Ankara, Turkey – After debating deep into the evening, the Turkish parliament on Thursday authorized the use of troops in Iraq and Syria to fight the Islamic State (ISIS).
But the bill is not expected to herald an immediate troop deployment by Turkey, a reluctant partner in the US-led coalition of some 50 nations gathered to defeat ISIS.
"Don't expect an immediate step after the motion is passed," Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz told reporters in Ankara before the vote.
The Turkish news agency Anadolu said the motion, submitted by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s Cabinet, received support from 298 members of the 550-seat Parliament, with 98 voting against.
The package also allows foreign troops to use Turkish soil for operations in Syria.
The bill was opposed by a minority of opposition lawmakers, who argued it was unconstitutional because it dramatically enhances the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Pro-Kurdish parties have opposed a deployment of Turkish troops, especially in Syria, where the Kurdish People’s Protction Units (YPG) remain the main protection force. Turkey is opposed to the YPG because of its links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has fought a 30-year war for greater Kurdish rights.
The Kurds fear Turkey could use the cross-border authorization to strike at pro-PKK forces.
The parliament vote took place as jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan warned that the peace process with Turkey would collapse if the Syrian Kurdistan town of Kobane in Syria falls to the ISIS.
"Should this massacre attempt succeed (in Kobane), it will both bring an end to the ongoing process of resolution and lay the foundations for a new coup that will last long,” Ocalan was quoted as saying by Kurdish politicians who visited him Wednesday.
His comments came as the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said Thursday that militants fighting Kurdish forces to enter the city could break through at any moment, unleashing the kinds of massacres and atrocities they have carried out elsewhere.
The Kurds accuse Turkey of turning a blind eye to the suffering in Kobane, and are outraged since a recent border closure that prevents young Turkish-Kurds to go and fight for Kobane’s defence.
Meanwhile, Kobane’s defence chief told the Voice of America’s Kurdish service that a "large-scale massacre" by ISIS is imminent, without international aid.
Some 160,000 Syrian Kurds have crossed into Turkey to escape ISIS. But Ankara has refused to assist the Kurdish fighters of the YPG.
Turkey has long been 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. Ankara denies those allegations.
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