MILLIYET- Columnist Derya Sazak comments on anti-war demonstrations held worldwide over the weekend. A summary of his column is as follows:
Millions of people took to the streets this weekend to bring the madness of Saddam Hussein and George W. Bush to an end and to urge one more chance for peace. In London and Baghdad, Seoul and New York, and other major cities, throngs of people cried out, ‘No war!’ Nobody wants a war in Iraq. Under these circumstances, it won’t be easy for Parliament to hold a vote tomorrow as scheduled on the proposal to station US troops here.
During a recent football match in Izmir, the outcry against Prime Minister Abdullah Gul was significant. Gul felt the heat from this so much that it was even felt during Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis’s recent White House meeting with Bush. Yakis conveyed his concern to Bush about the fact that antiwar protests had spread from the matches to the streets. Bush is familiar with these reactions. Hundreds of thousands of people marched with signs saying, ‘No War, Stop This Madness’ in New York. In addition, many parents in the US who have sons and daughters in the US military are also opposed to war.
Certain leading TV channels in the US carried a ‘terror alarm’ logo this weekend. Responding to a rumor that a chemical weapons attack on Washington was imminent, the nation rushed to supermarkets and bought sheets to cover their windows and started to stock flashlights, batteries and medicine. The US nation is turning into a nation of paranoia. Bush must have been spooked by the warnings of terrorist attacks because he addressed the nation to calm its panic.
Obviously a war in Iraq would cause new madness but the deployment of tens of thousands of US soldiers in the gulf region continues unabated. In addition, the antiwar protests in Turkey are giving the White House pause. Obviously Bush is upset about these developments. If our Parliament holds its debates in open session, not a closed one, the proposal on stationing US troops here isn’t likely to pass. In sum, the nation is opposed to war.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION