Government Seeks Approval From Parliament For Foreign Troops In Turkey

In a move demonstrating its commitment to the US-led coalition against the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Turkish government has submitted a motion to Parliament asking for authorization to send Turkish troops abroad and allowing significant foreign troop deployments on Turkish territory for the first time.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu's government submitted a motion related to Iraq and Syria to Parliament late on Tuesday, most likely to minimize press coverage and long debates on the issue due to the sensitivity of allowing substantial foreign troop deployments in the country for the first time.

There had previously been separate motions related to Turkish troops entering Iraq and Syria, but they did not include mention of foreign troop deployments on Turkish territory. However, instead of renewing the authority granted in those two motions that is about to expire this month, the government merged them into a single motion.

The new and controversial motion also asks Parliament to allow foreign troops to use Turkish territory, including military bases, to conduct cross-border military operations against ISIL.

Parliament is expected to debate and vote on the motion on Thursday. “If there is a request for a closed session, we will consider it," Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç told journalists on Tuesday, after a Cabinet meeting led by Prime Minister Davutoğlu.

The government seeks parliamentary approval before the legislature breaks this weekend for Eid al-Adha.

Arınç said the government had evaluated the threats and decided to merge the separate motions, enabling the government to immediately take necessary measures.

The motion gives the Turkish government the authority to send troops to foreign countries and to allow foreign troops use Turkish territory for one year.

The swift advance of the ISIL militants and their coming within sight of Turkish military positions on the Syria border has forced Turkey to join the military and financial campaign of the US-led coalition which aims to destroy ISIL. The US has been working on forming a multinational coalition against the ISIL threat.

Last year, the government sent two separate motions to Parliament that requested the ability to send Turkish troops abroad due to the grim situation on Turkey's southern borders and the influx of refugees, and both motions received Parliament's approval. Just last week, Prime Minister Davutoğlu said that his government would send a renewed request for these two separate motions this year as well, but the motions related to Iraq, Syria and foreign troops were all merged into one.

The ISIL militants are reportedly advancing toward the tomb of Süleyman Şah, the burial place of the grandfather of the Osman l, the founder of the Ottoman Empire. The tomb in Syria is the only Turkish territory outside of Turkey's borders and Turkish soldiers guard the tomb. Turkey previously made clear that any attack against this area will be retaliated for accordingly.

There is a risk that the Turkish soldiers stationed at the tomb could be taken hostage by the ISIL militants. Forty-six Turkish citizens were kidnapped from Turkey's Mosul Consulate General in June and were freed in late September without bloodshed or a ransom payment, according to Turkish authorities, but the details of the release of the hostages from the hands of one of the most notorious terrorist organizations are still not clear, as the Turkish government has refrained from further comment.

The motion in Parliament does not identify ISIL as the sole target; it includes all terrorist organizations in the area, saying that the motion will enable Turkey to “defeat attacks directed at our country from all terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria.” In the motion, Turkey underscores that the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists are a threat in the region as well.

“The Cabinet of Ministers has decided to ask permission from Parliament to send Turkish troops to foreign countries when necessary for cross-border interventions and to allow foreign troops in Turkey for the same purposes,” said the motion.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has a strong majority in Parliament and it is expected that the motion will receive parliamentary approval this week.

Due to the hostage crisis, Turkey had been reluctant to show its support for the US-led coalition against ISIL, but since the recent release of the hostages, Turkish officials have been more vocal about condemning ISIL and saying that ISIL has nothing to do with Islam. However, Turkish officials say that just bombing the militants from the air will not be sufficient to root out the ISIL problem and that there is a need for a more comprehensive solution to address this threat.

Turkey's İncirlik Air Base in Adana province is in close proximity to ISIL targets both in Syria and Iraq and the US wants to be able to use this base for military strikes.

Opposition's position not clear

Main opposition party Republican Peoples Party (CHP) Secretary-General Gürsel Tekin has said that his party is reviewing the motion and will decide whether to approve it or not.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Tekin criticized the government for bringing the motion to Parliament too late, not providing information to the opposition in advance and not letting the opposition parties debate it extensively, adding that the opposition finds this attitude “disrespectful.”

Tekin called the motion an “omnibus motion,” saying that the motion is not clear and asks for permission related to difficult subjects.

Asked if he is warm to the idea of establishing a safe zone inside Syria, Tekin said that the CHP will approve it if the United Nations also approves of this idea.

Stressing that the Turkish army is not an occupying force, Tekin said his party believes in the principle of “peace at home, peace in the world,” as stated by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey.

Opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Deputy Chairman Semih Yalçın said on Wednesday that his party will say “yes” to the government's motion.

Speaking to journalists at Parliament, Yalçın said that despite the fact that the MHP has found a few problematic points in the motion, the MHP will approve it for the sake of Turkey's national security.

“We trust the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). The government highlights the threat from the PKK and ISIL. Despite the existence of a few disturbing points, for the sake of Turkey's national security we will vote ‘yes',” said Yalçın.


Yalçın also said that it appears that President Erdoğan had agreed to the deployment of foreign troops in Turkey with US officials during his recent visit to New York and then the motion was drafted to include foreign troop deployments on Turkish territory.

People's Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chairman Selahattin Demirtaş has expressed a different opinion, saying that it's not possible for his party to approve the motion.

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Demirtaş said, “It's out of the question for us to vote ‘yes' on this motion of war,” and he criticized the government for asking for “unlimited authority.”

The Turkish Parliament narrowly rejected a motion on March 1, 2003 that would have allowed US troops to use Turkish territory to launch their offensive in Iraq. The move contributed to strained relations between Turkey and the US for some time.

Alleged ISIL militants seen crossing the border from Turkey

In the meantime, four armed men who are allegedly ISIL militants were caught on a television camera crossing into the town of Kobane in Syria from Turkish territory.

During live coverage on Wednesday, private IMC television cameras showed four armed men crossing to Kobane from the Turkish side of the border. The IMC camera was on a hill overlooking a fight between ISIL and Kurdish forces inside Syria near the border.

According to the Radikal daily, in the IMC footage, the four men are seen crossing the border under a bridge linked to the railway there.

Following the news of the footage, CHP Diyarbakır Deputy Sezgin Tanrıkulu submitted a parliamentary question asking Davutoğlu if these men are members of ISIL. Tanrıkulu suggested that the four men came to Şanlıurfa's town of Suruç by train and then comfortably crossed the border. He further asked why Turkey let these armed militants cross the border without preventing them from crossing.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)