Turkey, 2004

I would like to start by

congratulating you, Sir, on your election as President

of the General Assembly at its fifty-ninth session. I

pledge the full support of my delegation for your

endeavours. I would also like to pay tribute to your

predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Julian Hunte for his

able presidency.

We are world leaders at a time when our globe is

undergoing an important phase of adaptation to new

realities, opportunities and challenges.

As the Secretary-General, His Excellency Mr. Kofi

Annan, frequently states, we now possess the know-

how to address our common concerns. The Millennium

Summit, which was the largest gathering of world

leaders, produced a historical document - the

Millennium Declaration - which charts the right

course for humanity in the new millennium.

The goals that the Millennium Declaration

defined for humanity are ambitious, yet achievable.

Reducing hunger and extreme poverty, spreading

universal primary education, halting infectious diseases

and reducing child mortality within 15 years continue

to be urgent tasks.

Universal humanitarian challenges and chronic

political-military conflicts are compounded with new

and asymmetrical threats such as terrorism, narcotic

drugs, organized crime, the proliferation of weapons of

mass destruction and environmental problems.

On the other hand, racism, anti-Semitism,

prejudicial attitudes against the tenets of certain creeds

and cultures, among them those of Islam, and xenophobia

add fuel to those menaces. In addition, the special and

urgent needs of the African continent continue to

require a collective response.

The United Nations system should be encouraged to

intensify its role in addressing those issues. Confidence in

the international order and in international institutions

should not be undermined. A more effective and credible

United Nations would be better able to face the

common challenges of today. The Security Council

should have a more representative and balanced

character; indeed, representation in the Council must

be inclusive and fair. That will increase its legitimacy

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and efficiency. In that respect, I would like to

commend the efforts of the Secretary-General.

The correlation between good governance and

peace and prosperity is valid both domestically and

internationally. Therefore, a global agenda for reform

should cover all aspects of domestic and international

life. Each member of the international community has

a stake in, and responsibility for, the implementation of

such an agenda.

On our part, my Government, fully conscious of

that correlation, has carried out sweeping political and

economic reforms in the past two years. We have thus

upgraded and deepened our democracy and

consolidated an accountable, transparent and efficient

administration and a dynamic civil society upholding

the rule of law and human rights. The expectations of

our people, as well as the relevant United Nations and

European Union standards, inspired us in our reform

drive. I take pride in the fact that many observers, both

in the west and in the east, have seen in our experience

the perfect embodiment of modernity, progress,

identity and tradition.

I should like to take this opportunity to confirm

Turkey's candidacy for a non-permanent seat in the

Security Council for the term 2009-2010. In spite of its

substantial contributions to peace and security, Turkey

has not been a member of the Council for almost half a

century. Therefore we rightfully expect the support of

the General Assembly for our candidacy.

Our bid for a non-permanent seat is in tune with

Turkey's larger efforts to secure peace, stability and

security in its region and beyond. Turkey figures

prominently in humanitarian activities, from Palestine to

Darfur. We have been contributing increasing numbers to

international peacekeeping missions whose geographical

distribution ranges from Bosnia to Afghanistan.

Turkey has a unique position as the only member

of the Organization of the Islamic Conference that is

also a candidate for membership in the European

Union. That position enables us to facilitate interaction

and dialogue between the Islamic world and the West.

Turkey has numerous achievements to its credit

in the process of helping to create an environment

conducive to development, stability and progress in our

region and beyond. The Black Sea Economic

Cooperation, the Economic Cooperation Organization

and the Stability Pact are good examples to that effect.

My Government has been taking a peaceful and

problem-solving approach to world affairs. On the

chronic issue of Cyprus, my Government fully

supported Secretary-General Kofi Annanís good-

offices mission, and we cooperated closely with him.

The Secretary-Generalís settlement plan was the result

of four years of serious negotiations between the two

sides. They were conducted on the basis of a new

bi-zonal partnership with a federal Government and

two constituent States. The plan was put to separate

referendums, with the prior agreement of all parties

concerned. The Annan plan was overwhelmingly

accepted by the Turkish Cypriots, but the Greek

Cypriot leadership chose to reject it.

I profoundly regret the fact that an opportunity to

resolve the longstanding problem of Cyprus was thus

missed. As a result, a chance to grant fresh credibility

to the United Nations was lost. A possible source of

inspiration for peacemakers elsewhere, in the Middle

East or the Caucasus, also disappeared.

The Secretary-General, in his report to the

Security Council, clearly stated that the referendums

drastically changed the situation on the island. It

confirmed, once again, the existence of two equal peoples

and their separate rights to decide their own fate.

The Secretary-General also called on the

members of the Security Council to

'give a strong lead to all States to cooperate both

bilaterally and in international bodies, to

eliminate unnecessary restrictions and barriers

that have the effect of isolating the Turkish

Cypriots and impeding their development'

(S/2004/437, p. 2).

Turkey remains committed to a lasting settlement

in Cyprus. Five months have passed since the Turkish

Cypriots, responding to the call of the international

community, voted courageously in favour of the United

Nations plan. However, they have yet to be rewarded

for expressing their will to reunify the island. We urge

the Security Council positively to respond to the

Secretary-Generalís call. We also appeal to United

Nations Member States to take concrete steps, at the

bilateral level, to put an end to the isolation and

punishment of the people of the Turkish Republic of

Northern Cyprus.

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Turkey has been strongly supporting, and will

continue to support, the preservation of peace and

stability in south-east Europe.

We are glad to note that considerable progress has

been achieved in this region thanks to the sustained

efforts of the international community and of the

Balkan countries themselves.

Turkey is determined to sustain the promising and

constructive atmosphere in our relations with Greece.

We hope that the improvement in bilateral relations

will continue in the coming period. Our wide-ranging

cooperation is expanding in every field. That will

facilitate the settlement of all pending issues. It will

also result in a climate of cooperation beneficial to the

two countries, as well as peace, stability and security in

the region as a whole.

Turkey believes that it is high time to start taking

concrete steps towards eliminating the existing

ìfrozenî conflicts in the southern Caucasus, such as

those in Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South

Ossetia. As a neighbouring country, we are actively

contributing to efforts aimed at achieving stability and

prosperity in that region. To that end, we have been

encouraging all the parties concerned while facilitating

the ongoing process of dialogue. We hope that the

Abkhazian conflict and the problems in South Ossetia

will be overcome by peaceful means, within the

framework of the territorial integrity and sovereignty

of Georgia.

My Government supports a just and lasting

solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis

of the fundamental principles of international law, the

territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and good-neighbourly

relations. We expect the Armenian Government to fully

comply with the relevant United Nations resolutions to

reach such a solution.

The Middle East problem and the situation in Iraq

and Afghanistan are the major conflicts responsible for

compounding instability in the world and are leading to

increasingly serious consequences.

The road map is the only available framework for

a comprehensive settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian

problem. Benefiting from its traditional ties with the

parties, Turkey has already offered its active

contribution to the implementation of the road map. We

also support every effort that is initiated and

coordinated in that context.

We join the call made by the Quartet yesterday.

The resumption of the negotiating process between the

two parties should remain the central objective of

current efforts. It is important, likewise, that both sides

fulfil their performance criteria as laid out in the road

map. Terrorist attacks against the Israeli people must

stop. So must the deliberate destruction of Palestinian

lives and properties. The process of the reform of

Palestinian institutions must be advanced. Israeli

settlement activities must be immediately halted. The

ruling of the International Court of Justice must be

respected. And the living conditions of the Palestinians

need to be urgently improved.

Any settlement would be incomplete without

progress on all tracks, including those involving Syria

and Lebanon.

My Government is focused on contributing to the

improvement of the situation in Iraq. We appreciate the

massive resources and political efforts mobilized by

the United States Administration and the international

community for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of

Iraq. We sincerely hope those efforts yield the desired

results soon. However, the humanitarian, political and

security difficulties faced by the people of Iraq

continue to adversely affect one another. It goes

without saying that developments in Iraq are also

affecting my country and causing suffering for my

people, while, as we are a neighbouring country, most

of Iraqís humanitarian needs are being supplied

through Turkey.

The Iraqi transition is not only about the fate of

the Iraqi nation. It is about the future of peace and

prosperity in the whole region and beyond. That is the

motive for Turkey's strong support of a united,

territorially intact and democratic Iraq - an Iraq that is at

peace with itself and with its neighbours. That should

and can only be achieved with the full participation and

support of the Iraqi people as a whole. More United

Nations involvement would facilitate that task. The

series of neighbouring countries meetings, initiated by

Turkey, is also a valuable instrument to be taken into

account. After all, as Iraqís success will be our

collective success, so its failure will also be a

collective failure. For its part, Turkey will continue to

support the Iraqi interim Governmentís efforts in

paving the way to normalcy and democracy.

Turkey's traditional support for the Afghan

people will continue. The establishment of security,

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stability and a democratic system in Afghanistan is

another urgent task. Freeing that country from

terrorism, extremism and narcotics is of crucial

importance for the international community. We should

all work to make the upcoming elections a significant

step towards those ends.

We all agree that terrorism has no justification. It

can never claim to respect any religion, nation or

cause. Indiscriminate killing of innocent people, be it

in New York, Istanbul, Baghdad, Beslan or elsewhere,

is a crime against humanity. We condemn those

terrorist atrocities in the strongest terms.

As a country that has long suffered from

terrorism, Turkey calls for more intensified multilateral

cooperation. The United Nations system is an

important platform in that respect and we extend our

full support to efforts under its aegis.

We also strongly believe in the urgent need to

strengthen the control regimes for weapons of mass

destruction and their delivery systems. We will

continue to support ongoing work to ensure full

adherence to the legal instruments in that field. The

creation of nuclear-weapon-free zones is an important

way of strengthening peace and security in the world

and in all regions, including the Middle East.

Turkey is determined to use every effort and

deploy all the means at its disposal in order to

strengthen peace and stability in its immediate region

and beyond. We will try to use the influence of our

multidimensional ties and deep-rooted relations to

achieve that goal. We remain strongly committed to

translating into reality the universal validity of the

noble values and principles enshrined in the United

Nations Charter.