By Kasim Ileri and Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON
The Obama administration welcomed Turkey’s parliamentary vote on Thursday authorizing military action in Syria and Iraq to fight any group threatening the country.
The motion was submitted by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's Cabinet, and passed by a vote of 298 - 98 in the 550-seat parliament.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel hailed the vote as a “very positive development.”
“We appreciate the parliament’s overwhelming vote,” Hagel said. “We will continue to consult with the Turkish government on the specifics of how the implementation of that authority would be carried out, and we welcome it very much.”
The State Department also welcomed the vote.
“We welcome the Turkish parliament’s vote to authorize Turkish military action," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. "We’ve had numerous high-level discussions with Turkish officials to discuss how to advance our cooperation in countering the threat posed by ISIL in Iraq and Syria."
She added that Turkey had already indicated that it would play a more prominent role in the U.S.-led coalition against ISIL. The Islamic State of Iraq and Levant is known as ISIL.
Psaki said Turkey has experienced the direct impacts of the terror group crisis in the Middle East, adding that the vote "provided broad authority, so the phase we’re in now is discussing what particular role they’ll play."
Gen. John Allen, who leads the coalition against ISIL, and his deputy, Ambassador Brett McGurk, will travel to the region and Turkey to discuss action against the terror group.
Turkey's parliamentary motion is not limited to ISIL. It includes a range of threats to Turkey’s national security and was combined with another motion on the deployment of Turkish forces in northern Iraq to fight the Kurdish separatist terror group, the PKK. That measure allows military incursions into Syria and Iraq against a threat to Turkey and allows foreign forces to use Turkish territory for possible operations against ISIL.
It specifically cites the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime and increasing security risks against Suleyman Sah Guard, a Turkish enclave, near Aleppo in Syria, guaranteed by a 1921 treaty with France. At the site lies the tomb of late 12th century Turkish leader Suleyman Sah.
The Nationalist Movement Party -- the third-largest party in the parliament -- supported the motion. But the main opposition Republican People's Party and the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party voted against it.
The measure will be in effect for one year.
Psaki didn’t rule out the vote signaling a possible use of coalition ground troops along the Turkish border, but only said that there are a range of options under consideration.
Hagel, however, said that the U.S. is not currently planning to create a buffer zone in Syria, which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for in the war-torn country.
"We continue to talk to the Turkish government about many options, but there are no plans for that option right now," Hagel said.
Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form. Please contact us for subscription options.
