Tashnag reaction to the deployment of Turkish troops in Lebanon

[Davo88]

Other countries named as possible members of the force include Italy, Germany, the Scandinavian countries, Indonesia, Malaysia and Turkey. However with regard to the latter, Turkey's Armenian political party Tashnak released a statement announcing its opposition to Turkey joining the peace-keeping force in Lebanon. The party said Turkey had committed genocide against the Armenian people in the last century, and that 4 percent of Lebanon's citizens are Armenians, who the party said have no real political power. Tashnak said its opposition also stemmed from the fact that Turkey had military agreements with Israel.

source: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/751447.html

What do you think? Do you think that it's OK for Turkey to send troops to Lebanon if they are to stay in the south, away from Armenians?

[Otto3]

Re: Tashnag reaction to the deployment of Turkish troops in Lebanon

i dont know much about the issue but turkish army will not pose a threat to armenian population in the area... and why would they?

[Armenian]

Re: Tashnag reaction to the deployment of Turkish troops in Lebanon

I oppose Turkish troops in Lebanon for two fundamental reasons.

1) For the simple reason that they are Turks

2) Because they have close relations with the Zionist State.

However, if they are deployed, it will be an opportunity for Armenians to kill a few of them. So in that light, I guess its a positive development after all.

And look at this. Israel is royally pissed because it had to fight an enemy that had 'real' arms - instead of the sticks and stones made famous during the Palestinian intifada. So, what do they do, they ask their Turkish friends to remedy the problem.

Israel wants Turkey to impose blockade on Iranian arms

Israel wants the Turkish military to impose an air and ground embargo to prevent Iran using Turkish territory to send arms to resupply Hezbollah, a senior Israeli security source said on Thursday. Israeli intelligence believes that nearly all of the heavy weapons that Iran has provided to Hezbollah passed through Turkish ground or airspace en route to Syria and then Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon, security sources said.

A UN-brokered truce to end a month of fighting between Israel and the Lebanese guerrillas went into effect on Monday. The UN resolution called for an arms embargo against Hezbollah, which fired nearly 4,000 rockets at northern Israel, but did not spell out how it would be enforced. The sources said Turkey was key because alternative arms shipment routes through Iraq and Jordan have been blocked. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because talks with the Turkish government were just getting under way.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev declined to comment specifically on the role that might be played by Turkey, a NATO member which maintains good ties with both Israel and Arab states. But Regev said: "Successful implementation of the international arms embargo is the litmus test of the success of the UN effort in Lebanon." Turkish officials had no immediate comment.

Israeli sources said at least two Iranian planes have been forced to land in Turkey in recent weeks after Israel told the Turkish military that they were carrying arms for Hezbollah. The Hurriyet newspaper in Turkey said the planes were searched and no weapons were found. Israel believes arms, including long-range rockets, have traveled across Turkish territory to Syria, before being shipped by land, sea or air to Lebanon, the sources said.

"We are urging Turkey to take all possible steps to prevent the transfer of arms from Iran to Syria to resupply Hezbollah," a senior Israeli security source said. "The very future of the embargo rests on their [Turkey's] shoulders." Amman has already barred Iranian shipments from passing through Jordanian airspace, Israeli security sources said. Western diplomats said U.S. forces are preventing Iranian shipments from passing through Iraq.

"We may be facing in the next few days a Syrian attempt to resupply Hezbollah with rockets. What do we do? If we allow it to go in, this will be a defeat for Israel," an Israeli security source said. Israeli officials have said the army will be entitled to use force if necessary to prevent arms convoys from entering Lebanon despite the ceasefire. Officials said such operations, which could include air strikes, are "defensive" in nature and therefore permissible under the UN Security Council resolution that called for Israel to halt "all offensive military operations."

Turkey is expected to commit troops to a UN force in Lebanon which Israel hopes will help enforce the arms embargo. Muslim Turkey has the second biggest army in NATO and has long experience of peacekeeping from Afghanistan to Kosovo. Officials have estimated that between 75 percent and 80 percent of Hezbollah's long-range rockets have been destroyed, though some Western diplomats were skeptical of the initial Israeli damage assessments. The Iranian-supplied Zelzal-2 missiles have been Israel's main strategic concern. They have a range of 210 km, putting the Israeli commercial capital Tel Aviv within reach. During the recent fighting, Hezbollah fired an Iranian-supplied C-802 missile at an Israeli navy vessel off Beirut, killing four sailors.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/751778.html

[Fedayeen]

Re: Tashnag reaction to the deployment of Turkish troops in Lebanon

WTF...they should deploy them to Isreal to fight next to IDF

[Thai-Samurai]

Re: Tashnag reaction to the deployment of Turkish troops in Lebanon

they should deploy them up their own butt !! hahahha !! does anyone else think that ones funy!? huh wow I do hahahahah!!!>

[Davo88]

Re: Tashnag reaction to the deployment of Turkish troops in Lebanon

I think Turkey shouldn't participate because it is an ally of Israel, not a neutral force.