ANKARA, Aug 25: Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said on Friday he is opposed to his country contributing troops to the enlarged UN force in Lebanon, television channels reported.
Mr Sezer said he disagreed with the proposed rules of engagement for the UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) force and that he preferred Turkey to make a humanitarian contribution, NTV and CNN-Turk reported.
Turkey has its own security problems in its fight against separatist Kurdish rebel group PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party), making an overseas deployment untimely, the president said at a military ceremony in Ankara.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government said last month that it could send troops to Lebanon but has since said the deployment remained under discussion.
Turkish foreign ministry representatives have said UNIFIL’s rules of engagement need to be clarified by the UN and have insisted that the disarmament of Hezbollah should not be part of the force’s mission.
World leaders have expressed hope that the enlarged UNIFIL force would include a significant contribution from Muslim countries, including Turkey, in order to raise its credibility among Muslim Lebanese.
Mr Sezer, a leading secular figure in Turkey, has already clashed several times with the Islamic-leaning Erdogan, including refusing to approve laws backed by parliament.
The foreign deployment of Turkish troops has to be decided by government decree and approved by parliament, and the president cannot use his veto.—AFP
