Turkey mulls contribution to UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon

15/08/2006

Signalling again its readiness to join a proposed UN-led peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Turkey decided on Monday to wait for a new Security Council resolution that will shed more light on the mission's mandate before committing troops.

(The New York Times, The Guardian - 15/08/06; AFP, AP, FT, AKI, EUobserver, NTV MSNBC, Turkish Press, Turkish Daily News, Zama, Hurriyet, Journal of Turkish Weekly - 14/08/06)

Turkey will send troops to Lebanon after a new UN Security Council decision is issued, according to officials. [Getty Images]

Hours after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and top government and military officials met on Monday (14 August) to discuss the country's possible contribution to a proposed UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon.

In recent weeks, Turkey has repeatedly expressed its readiness to join an international mission to stabilise Lebanon. After almost two hours of discussions Monday, however, officials decided to wait until the force's mandate is clarified before committing troops.

A statement issued after the meeting welcomed UN Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted unanimously on Friday. Turkey, it added, was "evaluating its role" in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which has been in place since 1978 and currently numbers 2,000 troops, but -- as proposed by the Council -- is due to expand to a 15,000-strong force.

The peacekeepers are expected to keep Hezbollah fighters out of a 30km-wide zone between the Blue Line -- the border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel, drawn by the UN in 1978 -- and the Litani River in Lebanon.

Under Friday's resolution, the Lebanese government and UNIFIL are expected to begin deploying their forces together throughout southern Lebanon, in parallel with the Israeli forces' withdrawal from the region.

Intense international efforts are under way to secure troop commitments and establish the mandate of the expanded UNIFIL.

"A new resolution to be adopted at the UN Security Council in the coming days is expected to bring more clarity" as regards the terms of the planned deployment, the AFP quoted Erdogan's office as saying in a statement Monday. "Turkey will consider its possible contributions to finding a permanent resolution to the problem (in Lebanon) in the light of developments."

The meeting at Erdogan's office was attended by Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul, outgoing Chief of General Staff Hilmi Ozkok and his successor, Land Forces Commander Yasar Buyukanit, who takes office shortly.

A report in the Turkish daily Hurriyet on Monday suggested that Turkey, which has friendly relations with both Israel and Lebanon, was considering contributing a non-combat force of between 800 and 1,200 troops with a strictly peacekeeping role.

Any decision on a Turkish contribution to UNIFIL will require a cabinet decree and its approval by parliament.

France, whose General Allain Pellegrini is the current commander of UNIFIL, is expected to retain responsibility for the force after its expansion. France is reportedly planning to contribute the largest contingent of about 5,000 troops, while Italy is expected to send between 2,000 and 3,000. Other countries considered likely to contribute troops include Australia, Finland, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain.

Britain has ruled out any significant contributions. Germany has not decided yet, but has said it would only contribute non-combat troops.