Consecutive security meetings in Ankara have sought the best answers for the Turkish government over its regional role to provide stability and peace in dealing with the growing ISIL problem.
Extant separate motions allowing the army to conduct cross border operations into Iraq and Syria will soon expire, prompting expectations that the government will merge them under one new motion with a broader mandate responding to potential terrorist threats from Turkey’s southern frontier.
The motion is unlikely to name any specific terror organization, including ISIL, but will likely refer to the terror threat in general and will mention Article 92 of the Constitution that provides parliamentary authorization to deploy Turkish troops to another country or to allow the deployment of foreign troops on Turkish territory. The motion is expected to be debated tomorrow but a senior ruling party official said it would be a closed session due to the sensitivity of the issue.
The motion on Syria was adopted in 2012 after tension with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government, which allegedly downed a Turkish fighter in international airspace in June 2012. The motion on Iraq is primarily designed to counter the threat of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), whose headquarters are in northern Iraq.
The Cabinet met under Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu to discuss all the aspects of the Turkish involvement in the anti-ISIL fight with the participation of Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel, who briefed the government about the security situation in the region. While the Cabinet meeting was suspended, Davutoğlu chaired a security summit with the involvement of a few of his ministers and military officials. The Cabinet meetings resumed after the two-hour security summit.
Turkey is under pressure from its closest ally, the United States, to open its military bases and airspace as part of its contribution to the anti-ISIL coalition that includes prominent Western countries and some Arab nations. Turkey is hesitant about pledging an active military contribution, but at the same time, is demanding the establishment of safe havens and a no-fly zone in Syria to ostensibly facilitate its assistance to Syrian refugees fleeing from violence. Turkey is hosting around 1.5 million Syrians on its soil.................http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/strain-in-ankara-over-motions-on-iraq-syria.aspx?pageID=238&nID=72388&NewsCatID=338
30/9/14
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Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has called on Turkey’s political parties to do their duty when they consider parliamentary motions to authorize sending troops into Iraq and Syria....
ReplyDeleteThe Turkish government is to submit two motions to the National General Assembly on Thursday renewing the military’s mandate to operate across the country's southern borders. The motions are also expected to strengthen the authorization to include action against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.
Talking to The Anadolu Agency in New York on Tuesday, Cavusoglu said: "The issue is not only the government's. This is also the parliament's duty to secure the nation's well-being and protect stabilization."
The instability in Iraq and Syria now represents the greatest threat to Turkey, Cavusoglu said. The precarious situation in both countries is caused by the three-year civil war in Syria and ISIL’s campaign to carve out a ‘caliphate’ in the region, which have displaced millions of civilians.
Turkey wants to establish a safe zone for displaced Syrians on the southern side of the border to relieve the burden on Turkey, which has accepted more than 1.5 million refugees since the conflict in Syria began.
Cavusoglu said: "This is a burden that the world and the United Nations should take. It is not fair to expect Turkey to take all the burden itself."
Turning to the evacuation of Turkish workers from Libya on Monday night, Cavusoglu said: "Our ministry helped the evacuation of our citizens successfully and we have helped other countries as well," Cavusoglu said.
The 369 Turkish nationals, who were working on construction projects, were flown to Istanbul on Monday due to the deteriorating security situation in Libya.
http://www.aa.com.tr/en/rss/397624--turkish-fm-politicians-should-do-duty-to-secure-nation