'Turkiye's National Security Council should hold meeting on Russia-Ukraine war'

By Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) – Turkiye’s main opposition leader on Tuesday called on the country's president to convene the National Security Council to discuss Russia's war on Ukraine.

"The National Security Council is a constitutional institution. When you’re faced with such an extraordinary event, the first institution that the state should convene is the council," Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP), told his party's parliamentary group.

“If the council had convened, the bureaucrats and politicians there would have learned all the facts. They could have an opinion on how they should speak (on Russia's war on Ukraine).”

Kilicdaroglu also criticized the government for abstaining last Friday from a vote on suspending Russia’s Council of Europe membership.

"If it (Russia's war on Ukraine) is a blow to the stability of the world, why are you going to the Council of Europe, and why are you hesitant? ... If you had convened the National Security Council, you wouldn't have made such zigzags," he added.

Since Russia's war on Ukraine began last Thursday, it has been met by outrage from the international community, with the EU, UK, and US implementing a range of economic sanctions on Russia.

So far, at least 136 civilians, including 13 children, have been killed and 400 others, including 26 children, injured in Ukraine, according to UN figures.

Around 660,000 people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, the UN Refugee Agency said on Tuesday.