Turkish NGO urges boycott of US-British goods over Iraq war

ANKARA (AFP) Apr 01, 2003
The Turkish Association for Protecting Consumers has called a nationwide boycott of US and British goods in protest at the US-led invasion of Iraq, a spokesman for the organization said Tuesday.

"We know how many billions of dollars the United States and Britain spend on arms. The less Turkish money goes to the these two countries, the less Iraqi children will die," Ali Cetin, head of the association's Ankara office, told AFP.

Cetin said that the boycott, called on Monday, covered all goods, ranging from fast food to oil products.

"We will continue the boycott until the end of the war," he said, adding that they had received information several members of the public -- which remains staunchly opposed to the war -- were heeding their call.

To announce the boycott, the group has distributed several large posters, which read: "Do Not Be a Spectator to War, Do Not Buy US Goods!".

The boycott comes just ahead of US Secretary of State Colin Powell's hastily-arranged trip to Ankara on Wednesday in a bid to mend fences after a series of rows on the war against Iraq.

Bilateral ties have been strained since March 1 when the Turkish parliament voted against a US request to deploy 62,000 troops here to invade Iraq from the north.

SPACE.WIRE