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  3. No: 158, 29 May 2013, Press Release regarding the visits paid by delegations of the main opposition party CHP to Syria.
No: 158, 29 May 2013, Press Release regarding the visits paid by delegations of the main opposition party CHP to Syria.

No prior information was given to our Ministry concerning any of the visits paid by delegations of the main opposition party CHP to Syria, barring one.

Except the visit between 4 - 6 September 2011, all visits were learned trough the press.

Likewise, no information was submitted to our Ministry in advance for the visit dated 6-8 March 2013 during which a CHP delegation was photographed in Syria, an issue still being discussed in the press.

The information in the records of the Ministry regarding the visits to Syria by the Republican People's Party since September 2011 are as follows:

1. A delegation led by CHP Deputy Chairman Faruk Loğoğlu, composed of Members of Parliament for Hatay Mehmet Ali Edipoğlu and Refik Eryilmaz, Member of Parliament for Mersin Aytuğ Atıcı and Member of Parliament for Gaziantep Ali Serindağ went to Syria on September 4-6, 2011. Prior to the visit, the CHP forwarded details of the trip, as well as its program and a copy of the official letter sent to the Syrian Embassy in Ankara to the Ministry for information, and a post-visit assesment report was sent to the Ministry afterwards.

2. The media reported that a delegation from the women's branches of the CHP visited Syria from 30 October to 2 November 2011. No information was given to the Ministry before and after the visit.

3. It was learned through the press that CHP Member of Parliament Refik Eryılmaz went to Syria on 15-16 November 2012 with a delegation of nine. No information was communicated to the Ministry before and after the visit.

4. In a statement to the press, CHP Member of Parliament for Hatay Mevlut Dudu said that "they had traveled to Syria once again for an American journalist”. The Ministry does not have any information about this trip either.

5. A CHP delegation composed of Member of Parliament for Mersin Aytuğ Atıcı, Member of Parliament for Istanbul Şafak Pavey and Members of Parliament for Hatay Hasan Akgöl and Mevlut Dudu visited Syria on 6-8 March 2013. No information was given to the Ministry prior to the visit. After the visit, an assesment report was sent to the Ministry with a cover letter dated 15 March 2013.