The Legitimacy Issue in Turkey’s Military Interventions in Syria and Libya

As its troop deployments in Syria and Libya are constituting an intervention into domestic jurisdiction, Turkey needed to show that it is complying with the international laws as well as setting out the rationale for its military operations in those countries. To justify its military operations in Syria, Turkey has referred to self-defense and counterterrorism, and vaguely invoked humanitarian intervention and responsibility to protect civilians. In Libya, however, Turkey invoked UN resolutions and bilateral security agreements for its operations. These differences in Turkey's discourse for these operations had also an impact on its military actions and their nature. In this regard, Turkey’s woes in Syria in terms of conducting military operations are, among other things, related to the fact that it is at odds with the sitting government of Syria. In the same vein, Turkey’s ease at deploying troops and running overseas military operations in Libya is related to the fact that it is siding with the internationally recognized Tripoli government. These means of justifications were instrumental in preparing the ground for Turkey’s military engagements in Syria and Libya. It is important to highlight that direct military engagement of a foreign country in regional conflicts would shift the overall balance on the battlefield.

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