Turkish parliament approves mandate to send troops to Syria

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's parliament voted on Thursday to extend by a year a mandate authorising the deployment of troops to Syria if needed after the government said the possible use of chemical weapons by President Bashar al-Assad posed a threat to Turkey.

The motion, put forward by the ruling AK Party, which has a strong parliamentary majority, had been widely expected to pass despite stiff resistance from opposition parties. The current mandate is due to expire on Friday.