Relationship dossier
Turkey
Lebanon
Relationship assessment
Practical cooperation in trade, peacekeeping and humanitarian aid, tempered by economic friction
Turkey toward Lebanon
+35Turkey participated in UNIFIL and provided humanitarian assistance after the 2020 Beirut port explosion. Turkey and Lebanon also established a bilateral free-trade framework, although Lebanon moved to suspend the agreement in 2020.
Lebanon toward Turkey
+20Lebanon entered into a bilateral free-trade agreement with Turkey and cooperated with Turkey’s participation in UNIFIL. Lebanon’s move to suspend the trade agreement in 2020 reflected friction over the economic relationship.
Overall relationship
+25The relationship has a practical cooperative foundation in the bilateral trade framework, peacekeeping cooperation and Turkish humanitarian assistance to Lebanon. Economic tensions, including Lebanon’s 2020 move to suspend the trade agreement, have limited the depth and consistency of that cooperation.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Turkey and Lebanon have maintained practical cooperation through a bilateral free-trade agreement and Turkey’s participation in UNIFIL, alongside Turkish humanitarian assistance after the 2020 Beirut port explosion. The trade relationship has also faced friction: Lebanon moved to suspend the free-trade agreement in 2020. These ties reflect meaningful but uneven cooperation rather than a close partnership.
Areas of tension
- Lebanon’s 2020 move to suspend the free-trade agreement with Turkey amid concerns over the trade relationship.
Key developments
Turkey and Lebanon signed a bilateral free-trade agreement.
Turkey provided humanitarian assistance after the Beirut port explosion.
Lebanon moved to suspend its free-trade agreement with Turkey.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of security and economic cooperation beyond the cited arrangements are unclear.
- The extent to which the free-trade agreement suspension has affected subsequent bilateral economic ties is unclear.