Turkey not working on new mandate for military action in Iraq: Minister

ANKARA - Reuters

Bekir Bozdağ during a speech at Parliament. AA Photo

The Turkish government is not working on any new mandate to authorize a cross-border military operation into Iraq, where militants are holding 80 Turkish nationals hostage, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said on June 12.

"The issue of whether the existing mandate is sufficient [for a military operation] or a new mandate is required is among the issues being discussed. But right now there is no work being conducted for a new mandate," Bozdağ told reporters in Ankara.

A parliamentary mandate allowing Turkey to conduct cross-border military operations in Iraq expires in October. 

The text of the current mandate refers to the PKK, but it also uses a more general term in another clause, defining the target of possible operations as "terrorist attacks and threats against Turkey" from "northern Iraq and its neighboring areas."

The Turkish Parliament authoritized the government on Oct. 10, 2013, giving it a 12-month mandate for foreign mission. However, the government has yet to transfer this authorization to the army.