At a recent parliamentary summit in Rome,Turkish Speaker Numan Kurtulmus demanded that the international community take decisive action regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. He argued that current global structures are failing to uphold international law and protect human rights.
The widening scope of Israeli aggression from Gaza to the West Bank
Kurtulmus emphasized that the humanitarian crisis is not limited to the Gaza Strip. According to the report, the Turkish Speaker pointed to ongoing destruction , displacement, and settler-driven violence within the West Bank as evidence of a broader pattern of aggression. He argued that these actions represent more than just a political dispute, describing the situation as a fundamental test of humanity's common conscience.
Furthermore, Kurtulmus warned that Israeli military activity poses a direct threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of neighboring nations. He specifically named Syria and Lebanon as regions facing increased instability due to these persistent violations of international humanitarian law.
A failing rules-based order cited through the Russia-Ukraine war
The Turkish Speaker used the nearly five-year conflict in Ukraine to illustrate the systemic failure of the modern international order. He noted that the war between Russia and Ukraine has evolved into a war of attrition that affects the entire European continent rather than remaining a localized conflict. Kurtulmus argued that this instability, combined with the ongoing situation in Gaza, demonstrates a profound erosion of the legitimacy and functionality of the rules-based system.
He warned that the current international structure has proven itself unable to prevent major wars, even within the immediate territory of Europe.. This failure, he suggested, has left the global community struggling to maintain a sense of order and justice in the face of blatant human rights violations.
Moving past UN reform through parliamentary diplomacy
A central theme of the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament in Rome was the necessity of shifting focus from traditional diplomacy to the use of "parliamentary diplomacy." Kurtulmus suggested that relying exclusively on United Nations reform is an insufficient strategy for resolving modern global crises. He argued that placing the entire burden of crisis resolution on the UN will not yield the necessary results.
As the report notes, Kurtulmus met with Moldovan Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu to discuss how coordinated legislative action could complement traditional diplomatic channels.. He argued that parliaments must take an active role in shaping, debating, and supporting the new rules and arrangements required to build a more credible international order.
Can parliamentary diplomacy actually bypass UN stagnation?
While Kurtulmus's call for legislative intervention is clear, several practical questions remain unanswered by his address in Rome. It is currently unclear how individual parliaments, which typically lack the military or economic enforcement capabilities of sovereign states, can effectively "confront persistent violations" of international law.
Furthermore, the source does not specify what concrete "new rules" Kurtulmus envisions parliaments should be tasked with drafting to restore global stability ... Without a defined mechanism for enforcement, the distinction between parliamentary diplomacy and traditional diplomacy remains a matter of theoretical debate rather than a proven solution for stopping conflict.
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