According to Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek, a new parliamentary authorization will not be needed even if the government agrees to send troops on a combat mission. “My opinion is that we don’t need a new decision from Parliament authorizing a troop dispatch. We sent additional troops before and we did that on the basis of the 2001 mandate,” Çiçek told Today’s Zaman.
US President Barack Obama announced on Dec. 1 a decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, marking an attempt to turn the tide in the eight-year war and regain the initiative from the Taliban, which has gained strength over the past year.
NATO member Turkey is a supporter of the US-led campaign in Afghanistan but Turkish leaders said Ankara would not be sending soldiers for combat purposes, fearing that participation in combat operations could alienate Muslims in Afghanistan and in the broader Muslim world. President Abdullah Gül was quoted as saying on Friday that Turkey was reviewing whether to increase its commitment to NATO’s mission in Afghanistan but ruled out participating in combat operations. “We do not want to be in a state of waging war. Our level of activity will rise, but we will decide how we will do it,” according to reports in Turkish media.
Some legal experts argue that the government needs to obtain permission to be able to send additional troops to Afghanistan but a larger group of experts say this is not needed. “There is no need for a new parliamentary decision,” said retired Maj. Gen. Erdal Sipahi, now a deputy from the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), told Today’s Zaman. In earlier remarks to Today’s Zaman, another MHP deputy, Kürşat Atılgan, said that any combat operation needs Parliament’s approval, which he said is quite unlikely. “Involvement in combat operations goes against the national interests of Turkey, and there is agreement with the government and the military on this issue,” he said, adding that any political decision would otherwise invite the wrath of Parliament just as it did in 2003 when Parliament refused to allow US troops to pass through Turkish territory to open a northern front against Iraq.
Parliament approved a government motion requesting authorization to send troops to Afghanistan in 2001 under a coalition government of the Democratic Left Party (DSP), the MHP and the Motherland Party (ANAP). The Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which came to power in 2002, sent additional troops to serve in NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the following years on the basis of the same parliamentary decision.
