Turkey's Parliament on Tuesday ratified a bill to extend troop deployment for 'cross-border operations in Iraq and Syria' for two years.
While the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), its alliance partner Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the opposition Good Party (IP) voted in favor of the bill, while the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) voted against.
The bill to extend the Turkish military's mandate to carry out cross-border operations in Iraq and Syria for two years was submitted to Parliament last week.
The Turkish military's mandate to conduct operations in Iraq and Syria expires on October 30, 2021.
Turkey is battling the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group in northern Iraq and its Syrian affiliate the TPG (Yekà ®neyà ªn Parastina Gel or Kurdish People's Defense Units) in northern Syria.
The PKK has been declared a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union. The YPG and affiliated groups are designated as terrorist organizations by only Turkey and Qatar.
In its more than 40-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women and children, according to Daily Sabah of Turkey.
Turkey has also launched operations against other terrorist groups in the region, most notably Daesh, Sabah said, adding:
Turkey was one of the first countries to recognize Daesh as a terror group when it emerged in 2013. The country has since been attacked by Daesh terrorists numerous times, including 10 suicide bombers, seven bombings and four armed attacks that killed 315 people and injured hundreds of others. In response, Turkey launched military and police operations at home and abroad to prevent further terrorist attacks.
Over 1,000 km of Turkish land borders protected by security walls
Over 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) of Turkish land borders have been fortified with security walls to prevent potential migration waves as of September this year, according to Sabah.
The project was initiated in 2015 with the aim of stemming the ever-increasing flow of irregular mass migration along Turkey's 2,949 kilometers of land borders. Since 2015, 837 kilometers of Turkey's 1,295-kilometer southern border have been sealed with a border wall. In the east, walls have been erected along 168 kilometers of the 1,182-kilometer border since work began in 2017, Sabah said.
Faced with a potential migrant wave due to the instability in Afghanistan, Turkey has maximized measures on its eastern border. Turkey is continuing efforts to bolster the security of its border with Iran to prevent any new influx of migrants.
The beefed-up border measures in Turkey, which already hosts nearly 4 million Syrian refugees and is a staging post for many migrants trying to reach Europe, began as the Taliban started advancing in Afghanistan and took over Kabul.
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