Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Turkish Parliament Approves Peacekeepers for Azerbaijan
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
November 17, 2020

Share

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s parliament on Tuesday granted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government permission to deploy peacekeepers to Azerbaijan to monitor a cease-fire deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia that aims to end the conflict in the region.

In a show of hands, legislators voted in favor of a one-year mandate allowing the government to send troops to Azerbaijan, where they would observe possible violations of the truce from a joint Turkish-Russian monitoring center. The cease-fire ended six weeks of intense fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Erdogan’s government would determine the number of troops to be sent and it wasn’t immediately clear how many the country planned to deploy. The motion states that civilian personnel could also be deployed as part of the peacekeeping mission.

Last week, the defense ministers of Russia and Turkey signed a memorandum to create a joint monitoring center in Azerbaijan, although technical details of the mission are still being worked out.

Azerbaijan has been pressing for its ally Turkey, which has supported Baku in the conflict, to take an active role in the peace talks and was the first to announce its involvement in the monitoring of the cease-fire agreement.

Russian officials have said that Ankara’s involvement will be limited to the work of the monitoring center on Azerbaijani soil, and Turkish peacekeepers wouldn’t go to Nagorno-Karabakh. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said the center will operate remotely, using drones and other technical means to monitor possible violations.

The Motion for the Deployment in Azerbaijan Was Backed by Four Out of Five Parties

The mandate further extends Turkey’s military engagements stretching from the Middle East to Africa. The country, which has been trying to craft itself a role as a regional power, has sent troops to Iraq and Syria to battle Kurdish militants and to Libya where its presence helped change the balance of a conflict there in favor of the Tripoli-based government. Ankara also maintains a military presence in Qatar, Somalia and on Cyprus and has peacekeepers in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Africa and the Balkans.

The motion for the deployment in Azerbaijan was backed by four out of five parties in Turkey’s parliament. Erdogan’s government said the Turkish peacekeepers were crucial for the region’s peace and welfare and for Turkey’s national interests.

“Turkey and Azerbaijan who regard themselves as one state and two people, will continue to struggle together for their independence and future,” said Ismet Yilmaz, who heads the parliamentary defense committee. “It is our historic and strategic responsibility to ensure that (Turkish troops) take up duty at the joint center to maintain the cease-fire and prevent violations.”

Ahad Andican, a legislator from the nationalist opposition Good Party, said the Turkish troop presence would help prevent Armenian attempts to “rearm.”

Russia, which negotiated the cease-fire, is sending about 2,000 peacekeeping troops under a five-year mandate.

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Kash Patel Plans to Move Up to 1,500 Workers Out of Washington

DON'T MISS

Fired Employees Fear Beloved Yosemite National Park Will Lose Its Luster

DON'T MISS

US and Ukraine Nearing Rare Earths Deal That Would Tighten Relationship

DON'T MISS

Trump Fires Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Two Other Military Officers

DON'T MISS

Less Is More: 5 Ingredient Dinners Are Easier Than You Think

DON'T MISS

Trump-Putin Summit Preparations Are Underway, Russia Says

DON'T MISS

Warren Buffett Offers Trump Some Advice While Celebrating Berkshire’s Success

DON'T MISS

Hungarians Will Decide Whether Ukraine Can Join the European Union, Orbán Says

DON'T MISS

Wolfie the Handsome Pup Seeks Loving Home After Life in the Wild

DON'T MISS

National Park Service Restores Some Jobs of Those Fired, Will Hire 7,700 Seasonal Workers

UP NEXT

Voletta Wallace, Notorious B.I.G.’s Mother and Keeper of His Legacy, Dies at 78

UP NEXT

Bullard Teacher Arrested for Inappropriate Behavior With a Minor, Principal Says

UP NEXT

Nearly 1 in 10 U.S. Adults Identifies as LGBTQ+, Survey Finds

UP NEXT

Europe’s Leaders, Dazed by an Ally Acting Like an Adversary, Recalculate

UP NEXT

Arctic Blast Causes Massive Pileups, Power Outages Across East Coast

UP NEXT

EU Official Meets With Trump Counterparts to Resolve Tariff Threats

UP NEXT

Struggling Forever 21 Plans to Close 200 Stores in Possible 2nd Bankruptcy

UP NEXT

2 People Are Dead in a Small Plane Collision at a Southern Arizona Airport

UP NEXT

Official White House Account Declares Trump ‘King’ in Latest Post

UP NEXT

A$AP Rocky Returns to a Life of Music, Fashion, Film and Rihanna With His Acquittal

Trump Fires Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Two Other Military Officers

6 hours ago

Less Is More: 5 Ingredient Dinners Are Easier Than You Think

6 hours ago

Trump-Putin Summit Preparations Are Underway, Russia Says

6 hours ago

Warren Buffett Offers Trump Some Advice While Celebrating Berkshire’s Success

6 hours ago

Hungarians Will Decide Whether Ukraine Can Join the European Union, Orbán Says

6 hours ago

Wolfie the Handsome Pup Seeks Loving Home After Life in the Wild

7 hours ago

National Park Service Restores Some Jobs of Those Fired, Will Hire 7,700 Seasonal Workers

7 hours ago

Is That Legal? A Guide to Trump’s Big Moves So Far.

9 hours ago

Hotels Are So Last Year – Why Everyone’s Sleeping in Castles, Caves and Cranes

9 hours ago

With Trump’s Prostration to Putin, Expect a More Dangerous World

9 hours ago

Kash Patel Plans to Move Up to 1,500 Workers Out of Washington

WASHINGTON — New FBI Director Kash Patel has told senior officials that he plans to relocate up to 1,000 employees from Washington to field ...

6 hours ago

6 hours ago

Kash Patel Plans to Move Up to 1,500 Workers Out of Washington

6 hours ago

Fired Employees Fear Beloved Yosemite National Park Will Lose Its Luster

6 hours ago

US and Ukraine Nearing Rare Earths Deal That Would Tighten Relationship

6 hours ago

Trump Fires Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Two Other Military Officers

6 hours ago

Less Is More: 5 Ingredient Dinners Are Easier Than You Think

6 hours ago

Trump-Putin Summit Preparations Are Underway, Russia Says

6 hours ago

Warren Buffett Offers Trump Some Advice While Celebrating Berkshire’s Success

6 hours ago

Hungarians Will Decide Whether Ukraine Can Join the European Union, Orbán Says

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend