Parliamentarians to vote on approach to crisis in Syria

COPENHAGEN, 17 June 2013 – When more than 250 parliamentarians from across the Northern Hemisphere gather in Istanbul for the Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly this month, many will be looking to send a collective message to the United Nations about the need for an international response to the crisis in Syria.

Fifty-eight parliamentarians from 17 countries have co-sponsored the resolution on Syria introduced by Emin Önen (Turkey). The measure urges the international community, the UN Security Council in particular, to take “decisive and urgent action” to safeguard international and regional peace, security and stability. (Read the full text of the resolution here.)“After two years, dealing with a civil war on our southern border, the international community needs to wake up,” said Onen. “We need strong action now to halt the violence and provide significant aid to help countries like Turkey that have hosted hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees since the conflict began.”

The resolution endorses repeated UN appeals to the Bashar al-Assad regime for a United Nations Fact-finding Mission to have unfettered access to Syria without delay or any pre-conditions to probe the alleged use of chemical weapons.

The draft also underlines that since the beginning of the crisis, human rights and fundamental freedoms have been flagrantly violated in Syria and the policies of the regime have led to the deaths of at least 100,000 Syrians, internally displaced more than 4 million people, and left 1.5 million Syrians seeking refuge, mainly in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt.

The resolution reaffirms the international community’s commitment to a Syrian-led political transition to democracy and declares that without a sustainable political transition in accordance with the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people, extremism and radicalism would take deeper root in the country. If adopted, it would join the OSCE PA’s Istanbul Declaration in helping to shape OSCE and national policy.

The Istanbul Annual Session, including committee debates and votes, is open to the public. Further information on the Annual Session is available here.

This is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is comprised of 323 parliamentarians from 57 countries spanning, Europe, Central Asia and North America. The Assembly provides a forum for parliamentary diplomacy, monitors elections, and strengthens international co-operation to uphold commitments on political, security, economic, environmental and human rights issues.

Media Contact:

Neil Simon, Director of Communications, neil@oscepa.dk, +45 60 10 83 80