Turkish parliament speaker urges global action for peace, warns of decades of turmoil

By Ali Kemal Akan

ANKARA (AA) – Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus on Tuesday urged the international community to intensify its efforts to bring peace to conflict zones, warning that failure to act could plunge the world into decades of turmoil.

"We must be more active and bolder than the warmongers to achieve peace. Otherwise, I fear that in the coming decades, the world will enter a great turbulence," Kurtulmus said during a meeting with Finnish President Alexander Stubbat at parliament in the Turkish capital Ankara.

"Those who know nothing but war and killing can only be stopped by the international system through force," he added.

"The Russia-Ukraine war has the potential to expand and pose a threat to the entire region, especially Europe,” he said.

He called for the immediate reestablishment of a “table for peace.”

"We believe that any peace negotiations held without Russia will not yield results,” he said, adding: “Türkiye’s stance is very clear. We advocate peace in the Russia-Ukraine crisis.”

- Israel’s aggression against 'entire' region

Kurtulmus also condemned Israel's current policies in the region, calling them “unacceptable.”

"Israel has declared open aggression not only against Palestinian lands but also against all the countries in the region," said Kurtulmus.

"It has disregarded the sovereignty of Palestine, disregarded the sovereignty of Iran, violated Lebanon’s sovereignty with assassinations and cyberattacks, and most recently, with its attack on Damascus last night, it disregarded Syria’s sovereignty," he warned.

He warned that Israel's aggressive stance carries the potential to further expand the war.

At least three people were killed and nine others injured early Tuesday in Israeli airstrikes on multiple sites in the Syrian capital Damascus, according to the Syrian state news agency. Israel has not commented on the airstrikes.

Israel has been carrying out airstrikes in Syria since 2011 against government forces, Iranian troops, and Hezbollah targets.

Since Sept. 23, Israel has launched massive airstrikes against what it calls Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, killing more than 1,000 people and injuring over 2,900 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Several Hezbollah leaders have been killed in the assault, including its leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 41,600 people, most of them women and children, following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last October.

The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.

Israel also faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.

Underlining the importance of the deep-rooted, historic relations between Türkiye and Finland in all areas, Kurtulmus also expressed satisfaction at the prospect of further developing relations with Finland, particularly as part of NATO, the alliance it joined last year.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Celik