Commander Maher,

Distinguished Participants from the United Kingdom’s Joint Services Command and Staff College,

Dear Guests,

First of all I would like to welcome you to Ankara.

It is indeed a pleasure for me to address such a distinguished audience.

I do not want to take much of your time, since I know that you have a very intensive program.

So, my remarks will not be long.

I will briefly touch on the general transformation that is currently taking place in Turkey, as well as the general framework of our foreign policy.

After my introductory remarks, my colleagues will give you further details on the regional aspects of our foreign policy.

Dear Guests,

Within the past two decades, the world has undergone several phases of change.

A new world order is still elusive and the global scene is still changing rapidly.

The Middle East and North Africa is engulfed with the winds of change for more democracy, freedom and dignity.

Africa is making impressive strides towards attaining sustainable development.

Europe is at a crossroads in terms of the future of its integration.

Asia is emerging as the new center of gravity in world economics and politics.

Latin America is on the way to a continental shift towards more cooperation and prosperity.

As such, although the prospects for a peaceful and prosperous world are more positive than ever, there are still daunting challenges ahead of us.

Yet, there are also certain trends which help us to understand the dynamics of change.

First and foremost, the world is moving towards a multi-polar system. No country, including the US, is strong enough to steer the change in a specified direction. There are increasing numbers of emerging powers and they have growing impact on regional and global affairs.

Related to that, a second important reality of our time is that, more cooperation is needed than ever among the major powers to have a functioning international system.
This is particularly the case given that security and development have now become truly indivisible and that no country has the luxury to be indifferent to problems and opportunities in other parts of the world.

If we look back to the last decade, I think it would not be exaggerated if I would say that Turkey has become one of the success stories, in many aspects.

Turkey is one of those emerging powers situated at the center of a wide geography where great opportunities and challenges interact with each other.

In fact Turkey’s unique geopolitical location has enabled her to play a potentially more influential role in global politics.
As you know, Turkey is the only country being located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia.

But what makes Turkey a truly emerging power is its social, cultural and political ties with countries in her region and beyond.

Indeed, due to its unique history and geography Turkey represents more than itself. It is, as they call, a cradle of civilizations. From Balkans to the Caucasus, Black Sea to Mediterranean, Middle East to North Africa, Turkey proudly carries the traits and qualities of a vast array of regions and continents around itself.

This wide region is the birthplace of the three great religions of humanity and has been home to many civilizations throughout history.

Modern Turkey on the other hand is the culmination of all these dynamics, which have blessed us with a strategic depth in all four directions.

Furthermore Turkey is the only NATO member with a vast majority of Muslim population.

Moreover, Turkey is a member of the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the G-20; an accession country of the EU.

Currently, Turkey has become very active in regional and international arena thanks to its political stability, economic development and democratic advancements.

We see that Turkey has increased her efforts in conflict resolution and especially in mediation; that she has deepened her engagement in Africa, supported peacekeeping operations by sending forces to the Balkans and the Lebanon, and has been active alongside its NATO partners in Afghanistan.

This is all true yet; these descriptions reflect just one part of the story and do not provide a complete analysis of Turkey.

Turkey has pursued a radical transformation process within the last ten years, which has fundamentally changed the political, economic and social structures of the country.

The key factors behind our success are political stability, well-coordinated economic policies and proactive, visionary and multidimensional foreign policy.

The last ten years have been characterized by impressive reforms.

Although the motivation for this pace of reform was the desire to bring higher living standards to our citizens, our enthusiasm to gain membership in the EU is another factor.

I know that the EU is also a topic in the debates in the UK and we will follow these debates very closely.

As for Turkey, domestic political reforms have led to greater stability.

In all fairness, political stability has been instrumental for our economic development and visionary foreign policy.

Let me touch briefly on the economic developments as well.

Turkey’s economic structure has changed drastically in the last ten years.

In fact, economic and fiscal reforms have brought Turkey an economic boom with a growth rate of up to 7 percent over several years.

Turkey currently is the sixth largest economy in Europe.

Despite remaining deficits, the Turkish economy is one of the most dynamic and robust in the region.

Besides, Turkey which has been a recipient of foreign assistance until the 1990’s has now become a donor country with 1,5 billion USD assistance per year.

Dear Guests,

Turkey aims to establish a balanced relationship with all global and regional players while advocating peace, stability, security and economic development.

For this, we pursue a more proactive and multi-dimensional foreign policy.

Besides all these dynamic changes in our foreign policy, our fundamental principle of ‘Peace at Home, Peace in the World’ remains as the central element in all our efforts.

Now, I would like to conclude my remarks and give the floor to my colleagues.

Thank you very much.