Ertugrul Ozkok:Even the Armenian MPs want us in Lebanon
Hurriyet, Turkey
Aug. 18, 2006
What will happen if Turkish soldiers take up a position in the United
Nations peace-keeping force headed for Lebanon? How will the people
of Lebanon react?
The most meaningful answer to this came during Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul’s visit to Beirut this week; it came during a dramatic
moment at a dinner for four foreign ministers given by Prime Minister
Fuat Siniora.
*****
The dinner given by Siniora took place in a large salon in the Prime
Ministerial buildings in Beirut. The beauty of the salon apparently
touched everyone present at the dinner. The Lebanese Prime Minister
Siniora placed Gul at the same table as the French Foreign Minister
as well as ministers from both Pakistan and Malasyia. There were also
9 ministers present from the Lebanese cabinet. They were sitting at
different tables throughout the salon. Siniora said to Gul at the
dinner "Yours was the first civilian airplane to land at the Beirut
Airport following the start of the war."
*****
The most important topic at the meal was the peace-keeping force to
be sent to Lebanon. PM Siniora underlined that, as far as he was
concerned, it was a necessity for Turkish soldiers to be present in
that force. When Gul asked Siniora how the Lebanese people would
react to the presence of Turkish soldiers, the answer he received was
"Even the Armenian minister on our cabinet wants the Turkish soldiers
to come." The French minister in particular was surprised by these
words. But before this sense of surprise could pass, Siniora pulled
another trick out of his hat: he called over the Armenian cabinet
minister, who happened to be one of the 9 Lebanese ministers present,
to the table where Gul was sitting. Holding the Armenian minister’s
arm, Siniora asked "You also want the Turkish soldiers to come, don’t
you?" The Armenian minister answered in the affirmative. Of course,
this did surprise the Turkish authorities present in the salon,
especially since only that same morning, the Lebanon-based Armenian
Tashnak Party had issued a declaration announcing that it was against
the arrival of Turkish soldiers as a part of a possible peace-keeping
force.
In Lebanon, where the Armenians number around 120 thousand, the
Tashnak Party holds 6 seats in the Armenian Parliament. Clearly the
Armenian minister and the Tashnak declaration were at odds. It is
impossible to know whether the Armenian minister was speaking out of
the need to be polite, or in all honesty. Interestingly, Gul told
reporters at the meal who witnessed this exchange that Ankara was
"not taking seriously" the claims that the Armenian lobby in the US
was trying to prevent the Turkish soldiers from coming to Lebanon.
******
But going further, what do the Lebanese Shiites and in particular the
Hizbollah think of this all? Of the 9 government ministers present at
the dinner, 5 were Shiites known to be Hizbollah supporters. The
Shiite Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nebih Berri, answered the
question of how it was that the Lebanese Shiite community viewed the
potential arrival of Turkish soldiers in their country. Said Berri to
Gul at the dinner: "I speak in the name of the Shiites in Lebanon. We
want from our hearts that the Turkish soldiers participate in the
peace-keeping forces."
*****
These are some of the behind-the-curtains events from Gul’s visit to
Beirut two days ago. And so, what will we say after all this to the
idea of our soldiers going to Lebanon? I don’t know what other people
think, but I have shared my views on this before: the Turkish
soldiers must join in the peace-keeping mission in Lebanon. We should
all prepare ourselves to think like this. The CHP is, however, is
against this. Which is why I want to remind them of this: even Spain
and Italy, who are busy withdrawing their military forces from Iraq,
are preparing to send their forces to Lebanon.
*****
Turkey is the strongest and most effective country in the region.
It must fulfill its duties on this round. But it must also take care
to minimize the risks for its soldiers on this mission. If only the
political opposition in Ankara would see fit to be helpful on this
front, our soldiers would go off with much more boosted morales.
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