Following are excerpts from an interview with former Lebanese minister Wiam Wahhab, which aired on New TV on September 25, 2011.
Wiam Wahhab: "Let's begin with Erdoğan, that watermelon seller. There's nothing wrong with being a watermelon seller..."
Interviewer: "You're calling him a watermelon seller?! A year ago, you considered him a pan-Arab hero."
Wiam Wahhab: "I never called him that. The Syrians are the ones who got him wrong. I never got it wrong, even once. The Syrians did. I knew what he was doing, and I said so more than once. His only goal is to snatch the Palestinian flag away from the Iranians. That was his only goal. [...]
"Erdoğan thinks that a watermelon seller who shouts louder sells more. If that's what he thinks, I'd like to tell him that if he goes even one meter into Syrian land, 100,000 missiles will fall on him – from Syria and elsewhere. If he goes even one meter into Syria..."
Interviewer: "What, are you trying to incite war between Syria and Turkey?"
Wiam Wahhab: "If he goes even one meter into Syrian land... It won't be me firing missiles. I don't have any. I am telling you what will happen. This is a Syrian decision. It is the decision of Bashar Al-Assad and of the Syrian army. If he enters even a single meter and occupies Syrian land... I will be one of the people who will go and fight, and I call upon all the Lebanese who believe in this nation to go and fight if Turkey enters Syrian land.
"But Erdoğan wouldn't dare to do so. He's too much of a coward. If he sets foot on a single meter, 100,000 missiles will fall on Turkish cities."
Interviewer: "And that is a Syrian decision?"
Wiam Wahhab: "Yes, it's a decision of Syria and of the entire axis of resistance. If Syrian land is occupied... First of all, Turkey is an occupier, just like Israel. Let's be clear about this. Israel took Palestine and Turkey took Alexandretta. That's my opinion. I believe in the [Arab] nation. I have never had a good word to say about Turkey. Never. [...]
"If NATO sends a plane, the first missile it fires [at Syria] will mean that 100,000 missiles will fall on Palestine. That decision has been made. I am speaking on behalf of Syria, Iran, the resistance, and everybody. That is a done deal."
Interviewer: "Missiles will be fired from Syria, and from Lebanon too? By Hizbullah?"
Wiam Wahhab: "From everywhere. The entire region will go up in flames. [...]
"If the government says that it wants to disarm Hizbullah by force, in accordance with an American or Israeli decision, or course we will resort to weapons. The government will become an enemy." [...]
