Statement by H.E. Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey at the Expanded Extraordinary Meeting of OIC Executive Committee, 12 August 2014, Jeddah Statement by H.E. Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu at the Meeting of Turkey-CARICOM Consultation and Cooperation Mechanism, 18 July 2014, İstanbul Speech of H.E. Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Conference on “International Development Cooperation: Trends and Emerging Opportunities -Perspectives of the New Actors”, 20 June 2014, Istanbul Address by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, at the 41st Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, 18 June 2014, Jeddah Speech Delivered by H.E. Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu at the Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement, 28 May 2014, Algeria Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the 4th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, 21 May 2014, Shanghai Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the Meeting of Group of Friends of the UN Alliance of Civilizations, 2 April 2014, New York Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey at the OIC Executive Committee Meeting on the Latest Developments in the Central African Republic, 20 February 2014, Jeddah Remarks by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the Geneva II Conference, Montreux, 22 January 2014 Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, at the 16th Session of the D-8 Council of Foreign Ministers, 19 December 2013, Islamabad Remarks by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the 29th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, 12 December 2013, Yerevan Remarks by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the 21st Meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Economic Cooperation Organization, 26 November 2013, Tehran Remarks by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the 12th Ministerial Meeting of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Member States, 25 November 2013, Manama Address by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, at the High Level Segment Meeting During the 64th Excom Meeting of UNHCR, Geneva, 30 September 2013 Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the Group of Friends Ministerial Meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations, 27 September 2013, New York Remarks by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the meeting entitled “LDC Graduation: The Way Towards MDG Acceleration, Sustainable Development and Structural Transformation”, 27 September 2013, New York Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Global Counter Terrorism Forum Opening Speech by H.E. Ahmet Davutoglu Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, 27 September 2013, New York Address by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the 22nd Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, İstanbul, 29 June 2013 Speech Delivered by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, at the 28th Ministerial Meeting of BSEC, 21 June 2013, Odessa Address by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, at the OIC Donor Conference in Support of The City of Al-Quds, Baku, Azerbaijan, 11 June 2013 Speech delivered by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Contact Group on Mali, 13 May 2013, Jeddah Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the Somalia Conference, 7 May 2013, London Address by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the Third Ministerial Conference of the Istanbul Process, 26 April 2013, Almaty Address by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, at the Third Review Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention, 9 April 2013, The Hague Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the 24th Summit Meeting of the League of Arab States, 26 March 2013, Doha Speech Delivered by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, in the University of London School of Economics and Political Science, 7 March 2013, London Address by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey at the UN Human Rights Council, 25 February 2013, Geneva Statement by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey at the Ministerial Meeting Preparatory to the Twelfth Session of the Islamic Summit Conference, 4 February 2013, Cairo Speech Delivered by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, at the Ministerial Meeting of BSEC,15 December 2012, İstanbul Opening Remarks by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the Third Ministerial Meeting of the Global Counterterrorism Forum, 14 December 2012, Abu Dhabi
  1. Ministry
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  3. Ahmet Davutoğlu
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  5. Speech Delivered by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, at the Least Develop Countries (LDC) High-Level Event Entitled “LDC Agenda in a Post-Rio Perspective, 26 September 2012, New York
Speech Delivered by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, at the Least Develop Countries (LDC) High-Level Event Entitled “LDC Agenda in a Post-Rio Perspective, 26 September 2012, New York

Mr. Chairman,

Distinguished Ministers,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to address this High-Level Event entitled “LDC Agenda in a Post-Rio Perspective”. I would like to thank Nepal, Belgium and the OHRLLS (Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Coounteies) for their efforts andyou all for your participation.

I am confident that this meeting will provide valuable input to our joint effortsto address the persisting problems and challenges faced by the LDCs.

Distinguished Participants,

In May 2011, Heads of State and Government, senior officials, policy makersand civil society representatives from all across the world gathered in Istanbulfor the Fourth United Conference on the LDCs. This Conference, which we in Turkey took particular pride in hosting, was an historical milestone in drawingglobal attention to the LDCs.

The Istanbul Declaration and Programme of Action which we adopted at the Conference represent our collective commitment as the international communityto the LDCs. In a sense, these documents are a solemn promise and a call toaction that our global community of nations has made to our most disadvantaged members.

We must deliver on the promises that we made in Istanbul. The Istanbul Declaration and Programme of Action must be effectively implemented. The global economic crisis and austerity measures should not be put forward as excuses to waver from our joint commitment to help the most vulnerable among us.


Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The most prominent features of the Istanbul Programme of Action are thegreater importance given to building the productive capacity of the LDCs’economies, promoting structural transformation and the commitment for half of the LDCs to reach the criteria of graduation by 2020.

The goal to enable half of LDCs to reach graduation within this decade may seem ambitious. However, it is achievable if the necessary political will is displayed on the part of development partners. In the last four decades, only three countries – Botswana, Cape Verde and the Maldives- have graduated from the LDC category. Therefore, a sustained effort is required to reverse this poor record. New financial commitments and coordinated implementation plans are needed.

Most importantly, new thinking in development models and development partnership is called for. We cannot continue with the “business-as-usual”approach in the international aid and development architecture. The international development community must make better use of the limited resources available, with increased importance given to South-South Cooperation.

Particularly in terms of addressing the challenges of the LDCs, we need to focuson deliverables and ensure that concrete and timely progress is achieved inpriority areas. Trade and market access, womens’ empowerment, technology transfer and capacity building are areas where we could focus our efforts inhelping the LDCS.

Mr. Chairman,

The Rio+20 Conference provided a unique opportunity to renew global engagement to sustainable development, assess the progress made since the Earth Summit in 1992, identify remaining gaps and new global challenges and pave the way for achieving progress on general and specific areas covered under the concept of sustainable development.

At Rio, the international community renewed its political commitment tosustainable development. Now, strong political will is needed to implement the outcomes of the Conference. “The Future We Want”, the outcome document which was adopted at the Conference, is an important reference text that must guide our efforts in the period ahead.

As underlined by H.E. Prime Minister Erdoğan at the Conference, we need renewed solidarity and partnership to achieve tangible results.

New thinking, innovative approaches and comprehensive action are essential for achieving inclusive and equitable growth and sustainable development.

In the period ahead, it is all the more important to integrate the three dimensions of sustainable development, namely economic, social and environmental, into our policies and programmes.

As we continue our work to develop the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals, we must pay special attention and due care to the particular conditions of the LDCs. The Member States and the UN system should consider and adopt effective safe guards for countries in the LDC category in the context of the deliberations on the post-2015 development agenda.

Mr. Chairman,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As a member of the G-20, an emerging economy and donor and the host countryof the Fourth UN Conference on the LDCs, Turkey is strongly committed to the cause of the LDCs in the international arena. With our growing means and resources, we are ready, willing and able to do our part in assisting their development process.

We are implementing our Economic and Technical Cooperation Package announced by H.E. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the Istanbul Conference. This Package, which envisages the allocation of 200 million US Dollars annually for technical cooperation projects and programs in the LDCs, isambitious and far-reaching. We believe that it will have a substantial impact on the ground, in line with Turkey’s proven successful record in providing demand-driven, needs-based assistance.

As regards the implementation of our Package, our relevant institutions are identifying priority projects for rapid implementation on the basis of inputs we received from the LDCs. We are working to operationalise these priority projects as soon as possible. I would like to thank the authorities of the LDCs for the valuable inputs we received from them during this work.

Turkey has allocated 1.000 scholarships to LDCs until 2020. We are evaluating the applications that we have received so far for these scholarships. Students from LDCs will be granted scholarships already for the 2012-2013 academic year.

Turkey’s current investments in the LDCs have exceeded 2 billion USD. We aim to increase this amount to 10 billion USD by 2020. The Turkish private sector will be facilitated through various support measures to this end, such as increased credit lines for LDC-related projects and programs.

We are continuing our work aimed at hosting an International Science,Technology and Innovation Center and an International Agriculture Center dedicated to LDCs. We will provide support in terms of financing and human resources.

In terms of bilateral assistance, Turkey, through its public institutions as well as civil society organizations, is very active in providing aid to LDCs. We are conducting training and education programmes, building hospitals and schools,extending financial aid, providing health services and donating equipment in many LDCs. For Somalia alone, the Turkish people collected over 300 million US Dollars last year in voluntary donation campaigns conducted in the framework of the humanitarian crisis caused by drought, hunger and famine in the country.

Within the past year, in all relevant high-level international platforms such as the Rio+20 Conference, the G-20 Summit held in Los Cabos and the UNCTAD 13 Conference held in Doha, H.E. Prime Minister Erdoğan drew special attention to the needs and expectations of the LDCs and called for increased international support in this regard.

Turkey will assume the Chairmanship of the G-20 in 2015. I would like to assure you that the LDCs will be one of the priorities of our G-20 Chairmanship.We will consult closely with our counterparts in the LDCs in the lead-up to our Chairmanship as to how best we can obtain concrete results in this period.

Also in 2015, we have offered to host the Midterm Review Conference of the Istanbul Programme of Action.

The UNDP International Centre for Private Sector in Development which we arehosting in Istanbul has included the LDCs in its programme of work through Turkey’s efforts, and will conduct activities and programmes specifically aimedat them.

As you can see from these many concrete steps, Turkey is doing its part inassisting the LDCs. We will continue our efforts in this direction in the period ahead.


Excellencies, 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In concluding, I would like to express my sincere hope that the current difficulties that we are facing on a global scale do not detract us from our ultimate responsibility as the community of nations – to show solidarity and partnership with our most vulnerable members.

It is only by standing by the most needy among us that we will be able to achieve the high ideal of a better, more just and prosperous world.

Thank you for your attention.