UTM’s debate team were victorious over York University’s Debating Society in a debate discussing the United States and their denouncement of Russia’s actions in Syria.
The motion, “The U.S. denouncing Russia’s recent intervention in Syria is uncalled for” was debated on Wednesday evening as the UTM Debating Club hosted its first interschool debate of the year.
Arguing for the motion, UTM put forward key points, such as America’s past foreign interventions not being successful and Russia’s priority not being the current government but instead ISIS. The team also suggested a possible solution of having the United States join Russia instead of criticizing their interventions.
Representing UTM was Siddharth Sengupta, the VP of the UTM Debating Club and Siddharth Singh, a club member.
Arguing against the motion, the York Debating Society suggested that reasons for Russia’s involvement are largely economical, seeing as they have oil stakes as well as a bay port that is critical for them. The team argued that Russia has been inconsistent in showing its support in Syria and Russia does not have a legitimate reason to be there.
When asked by The Medium why the motion was chosen to debate, Ahmed Aftab Qureshi, the chancellor of the UTM Debating Club, said a meeting was held with the executive team and they decided that the topic should be relevant and a current issue.
UTM won the majority vote favouring the motion.
