Word: gaza
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...East, promoting itself as a mediator in long-standing conflicts. It achieved a breakthrough in May by bringing together Syria and Israel for their first direct talks in eight years, and it played a role in resolving the dangerous presidential standoff in Lebanon earlier in 2008. (See images of Gaza's agony...
There's a historic echo in the fact that Turkey is being tapped to provide the troops to keep the peace between Israel and the Palestinians in the latest Gaza cease-fire proposals: for hundreds of years, Istanbul was the seat of power for an empire that, among other things, maintained tranquility between Jews, Muslims and Christians in the Holy Land. But since its founding in 1923, modern Turkey has shied away from any involvement with the Muslim world, once ruled by the Ottomans, instead orienting its foreign policy firmly toward the West. The predominantly Muslim nation is officially secular...
...After Israel began its offensive in Gaza 12 days ago, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Arab leaders in Syria, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to promote a cease-fire. He also spoke to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and this week Erdogan's Foreign Minister is promoting truce proposals at the United Nations, where Turkey is starting a two-year term as a member of the Security Council...
...Turkey is the only country in the region with strong military and economic ties to Israel, which supplies Ankara with defense equipment estimated at $100 million annually. The two countries also have a long-established relationship of intelligence cooperation. So, though Erdogan lambasted Israel's Gaza attacks as a "crime against humanity," he also affirmed that long-term relations between the two countries would not suffer...
...area in which Turkey can contribute is by providing troops for a peacekeeping force in the Gaza Strip, where Western monitors might face hostility on the ground. "The military contribution is important," said the Western official. "Turkey has done a good job as part of military contingents in Lebanon and Afghanistan. Their ability to talk to all sides in the conflict [in Gaza] means they have real credibility, and as a NATO member they have a professional military, so [they] are well placed to be effective...