Dont Send Soldiers to Lebanon

The group made public their letter in a press conference held at Istanbul's Hill Hotel which coincided with a meeting held at the Turkish Prime Ministry where recent developments in the Middle East were discussed by senior state officials.

Other then representatives of trade and bar associations and unions, intellectuals Adalet Agaoglu, Nuray Mert, Turkan Saylan, Gencay Gursoy, Tayfun Mater, Ergin Cinmen, Suleyman Celebi, Mehmet Guleryuz, Prof. Dr. Erol Katircioglu, Kazim Kolcuoglu, Bulent Tuna, Prof. Dr. Tahsin Yesildere and Sevgi Goyce were among those attending the conference alongside supporting Turkish authors and artists.

The open letter was read out by Prof.Dr. Saylan who addressed the people of Israel and the United States saying, "all of the people who live in the region have the right to live in peace and freedom in their own countries. Stop the savagery and massacre created in the Middle East".

What is being requested from the government?

* Heal the wounds of the Palestinian and Lebanese people, increase and expediting humanitarian and medical aid.

* Stay away from aggressive forces and interventions that aim to drag Turkey into the swamp through requests to send soldiers to the region and similar appeals.

* Do not participate in the crime for whatever reason it may be, do not make our country or people an accomplice of this humanitarian crime.

Baydar: Turkey cannot be an accomplice to this crime

Of the signatories, author Oya Baydar said that in her opinion it was possible for the recent cease-fire in the region to survive for a while without being violated.

But, she added, "due to the position Israel has ended up in world public opinion, it will attempt for Hezbollah to be the side that violates the cease-fire. Whether Hezbollah falls into this ploy or accept the cease-fire that in whole is on the side of the USA and Israel is something we do not know for now".

Baydar believes the cease-fire was declared in order to calm the concerns of various countries, including Turkey, so that a peace corps could be sent to the region. "They are saying, 'here you go, here is the cease-fire' for you".

According to Baydar "if Turkey sends troops to the region, it will become a supporter of both the Bush gang that seeks world domination and the Israeli war apparatus that is a pawn of the USA. Furthermore, it will end up as a criminal accomplice".

"Because", she argues, "The true function of the Peace Corpse is to suppess Palestine and Lebanon, to assist the expansion of the borders and influence of Israel".

"Had the precondition of a cease-fire been Israel's withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders, recognition of the legitimate administrations elected to power in Palestine and Lebanon, then the conditions would have been different".

Gursoy: Turkey should not enter this swamp

Turkey's Bar Association Union (TBB) chairman Gencay Gursoy said, meanwhile, that there was no reason for Turkey to enter the war in the Middle East, a region he dubbed as "a swamp".

"Everything should be done for humanitarian aid, solidarity with the Palestinian and Lebanese people, if required for the repair of the infrastructure and specifically in the field of health" he said. "But sending troops in these conditions is something we are definitely against".

Gursoy added that the limits of the cease-fire were still not clear and that there were very genuine concerns that despite the cease-fire, Israel would continue its attacks.

Agaoglu calls for humanitarian aid

Turkish writer Adalet Agaoglu said the issue at hand needed to be approached in multiple ways and that sending troops to the region could be disadvantageous to the country.

"I believe that the 'humanitarian' side of humanitarian aid should not be forgotten. One needs to look at the sociological and social dimensions of the issue. It does not make sense to act just to be heroes and say we are here".

Mater: Peace-activists should act

Mater believes that Israel and the USA are determined to drag Turkey into the affair and wanted 2 thousand out of a total of 15 thousand troops to come from this country.

"The Turkish people do not want to send soldiers" he said, adding that the agenda in Turkey should be the prevention of troop deployment to Lebanon.

"Let us not forget the 1 March decision not to send soldiers to Iraq. Our children did not return to their country in coffins. Now it is in the hands of peace activists to prevent coffins from coming back from Lebanon".

Those who undersigned the letter that condemns Israel were:

Adalet Agaoglu (novelist), Yusuf Alatas (Chair of Human Rights Association), Prof. Dr. Ulku Azrak, Oya Baydar (writer), Helsinki Citisentship Asemmbly's Prof. Dr. Murat Belge, Ibrahim Betil, Aydin Cingi (Social Democracy Foundation), lawyer Ergin Cinmen, Suleyman Celebi (Chair of the Confederation of the Revulationary Trade Union), Prof. Dr. Aysel Celikel (Istanbul University Law Faculty), Prof. Dr. Ayse Erzan (Istanbul Technical Faculty), Painter Mehmet Guleryuz, Prof. Dr. Gencay Gursoy (Chair of the Turkish Physicians Union), Prof. Dr. Erdal Inonu, Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Kaboglu, Ercan Karakas, Prof. Dr. Erol Katircioglu, Kâzim Kolcuoglu, Tayfun Mater, Doc.Dr. Nuray Mert, Prof. Dr. Turkel Minibas, Prof. Dr. Baskin Oran, Yavuz Onen, Prof. Dr. Turkan Saylan, Prof. Dr. Burhan Senatalar, Prof. Dr. Turgut Tarhanli, Ismail Hakki Tombul, Bulent Tuna, Prof. Dr. Tahsin Yesildere. (EZO/TK/II/YE)