Turkey extends troop deployment to Libya, Afghanistan
Turkey’s parliament on Tuesday approved bills that
grant an 18-month extension for troops to be deployed in Libya and Afghanistan,
opposition left-wing newspaper Evrensel reported.
The bill on Libya cites the support requested by the
Turkish-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Libya, Evrensel said.
Turkish parliament passed the Libya deployment bill
on Jan. 2.
While the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party
and ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) backed the motion, the main
opposition Republican
People's Party (CHP), Peoples' Democratic Party
(HDP), Good (IYI) Party,Felicity (Saadet) Party and Democrat Party voted
against it.
The motion grants Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdoğan
to ability send Turkish troops to foreign lands to carry out military
operations, leaving the decision over the limit, amount and duration to the
Turkish president, Evrensel added.
Meanwhile, The Turkish parliament approved another
bill to extend the deployment of Turkish troops in Afghanistan for 18 months as
part of NATO’s support mission.
The bill was first put into effect on Jan. 6, 2019,
allowing the Turkishgovernment to send troops to Afghanistan to support the
NATO-led mission Resolute Support.
