Turkey extends troops deployment in Mali, CAR

Turkish parliament on Tuesday approved a motion, extending the deployment of troops in Mali and the Central African Republic (CAR), for another year, as part of the UN-approved EU peacekeeping mission.

The extension will be effective from Oct. 31, 2019, for another year.

The ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and two other opposition parties, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Good (IYI) Party backed the motion. The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), however, voted against the motion.

On Tuesday, Turkish parliament also debated a motion to extend the government’s authority to launch cross-border military operations in Iraq and Syria for another year.

In September 2014, a 12,000-strong UN mandated Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), was deployed in the troubled country.

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution in 2012 that authorized the deployment of the African-led International Support Mission to Mali, known as AFISMA.

In early 2013, France sent troops to the West African country and, with the help of Chadian and other African forces, flushed out militants from the country's key northern cities.