Turkey, 2007

It gives me great pleasure once again to address this body where

we unite our goals and labours for a better and brighter

future. I wish to wholeheartedly congratulate you,

Sir our good friend the former Minister for Foreign

Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Srgjan

Kerim on your election to preside over this global

forum.

I would also like on this occasion to pay tribute to

the Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, and to wish

him success in his current position.

Our world today needs, more than ever before,

effective cooperation to find common solutions to our

global problems, to replace desperation with hope,

poverty with prosperity, injustice with justice and

violence with peace around the world. The United

Nations, created precisely for that mission, is the only

international forum that can possibly, with our

collective resolve, lead us to those objectives. The

United Nations is also the source of international

legitimacy for our actions to those ends. But, it is

incumbent on us, the Member States, to make the

Organization stronger and more effective and to furnish

it with the means and structures it needs to tackle

competently the many challenges of our century.

Here, I believe we need to be more resolute and

bold in our actions while adopting more forthcoming

and creative approaches. Although significant

structural reforms have been realized, the process is far

from completed. The reform process must continue,

and structural and functional adjustments should be

made to respond to needs that may arise.

We must bear in mind that reforming the Security

Council in a way that would command the widest

possible consensus would also reflect positively on the

legitimacy, credibility and effectiveness of the United

Nations itself.

I wish on this occasion also to confirm Turkey’s

candidature for a seat on the Security Council at the

elections to be held next year. My country, which is

committed to the ideals enshrined in the Charter and

which constructively contributes to the maintenance of

global peace at a strategic crossroads where different

continents and cultures meet, has not been represented

on the Council for almost half a century. I genuinely

believe that with the valuable support of its fellow

Member States, Turkey, with its European and Asian

identity, can assume a distinctive and constructive role

in harmonizing and reconciling differing views within

the Security Council, just as it does in its efforts to

facilitate harmony among cultures.

We have reached an important stage in the

implementation phase of the Alliance of Civilizations

initiative under the auspices of the Secretary-General;

we are co-sponsoring this initiative together with

Spain. We are determined to make our vision of global

harmony become a reality through the implementation

of concrete projects under the strong leadership of the

High Representative, the former President of Portugal,

Mr. Jorge Sampaio, and with the support that I am

confident the international community will not deny

this initiative. The meeting held at the United Nations

with the Alliance Group of Friends earlier this week

served to renew our hope and confidence in the

promising future of the initiative.

The vast majority of international problems of

high priority on the agenda of the United Nations are

taking place in our immediate surroundings, the scene

of major tension and transformation. We are exerting

every effort to constructively contribute to the

resolution of all these disputes which directly

impact Turkey, although we are not party to any of

them. In doing so, we seek to utilize the many

possibilities offered by our strategic position, our

accumulated knowledge of and insight into the region,

our cultural and historical ties and our vast experience

in peacekeeping.

Our highest priority is to restore stability in our

region. In that connection, Turkey will resolutely

pursue its efforts to serve as an important factor for

peace and stability and to promote multidimensional

relations with all its neighbours. The encouraging level

we have achieved in our relations with Greece today as

a result of the process of rapprochement that we have

been pursuing for nearly 10 years is the tangible

outcome of that resolve.

Likewise, ensuring a dignified place within the

international community for a territorially intact,

nationally unified and democratic Iraq at peace with

itself and with its neighbours is at the top of our

priorities for restoring stability in our region.

In line with our desire to realize this common

vision, we continue to diversify our cooperation with

the Iraqi Government and support the process of

political dialogue and national reconciliation in this

country. The group of neighbouring countries of Iraq,

created upon Turkey’s initiative and later expanded at

the meeting held in Sharm el-Sheikh to include the

permanent five members of the Security Council and

the Group of Eight, is similarly intended to serve such

a purpose. The next ministerial meeting of the

expanded group of neighbouring countries will be

hosted by Turkey at the beginning of November this

year.

Another major source of instability in our region

is the Middle East problem. We regard the question of

Palestine, with wide repercussions both in and beyond

the region, as the crux of all ills in the Middle East.

The political rift within Palestine has further

complicated the situation. Therefore, a lasting political

solution to the question of Palestine and peace with

Israel on the basis of a two-State solution will have

important implications for regional as well as global

stability. We believe that a negotiated settlement to this

long-standing dispute will also reflect positively on the

resolution of other problems in the region. We stand

ready to support in every way possible the parties in

the efforts to revive the peace process and to contribute

to the prospective international meetings to be

convened for this purpose.

We hope to see the ongoing political crisis in

Lebanon promptly overcome through dialogue among

the different factions. We will continue our intense

efforts, including our contributions to the United

Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, to assist in restoring

stability in that country.

We will also continue to invest in the democratic,

free and prosperous future of the friendly people of

Afghanistan. Our commitment to the security of the

country by assuming the command of the International

Security Assistance Force twice since its inception and

currently of the Regional Command in Kabul, together

with our contributions to the reconstruction effort

through significant infrastructure projects, are the

concrete expression of the challenging mission we

have undertaken in Afghanistan. The activities of the

Turkish Provincial Reconstruction Team in the

province of Wardak, carrying out its functions under

dangerous security conditions, are also part of this

effort.

Moreover, the process of tripartite summits that

we have initiated, with the participation of Afghanistan

and Pakistan, in the desire to enhance peace and

stability in the region is helping to restore confidence

between these two neighbouring countries.

On the other hand, frozen conflicts pending a

resolution continue to jeopardize regional peace and

stability in the South Caucasus. Solutions to be found

through peaceful means to existing frozen conflicts

should be based on the territorial integrity and

sovereignty of Azerbaijan and Georgia.

In order to realize our vision of peace, stability

and economic prosperity for the region, we not only

seek to contribute to the resolution of these frozen

conflicts, but at the same time continue to invest in the

infrastructure of regional cooperation through

significant energy and transportation projects, such as

the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum oil

and natural gas pipelines and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars

railroad.

At this juncture where uncertainty regarding the

final status of Kosovo persists, we continue to maintain

our view that we must mobilize all efforts to find a just

and sustainable solution to this question. Turkey has

currently assumed the command of the Kosovo Force

Multinational Task Force South in the region.

Turkey performs noble duties from the

perspective of peacekeeping in almost all the regions

cited above. Through its participation in various

peacekeeping operations conducted under the banner of

the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty

Organization, the European Union and the

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,

Turkey has proven its capacity to significantly

contribute to the maintenance of international peace

and security. In this connection Turkey is also

favourably considering participation in the African

Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur,

established in accordance with Security Council

resolution 1769 (2007), whose adoption we highly

welcomed.

To the extent that we can stop and prevent the

recurrence of conflicts that exhaust our energy and

resources, we will be better able to focus on global

problems that will define the common fate of

humankind. At the top of these problems is the issue of

climate change, which you, Mr. President, have in a

very timely manner designated as the main theme of

the General Assembly this year.

We discussed this issue requiring urgent

collective action in all its aspects during the high-level

meeting that I also had the opportunity to attend earlier

this week. The most conclusive outcome of this

meeting was that we must all assume our fair share of

responsibility in effective international cooperation to

find solutions to global warming and climate change,

which pose, as never before, a grave threat to

humankind’s survival.

Another grim reality in this context is that the

developing world, bearing the least responsibility for

climate change, will be the most adversely affected by

its consequences. It is therefore incumbent on us all to

assist, to the best of our ability, the developing

countries in overcoming the many overwhelming

challenges that they confront.

To this end, Turkey is rapidly becoming a donor

country with the significant development, technical and

humanitarian assistance it has been providing in recent

years. The development aid provided by Turkey

through official and private sources reached 1.7 billion

dollars last year. We intend to continue our

contributions to the relevant United Nations funds, as

well as assistance at the bilateral level.

The Ministerial Conference of the Least

Developed Countries hosted by Turkey in Istanbul in

July this summer is another concrete expression of our

resolve to assist the developing countries and enable

them to take full advantage of the benefits of

globalization. We are already taking steps to follow up

on the outcome of this conference.

Our commitment to peace and development in

Africa also finds expression in our development

assistance to the continent coordinated through the

branch offices of the Turkish International Cooperation

and Development Agency, which have been established

since 2005 in Ethiopia, Sudan and Senegal. The

Turkey-Africa Cooperation Summit, which we will

host in 2008, and our participation in seven different

United Nations and European Union peacekeeping

missions in Africa are other concrete examples to this

effect.

Turkey also seeks to diversify and expand its

network of political and commercial cooperation with

the countries of South Asia, the Far East and the

Pacific region, as well as Latin American countries and

the Caribbean.

Terrorism continues to threaten the security of all

free nations. An act of terror committed in any part of

the world in essence targets us all, as it constitutes a

heinous crime against humanity. We condemn in the

strongest terms this scourge that recognizes no national

boundaries. As the Prime Minister of a nation that has

experienced first-hand the bitter consequences of

terrorism, I renew from this rostrum my appeal to the

international community for an enhanced collective

commitment and cooperation in the combat against this

threat to humanity.

Considering the sophisticated new technologies

terrorist elements are utilizing today, effective

international cooperation to prevent the proliferation of

weapons of mass destruction takes on a whole new

meaning and urgency. Turkey strongly supports the

United Nations and the United Nations-led efforts to

intensify international cooperation aimed at preventing

their proliferation.

Finally, Turkey and the Turkish Republic of

Northern Cyprus have been supporting the efforts to

find a comprehensive settlement to the Cyprus problem

under the good-offices mission of the United Nations

Secretary-General on the basis of well established

United Nations parameters. The United Nations

remains the sole forum for a solution.

It should be recalled that the comprehensive

settlement plan of the former United Nations

Secretary-General emerged in 2004 as a result of

extensive negotiations between the parties and was

submitted to a simultaneous referendum on both sides

of the island. The Turkish side overwhelmingly voted

in favour of the Secretary-General's plan, whose

impartiality cannot in any way be called into question.

The Greek Cypriots, however, were misled by their

leadership to reject the plan.

Despite the constructive attitude displayed by the

Turkish side since then, no progress has been achieved

towards a settlement owing to the intransigence of the

Greek Cypriot side. It is our hope that the Annan

report, which has not been endorsed yet by the Security

Council, will be endorsed soon.