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DIPLOMACY >Turkey extends mandate for troops in Iraq, Syria
ANKARA – Agence-France Presse
Turkey’s parliament on Oct. 1 overwhelmingly approved a one-year extension of an existing mandate to use Turkish troops abroad in Syria and Iraq.
The mandate was first approved by parliament in October 2014 and was renewed for another year in September 2015.
It allows military action in Turkey’s two southern neighbors against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants and other groups deemed by Ankara to be terror organizations.
Using the existing mandate, Turkey on Aug. 24 launched an unprecedented operation inside Syria dubbed Euphrates Shield to back pro-Ankara rebels fighting ISIL militants and the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Ankara is also believed to have an unspecified number of troops in the Bashiqa camp outside ISIL-controlled Mosul in northern Iraq involved in training Iraqi fighters who plan to recapture the city.
The bill passed easily on the first day of the new session of parliament with support from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
Only the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) voted against the bill.
According to the state-run Anadolu Agency, the new mandate will run until Oct. 30, 2017.
In his speech marking the opening of parliament, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the initial goal of the Syria operation was to create a “safe area free of terror organizations” some 5,000 square kilometres in size.
Erdoğan hailed the results of the operation so far in the Syrian town of Jarabulus, saying its population had expanded from 2,000 to 40,000 since being captured from ISIL.
Erdoğan said he believed that Mosul could be taken from ISIL but warned Baghdad and Turkey’s Western allies that Ankara had to be involved in any operation and included in the decision-making process.
“Turkey cannot be left off the table. The others don’t have such a border [with Iraq]. They may want us to stay as spectators but that decision is also going to be made here,” he added.
In December, Turkey said it had sent up to 300 troops to Bashiqa camp to protect Turkish military personnel involved in training Iraqi fighters.
But this sparked a diplomatic row with Baghdad and an unspecified number were pulled back following U.S. pressure to end the row. The current number of troops is unclear.
October/02/2016
ANKARA – Agence-France Presse
Turkey’s parliament on Oct. 1 overwhelmingly approved a one-year extension of an existing mandate to use Turkish troops abroad in Syria and Iraq.
The mandate was first approved by parliament in October 2014 and was renewed for another year in September 2015.
It allows military action in Turkey’s two southern neighbors against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants and other groups deemed by Ankara to be terror organizations.
Using the existing mandate, Turkey on Aug. 24 launched an unprecedented operation inside Syria dubbed Euphrates Shield to back pro-Ankara rebels fighting ISIL militants and the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Ankara is also believed to have an unspecified number of troops in the Bashiqa camp outside ISIL-controlled Mosul in northern Iraq involved in training Iraqi fighters who plan to recapture the city.
The bill passed easily on the first day of the new session of parliament with support from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
Only the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) voted against the bill.
According to the state-run Anadolu Agency, the new mandate will run until Oct. 30, 2017.
In his speech marking the opening of parliament, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the initial goal of the Syria operation was to create a “safe area free of terror organizations” some 5,000 square kilometres in size.
Erdoğan hailed the results of the operation so far in the Syrian town of Jarabulus, saying its population had expanded from 2,000 to 40,000 since being captured from ISIL.
Erdoğan said he believed that Mosul could be taken from ISIL but warned Baghdad and Turkey’s Western allies that Ankara had to be involved in any operation and included in the decision-making process.
“Turkey cannot be left off the table. The others don’t have such a border [with Iraq]. They may want us to stay as spectators but that decision is also going to be made here,” he added.
In December, Turkey said it had sent up to 300 troops to Bashiqa camp to protect Turkish military personnel involved in training Iraqi fighters.
But this sparked a diplomatic row with Baghdad and an unspecified number were pulled back following U.S. pressure to end the row. The current number of troops is unclear.
October/02/2016
