TURKS LEAN TOWARD SENDING TROOPS FOR UNIFIL
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Daily Star – Lebanon
Aug. 28, 2006
Cabinet has approved move in principle, will ask parliament to ratify
The Turkish government agreed in principle on Monday to contribute
troops to an expanded United Nations Interim Force in South Lebanon
(UNIFIL). "The issue of the UN peacekeeping force was discussed and
it was decided in principle that we participate in the mission,"
Justice Minister Cemil Cicek told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
NATO member Turkey has good ties with both Israel and the Arab
states. The United States, Israel and Lebanon have all urged Ankara
to take part in the peacekeeping force. The Turkish government will
ask Parliament to reconvene this week or next to approve the troop
deployment, but no details of its size were revealed Monday.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is keen to boost
Turkey’s role in the Middle East but has been concerned about the
UN force’s rules of engagement. Some AKP lawmakers are worried that
Turkish troops may be asked to help disarm Hizbullah and could get
dragged into the conflict with Israel.
However, the Tashnak Party, which represents many members of the
Armenian community in Lebanon, reiterated its opposition to Turkish
participation.
During a visit to the Cypriot and French embassies in Beirut, a
delegation from the party said the Armenians in Lebanon "rejected
the presence of the Turkish Army in Lebanon." It also submitted
documentation of the military and strategic alliance between Turkey
and Israel.
Also Monday, the Italian Cabinet approved the deployment of 2,500
troops to join the expanded UNIFIL. It also approved a $38 million
aid package for Lebanon.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has asked Italy to command the Lebanon
force as of February 2007, when France’s term is set to expire.
Italian General Fabrizio Castagnetti will head the mission’s new
strategic command center from the peacekeeping department at UN
headquarters in New York.
The Italian decision also authorized a $240 million budget for 2006
operations.
"In the coming hours we will initiate the complex logistics for
the deployment of the Italian forces," Foreign Minister Massimo
D’Alema said.
The Italian Defense Ministry had said earlier in the day that a naval
task force was already being assembled to transport some 1,000 troops
to Lebanon, including marines and engineering corps specialists.
The task force, led by the aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi, is
scheduled to set sail Tuesday and reach the Lebanese coast on Friday.
Spain is also preparing to send troops to Lebanon. Spanish Defense
Minister Jose Antonio Alonso will go before Parliament next week
to explain his government’s possible contribution to the emerging
international peacekeeping force in Lebanon, the ministry said Monday.
Alonso will make his case on September 7, but it is not yet known if
there will be a vote the same day, the ministry said.
The Socialist government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero
is reportedly considering sending up to 1,000 troops to the new force
being created to monitor a buffer zone in South Lebanon after 34 days
of war. – With agencies