The Turkish Parliament on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved the deployment of Turkish troops to Azerbaijan for a peacekeeping mission to monitor a cease-fire deal that aims to end the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and Good Party (IP) accepted the bill, which will allow Turkish peacekeeping efforts in the aftermath of the recent Nagorno-Karabakh deal.
The mandate will allow Turkish troops to be stationed at a peacekeeping center for one year as part of an accord between Ankara and Moscow to monitor the implementation of the cease-fire, which locked in territorial gains by Azerbaijan. Some 2,000 Russian peacekeeping troops are now also deploying to the region.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government would determine the number of troops to be sent and it wasn't immediately clear how many the country planned to deploy. The motion states that civilian personnel could also be deployed as part of the peacekeeping mission.
On Monday, the Turkish Presidency submitted a motion to Parliament on deploying troops to Azerbaijan for monitoring a cease-fire agreement over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
It followed two days of talks in the capital Ankara with Russian officials about how the two regional powers intend to jointly implement a Russian-brokered cease-fire signed last week.
Turkey, which threw its weight behind its ally Azerbaijan in the conflict, has been engaged in talks with Russia for a role in monitoring the cease-fire that ended six weeks of intense fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Russian and Turkish defense ministers signed a memorandum last week to create a joint monitoring center in Azerbaijan. Russia is sending about 2,000 peacekeeping troops under a five-year mandate.
The Russian-brokered agreement states that a "peacekeeping center is being deployed to control the ceasefire" but does not specify its formal role.
Relations between two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory recognized as part of Azerbaijan and seven adjacent regions.
Fresh clashes erupted on Sept. 27 and the Armenian army continued its attacks on civilian and Azerbaijani forces, even violating humanitarian cease-fire agreements for 44 days.
Baku liberated several cities and nearly 300 of its settlements and villages from the Armenian occupation during this time.
Before the second Nagorno-Karabakh war, about 20% of Azerbaijan's territory had been under illegal Armenian occupation for nearly three decades.
On Nov. 10, the two countries signed a Russia-brokered agreement to end the fighting and work toward a comprehensive solution.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev hailed the agreement as a victory for his country and a defeat of Armenia, saying Baku's military success enabled it to gain an upper hand to end the three-decade-long occupation of its territory.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said he had signed an "unspeakably painful" deal that allowed Azerbaijan to claim control over regions it took back in the fighting.
The Turkish leadership also welcomed the truce, terming it a "great victory" for Azerbaijan.
