ANKARA - State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ertugrul Yalcinbayir has said that the world wanted peace and any reason could not be a reason for a war.
''The humanity is now having an exam, so does Turkey. I hope that we would pass this exam altogether,'' he said.
Yalcinbayir received ''Coordination of Opposition to War in Iraq'' delegation members in the Prime Ministry on Thursday.
Speaking on behalf of the delegation, Confederation of Public Workers Labor Unions (KESK) Chairman Sami Evren said that 85 percent of Turkish people were ''against'' a war in Iraq.
Evren said that Turkey should not be the base and tool of dirty war policies that the arms and oil monopolies in the United States were following to have dominance over the world.
''Don't be a part of killing of thousands of women, children and men by joining an attack on Iraq. As the nation, we want our deputies to listen to demands of our people who want peace,'' Evren said.
Meanwhile, Yalcinbayir said that freedoms were restricted and inhumane acts were committed in extraordinary periods and periods of war, adding, ''war also does not take the laws into consideration. It is an extraordinary and very dangerous process. Not only this process, but also the period after the war threatens people.''
Stressing that the world wanted peace and any reason could not be a reason for a war, Yalcinbayir said, ''we all target at a world purified from violence. The humanity is now having an exam, so does Turkey. I hope that we would pass this exam altogether. American people should know that thousands and even millions of people may be killed in war. They should not ignore this. We hope that also American people would put pressure against a war.''
Noting that other countries in the region should be more active, Yalcinbayir added, ''at the moment, we don't assume an attitude and deploy a position as a support to war preparations. We have only taken measures against every possible development and situation. If an undesirable development or incident happen, we use our force, of course. It is our right to defend ourselves. However, any defense can't resist to demands for peace.''