The 9th Parliament Speakers Meeting of MIKTA, formed by Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Australia, was held in the capital Jakarta, hosted by the Indonesian House of Representatives, with the participation of the Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, Numan Kurtulmuş.
The main agenda of the meeting, where sessions titled “Global Governance Under the Focus: How Should Parliament Act?”, “Climate Actions Beyond Commitments and Responsibilities” and “Harnessing the Power of Youth: A Better Future” were held, were Israel’s attacks on Gaza.
At the end of the meeting, a joint declaration was prepared by the international community against Israel’s attacks on Gaza, including “a demand for condemnation of indiscriminate attacks against civilians” and a “call for a ceasefire in Gaza”.
This declaration was re-drafted upon Australia’s objection, with the agreed issues in one paragraph and the differing views in the second paragraph. After Australia objected to the second text, the joint statement turned into a “post-meeting statement by the term president”. The statement in question was made by the host and MIKTA Term President, Nokta Maharani, Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives.
Maharani, the Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives, stated in his statement, including the views proposed by the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Kurtulmuş, that the world continues to experience great turmoil that affects global peace, security and stability.
Maharani said that the current multilateral system should do more to find solutions to these issues, especially the humanitarian disaster in the occupied Palestinian territories, the war in Ukraine, the situation in Myanmar and the security threats on the Korean peninsula, including the nuclear threat posed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. He said he had to do it.
Emphasizing that they are seriously concerned about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and its consequences on civilians, especially children, women and the elderly, Maharani said hospitals and other medical facilities in Gaza
and all civilian and humanitarian facilities, including their means of transportation and equipment, schools, places of worship and United Nations facilities, to be respected and protected in accordance with international humanitarian law.
Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Kurtulmuş made speeches in the sessions held within the scope of the MIKTA Parliament Speakers Meeting, drawing attention to the humanitarian tragedies in Palestine and Gaza.
At this meeting, which also coincided with November 20, World Children’s Rights Day, Kurtulmuş said, “I am sorry and ashamed to say that we know that more than 5 thousand children have been killed in Gaza on World Children’s Rights Day. And unfortunately, as the international community, we cannot do anything to stop this. “Would you believe it, we are at the point where we are at a loss for words, we are at the point where we lose sleep.” he said.
Kurtulmuş underlined that what happened in the Middle East is one of the most painful examples showing that the international system is no longer working, and said, “Guterres, the Secretary General of the great United Nations, was not allowed in through the Refah Border Gate. What else can happen? This means that the United Nations has now been torn up and thrown into the trash can.” It is a public declaration that he has been expelled.” included his message.