Turkey's parliament awaits motions on Iraq and Syria

ANKARA

by Emin Avundukluoğlu

The Turkish government is to submit two motions to parliament to authorize the deployment of troops to Syria and Iraq, the ruling Justice and Development Party said.

The proposals will be debated on Thursday, the day after the Grand National Assembly returns from its summer recess and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan makes his first inaugural speech.

Mustafa Elitas, a deputy group chairman of the Justice and Development Party, said the party’s leaders would iron out the details of the proposals before consulting with opposition parties.

Speaking to AA on Monday, he added: "The motions will be submitted probably tomorrow. Tomorrow we will also discuss whether we will debate the motions in an open or closed parliamentary session." 

The military is currently authorized to cross into Iraq and Syria by parliament to defend Turkey against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party and the forces of Syrian regime. These mandates expire on October 4 and October 17 respectively.

It is expected the new motions will extend the mandates for a year and possibly allow the military greater flexibility, for example, to tackle the threat posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

A U.S.-led coalition launched airstrikes against ISIL targets in Syria last week and U.S. President Barack Obama has pledged to build deeper international support for the campaign.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. expected Turkey to join the fight against ISIL following the rescue of Turkish hostages in Iraq.

On Monday, Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said the motions would be “extensive” and address to every possible security issue. “I can say the new motions will be different in a few aspects than the previous ones,” he said.

Turkey has called on the U.S. to produce a comprehensive strategy for Iraq and Syria that would also remove President Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria.

www.aa.com.tr/en