The World Peace Council expresses its serious concern about the bomb explosions in the Turkish city of Reyhanli, a few kilometres away from the borders with Syria.

The many dozens dead and the many more injured, to the relatives of whom we express our sympathy and condolences, are adding one more element in the escalation of the war mongers of NATO and its allies in the broader region of Middle East. It is not by chance that for two years now the same Turkish city of Reyhanli was used as a springboard for recruiting, training and sending armed mercenaries into Syria, while the same city was mentioned in several statements of the Peace Movement in Turkey as the transfer point for weapons and military equipment for the so-called Free Syrian Army.

Without knowing yet the details of the bomb explosions and their exact back ground, it is obvious that the policies of active political and military interference exercised by Turkey (recently with the deployment of NATO Patriot missiles in the same area) as part of the imperialist plans to destabilize and overthrow the Syrian regime, are having consequences both to the Syrian and Turkish people. They are feeding such criminal acts. We call upon the government of Turkey to not use the Reyhanli bombings as a pretext for an open attack against Syria.

The tragic bomb explosions in Reyhanli remind us the daily suffering of the Syrian people for two years now, caused by the organized armed groups which are operating from several neighbour countries and particularly from Reyhanli in Turkey.

The WPC, having organized with the Peace Association of Turkey ten days ago and only 40 km away from Reyhanli a mass solidarity event/concert with the people of Syria in the city of Antakya, is sure of the peace loving sentiments of the vast majority of the people of Turkey and in particular of the Hatay province (where Reyhanli belongs to). In the same context we express our solidarity with the ongoing demonstrations in more than ten cities of Turkey, including Antakya, which are demanding peace and end of the interference in Syria.

We reiterate our slogans and demands which we share in common with all of them:

Peace and anti-imperialist Solidarity amongst the neighbour peoples!
NATO out of the Middle East!
Down with imperialism which causes wars and misery!

The Secretariat of WPC Athens May 12, 2013