German Parliament Backs Cabinet Bid to Prolong, Expand Anti-Daesh Operations

The German parliament backed the government proposal on Thursday to extend military deployment to a Turkish base and to provide personnel for NATO spy jets to monitor Daesh in Syria.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Bundestag lawmakers voted 445-139 in favor of the initiative with two abstentions, amid concerns from the opposition this could be interpreted as endorsement of Ankara’s policies.

German military mandate abroad needs to be renewed every year. Last month, the cabinet also agreed to send German pilots to Turkey to fly NATO’s Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) reconnaissance planes in Syria as part of an international effort to defeat Daesh.

Niels Annen, of the Social Democratic Party, a junior partner in the ruling coalition, rejected accusations from the leftist Linke faction that continued German military presence at the Incirlik airbase was against the law.

He said this mandate was not a sign of support of Turkey "and surely not of the Turkish government," but a contribution to the fight against Daesh "and therefore our own security."

Ties between Turkey and Germany have been strained after Ankara barred German lawmakers from visiting Bundeswehr troops at the southern airbase and, most recently, over its post-coup crackdown on opposition and dissidents.