Before giving the floor to the Secretary-General for his briefing, allow me to say a few words on the reasons that led us to organize this meeting.

Almost a decade has passed since September 11, 2001, when terrorists attacked the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, only a few blocks away from where we are now. This heinous and cowardly attack against innocent civilians and the adoption thereafter of the Security Council Resolution 1373 constituted a milestone in the fight against terrorism.

Indeed, the resolution meant much beyond the sincere and natural outpour of solidarity from all around the world, as it provided us with a sound and practical framework with regard to the individual and collective measures that need to be taken to combat the scourge of terrorism. Today, this resolution still remains as a point of reference and guidance for our campaign against terrorism.

However, despite many positive steps taken since then, terrorism continues to pose a serious threat to international peace and security. In some parts of the world, we even witness an increase in the activities of various terrorist groups. In other words, terrorists have proven to be extremely resilient by adapting themselves to changing circumstances and exploiting every gap or loophole they find in our common stance.

This is why we have to be equally committed and resilient in our fight against this threat. We must never be complacent with our achievements and always try to do better. Moreover, considering that no country is immune to the perils of terrorism, we have to act collectively and in full solidarity with each other. And there is no better place than the United Nations for combining our strengths and putting up a strong and common stance.

Indeed, the United Nations has always held a central place in advancing the global fight against terrorism, be it in terms of norm setting, capacity building and/or monitoring the implementation. Given its primary responsibility to maintain peace and security, the Security Council, in particular, must continue to play a leading role in ensuring that we are sufficiently equipped and prepared to combat terrorism.

This is precisely why we decided to organize this meeting, with the following particular objectives in mind: to undertake a thorough stocktaking of the last ten years; to make an honest review of the effectiveness of the steps we have taken so far; to have a candid assessment of the current threat posed by terrorism; and to lay out a bold and forward-looking strategy for our future actions.

We hope that such a frank and focused exchange will help reenergize the international community’s campaign against terrorism and highlight the areas of priority that requires continued and concerted attention and action.

Of course, we would have preferred to have the non-Council members of the United Nations to participate in this meeting too. This would have only further reinforced our message against terrorism. However, given the high-level segment of the General Assembly, we had to opt for this format today, considering that there will be other occasions until the end of the year where all members of the United Nations will be able to participate and join the debate.

Furthermore, as the Chair of the Counter Terrorism Committee, Turkey has also been diligently working since the beginning of this year to emphasize the importance of close cooperation and coordination among Member States. We are guided by the principles of transparency, interaction and partnership, which we believe will not only raise a common awareness at the international, regional and national levels, but will also streamline our efforts against the constantly evolving threat of terrorism. We will continue to work in the same spirit in the coming months.