Turkey: Turkey approves military operations against ‘Islamic State’ in Syria and Iraq
Turkey’s parliament has approved a motion to combat the “Islamic State.” The bill proposed new powers to launch military incursions into Syria and Iraq and allow foreign forces to use Turkish territory.
Turkey’s parliament voted 298-98 on Thursday in favor of launching military operations across the border in Syria and Iraq, in a bid to combat the self-proclaimed “Islamic State” (IS).
Despite opposition from two parties, many had viewed passage of the motion as a foregone conclusion. The legislation comes as IS attacks have caused thousands to flee the Syrian town officially known as Ayn al-Arab, but called Kobani by its Kurdish majority population, across the border from Turkey, despite airstrikes by the US-led coalition on the group’s positions in Syria since last week and in Iraq since early August.
The fighting around Kobani has created one of the single largest exoduses since Syria’s civil war began, with more than 130,000 people fleeing into Turkey in the past two weeks, adding to the more than 1 million refugees who have sought refuge there since the Assad regime began cracking down on peaceful protests in 2011.