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Turkey Extends Mandate of Operation Northern Watch Against Iraq Again
Turkish Parliament on Sunday, December 17, once again approved to extend by another six-month the mandate of Operation Northern Watch, a force of U.S. and British warplanes that patrol a no-fly zone in northern Iraq, reported the Anatolia News Agency.
Defense Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu asked members of Parliament to adopt the bill for the sake of what he called "Turkey's national interests" before voting began.
Cakmakoglu argued that the operation was a useful and necessary task at the moment saying that uncertainty was going on in Iraq.
He said that the operation was important because it could prevent new waves of illegal immigration that could come from northern Iraq.
Code-named Operation Northern Watch was set up by the United States and Britain in 1991 after the Gulf War to contain Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and prevent Iraqi army from extending its hold over the Kurds-populated oil-rich north.
Under this operation, U.S. and British military aircrafts fly from the Incirlik Air Base, south Turkey, to enforce a so-called " no-fly zone" in northern Iraq.
The term of Operation Northern Watch has been extended by Turkish Parliament every six months since it began. The current term will expire on December 31.
Baghdad last week urged Turkey not to prolong the term of Operation Northern Watch for the sake of improving good bilateral relations between the two neighbors.
The Iraqi Embassy in Ankara issued a written statement asking the Turkish government to put an end to the term of the " aggressive" Operation Northern Watch.
Although it has in recent months accelerated its diplomatic efforts to improve relations with neighboring Iraq, Turkey, a NATO ally of the United States, had to comply with Washington's pressure to allow continuation of Operation Northern Watch.
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