Turkey To Send Troops to Lebanon

The decision was taken by 340 deputies voting in favor of the motion and 192 against, with one abstention, as over 10 thousand protestors gathered on the streets of Ankara to voice opposition in wake of nation-wide protests against troop deployment abroad.

Tuesday's parliamentary debate started after a three hour delay with opposition deputies using every tactic to holdup the vote and witnessed severe arguments between members of parliament. All parties voiced opposition to the motion while the AKP was adamant to press ahead.

The decree passed by Parliament foresees the sending of Turkish troops to Lebanon and for necessary arrangements to be made for this by the government. It does not specify how many troops will be sent is valid only for a year. But hundreds of soldiers are expected to be deployed as part of the United Nations Interim Forces In Lebanon (UNIFIL) as "maritime service forces" and conduct patrolling duties.

AKP plays deaf to protests

Simultaneous to the eventful vote in Parliament where some opposition deputies accused the government for playing into the hands of a United States plot to create a Greater Middle East in the interests of Israel and others suggested it was a sell-out, more than 10,000 protestors met on the streets of Ankara saying no to the decree.

Despite a governor's ban on the rally that was announced prior to the event, protestors gathering under the placard "We will not be soldiers of Israel" met at the Kurtulus Park in the morning and marched from there to the city's central zone of Kizilay.

The protest heard a number of slogans against the United States and Israel and a statement read on behalf of the organizations that supported the rally accused the government of "dragging Turkey into an endless adventure".

The statement read by Public Workers Unions Confederation chairman Ismail Hakki Tombul said the government had turned deaf to all criticism on the issue and charged that sending troops to Lebanon would mean being a part of the war policies of the USA and Israel.

As members of parliament voted at a distance Tombul warned that even if the decree was passed, organizations saying no to troop deployment would as of this week launch a new campaign for the withdrawal of any troops sent. (KO/TK/II/YE)