Socialist International should be more active in conflict resolution, CHP leader says

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu shakes hands with Socialist International Chair Papandreou while Secretary-General Ayala stands next to them. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL

Turkey’s main opposition leader has urged the Socialist International (SI) to take a more active role in resolving conflicts all over the world and the Middle East, during the organization’s ongoing summit in Istanbul.

Speaking at the SI’s council meeting in Istanbul yesterday, Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu voiced his concerns over “worrisome adverse developments in the process of the Arab Spring.”

The Arab world’s democratic struggle is facing three significant problems, “extremist groups and reactionary forces,” “ethnic, religious and sectarian fault lines in the region” and “the possibility of foreign military intervention that might provide legitimacy to oppressive regimes and encourage extremist groups,” according to the CHP leader.

“These threats to peace, stability and the wealth of our region and the obstacles before the struggle for democracy confer significant tasks and responsibilities on the SI,” Kılıçdaroğlu said, calling on the SI to put its weight behind endeavors aimed at resolving the conflicts through political and diplomatic methods.

Describing the Geneva II conference as a significant opportunity to put an end to the ongoing war in Syria, Kılıçdaroğlu urged the SI to act on its decision to create a working group on Syria.

“Getting into dialogue with the parties involved in the conflict and actively contributing to the Geneva II process concerning Syria, where chaos and violence prevail, shall demonstrate the Socialist International’s capacity and power to resolve conflicts,” he said.

In further comments on the ongoing global economic crisis, Kılıçdaroğlu criticized the neoliberal economic policies “which have caused millions of people all over the world to pay enormous sums for the market’s failures.”

Global issues can only be overcome through global coordination and cooperation, the CHP leader said. “Although limited steps were taken after the global crisis, the problems of representation and legitimacy concerning important international institutions, such as the IMF and the United Nations, have not been resolved,” he said. “Unless justice is provided in the representation of developing and rising economies within these institutions, it will not be possible to provide effective solutions to global problems.”

Also speaking at the meeting, Belgian Prime Minister Elio di Rupo congratulated the Syrian opposition for its decision to participate in the Geneva II talks. “Today, it’s important for us to struggle against oppression. We have to stand together with those who struggle against barbarian regimes,” di Rupo said, adding that diplomacy should be the way to stop the bloodshed in Syria.

The Arab League’s Turkey representative, Mohamed al-Fatah Najiri, and the president of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), Ahmad Jarba, also delivered separate speeches during the gathering.

Najiri voiced his hope that Geneva II would bring all of the Syrian people together and aid them in finding a political solution to the problem.

Jarba, for his part, said socialism had a bad reputation for them because of the authoritarian Baath administration in Syria.

In response, SI Secretary General Luis Ayala said: “Your victory will put an end to this false name of socialism in Syria.”