Pressed by the opposition, finally a meeting on Syrian war casualties was reluctantly accepted in the National Assembly only to be held 4 days after the attack. However, the government insisted that the meeting be closed and the records sealed. Opposition, on the other hand, insists on an open discussion where the public could hear and understand the scale of what is going on in Syria, especially after so many casualties were reported.
Workers Party MP’s refuse to participate in a “Closed Session” meeting of the National Assembly
Turkey’s ruling party AKP was forced to accept a National Assembly meeting on its escalation of the Syrian invasion. However, the rulers are refusing to share information and the developments with the general public, especially after a devastating blow to its armed forces in Syria that claimed, according to many sources, more than a hundred casualties. The government changes the casualty number, claiming it to be around 37, as of today, up from its original 26.
While the world organizations such as the United Nations were called into emergency sessions after Turkey escalated its Syrian invasion, Turkey was quite slow to even discuss the matter. For two days after the Turkish troops were hit and bodies were brought back to Turkey, the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, disappeared from the public, letting lower ranking governors handle the news.
Pressed by the opposition, finally a meeting on the matter was reluctantly accepted in the National Assembly only to be held 4 days after the attack. However, the government insisted that the meeting be closed and the records sealed. Opposition, on the other hand, insists on an open discussion where the public could hear and understand the scale of what is going on in Syria, especially after so many casualties were reported.
The two MPs from the Workers Party of Turkey, a socialist labor party, Erkan Baş and Barış Atalay, reacted to the secrecy and accused the government of holding the meeting against the internal rules of the Assembly. Their call to open up the discussion was rejected by the ruling party votes.
The two MPs refused to attend the secretive meeting and walked out to hold a press release. In their statements to the public, the MPs said, “There is no provision in the National Assembly to hold a closed meeting. They are trying to normalize and make it acceptable to hold secret meetings. What are you hiding from the people? The children who are dying have a right to know what is being said.”
The Worker Party MPs protested that even the procedural discussions for the meeting was held secretly. Their statement included, “They didn’t even have the guts to discuss the procedures of this closed meeting openly. Only those who fear the people will disregard the public and have closed meetings concerning the future of the same people.”
Sendika.org News (M.B.)