A parliament we can be proud of

The year is 2003. The first months of the year. The US, angered by the fact that Iraqi oil was being sold by bypassing the US dollar, decides to attack Iraq.

Faced with the difficulty of entering Iraq from the south due to sandstorms, the US decides to enter Iraq from the north, through the Turkish border.

To this end, the US decides to deploy approximately 70,000 soldiers, 255 warplanes, and 65 helicopters on Turkish soil for a period of 6 months.

At that time, Turkey was trying to create a very strong public opinion against this intention of the US. However, the AKP was in power in Turkey; it was still in its early stages and was in its second year of office.

It is unknown what kind of high-level agreement was made, but there was a popular movement that strongly opposed the deployment of US soldiers, or rather foreign soldiers, in our country with great excitement and reaction.

Although this movement was not active in the form of street protests, it was maintained in the form of a passive opposition.

On the other hand, extraordinary activities were being carried out in the US parliament to both convince the world public and suppress the Turkish public. Images claimed to have been taken from space were presented to Senate members and even the world public to prove that Iraq was producing nuclear warheads with imaginary visuals.

In Turkey, the situation was being handled in two different areas. The majority of the public was against the deployment of foreign soldiers in our country and even against the US attacking our neighbor Iraq with fake evidence. But the US was presenting its green dollars to the public before sending its soldiers to war. As they say, state mechanisms are an official death or execution squad!

A secret session was held in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) on March 1, 2003, to take the necessary decision on this matter. While everyone was holding their breath and waiting for the result with excitement, a wonderful picture emerged.

In the parliament, opponents of US policy united, and out of 533 deputies who participated in the vote, 264 voted in favor and 250 voted against, preventing the deployment of US soldiers on Turkish soil. According to the result of the vote, the government's proposal was rejected because it could not reach the 267 votes required by the Constitution.

It seems we were running towards such times that we can proudly crown the March 1, 2003, TBMM decision today! It means that even the Constitution could be trampled upon over time; it means that the one-man decision system, no matter how important it may be, had not yet been activated! This decision of the TBMM is a great source of pride that the Turkish nation will carry in its heart forever.

After the war, it emerged that the images of the nuclear production center served to the public before the Iraq war were fake. The person who served as a commander in the Iraq war was later appointed to a state position, I believe as Secretary of Defense.

A NATO meeting will be held in the coming days. While waters are boiling in the Middle East, it may be significant that the NATO meeting is being held in Turkey. Let us hope that our relevant public officials will be able to carry the NATO meeting to its conclusion without showing the slightest weakness in protecting the pride of our people, both in the meetings and in the decisions that may be taken.

Let us hope!!!!