Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway, Mr. Borge Brende participated in the opening panel of the Workshop on International Trends on Mediation, entitled “The Turkish and Norwegian Perspectives on Mediation” on November 6, 2013.

During the speech he gave at the panel, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu said that the relationship between Turkey and Norway is very genuine and the two countries are in close contact in terms of solution of conflicts and problems.

Foreign Minister Davutoğlu pointed out that after the end of Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, a new geopolitical structure has emerged from Central Asia to Central Europe and new crises have occurred as a result of this new situation. Foreign Minister Davutoğlu stated that Arab Spring which started in 2011 and still continues followed the 9/11 attacks as well as the crises emerged in various countries and regions such as Iraq, Afghanistan and said “Such as reconstructing the buildings destroyed by earthquakes, mediation is the best way of handling crises”.

Noting that mediation has four dimensions, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu listed mediation initiatives as “within the country, between the countries, at regional level and at global level”.

Stressing that Turkey has become a considerable international mediator as a result of its proactive foreign policy, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu underlined that Turkey has put its signature on mediation initiatives between numerous countries such as Serbia-Bosnia, Sudan-South Sudan and Pakistan-Afghanistan. “We hold various meetings on mediation in İstanbul every year. Currently, we are planning to open a UN Mediation Center in İstanbul” said Foreign Minister Davutoğlu.

Foreign Minister Davutoğlu recalled that Turkey throughout ten months made intense efforts to establish contact between the regime and the opposition in order to solve the Syrian crisis. Stating that mediation is an important, reputable and ethical initiative Foreign Minister Davutoğlu added “However, if one is killing civilians with air bombardments, missiles and chemical weapons, mediation initiative becomes an unattainable effort.“