SPEAKER ŞENTOP CALLS ON PUIC TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST ISRAEL

2023-04-11 - 13:00

Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (GNAT), Mustafa Şentop attended the online Virtual Emergency Meeting of Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States (PUIC)'s Presidential Troika and Permanent Committee on Palestine, consisting of Türkiye, Algeria and the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, to discuss Israel's attacks on Holy Masjid al-Aqsa and Palestinian people.

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In Parliamentary Union of Islamic Cooperation (PUIC), on the initiative of Speaker of GNAT, Mustafa Şentop, to discuss Israel's attacks on Holy Masjid al-Aqsa and the Palestinians, the Presidential Troika of PUIC, consisting of Türkiye as the previous term President, Algeria the current term President and the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire the next term President, and Permanent Committee on Palestine of PUIC held an Emergency Meeting.<_o3a_p>

Şentop stated, "Israeli politics makes our Palestinian brothers and sisters, Holy Masjid al-Aqsa, Gaza and West Bank the issue of internal politics. When there is a stalemate in internal politics, they hope for help from the policy of fear they have built with provocations over Palestine, they manipulate their own people. Israel should be forced to abandon this dirty policy as soon as possible."<_o3a_p>

Starting his speech by emphasizing that in the month of Holy Ramadhan, the month of peace and blessings, events that deeply hurt the entire Islamic world were witnessed, Şentop pointed out that Israel repeats what it does every Ramadhan.<_o3a_p>

Şentop stated that Israel attacked the Harem-i Sharif during the worship of the Palestinians, causing unacceptable images that cannot be tolerated by conscience, and he said, "Any attempt to harm the holy places here is a clear attack on all Muslims. As Islamic world, we need to make this clear and make Israel understand it. I strongly condemn these inhuman and unlawful attacks, harassment and abominable acts of Israel."<_o3a_p>

Stating that the reckless practices of the government, consisting of far-right and racist parties that took office in Israel, began to threaten the peace in the region, Şentop stated, "Israeli politics makes our Palestinian brothers and sisters, Masjid al-Aqsa, Gaza and the West Bank the issue of internal politics. When there is a stalemate in internal politics, they hope for help from the policy of fear they have built with provocations over Palestine, they manipulate their own people. Israel should be forced to abandon this dirty policy as soon as possible."<_o3a_p>

Expressing that Israel's provocative attacks, which touched the sensitivities and nerve endings of the Islamic world, triggered the spiral of violence, Şentop continued as follows:<_o3a_p>

"Israel aims to destroy the vision of a two-state solution with its unilateral steps and tries to reveal defacto irreversible situations. If a permanent environment of peace, stability and prosperity is desired in the Middle East, the way is clear. Firstly, this road passes through the end of the Israeli occupation in Palestine. Essentially, Israel and Palestine should be allowed to establish an independent, sovereign and geographically integrated Palestinian State, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the basis of the 1967 borders. Steps must be taken towards a two-state, a fair and lasting peace."

Şentop said, "The international community must now take responsibility." Noting that the unilateral steps taken by Israel in violation of international law were ignored by the international community, Şentop listed the steps to be taken in this regard as follows:<_o3a_p>

"Everyone who remains silent about these attacks and crimes against humanity; By encouraging Israel to continue these reckless, threatening and deadly attacks, it becomes a moral partner in this crime. Shed blood and lost souls are everyone's sin. International society and its institutions; they are responsible for taking immediate action and taking the necessary measures to put an end to these dangerous and provocative actions and policies of Israel that may deeply affect international peace and the entire region. The international community, and especially the UN Security Council, should immediately fulfill this responsibility."<_o3a_p>

Emphasizing that Türkiye will continue to voice its objection at every unilateral wrong step taken by Israel, Şentop also said the following regarding the common attitude that Islamic countries should display:<_o3a_p>

"We, as Türkiye, will continue to stand by the Palestinian people under all circumstances. In this period, it is of great importance that we act jointly as Islamic countries, and that we are in close contact and coordination. Since it represents all Muslim countries against Israel's attacks on Masjid al-Aqsa and Palestinian people, PUIC, which is the common voice of Muslims and a platform that shows our will to act together, needs to take a clear stance. For this reason, we must make every effort to keep this issue on the agenda of the international community, both as PUIC and through our governments. We must force the international community to hold Israel accountable for its war crimes and violations of international law, and we must ensure that it goes beyond the ordinary texts of condemnation. We should increase our efforts more intensely in many international institutions, especially the International Criminal Court."<_o3a_p>

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