Islamic nations parliament speakers discuss Gaza in Turkey meeting

Islamic nations parliament speakers discuss Gaza in Turkey meeting

Parliament speakers from Islamic nations met Wednesday in an extraordinary meeting in Istanbul to discuss the conflict in the Gaza Strip. Nearly 200 representatives from about 30 of the 57 nations in the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) are expected to issue a joint declaration condemning the violence in Gaza, Anatolian Agency said. The meeting was organized upon the call of Turkish Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan to discuss the Israeli attacks on Palestine, the agency said. Toptan said in opening remarks to the meeting Wednesday that "this tragedy cannot be allowed to continue any longer," adding clash in Gaza had the risk of destabilizing the whole region. "It is the time to find an urgent and and acceptable solution to the bleeding wound," he was quoted by Anatolian Agency as saying. "Civilians have to pay the cost under the most difficult conditions. Turkey feels regret over the civilian loss that increases in number everyday," he said. He said no political reason can justify or explain killing of innocent civilian people, children and babies. "All the developments clearly indicate that Israel applied to use of disproportionate force despite warnings and reactions of international community. Such kind of operations seriously damage initiatives and hopes for peace, step up violence in the region and lead to new areas of anger," Toptan also said. Toptan said endeavors of the international community did not yield expected results despite those developments that overshadow efforts for peace. "As the representatives of the Parliamentary Union of the OIC, the second biggest international organization after the UN, we should exert efforts to establish an atmosphere that will yield tangible results without losing our commonsense," he said. "Turkey wants Israeli attacks to halt soon and hopes the parties would reach a sustainable ceasefire," he added.Hurriyet