Turkish officials say they are ready to join the Gaza stabilization force, calling Israel’s resistance ‘politically motivated’ and insisting that their participation is essential to the ceasefire.
ed note–please see the commentary on this here
Jpost
The Turkish military is ready to send troops to the Gaza Strip as part of the International Stabilization Force (ISF), Turkish security sources cited across Turkish media claimed on Tuesday.
‘We have no problem with the troops being sent to Gaza to join the ISF. The Americans also very much want us there, while Israel opposes it. The Americans are pressuring Israel to have Turkish troops as part of the force,’ sources were cited as saying.
Turkish security sources affirmed that as a guarantor of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, and as a signatory to the peace process, they ‘must be there.’
‘Our forces are ready. We have prepared all the necessary units. The moment the order is given, we will immediately form a modular unit,’ the sources were cited as saying.
‘You cannot say that ‘Turkish troops cannot come’ when it is clear that Turkey is one of the countries that worked the hardest to establish the ceasefire and coordinated the exchange [of hostages for Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons],’ the sources added.
‘If you say ‘Turkish troops cannot come,’ then you do not want this mission [the ceasefire process and the ISF] to succeed. You intend to continue to genocide,’ they accused.
Turkish FM: Not advancing Gaza ceasefire plan would be ‘huge failure’ for US, world
On Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan spoke to Reuters on the sidelines of the Doha Forum, saying that not advancing the US-backed Gaza ceasefire plan to the next stage would be a ‘huge failure’ for the world and Washington.
A credible Palestinian civil administration and a vetted, trained police force needed to be in place to allow Hamas to disarm, and that the group was prepared to hand over control of the Gaza Strip, he added.
‘First of all, we need to see that the Palestinian committee of technical people is taking over the administration of Gaza, then we need to see that the police force is being formed to police Gaza – again, by the Palestinians, not Hamas,’ he said.
Turkey is still hopeful that Israel will allow its troops to participate in the International Stabilization Force’s implementation in Gaza, Israel’s public broadcaster KAN News reported late last month.
Before that, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was still evaluating whether to deploy its security forces to an international stabilization force being planned for Gaza, adding that a decision would be made after these discussions.
NATO member Turkey has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s assault on Gaza. It played a key role in brokering the ceasefire agreement and signing it as a guarantor. It has repeatedly expressed its willingness to join efforts to monitor the accord’s implementation, a move Israel strongly opposes.
On November 25, Turkish spy chief Ibrahim Kalin met with Qatar’s prime minister and foreign affairs minister in Cairo to discuss transitioning to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal and increasing joint efforts in coordination with the US. Egypt’s General Intelligence Service Director, Hassan Rashad, was present as well.
During the meeting, they also agreed to continue strengthening coordination and cooperation with the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) to remove obstacles to sustaining the ceasefire and prevent violations.