Celik: Troops won’t be sent immediately

Education Minister Huseyin Celik said today that Parliament’s approval of government proposal that allows the sending of Turkish troops to Iraq to serve as peacekeepers did not mean that they would be sent immediately.

Speaking to journalists, Celik said that the government had requested the authority to send the troops, noting that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and other Cabinet members would be discussing the issue with US officials.

He also said that some members of the Provisional Iraqi Governing Council had decided to air their opinions before a Council meeting, but the council resolved not to approve that stance. He said the council was not representative of the people, noting everybody knew how the council was formed.