Turkey’s parliament backs motion allowing military to join campaign against ISIS

Turkey’s parliament has backed a motion that could allow its military to enter Iraq and Syria to join the campaign against Islamic State (IS) militants. The resolution – passed with a three-quarters majority  ( 298 MPs in favour and 98 against) – will also permit foreign troops to use Turkish territory for the operation.

Turkey has been under pressure to play a more active role in the US-led fight. The government dropped its reluctance to combat IS militants directly after the release of 46 hostages last month. The Turkish citizens had been held by IS in northern Iraq.

However, Turkey still remains wary of retaliation by IS and also fears helping Kurds, who are fighting the militants. Turkey has fought a long civil war with its Kurdish minority.

The motion provides a legal framework for the Turkish military to launch incursions into Syria and Iraq against militants who threaten Turkey. It also allows for foreign troops to be stationed in Turkey as part of the same campaign. On the other hand, the approval by the parliament could enable the US to use its large airbase at Incirlik in southern Turkey for air strikes against IS. Nevertheless, Turkey is expected to take no immediate steps as expressed by an official.

Turkey has long been accused of permitting the flow of jihadists and resources into Syria as well as allowing IS to traffic oil from oilfields it has captured. The government in Ankara denies the allegations. Turkey has a porous and vulnerable border with Syria, more than 900km (560 miles) long.

Taking a closer look at the issue we see that Turkey shares a long border with Iraq and Syria and fears retaliation against Turkish troops protecting an Ottoman tomb in Syria. On the other hand Turkey has not decided if it should help the Kurds – with whom Turkey fought a long civil war – in their fight against IS.

Moreover,  Ankara wants the coalition to broaden its aims, so that military intervention targets the Assad regime and a buffer zone is set up in Syria to help cope with the refugee flow into the country.

There is a strong opinion that by using a blanket term in the motion – “terrorist organisations” – rather than mentioning Islamic State by name, Ankara actually targets the Kurdish PKK, still on the terrorist list (rather than ISIS – which is obviously not acceptable by the majority of Turkish people) Kurds on the other hand insist that if Turkey wants IS pushed back from its borders, it must help Kurdish fighters in Syria, rather than seeing them as the enemy.

SOURCE: MEDIA