Turkey’s parliament on Thursday authorized the government to send its troops into Syria or Iraq to counter attacks from “terrorist groups” and allow foreign troops to use Turkish bases.
The move, which comes as forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria threatened the Kurdish town of Kobani on Syria’s border with Turkey as well as a Turkish-owned religious shrine, opens the door for the highly sought-after participation of Ankara in the U.S.-led coalition against the extremist group.
But that doesn’t mean officials will jump at the chance.
In a speech to parliament on Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized coalition airstrikes in Syria and emphasized that Ankara’s main goal remains the defeat of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. He has called for the creation of a safe haven in northern Syria for those opposed to Assad that is protected by U.S. and allied forces.
“Turkey is not a country which would allow itself to be exploited in the pursuit of temporary solutions,” he said.
U.S. officials have said Turkey’s support is essential to the success of the coalition, and President Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel all have personally lobbied Erdogan to join. But Ankara is concerned about protecting Sunni Muslim influence and limiting that of the Kurds, with whom Turkey has clashed in recent years.
“We view that as a very positive development. … We will continue to consult with the Turkish government on the specifics of how that implementation would be carried out,” Hagel said in response to the Turkish parliament’s decision.
On the subject of the safe haven, he said: “There are no plans for that option right now.”
The Islamic State’s forces around Kobani were among the targets of airstrikes Wednesday and Thursday by aircraft from the United States and the United Arab Emirates. The U.S. Central Command said the strikes destroyed one of the group’s checkpoints near the town. But the town remains under threat as the group’s forces continued to advance Thursday, according to news reports.
Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of Turkey’s Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which has fought a guerrilla war against Ankara, said the fall of Kobani could kill the peace process with his group and warned Ankara to prevent it from happening.
Islamic State fighters also are threatening Turkish special forces troops guarding the tomb of Suleiman Shah, grandfather of the founder of the Ottoman Empire, in northern Syria. The tomb is in Turkish territory and was specifically mentioned in the parliament’s authorization for military action.
Editor’s note: This story, originally posted at 5 p.m., has been updated.
