Türkiye is looking to extend the stay of its troops overseas against terrorist groups like the PKK, the YPG and Daesh, as lawmakers are scheduled to convene on Tuesday to discuss a mandate for it.

Earlier this month, days after a PKK attack in the capital Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed and submitted to Parliament a motion to keep Turkish troops in Iraq and Syria for two more years from Oct. 30 when the last mandate expires.

The motion said the risks and threats posed to national security by the developments in the areas adjacent to Türkiye's southern land borders and the ongoing conflict environment continue to increase.

Noting that Türkiye attaches great importance to the protection of the territorial integrity, national unity and stability of its neighbor Iraq, the motion said: "The continued existence of PKK and Daesh elements in Iraq and attempts at ethnicity-based separatism have a direct impact on regional peace, stability and the security of our country."

Due to these developments, necessary measures should be taken in line with Türkiye's rights arising from international law, the motion noted.

It also warned against developments that might pose a danger to Türkiye's national security, and are aimed at disrupting the territorial integrity of Iraq and Syria through terrorism and at creating illegitimate fait accomplis in the field.

The motion further emphasized the importance of Türkiye's continued participation in international coalitions formed to fight Daesh and other terrorist groups on the ground in line with several U.N. charters.

It also said Türkiye would welcome the deployment of foreign troops on its soil to the same end of fighting terrorist groups per provisions the Turkish president would assign.

Terrorist spread

Türkiye battles the PKK terrorist group in northern Iraq and its Syrian affiliate, the YPG, in northern Syria.

The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, Britain, the United States and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants since it launched a bloody terrorist campaign in southeast Türkiye over four decades ago.

Battered and demoralized by an intense crackdown in Türkiye where its numbers have been reduced to hundreds, the group withdrew to northern Iraq’s Qandil Mountains where it maintains a stronghold. Turkish operations have demolished PKK lairs across Metina, Avashin-Basyan, Zap and Gara districts in recent years. Ankara also aims to clear Qandil, Sinjar and Makhmour.

The YPG, taking advantage of a power vacuum after the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, has occupied several Syrian provinces since 2015 with the help of the U.S., which keeps some 900 troops in the country’s northern region. The terrorists have also seized the region’s oil wells – Syria’s largest – and smuggle oil to the Syrian regime, despite U.S. sanctions, to generate revenue for its activities.

Washington insists the YPG is its ally in the anti-Daesh campaign despite Ankara’s documentation that it’s the same group as the PKK. It regularly supplies arms and ammunition to the terrorists there, even conducting patrols and joint drills. The issue has strained ties with Ankara, which has repeatedly warned forces of third countries to stay away from facilities controlled by the PKK and YPG.

Türkiye has carried out three cross-border operations in northern Syria: Euphrates Shield in 2016, Olive Branch in 2018 and Peace Spring in 2019 in order to secure its borders, aid the safe return of Syrian refugees and ensure Syria’s territorial integrity.

In 2019 prior to Peace Spring, Washington pledged in a joint statement to help Ankara establish a security strip and clear a 30-kilometer (18.64-mile) border region of terrorists but hasn’t yet fulfilled any terms of the deal. It has since criticized Turkish operations in northern Syria, claiming they "undermine" the campaign to defeat Daesh, "endanger civilians and threaten the national security and foreign policy of the United States."

Earlier this month, the Pentagon shot down a Turkish drone in the region where U.S. troops were near YPG terrorists, refusing to offer an explanation and drawing Ankara’s ire.

"The U.S. has lost enough foresight to down an armed drone of its NATO ally," Erdoğan said and assured Türkiye would take "necessary action" when the time comes in response to the incident.

Opposition outcry

The clause on hosting foreign troops, in the meantime, sparked an outcry from the main opposition, the Republican People's Party (CHP), which announced it would veto the motion.

While claiming the CHP would agree to any authorization in the war on terror, party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu last week said: "As a nationalist, I do not want any foreign troops to trample on Turkish soil."

Calling out to the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which is an ally of Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), vocally backing the mandate, the CHP chair argued it was the "thousands of martyred Turkish soldiers and police officers that fought the war on terror, not foreign troops."

"If you want foreign soldiers in our country, you will vote ‘yes;’ if you call yourself a nationalist, you will vote ‘no,’" Kılıçdaroğlu said.

The MHP was quick to put Kılıçdaroğlu on blast for his objections, with Deputy Chair Semih Yalçın arguing the CHP leader was "uncomfortable" over the presence of Turkish troops in Syria "because he doesn’t want any harm to befall the Syrian offshoots of the separatist group he worked with during the elections and verbally supports."

Yalçın was referring to the endorsement Kılıçdaroğlu received for his presidential campaign from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), currently facing a closure lawsuit over its alleged links to the PKK and accused of acting as a recruitment office for the group, during elections earlier in May.

"While founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk has built the CHP’s politics on Turkish nationalism, the party has strayed far from its roots and principles under Kılıçdaroğlu," the MHP deputy said.