Thousands of Turks protest against Lebanon mission

ANKARA, Sep 5 (Reuters) Thousands of protesters today took to the streets of Turkey's capital to urge parliament to reject government plans to send hundreds of troops to join a U N peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon.

Deputies were expected to approve the motion later but there was concern among many in the Muslim but secular country the U N force would mainly serve Israeli and U S interests and that soldiers may have to fire at fellow Muslims. The left was also vehemently opposed.

''We will not become Israeli soldiers'' and ''Murderer USA get out of the Middle East'' chanted leftists protesting in a street near parliament. Several demonstrators were detained by police.

The parliamentary debate was delayed by several hours after legislators quarrelled over a time limit for speeches.

But there not the scale of public opposition that was seen in 2003 when legislators rejected a government plan to allow U S forces to use Turkey as a staging post to invade Iraq. The decision led to a cooling in U S-Turkey relations.

Lebanon, the United States and Israel want NATO member Turkey to contribute troops and see soldiers from Muslim countries improving the U N force's image in the region.

Opposition parties accused the government of being a US and Israeli stooge and said Ankara should concentrate on crushing separatist Kurdish rebels, many hiding in north Iraq.

UNIQUE POSITION Turkey's close ties with Lebanon and Iraq as well as Israel make it unique in the region, and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is keen to boost his country's role as a powerbroker in the West Asia.

Erdogan has campaigned hard to win support for the deployment. His AK Party holds 355 seats in the 550-seat assembly.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told legislators that sending troops to Lebanon would help bring peace and stability to the region, a move which would ultimately benefit Turkey.

''(The Israelis) chop people into pieces like cheese in Palestine. Why don't you send peace forces to Palestine?'' said Bayram Meral, a deputy of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).

Today's vote comes amid a rise in anti-Israeli sentiment in Turkey. Members of the AK Party, whose leadership has roots in political Islam, have lambasted Israel for its war against Lebanese Hizbollah guerrillas.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan was due to arrive in Ankara on Tuesday for talks on the Lebanon peacekeeping force.

Turkey plans to contribute a naval force to patrol waters off Lebanon and to help train the Lebanese army. Gul has said the troops would probably not number more than 1,000 and would not be a combat force.

The Turkish army, the second largest in NATO, has long experience of peacekeeping from Kosovo to Afghanistan.

The U N force will be deployed in southern Lebanon to help enforce a truce that halted Israel's 34-day war against Hizbollah on August 14.

''We have no children to send to protect Israel,'' said Suleyman Saribas, a deputy of opposition party ANAP.

Wary of alienating his party's conservative base before national elections next year and a rise in nationalist sentiment, Erdogan has said Turkish troops would pull out if asked to disarm Hizbollah.

Diplomats say involvement in the U N force by Turkey, which is seeking to join the European Union, would be welcomed in Brussels.

REUTERS SHB HT2300