In November 2014, Turkey announced plans to send peacekeepers to participate in U.N.-backed missions in the Central African Republic and Mali. In an email interview, Nil S. Satana, assistant professor at Bilkent University in Ankara and research affiliate at the START Center at the University of Maryland, College Park, discussed Turkey’s contributions to international peacekeeping missions.
WPR: In what capacity has Turkey contributed to European Union peacekeeping missions, and how does Turkey decide whether or not to participate in a given mission?
Nil S. Satana: In compliance with its framework agreement for participation in EU crisis management operations signed in June 2006, Turkey has deployed both military and police forces to former and current EU missions in Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Turkey has also participated in the European Gendarmerie Force since 2009 and recently agreed to send staff to three U.N.-mandated EU missions in the Central African Republic and Mali.