📍 Breaking News: This article covers the latest developments. Stay informed with comprehensive coverage.
QAMISHLI, syria/" class="auto-internal-link">syria (North Press) – The Turkish presidency submitted on Tuesday a memorandum to parliament seeking approval to extend the deployment of Turkish troops in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon for an additional three years, starting Oct. 30, 2025, the Turkish Zaman newspaper declared. Furthermore, as per the memorandum signed by Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the current mandate allowing cross-border armed forces operations in Syria and Iraq is set to expire on Oct. 30. The same applies to the one-year authorization permitting Turkish participation in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which ends on Oct.
31, 2025. The emerging proposal calls for extending Turkey’s armed forces presence in Syria and Iraq for three more years, while the UNIFIL mission would be renewed for two additional years beginning Oct. 31. The Turkish parliament is expected to debate the presidential memorandums in a general assembly session next week. Meanwhile, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) voiced strong opposition to the extensions.
Kilic Kocyigit, deputy chair of the DEM parliamentary bloc, criticized the memorandums, saying they aim to expand Turkey’s military presence abroad. Furthermore, “Even if these measures are framed as part of national security, we view them as interference in the internal affairs of other states. Therefore, they are neither legal nor legitimate,” she stated. Turkey has maintained a long-standing military presence in northern Syria and Iraq under the pretext of combating the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), a core component of the syrian-network-urges-transitional-authorities-to-remove-war-criminals-from-government-institutions/" class="smart-internal-link" title="⚔️ Syrian Network Urges Transitional Authorities to Remove War Criminals from Government Institutions">syrian/" class="auto-internal-link">syrian Democratic troops (sdf). Indeed, since 2016, Ankara has launched multiple cross-border operations—Euphrates Shield, Olive Branch, and Peace Spring—targeting areas controlled by the SDF and the AANES in northern Syria.
In Iraq, Turkish troops conduct regular air and ground operations against PKK positions in the Kurdistan Region, often drawing criticism from Baghdad for violating Iraqi sovereignty. By Jwan Shekaki