Conference for Life Against War met in İstanbul

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"Conference for Life Against War", called by Union for Democracy (DİB) was held in Şişli, İstanbul on Sunday (December 18).

Rıza Türmen, ex-lawyer of the European Court of Human Rights and speaker of DİB made the opening speech in the conference.

Türmen said Türkiye was "in a spiral of violence" and added that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's rhetoric such as saying "We may come instantly one night" was triggering that spiral of violence.

"What are the soldiers of Türkiye doing in Syria, in Iraq? How will legitimate self-defense be made within the borders of another country?" asked Türmen and emphasized that "violence should be eliminated from daily life in order to reach peace."
Türmen said, "Peace is the precondition for human rights. We want our right to peace from the state, we want the state to leave the spiral of violence."

The conference continued with two panels throughout the day. 

A declaration was announced at the end of the conference, signed by 76 political and civil society organizations.

"They are stealing from our bread and from our lives"

The final declaration of the conference called for peace. 

"Wars and operations in the world and in our country have destructive consequences.

"Tensions rising even further following the shifts of power among global powers have the potential to produce devastating outcomes if the workers and the oppressed peoples do not take an initiative against wars.

"Capitalist powers with their male-dominated standpoints are stealing from our bread and from our lives in order to spend for bombs, wars, and military operations. Wars bring poverty, violence, migration, and death to the world and to our country."

"We are experiencing the destruction caused by our country becoming a part of and implementer of policies of war in Syria, in Libya, in the Mediterranean, and in Afghanistan as a result of the neo-Ottoman policies pursued.

"Cross-border operations should be stopped"

"War means that democratic rights and freedoms are completely abolished, that institutionalization of fascism is legitimized, that opportunities of democratization are defeated, that the voice of the people and the opposition are silenced, that strikes are banned, and that the efforts for the workers to fight for their rights are blocked.

"Türkiye should withdraw its military presence in other countries and peace and co-existence policies should be pursued both within the country and abroad.

"Life in mother tongue, equal citizenship"

"We are requesting that a peaceful and democratic solution to the Kurdish question should be reached by way of implementing universal rights such as local democracy, life in the mother tongue, and equal citizenship.

"On the occasion of December 18 International Migrants' Day that everybody facing oppression has the right to request asylum from other countries. Safe ways should be opened for the refugees to pass to third countries and the Readmission Agreement between the EU and Türkiye should be canceled.

"We are requesting that all wars and armed conflicts should be stopped, in Ukraine, in Syria, and in Iraq.

"Aegean should be a sea of peace"

"We send our messages of peace and solidarity to all neighboring peoples from Armenia to Greece, from Syria to Iraq. We believe that the international solidarity of people is the greatest power for life in the face of the option of war.

"We support the struggle of people of Iran for freedom, we request immediate stopping of executions of death sentences.

"The Aegean should be a sea of peace.

"The oppression and occupation policies of Israel against the Palestine people should stop.

"We will not allow our globe to become unlivable and we will not stop calling for life against war." (RT/AÖ/PE)