ANKARA
By Feyza Susal
Turkish government has dismissed the claims over a second group of Kurdish peshmerga forces will be sent by the Iraqi Kurdish government via Turkey to enter Syrian border town of Kobani to help assist Kurdish groups fighting ISIL militants.
"It is certainly not true that a second convoy or armed force will go to Kobani (via Turkey)," Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told a late night press briefing following Monday's Council of Ministers' meeting in Ankara.
"We have recieved neither a demand nor any notice, and there is also no preparation for such a move," Arinc added.
Turkey had recently given the go-ahead for the passage of a group of around 160 Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces through its territories to reach the battle-torn town lying on Syria-Turkey borderline, whose mission was to repel the ISIL threat to the Kurdish town.
The Kobani-bound peshmerga troops landed on a private plane at Turkey's GAP Airport in the southeastern province of Sanliurfa from Iraqi Kurdish capital Erbil early Wednesday, along with a separate truck convoy carrying their heavy weaponry via the Habur border crossing in the southeastern Sirnak province.
After entering Turkish soil, the convoy with the troops and their weaponry on board crossed the Yumurtalik border gate late Friday into Kobani.
The battle for control of the strategic Syrian town between ISIL militants and armed Kurdish groups has been raging since mid-September when ISIL entered the town. An estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees, including some 190,000 from Kobani, are being sheltered in camps across Turkey after fleeing the fighting.
Turkey has also been strongly supporting a proposal before the international community and the UN to establish a no-fly zone and a safe haven for refugees inside Syria near the Turkish border.
No need to change Turkey's 'Red Book,' says deputy PM
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc has said there is currently no need to change the country’s national security guidelines, commonly known as the 'Red Book.'
Speaking at a late night press briefing following Monday's Council of Ministers' meeting in Ankara, Arinc said: "Our government has not yet put the issue on the agenda and discussed it, but will bring it up before the National Security Council if necessary."
Arinc said the last change to the 'National Security Policy document' -- which names and lists threats to the Turkish state -- was made in 2010.
He added that there is no rule which says the document must be reformed every five years, but spoke of a possible revision in 2015.
In earlier remarks, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the ‘parallel state’ could be listed in the security document.
If listed, this would mean that the network -- allegedly maintained by supporters of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen -- would become an official matter of national security.
The Turkish authorities claim that supporters of the Gulen movement have infiltrated the state and are attempting to overthrow the government.
During last Thursday's National Security Council meeting chaired by Erdogan, Turkey's top officials announced action against "parallel state structures" and said measures would be taken to combat these networks.
Arinc stressed that last night's Cabinet meeting did not discuss religious organizations in Turkey.
He maintained that religious groups, also called ‘jamaats’ in Arabic as he preferred to use, are "sociological entities in Turkey that are comprised of religious people and believers who coexist peacefully without being involved in a fight against the state and the law."
Arinc also said that if it became necessary for the continuity of the state, it would take measures against such groups if they morphed into a different structure that acts against the law.
"[If so] our government will do what is necessary," he added.
Trapped miners in central Turkey
In other news, Arinc said Monday's Cabinet meeting also discussed safety in Turkish mines and agreed that new amendments on workers' health and security were essential to prevent such accidents, eliminate all related risks and maximize work safety.
Rescue efforts are continuing to reach 18 workers trapped since October 28 in a flooded coal mine in the Ermenek district of Turkey’s central Karaman province.
The miners were trapped underground after a water pipe malfunction caused a flood.
Motion to send Turkish troops to help EU forces in Mali and CAR
Arinc also stated that the Prime Ministry will submit a motion to the Turkish parliament, as the Cabinet agreed, to send troops abroad within the context of operations and missions by UN-approved EU forces to the crisis-ridden Central African Republic and Mali.
"The Prime Ministry has made a related request, and it will be discussed and debated at the parliament in due course," he said.
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