press conference by prime minister of turkey

 

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey said at Headquarters, this morning, that his country stood ready to do whatever was necessary to ensure the Alliance of Civilizations initiative achieved its purpose, especially amid the growing polarization between the Western and Islamic cultures.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of an informal briefing to the General Assembly on the report of the High-Level Group for the Alliance, the Governments of Turkey and Spain had initiated the Alliance of Civilizations to eliminate the misconceptions giving rise to that polarization.  The 20-expert High-Level Group, appointed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan a year ago, had presented its report to the United Nations chief on 13 November 2006 at its final meeting in Istanbul, the Turkish capital.

Mr. Erdoğan, referring to his nation as a “communications bridge” between the Islamic world and the West, said Muslims looked forward to the day when Turkey would be a member the European Union.  Regarding whether the slowdown in accession talks had damaged the rapprochement between the West and Islam, he noted that other countries had also had difficulties when acceding to the European Union, adding, “Some people would like to see Turkey run into some difficulties, perhaps.”  Nevertheless, Turkey had made considerable progress towards accession.  “One has to remember that this is a process that began in 1963.”

Several correspondents asked about Mr. Erdoğan’s recent visits to Iran and Syria, where Lebanon had been high on the agenda, and Turkey’s position on other Middle East issues.

The Prime Minister replied that he had voiced his country’s strong opposition to the withdrawal of Hizbollah members from the Lebanese Government and expounded at length to Syrian President Bachar al-Assad regarding Lebanon’s need for support from both Syria and Iran.

He added that it had become clear through discussions with the Lebanese that the Government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora did not wish Hizbollah to gain the two-thirds parliamentary majority needed to amend the Lebanese Constitution.  So far, no agreement had been reached on whether Hizbollah would be represented in the Cabinet alongside parties from the Lebanese Christian community, despite the so called national unity formula of “20 plus 9 plus 1” put forward by some political actors.

Meanwhile, he said, a visit to Turkey by British Prime Minister Tony Blair had been an opportunity to evaluate what the two countries could do to bring about a long-term solution to the question of Palestine, although the most urgent issue remained events taking place in Palestine itself.

Offering his frank opinion of the call for new elections in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, he said the proposal was not timely, especially given that the last election had only just taken place.  “To have a call for a new election in such a short period of time, in my opinion, did not fit well with the current situation and it is very negative.”  In addition, President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh had been making some progress prior to the call for elections.

The most important mistake made in Palestine had been the failure to respect the outcome of the earlier election, he stressed.  “By not respecting the will of the Palestinian people, [some] people think we can move forward.  But, I don’t think that that would be the right way.”

As for Iraq and that country’s possible division along ethnic lines, the Prime Minister said he agreed fully with Syria and Iran to the need to protect its territorial integrity, and that those expecting to benefit from a division would find themselves in more dire straits.  In that regard, the suggestions contained in the report of the United States Iraq Study Group should be viewed positively.

Asked whether he was ready to give the Kurds in his country the same rights as other Turkish citizens, Mr. Erdoğan pointed out that, in fact, more than 50 members of the national Parliament were of Kurdish origin and that people of all ethnic origins were respected.

He said that, before arriving in New York, he had visited the central Turkish province of Konya to commemorate the 733^rd anniversary of the passing of the Turkish Sufi Mevlana, commonly known as Rumi.  The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had declared 2007 the “Year of Mevlana” to mark the 800^th anniversary of his birth.  “Mevlana makes no discrimination between people based on their religion, language or race.  As a result of the declaration of the Year of Mevlana, it will be possible for the whole world to hear the message of Mevlana based on love and tolerance”, he added.

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For information media • not an official record