bobdina
10-07-2009, 12:27 PM
By BURAK EGE BEKDIL and UMIT ENGINSOY
Published: 7 Oct 2009 11:13
ANKARA - The Turkish parliament on Oct. 6 extended for a period of one year a mandate that allows its military to attack Kurdistan Workers' Party's (PKK) separatist militants based in northern Iraq.
A total of 454 deputies out of the 475 present at the session voted for the decree from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the extension. Only 23 deputies voted against it.
"It is our objective to create a security and stability belt around Turkey," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in a speech in defense of the move.
He said the ground is very smooth for military operations into Iraq, thanks to a trilateral mechanism created earlier by Turkey, Iraq and the United States to share intelligence on the PKK. Turkey, the United States and the European Union officially consider the PKK a terrorist organization.
Turkish fighter jets have staged a series of strikes on PKK targets in northern Iraq since October 2007, and in February 2008, the military sent land forces across the border to fight the outlawed group.
The extension came at a time when the Turkish government is devising a democratization program to end the 25-year-old ethnic conflict with the country's Kurds.
Although there has been some concern that extending the mandate would harm the process, Davutoglu told the assembly that the government is determined to push ahead with the reform process.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4313585&c=EUR&s=TOP
Published: 7 Oct 2009 11:13
ANKARA - The Turkish parliament on Oct. 6 extended for a period of one year a mandate that allows its military to attack Kurdistan Workers' Party's (PKK) separatist militants based in northern Iraq.
A total of 454 deputies out of the 475 present at the session voted for the decree from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the extension. Only 23 deputies voted against it.
"It is our objective to create a security and stability belt around Turkey," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in a speech in defense of the move.
He said the ground is very smooth for military operations into Iraq, thanks to a trilateral mechanism created earlier by Turkey, Iraq and the United States to share intelligence on the PKK. Turkey, the United States and the European Union officially consider the PKK a terrorist organization.
Turkish fighter jets have staged a series of strikes on PKK targets in northern Iraq since October 2007, and in February 2008, the military sent land forces across the border to fight the outlawed group.
The extension came at a time when the Turkish government is devising a democratization program to end the 25-year-old ethnic conflict with the country's Kurds.
Although there has been some concern that extending the mandate would harm the process, Davutoglu told the assembly that the government is determined to push ahead with the reform process.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4313585&c=EUR&s=TOP