Parliament Passes Motion on Military Deployment to Libya

* Photo: Mehmet Ali Özcan / Anadolu Agency

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Chaired by Parliamentary Speaker Mustafa Şentop, the General Assembly of the Parliament convened today (January 2) in an emergency meeting to debate the motion foreseeing military deployment to Libya.

Accordingly, the representatives of political parties expressed their opinions about the motion in 20 minutes each.

Following the statements of the party representatives, the MPs have voted the motion. Accordingly, the motion authorizing the government to send soldiers to Libya has been approved by the General Assembly of the Parliament by a vote of 325 against 184.

HDP's Hatimoğulları: Turkey has broken the embargo

Speaking on behalf of the HDP group, Tülay Hatimoğulları said, "We say a very clear 'No' to this motion. Because this motion means that the failure of the government in foreign affair and its precious loneliness have been confirmed once again. It is the epitome of expansionist politics. It is also called occupation in international literature.

"There has long been an arms embargo of the UN Security Council against both sides in Libya. Who broke this embargo for the first time? Turkey. We know that Turkey has been providing the pro-ikhwan Trablus government with all types of support for years. Deployment of Turkey's poor children will pave the way for their bloodshed in those deserts."

İYİ Party: Our soldiers made a party to a civil war

Speaking on behalf of the İYİ Party, İzmir MP Aytun Çıray also said, "Our soldiers might be pulled into an internal conflict, like the one in Vietnam. We cannot leave our soldiers in the ambivalent firing line of a civil war that has nothing to do with our national security.

"Our soldiers are made a party to a civil war. Why don't Libya's neighboring countries Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt facing national security threat send soldiers?"

MHP: Gains will be protected

Speaking on behalf of the MHP, Group Deputy Chair Erkan Akçay briefly said, "With this motion, we are protecting our blue homeland in the Mediterranean, preventing the usurpation of our rights and contributing to the stability of sister country Libya and regional peace. The reality achieved on the table will be reinforced in the field with this motion.

"With the approval of the motion, the critical gains achieved by the memorandum of understanding with Libya will be protected; relations with Libya, which has a critical importance for Turkey, will be improved; our activity will increase in Libya and Africa, where several actors, including the EU, are trying to be active; Turkey will have the upper hand on the countries undertaking activities against Turkey due to its existence and policies in East Mediterranean and Syria; and the struggle will take a new turn. [Turkey] will have the opportunity to be stationed in a central position in the Mediterranean and can have more initiative in pursuing a policy of surrounding against Greece."

CHP, HDP, İYİ Party and TİP against the motion

With its 290 and 49 MPs respectively, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and allying Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) support the motion. Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP) and İYİ Party announced that they would vote against it.

The Felicity Party (SP), which has two MPs in the Parliament, also released a statement about the motion and briefly said:

"If the process is properly set up, the existence of our soldiers there will be, in itself, able to prevent several wrong steps. Turkey should open the ways of diplomacy to the end and should indicate it as its main objective to build a common future for Libya, from the east to the west."

SP İstanbul MP Cihangir İslam tweeted, "I have decided to not attend today's Parliamentary session where the deployment of soldiers to Libya will be discussed. I will not enter the session and will not vote."

About the Libya motion

On November 27, Ankara and Libya's United Nations (UN)-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) signed a pact on military cooperation, as well as a pact on maritime boundaries in the Eastern Mediterranean.

CLICK - Troops to Libya: Turkey will 'Foil Projects,' Says Erdoğan

Since the ouster of late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, two seats of power have emerged in Libya: one in eastern Libya supported mainly by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and another in Tripoli, which enjoys UN and international recognition.

Accordingly, last week, President AKP Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that the motion would be submitted to the Parliament in the light of a request by Libya's UN-recognized government for military assistance.

"The project to exclude Turkey from the Mediterranean has been foiled with the latest steps we have taken," Erdoğan said in his New Year's address to the nation.

"With support to the legitimate Tripoli government, Turkey will ensure implementation of all elements of agreements with Libya," Erdoğan added.

Turkey's presidency on Monday submitted a motion to the Parliament Speaker's Office on sending troops to Libya. The parliament is set to debate the motion on January 2.

CLICK - Turkey-Libya Maritime Border Deal Published in Official Gazette: Why Did It Cause a Crisis?

(DB/SD)