Turkey's navy starts to evacuate its citizens from Beirut as Israel battles Hezbollah

BEIRUT (AP) — Over 2,000 Turkish citizens and some foreign nationals started boarding a Turkish military ship late Wednesday that brought in aid and will take them out of a country being hit by Israeli airstrikes targeting Hezbollah.

Zehra Cibbin, an ethnic Arab from the southeastern Turkish city of Mardin who lives in Beirut with her Lebanese husband, got off a bus packed with the other evacuees, her two children in tow and luggage in hand.

“It’s indescribable. They bombed the street below our house. From that moment on, it was over for me, I said I didn’t want to stay in Beirut anymore,” said Cibbin, 46.

Cibbin said they decided to leave Beirut out of fear for their lives, putting no thought into what will happen when they arrive in Turkey.

She spoke to The Associated Press before getting in line to board the TCG Bayraktar amphibious landing vessel, which along with the TCG Sancaktar will take on evacuees.

They are part of a six-ship convoy including escorts that set sail from the southern Turkish port of Mersin early Wednesday, transported 300 tons of humanitarian supplies, including food, hygiene kits, kitchenware, tents, beds and blankets.

Besides the Turkish citizens, people from Bulgaria, Romania and Kazakhstan were among those who applied to evacuate on the ships. Officials did not provide numbers.

The Associated Press was the only non-government media invited aboard the ships to cover the evacuation operation.

“Israel’s aggression has severely impacted Lebanon and our brothers here,” said Turkish Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Baris Ulusoy, standing in front of the Bayraktar.

“We are carrying out an operation today with two aims: to provide humanitarian aid to our Lebanese brothers and to ensure the safe return of our citizens who are in a difficult situation.” Ulusoy said.

Hundreds lined up before the Bayraktar as Turkish soldiers and sailors checked the evacuees’ passports and their luggage was examined by metal detectors and drug-sniffing dogs before they were allowed to board

Another Turkish citizen waiting with her family was Abir Gokcimen, who said she left her extended family and husband in Beirut and hopes the war that spread to Lebanon will end soon. She hopes to come back to Lebanon as soon as the danger passes.

The journey back to Mersin is expected to take about 10 hours.

Turkey's government plans to organize more sea evacuations if necessary and is contemplating charter flights to repatriate citizens.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, the day after Hamas’ surprise attack into Israel ignited the war in Gaza. Hezbollah and Hamas are both allied with Iran, and Hezbollah says its attacks are aimed at aiding the Palestinians. Israel has carried out airstrikes in response and the conflict steadily escalated, erupting into a full-fledged war last month.

Israel has inflicted a punishing wave of blows against Hezbollah in recent weeks and says it will keep fighting until tens of thousands of displaced Israeli citizens can return to their homes in the north.

More than 1,300 people have been killed in Lebanon and over a million displaced since the fighting escalated in mid-September.

Earlier on Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ramped up his rhetoric against Israel during his party’s first meeting of the new legislative year, declaring that Turkey “has more than enough power to thwart expansionist ambitions” of Israel and doubling down on his claims that Israel would target Turkey after Gaza and Lebanon.

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AP journalist Suzan Fraser contributed from Ankara.

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Follow AP's coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/mideast-wars