International Peace Conference Held in İstanbul
An International Peace Conferance, organised by the Global Peace and Justice Coalition and the Foundation for Human Rights and Solidarity with Opressed People, was held in Istanbul on 4 February, 2006. The two speakers were Müsenna Halis ed-Dari, vice president of the Iraqi Lecturers Association and editor of the Basair newspaper, and Yvonne Ridley from Britain, a journalist arrested by the Taliban in 2002 in Afghanistan.
Fotograf: Ali Öz.
An International Peace Conferance, organised by the Global Peace and Justice Coalition and the Foundation for Human Rights and Solidarity with Opressed People, was held in Istanbul on 4 February, 2006. The two speakers were Müsenna Halis ed-Dari, vice president of the Iraqi Lecturers Association and editor of the Basair newspaper, and Yvonne Ridley from Britain, a journalist arrested by the Taliban in 2002 in Afghanistan. In 2003 she became a Muslim and is now active in the Stop the War Coalition and Respect in Britain. Mustafa Ercan, chairman of the Istanbul Branch of the Foundation for Human Rights and Solidarity with Opressed People, was the moderator of the conferance.
Our intention in organising the conferance was to reveal what is really going on in Iraq, to express our solidarity with the resistance in Iraq and the international anti-war movement, and to build the demonstration which will be held on 18 March.
Müsenna Halis ed-Dari said, “America occupied Iraq with lots of claims and launched the war without putting forward any valid evidence. Bush’s first excuse was the nuclear weapons. And in the end, the destruction in Iraq is more than a destruction that could be done by any nuclear weapon. And it is not only people who have been destroyed, it is also a civilization. The second claim of America was bringing democracy to Iraq. Democracy is known as the reflection of free will, but America has insisted on democracy by using force. Bush said that he has come to Iraq to bring democracy and freedom, but now we have blood and death in Iraq, not democracy and freedom.”
Yvonne Ridley said, “Recently Bush described America as a peaceful country. If it’s such a peaceful country why has America been at war every year in the last 50 years? America has bombed 20 countries in these 50 years. And we shouldn’t forget that America is the only country that used nuclear weapons against civilians; one in Nagasaki, and the other in Hirosima. Today, there are two superpowers in the world. One is that being headed by George Bush. And the other one will be marching on the 18th of March claiming peace. The 18 March demonstration which will show the power of the people, will be held everywhere from London to Istanbul. Where will you be on the 18th of March? Are you going to be shoulder to shoulder with George W. Bush, or are you going to be with the people marching in the streets?”
After the speeches, there were speakers from the floor. Şenol Karakaş, a member of the Global Peace and Justice Coalition Executive Commitee said, “America says that Iran has nuclear weapons. It’s America and Israel that have nuclear weapons. Today there are two things that can defeat America; one is the resistance in Iraq, and the other is the international anti-war movement. There will be demonstrations on the 18th of March all around the world. And in Turkey we will be marching in Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Adana and Trabzon. We will be in the streets on the 18th of March in order to prevent America attacking Iran and to be in solidarity with the resistance in Iraq and the international anti-war movement.” Then, Yıldız Önen, also a member of the Global Peace and Justice Coalition Executive Comitee said, “I have just been at the 6th World Social Forum in Venezuella. We discussed how to resist imperialism, neo-liberal policies and war. America is trying to terrorise us. There were lots of anti-war activists at the WSF, and they said that they will not allow America to do this and they would be on the streets on the 18 March against the war and against America’s aggression. We can only win if we can link the anti-war movement in America to the anti-war movement in the world and the resistance in Iraq.”
Media coverage of the Conference was very extensive. More than ten newspapers interviewed the speakers, and Yvonne Ridley appeared on Turkish CNN.
The Conference was a great success and helped us to build the 18 March demonstrations.