Protesters Against the Motion Hit the Streets

As the parliament was voting on a motion to allow foreign troops to use Turkey's airspace and to send Turkish troops into northern Iraq, anti-war protesters were on the streets.

Turkey's parliament had rejected a motion to allow the "deployment of foreign soldiers in Turkey" on March 1.

Parliament's decision was crucial because it shut the doors of a northern front for a United States-led attack on Iraq. As a result of the enormous economic and political pressure that followed, a second resolution was sent to the parliament on March 19.

Lawyers, doctors and academics, all in their professional clothes, marched from Galatasaray to the Taksim Square and left a banquet at the "Republic Monument" in Taksim. "Peace at Home, Peace in the World" read the banquet. Hundreds of peace activists joined the protesters who formed a chain of peace around the monument by holding hands.

The press statement was read by actor Genco Erkal: "We are calling on the leaders: the parliament and the government should not get our country and our people involved in this crime against humanity. The parliament should not approve any resolution that would lead to a war and a U.S. occupation in Turkey. Keeping quiet and choosing to be an observer is participating to the crime."

The peace activists who preferred sounds rather than slogans, created a spontaneous peace band with their home-made shakers, drums, whistles, pots and pans. (BB/NM/EA)