Turkey to send troops to contribute to international mission in Libya

ANKARA - Turkish parliament adopted Thursday a prime ministry motion envisaging to send troops to foreign countries in order to contribute to international efforts aiming at establishing stability and security in Libya.
Turkish parliament debated the motion in a closed session for nearly 3 hours.
During the debate, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu briefed the lawmakers on the motion first.
Afterwards, representatives of Justice and Development (AK) Party, Republican People’s Party (CHP), Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Peace & Democracy Party (BDP) expressed their parties’ views on the matter.
Following Davutoglu’s replies to questions, members of the parliament voted the motion and accepted it.
The motion was submitted to the parliament by the Turkish government earlier on Thursday.
In the motion, the government said the turmoil in Libya began on February 15, and the United Nations (UN) Security Council adopted two resolutions on February 26 and March 17 in order to end the violence in the country.
The government, in its motion, requested the parliament to authorize it and the Turkish Armed Forces to send troops to foreign countries.
Turkey will send four frigates, a submarine and an auxiliary warship to NATO mission that will enforce the arms embargo off Libya, NATO officials said on Wednesday.
Turkey will make the largest contribution to the NATO mission with a confirmed fleet of 16 warships and submarines.
NATO agreed on Tuesday to enforce the arms embargo and completed plans to enforce a U.N.-mandated no-fly zone if needed.
Under the NATO plan, Italy will provide the command and control ship of the naval mission. Canada, Spain, Britain, Greece, Italy and United States will contribute to the mission with one ship each. Three submarines will be sent by Turkey, Spain and Italy. Turkey and Italy will also allocate two auxiliary ships.
The Turkish Parliament has authorized Turkish governments to send troops overseas 30 times since 1950.
Acceptance of today’s motion on Turkey’s contribution to NATO mission in Libya is the 31st time the parliament decided to send troops overseas in the country’s history.