutional partnerships, knowledge transfer, and capacity building to support Lebanon's reconstruction, disaster management, housing policies, and social development.