Turkey to ask parliaments approval for Lebanon mission
Güncelleme Tarihi:
The Turkish government will ask parliament Friday to approve a motion authorizing the deployment of peacekeeping troops to Lebanon, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said. The motion will be sent to parliament in a little while today and it will be discussed on Tuesday," Gul said in televised remarks.
The cabinet announced its intention to contribute a contingent to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) earlier this week and said it would call lawmakers back early from summer recess to discuss the deployment on September 5.
It is up to the parliament speaker to decide the exact date for the debate and vote on the motion.
It is not yet clear how many troops will be sent, when they will leave or where they will serve.
Government spokesman Cemil Cicek said Tuesday that Turkish soldiers would serve for at least a year, and that their mandate might be extended if needed.
The governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) holds an absolute majority in the 550-seat Turkish parliament, making it highly likely that the motion will be adopted.
World leaders have expressed hope that UNIFIL would include troops from Muslim countries including Turkey in order to raise its credibility among Muslim Lebanese, but Ankaras decision to deploy soldiers has sparked criticism at home from as high up as President Ahmet Necdet Sezer.
There is also significant public opposition to the planned deployment on the grounds that Turkish soldiers could come under hostile fire or engage in fighting with fellow Muslims.
Several Turkish newspapers reported that under UN rules of engagement, UNIFIL peacekeepers can be asked to "unarm armed individuals or groups", in other words the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah militia.
But Gul denied the reports that Turkish troops will be responsible for disarming Helzbollah.
"As you will see clearly in the motion we will send to parliament today, there will no operation such as unarming an armed group," he said.
"Turkish soldiers will not go there to fight. They will go there only to protect peace, organise and facilitate humanitarian missions there."
He underlined that Turkish soldiers would have weapons only to protect themselves.
"Undoubtedly, the soldiers will have the authority to protect themselves. Otherwise they will be in danger," Gul said.