In a meeting in Ankara Tuesday afternoon, Turkish parliament adopted a government motion on sending troops to Iraq with 358 voted in favor, 183 against and 2 abstained.
All deputies of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP)and 9 deputies of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) voted against. AK Party has 367 seats in the 550-seat Parliament, voted against.
As Parliament members learned about the decision of the Iraqi Governing Council to reject Turkish troops, this last-minute news caused tension at the Parliament.
CHP leader Deniz Baykal took the floor and said that the situation was very serious.
However PM Tayyip Erdogan said that this had nothing to do with the voting process.
The government made a decision to send troops to Iraq at a cabinet meeting on Monday and sent the motion to Parliament Speaker's Office shortly after cabinet members signed the document.
(Xinhua News Agency October 8, 2003)
