(VOVworld) – Turkey's parliament gave the government the green light on Thursday to deploy Turkish armed forces against Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Syria and Iraq.

Turkish parliament gives green light to IS combat in Iraq, Syria

The mandate allows the use of armed forces in neighboring countries and the transit of Turkish territory by foreign forces in operations against IS for one year. The vote was 298 to 98, with a big majority of the ruling Justice and Development Party voting for and the  Republican People's Party and the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party voting against, saying the measure is a declaration of war that targets Bashar Assad's regime in Syria.