Turk-Israeli Friendship Group on verge of dissolution

ArmRadio.am
03.08.2006 14:43

The Turkish-Israeli Inter-parliamentary Friendship Group has come to
the brink of dissolution, with members resigning one by one in protest
of Israel’s military assaults in Palestinian territories and Lebanon,
Turkish Daily News reported.

Opposition Motherland Party (ANAVATAN) Hatay deputy Zuheyir Amber
resigned from the 263-member parliamentary group yesterday, bringing
the number of deputies who have stepped down from the group to
25. Amber, who is also deputy leader of ANAVATAN, applied to the
Parliamentary Speaker’s Office yesterday to submit his resignation.

"It is not possible to accept what Israel has done. … I condemn
Israel and resign from the friendship group," Amber said in
his resignation. Amber also said he believed that international
friendship groups played effective roles in contributing to peace,
human rights and respect

"I had earlier said I would not resign from the Turkish-Israeli
Inter-parliamentary Friendship Group as I thought it would be healthier
to prevent what was being done by remaining within the group," he said.
Amber said Israel’s non-stop attacks targeting unprotected civilians
and children without recognizing the law and without any respect for
human rights caused him to change his mind.

"The merciless killing of almost 60 innocent civilians and children
in the [southern Lebanese] town of Qana was the last straw," he said,
noting that the bombing of Lebanon’s fuel stores and petrol stations
by Israel had caused an environmental disaster that could spread to the
Mediterranean."Those facts caused me to resign from the Turkish-Israeli
Friendship Group," he said.