DEM Party's Koçyiğit warns against military and commercial activities with the State of Israel: Ankara must end them immediately

DEM Party Group Deputy Chair Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit, in her speech at the TBMM General Assembly, stated that the government has not ended trade with Israel, saying, "Turkey must take more initiative for the resolution of the Palestinian issue and display an approach that is realistic, permanent, and free from rhetoric. Ankara should direct its energy toward solving this problem and must immediately end all military and commercial activities that fuel the State of Israel's military aggression. The Grand National Assembly of Turkey must play its historical role in returning to a peaceful solution for the Palestinian issue and strengthen its solidarity with the Palestinian people."

Kılıç Koçyiğit stated that if this is carried out, it would be the greatest ethnic cleansing attempt in human history, adding, "For the Palestinian people, this means a new and much greater Nakba, or catastrophe. Standing against this catastrophe plan means defending not only the Palestinians but human dignity itself, and such a historical responsibility falls upon us as well," she said.

"WE NEVER ACCEPT THE CONTINUATION OF RAW MATERIAL TRADE"

Noting that strong objections to the attacks on Gaza and Palestine have risen all over the world, Kılıç Koçyiğit stated that Turkey has lagged behind in this regard and made the following criticisms:

"Squares in cities were filled to overflowing. Protests and actions were carried out. Many states were forced to take concrete steps, however insufficient, as a result of this public outcry. People and governments all over the world did not remain silent, despite all obstacles and the agreements they had with the State of Israel. They took concrete steps for the people of Palestine and Gaza. But unfortunately, we cannot say that Turkey has taken any significant, concrete, or real steps in this process.

There is only plenty of rhetoric and condemnation. Most of these have fallen far short of real steps. We do not see what Turkey has done in this regard as sufficient. The continuation of military and commercial relations through third countries is never, ever acceptable.

We do not find the continuation of trade in raw materials used in the oil and military industries to be right, and we do not accept it. This rhetorical foreign policy understanding, which is detached from reality and fails to read the dynamics correctly, is distancing the country from a solution and making it a party to regional crises. Moreover, those who took to the streets for Palestine in this country were threatened. Young people were detained. Research motions submitted by the DEM Party and opposition parties for Palestine were rejected.

While even in the capital of Israel, anti-war protesters can freely take to the streets, in Turkey, those who want a real boycott of Israel were met with the government's water cannon vehicles (TOMA) and handcuffs. Even more gravely, even during this period when Israel's massacres have reached their peak, commercial relations covering strategic products with Israel have not been cut off; on the contrary, they have been maintained.

"DO NOT DECEIVE THE PUBLIC WITH RHETORICAL SPEECHES"

It is not possible to deceive the domestic public or develop a consistent line in foreign policy with daily rhetorical speeches. Therefore, we must all ask this question together: For what? For every child and every person killed in Palestine... In this process where the State of Israel has razed Palestine and Gaza to the ground with a destruction, massacre, and genocide rarely seen in history for two years, what has Turkey actually done? What is happening today in Palestine in general, and in Gaza in particular, is never independent of the crises in Iran, Iraq, and Syria.

These are interconnected stages where regional competition and global power games intersect. The Middle East, with its thousands of years of history, has never suffered as much as it has from the nation-state understanding and mentality imposed 100 years ago. As the DEM Party, in the light of the patriotic, leftist, socialist, and revolutionary tradition we carry, we have been in solidarity with the Palestinian people since the 1970s. Our path is the path of Deniz Gezmiş and his comrades, who lent their shoulders to the Palestinian struggle. Our path is the path of the Turkish and Kurdish revolutionaries and socialists who fought shoulder to shoulder against the occupation of the State of Israel and sacrificed their lives for the Palestinian people."

"THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY MUST ASSUME GUARANTORSHIP"

Pointing out that a ceasefire agreement must be signed immediately in Gaza and the West Bank, Kılıç Koçyiğit said, "The State of Israel's attacks on civilians must be stopped immediately. The parties must remain loyal to the ceasefire. The international community must assume guarantorship for the permanence of the ceasefire. Preparations for an international conference to be held under UN auspices for a permanent peace agreement must be started immediately. The international public should pave the way for dialogue and consensus instead of using polarizing language regarding Gaza. The hostages held by Hamas must be reunited with their families, and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli dungeons must be released," she said.

"ANKARA SHOULD DIRECT ITS ENERGY TOWARD SOLVING THIS PROBLEM"

Stating that "In the face of the State of Israel's imposition policies that ignore the Palestinian people, the legitimate and democratic demands of the Palestinian people must be taken and supported with determination as steps toward a comprehensive peace for a permanent solution," Kılıç Koçyiğit continued her proposals as follows:

"The right of Palestinians to self-governance and return to their lands must be ensured immediately. Turkey must take more initiative for the resolution of the Palestinian issue and display an approach that is realistic, permanent, and free from rhetoric. Ankara should direct its energy toward solving this problem and must immediately end all military and commercial activities that fuel the State of Israel's military aggression. The Grand National Assembly of Turkey must play its historical role in returning to a peaceful solution for the Palestinian issue and strengthen its solidarity with the Palestinian people."