Turkish government submitted on Wednesday a motion to the parliament asking to extend the mandate of Turkish troops under the banner of UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for another year, reported World Buletin.
The motion, signed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reminded that Turkish troops were allowed to stay for one year in Lebanon under the UN Security Council resolution dated August 11th, 2006 and Turkish parliament's decision on September 5th, 2006.
Turkish troops' mandate in Lebanon was extended on September 5th, 2007 for one year following a decision made by Turkish parliament.
The motion states that Turkey has undertaken an important peace-making role and contributed to land and naval operations assumed by the UNIFIL.
UN Security Council resolution is expected to adopt another resolution in August to extend UNIFIL's mandate which would end on August 31st, 2008, the motion said.