The Turkish Parliament voted on Thursday for a motion authorizing the government to send troops abroad and allowing foreign forces to use Turkish territory for possible military operations against the IS militants.
The motion was passed by 298 “yes” votes while 98 lawmakers voted against it, Today’s Zaman reported.
Turkey has said it will join US-led efforts to fight the IS but is yet to define what role to play to help these efforts. The motion prepares the legal ground for any Turkish involvement.
Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz, speaking before the parliamentary vote, said immediate steps should not be expected after the motion is passed.
Excuse to Attack Syria
The motion was opposed by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
The CHP argues that the motion is aimed at the Syrian regime, not the IS. “The government sees developments in the region as an excuse to engage in armed confrontation with the Syrian regime and is using ISIL as a pretext to that end,” CHP Deputy Chairman Faruk Loğoğlu said in a speech on behalf of his party at Parliament before the vote.
Loğoğlu dismissed the government argument in the motion that Turkey is facing security threats from the Syrian regime, saying that this claim is not substantiated with evidence.
The HDP’s Ertuğrul Kürkçü also argued that the government is not concerned about fighting IS, accusing it of turning a blind eye to the group’s massacres in Syria and recruitment of militants in Turkey.
“You have no intention to start fighting IS,” Kürkçü told Parliament.
Unintentional Mistake?
Opposition lawmakers also took an issue with the fact that the motion referred to “foreign armed forces” instead of “foreign military forces,” with the CHP’s Loğoğlu arguing that it was an intentional choice aimed at preparing the ground for hosting foreign militia on Turkish territory.
Mehmet Şandır, who addressed the parliamentary session on behalf of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), said he hoped the choice of the phrase was an unintentional mistake.
