TURKEY: Parliament approves deployment of hundreds of troops to join U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon while thousands of protesters take to streets to oppose mission

Turkey's parliament on Tuesday (September 5, 2006) approved the deployment of hundreds of troops to join a U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, but thousands of protesters took to the streets to oppose the mission. Many in the Muslim but secular country are concerned the U.N. force, due to enforce an Israel-Hizbollah truce, would mainly serve Israeli and U.S. interests and that troops may have to fire at fellow Muslims. The left was also vehemently opposed. The parliamentary debate was delayed by several hours by quarrelling between legislators over a time limit for speeches and later by difficulties in using the electronic voting system. But there was not the scale of public opposition seen in 2003 when legislators rejected a government plan to allow U.S. forces to use Turkey as a staging post to invade Iraq. That decision led to a cooling in U.S.-Turkish relations. Lebanon, the United States and Israel want NATO member Turkey to contribute troops as they see soldiers from Muslim countries improving the U.N. force's image in the region. Opposition parties accused the government of being a U.S. and Israeli stooge and said Ankara should concentrate on crushing separatist Kurdish rebels, many hiding in north Iraq. Turkey's close ties with Lebanon and Iraq as well as Israel make it unique in the region, and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is keen to boost his country's role as a powerbroker. Erdogan campaigned hard to win support for the deployment, designed to help the United Nations police the ceasefire that halted Israel's 34-day war against Hizbollah on Aug. 14. His AK Party holds 355 seats in the 550-seat assembly. Deputies voted by 340 to 192 in favour of the motion, which needed a simple majority of those attending the extraordinary session to be passed. One person abstained. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told legislators sending troops to Lebanon would help bring peace and stability to the region, a move which would ultimately benefit Turkey. Some deputies said they should be going elsewhere. "(The Israelis) chop people into pieces like cheese in Palestine. Why don't you send peace forces to Palestine?" said Bayram Meral from the main opposition Republican People's Party. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Ankara on Tuesday for talks on beefing up the present 2,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon to 15,000 as mandated by the U.N. Security Council. Turkey plans to contribute a naval force to patrol waters off Lebanon and to help train the Lebanese army. Gul has said they would probably not number more than 1,000 and would not be a combat force. The Turkish army, the second largest in NATO, has long experience of peacekeeping from Kosovo to Afghanistan. Wary of alienating his party's conservative base before elections next year and of a rise in anti-Israeli sentiment, Erdogan has said the troops would pull out if asked to disarm Hizbollah. Turkey is seeking to join the European Union and diplomats say any Turkish involvement in the U.N. force would be welcomed in Brussels.

ITN Source | September 6, 2006

Tags:. .aug. .turkeys. .combat. .israelis. .approves