Turkish Forum English

Tag: violation of international law

  • St. Petersburg IPU Assembly to beat several records

    St. Petersburg IPU Assembly to beat several records

    1
    Conference Hall. Tauride Palace, St. Petersburg

    The 137th IPU Assembly that will be held in Russia’s Saint Petersburg from October 14 to 18, raises high expectations among the world’s leaders as it hits the record high number of its participants and the wide range of issues to be discussed.

    The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Russian parliament’s upper chamber, the IPU Vice-President Konstantin Kosachev, said “that 152 national delegations out of 173 plan to take part in the assembly, which is a record high”. He also added that “the maximum number of speakers who personally participated in the work of IPU Assemblies is 51. As of today, 99 speakers have expressed a desire to participate in the 137th Assembly, including participants from France, Germany and other European countries”.

    The Assembly members will also carry a remarkable vote for adoption of the signing of the resolution “Sharing our diversity: The 20th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Democracy” suggested at the 136th IPU in Dhakka.

    While the IPU Assembly’s major issues of the discussion will be the ongoing conflict in Syria, the possible paths to dealing with North Korea and the Ukraine crisis, it will also highlight the plight of the Muslim Rohyngia as followed by the request from Marzouq Ali Al-Ghanim, the IPU speaker representing Kuwait.

    The IPU could also become a platform for a dialogue between North Korea and South Korea should their MPs come to St. Petersburg.

    According to political analysts, the current dynamics of international issues demonstrates the trends of spreading democracy and its values around the globe regardless national identities which by no means causes more local and regional conflicts. The recent events in Tunisia, Libya and Syria are the best examples of this trend. In this regard, the international community should see the forthcoming IPU Assembly as a tool for following the fundamental principle of the international law – the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of a country, especially when such an important issue is going to be discussed by the record number of the democratic parliamentary representatives from around the globe.

  • The Legal Position on the Israeli Attack

    The Legal Position on the Israeli Attack

    According to Craig Murray, a former British ambassador and Foreign Office specialist on maritime law, the commando raid in international waters was more than just a security problem; it was a violation of international law and the Law of the Sea.

    “Possibility one,” Murray wrote, “is that the Israeli commandoes were acting on behalf of the government of Israel in killing the activists in international waters. The applicable law is that of the flag state of the ship on which the incident occurred,” in this case Turkey.

    “In legal terms, the Turkish ship was Turkish territory. So … Israel is in a position of war with Turkey, and the attack by Israeli commandos falls under international jurisdiction as a war crime,” Murray continued.

    “Possibility two is that, if the killings were not military actions authorized by Israel, they were then acts of murder and fall under Turkish jurisdiction. If Israel does not consider itself in a position of war with Turkey, it must hand over the commandos involved for trial in Turkey under Turkish law.

    “It is for Turkey, not Israel, to carry out any inquiry or investigation and to initiate any prosecutions. Israel would be obliged by law to hand over indicted personnel for prosecution.”

    www.craigmurray.org.uk

    Craig Murray is a former British Ambassador. He is also a former Head of the Maritime Section of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He negotiated the UK’s current maritime boundaries with Ireland, Denmark (Faeroes), Belgium and France, and boundaries of the Channel Islands, Turks and Caicos and British Virgin Islands. He was alternate Head of the UK Delegation to the UN Preparatory Commission on the Law of the Sea. He was Head of the FCO Section of the Embargo Surveillance Centre, enforcing sanctions on Iraq, and directly responsible for clearance of Royal Navy boarding operations in the Persian Gulf.

    Reviews of Craig Murray’s War on Terror Memoir, “Murder in Samarkand” – published in the US as “Dirty Diplomacy”:

    “It really is a magnificent achievement” – Noam Chomsky
    “A fearless book by a fearless man. Craig Murray tells the truth whether the “authorities” like it or not. I salute a man of integrity” – Harold Pinter