Anti-War Signatures Delivered to Parliament

Huseyin Cankiran, chair of the Human Rights Association (IHD), delivered a speech Monday, in front of the Heykel post office, before sending the signatures to the parliament.

"People, not numbers, will die"

"People, not numbers die in a war," said Cankiran. "Turkey's sending troops to this war, allowing the use of its bases, or supporting this war, is not a requirement for the security of the Turkish people, but a requirement for the loyalty to imperialist interests."

"The only aim of this war is to shift the balance of powers to benefit the United States of America (U.S.), and to secure control of the oil resources," added Cankiran.

"In the name of international law, the culture of peace and humanity, we reject Turkey's support for an attack on Iraq," he said.

Cankiran said the, "U.S. will attack no matter what. We should get whatever we can out of this," approach was "not honorable and the outcome of a short-viewed policy."

"We reject this approach because it does not take into account human life, and ethical values toward maintaining peace," Cankiran said.

Yuksel Erdi, the chair of the Chamber of Mechanical Engineers, delivered a joint statement by the Chamber of Mechanical Engineers and the Chamber of Electrical Engineers.

Erdi emphasized that subjective and wrong energy policies caused an increase in the prices in Turkey and negatively affected the country. (BB/EA/NM)