On Thursday, Sept. 19, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his desire to extend without delay the parliamentary authorization that would expire in two weeks that allows the government the full authority to decide on sending troops to Syria. “The new legislative permission that will be introduced to the parliament could share the same content as the previous one, or it may contain some differences. The Foreign Affairs Ministry and the chief of staff are now working on the details of this new bill,” he said, and added that he would give the final go-ahead after taking a careful look at it.
Despite the objection of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) last year, the parliament passed the aforementioned authorization on Oct. 4, 2012, valid for one full year, with Decision No. 1025. “The ongoing crisis in Syria not only negatively affects regional stability and security, but it also increasingly negatively impacts our national security,” the parliamentary authorization stated. “Within the framework of the military operations carried out by the Syria Arab Republic Armed Forces, aggressive actions have also targeted the territory of our country since Sept. 20, 2012, and these actions continued despite our numerous warnings and diplomatic initiatives. These hostile actions aiming at the territory of our country are on the verge of being categorized as armed attack. This situation has risen to the point of posing serious threat and risks to our national security.”
