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Turkish soldiers arrive in Beirut to join peacekeeping force

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  • Turkish soldiers arrive in Beirut to join peacekeeping force

    Turkish soldiers arrive in Beirut to join peacekeeping force
    By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer

    The Associated Press
    October 20, 2006 Friday 4:02 PM GMT

    Turkish soldiers arrived Friday in Beirut to join the U.N.
    peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, making Turkey the first Muslim
    country to contribute ground troops since the mission was expanded
    after last summer's war.

    Two military ships docked at 9 a.m. in Beirut's harbor. Turkish
    officials said they carried some 95 soldiers and civilian engineers,
    as well as 46 trucks, four armored personnel carriers and several
    bulldozers and other machinery.

    More soldiers were scheduled to arrive later in the day, bringing the
    number of Turkish soldiers and civilian engineers in Lebanon to 261.
    The troops were expected to deploy near the southern port city of Tyre
    to help rebuild bridges and roads damaged in the summer's 34-day war
    between Hezbollah and Israel.

    The conflict ended Aug. 14 after a U.N.-brokered cease-fire resolution
    that calls for an expanded international peacekeeping force to create
    a weapons-free zone in the south.

    A Turkish government spokesman said earlier this month that the total
    number of Turkish personnel in Lebanon would ultimately reach 681,
    including sailors and engineers. A vanguard of seven Turkish military
    officers arrived in Beirut earlier this week, and a Turkish frigate
    is already helping patrol Lebanese waters.

    Turkey is NATO's only predominantly Muslim member, and the country
    has close ties to both Israel and Arab states. Its contribution to the
    peacekeeping force was met with opposition in the Turkish parliament,
    where some lawmakers feared Turkish troops would be drawn into fighting
    against fellow Muslims to protect Israel.

    Armenians in Lebanon also protested Turkish participation in the
    peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, because they blame Turkey's
    Ottoman rulers for the mass killing of Armenians in the early 20th
    century.

    Many of Lebanon's Armenian residents fled Turkey.

    Turkish peacekeeping troops have served in Bosnia and Kosovo and have
    led operations in Somalia and Afghanistan.
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