The New Anatolian, Turkey
Aug 29 2006
Opinions
Do we have to go to Lebanon?
by Nursun Erel
In Turkish there is an expression "to be like a muhtar (district
official)," which is used to describe people who know a lot about
everything and who always get firsthand information. Yesterday I had
to visit our district muhtar for some paperwork, and he knows that I’m
a journalist so the moment I entered his office he started talking:
"Congratulations to Recep Bey (meaning Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan) on his success, as the Cabinet decided to send our troops to
Lebanon. But I have an idea, would you be interested in hearing it?"
I said yes, so he went on:
"Let’s first convince all the Justice and Development (AK) Party
deputies in Parliament and then all the AK Party members in Turkey to
have their sons take part in the peacekeeping force. If they really
think that this would bring some prestige to Turkey’s image, let them
do this first."
He continued in that vein while preparing my papers. Without
commenting on his words, I thanked him and left his office. I took a
taxi afterwards. The driver had just been reading from daily Bugun,
whose headline that day read, "Mehmetcik gidiyor" (Turkish soldiers
are going). As he drove me to the office he said, "Sister, how come
the prime minister dares to do such a thing? If his son was a soldier,
do you think he would send him there?"
Just two of these anecdotes are enough to understand the Turkish
public’s opinion towards the new task to be given soon to Turkish
soldiers. The AK Party heads expect some gains from such an action,
especially from their foreign colleagues, but I’m afraid they will
lose much in the eyes of the people.
Also, I don’t believe that this is going to be easy for the
government; I mean the motion debate is expected to be tough in
Parliament because I keep on hearing negative assessments from many AK
Party deputies. Parliament Foreign Affairs Commission head Mehmet
Dulger’s words (in TNA Monday) were very clear:
"Turkish soldiers may face resistance in Lebanon because we’re Sunni
but the Lebanese are mostly Shiite. Plus there are all kind of
extremist minorities in Lebanon like Armenians and Greek Orthodox
groups. They would never welcome a Turkish presence in Lebanon. This
is a kind of a war that was almost predestined, developed and
strategically designed long ago. The U.S. is one the players, and it’s
clear this is part of their grand plan for the Mideast. More and more
Turkish and American interests in the region are at odds, our policies
and theirs on the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Israeli
aggression, and Iran and Syria aren’t parallel. So once we work with
the U.S., our interests are being harmed. The U.S. could be here for
50 years but our neighbors will always be there."
Trying to asses all these different opinions, I wanted to talk to
military men too so I called up a retired air force general. Once upon
a time he actively served the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), even as a
jet pilot. He was known for his courageous stance, but on the Lebanon
issue his views were surprisingly contrary to the others. This is
what he had to say to me:
"I don’t share the opinions that going to Lebanon would be harmful for
us. On the contrary, I believe that it’s essential for Turkey. Why?
Haven’t we sent our troops to various places in the world before, even
to Afghanistan and Somalia? But Lebanon is closer to us; it’s our
neighbor so it would be a sin to avoid such a historic task.
"What about President Sezer’s words? Well they first surprised me
because I thought maybe such a negative decision was taken on National
Security Council (MGK) grounds. But then I noted that the task given
to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) wasn’t clear
enough at the time, perhaps he thought Turkish troops would
riskclashes in Lebanon. Later it became clearer that the task is only
a peacekeeping responsibility. On the other hand, Lebanese society is
not so dependent on religious or ethnic identities and that is why I
don’t share the fears of some that Turkish soldiers will face
resistance from Shiites.
"Also it is quite obvious that the U.S. is trying to rearrange the
Middle East and they want Turkey to actively take part in such a
project. I firmly believe that Turkey mustn’t be an outsider in the
project. Sooner or later a new Middle East will be created and if we
take part in these efforts now, in the future we will have a say too.
"Lastly, there can’t be any question about the position of the
TSK. They are under the orders of the Turkish government. Once the
task is given they will try to carry it out to the best of their
ability, no matter who commands the Chief of Staff. As far as I can
see, the TSK is ready for such a task."