ANKARA
The Turkish parliament will approve the new domestic security bill under any circumstances, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Monday.
"The new security bill will be approved by the Turkish Parliament to protect freedom and provide security," Davutoglu said at the ruling Justice and Development or the AK Party’s provincial delegation meeting.
The security bill was devised following extensive rioting in Turkey last autumn. Protests in Turkey's southeastern provinces in October 2014 resulted in over 40 deaths that were sparked because of Turkish government not allegedly doing enough to save the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorist group.
The government sees the measures brought by the security bill as compliant with EU norms, while opposition parties reject it outright, saying it would erode freedoms and rights in the country. Opposition parties pledged that they would not allow this bill to pass, but they can only delay it until March, when the parliament takes break ahead of the June 7 general elections.
The Turkish premier also referred to the recent "Shah Euphrates" operation that secured the remains of Turkey’s revered historic figure, Shah Suleyman, who was the grandfather of Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman Empire.
Turkish forces and tanks entered Syria on Saturday night to conduct the operation, to remove the tomb of Shah and relocate it to another site.
"It is our duty to protect even a stone which represents our heritage anywhere. We protected this one and will continue to do that," Davutoglu said.
The two-pronged operation began late Saturday and ended on Sunday. It brought the remains of Shah and sacred relics from the original exclave in Karakozak Village in Munbic, Syria, some 37 kilometers away from the border, to Turkey.
At the same time, Turkey also secured another area in Syria, Ashme, close to the border with Turkey to act as Shah’s temporary burial place.
The operation involved nearly 600 troops and 39 tanks to retrieve the remains and some 40 soldiers guarding them.
The prime minister also criticized the opposition parties who opposed the operation.
"The first hours of Sunday were a honor day for us. But the oppositions' comments on Sunday about this issue will be a black mark in our history," he said.
Turkey’s opposition has strongly criticized the Shah Euphrates operation. Republican People's Party's Deputy Chairman Gursel Tekin said at a press conference Sunday, "For the first time in the history of the Turkish Republic, we lost part of our homeland without even fighting."
Nationalist Movement Party's Deputy Chairman Celal Adan also slammed the government for "making Turkey seem weak in the region."
Davutoglu also expressed his sorrow over the accidental death of a Turkish soldier during the operation. He thanked the Turkish Armed Forces, National Intelligence Organization or the MIT and all security sources for their efforts in the operation.
