Erdogan calls for an extension of his authority to carry out military operations in Iraq

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a news conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (not pictured) in Budapest, Hungary November 7, 2019. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan submitted a memorandum to the Turkish parliament on Wednesday, demanding the extension of the president's powers to carry out military operations in Iraq and Syria for another two years.

The Turkish Anadolu Agency reported that the presidency submitted a "memorandum to Parliament to extend the authority granted to the President of the Republic to carry out military operations in Syria and Iraq for another two years."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Turkey would like the United States to withdraw its forces from Iraq and Syria in the same way it did previously in Afghanistan.

In this context, Erdogan claimed that "Turkey is in Syria with the aim of rebuilding the country," expressing his hope that the United States, Russia, Iraq, and Turkey will work together to achieve peace and stability in Syria and Iraq.

Turkey continuously carries out offensives of varying magnitude inside the Kurdistan Region territories, allegedly against the PKK. However, in recent years, it's begun to establish more of a sustained presence in a growing number of bases and checkpoints dotting the mountains of the Kurdistan Region despite calls from Iraqi authorities to stop these actions. 

On Sunday, Turkish warplanes bombed the areas of Balisan Valley in Erbil governorate, while last Friday, Turkish drones bombed several areas in the Slemani governorate, 

Thousands of acres of land have been burnt, many villages have been evacuated due to Turkish bombings, and even civilian casualties have fallen due to the continuous Turkish operations. 

According to Al-Monitor, Arzu Yilmaz, a Middle East scholar and visiting fellow at Hamburg University reckons that there are more than 5,000 Turkish forces currently deployed in the Kurdistan Region and Bashiqa, an area under Iraqi central government control lying east of Mosul.



PUKmedia