Secretary Kerry, Distinguished Colleagues, Excellencies,

It is a pleasure for me to be here today with you John, to co-chair this Sixth Ministerial Meeting of the Global Counter Terrorism Forum.

What a remarkable four years it has been, since we decided to create this Forum in 2011.

As the US co-chairmanship draws to an end, let me speak for all those present by saying that we have truly appreciated the wise and able leadership of the United States, and you John, personally.

I am confident that your invaluable support and contributions will continue as we push ahead to make more progress, all together.

Dear Colleagues,

The threat of terrorism is not only growing, it is, despite our best efforts, adapting. Treating all boundaries as lines drawn in the sand, it is constantly evolving and manifesting in ever changing ways.

This Forum has so far successfully spearheaded our collective response to bringing long-term, meaningful and concrete remedies to this insidious threat.

Looking beyond the methods we know, and by focusing on the root causes and underlying currents that lead to its emergence, we have taken a more granular approach to countering terrorism that was clearly lacking.

Today, countering violent extremism tops our agenda. With the new decisions we will adopt today, the GCTF will be empowered with the necessary tools to assume the full role we have envisaged for it.

Distinguished Colleagues,

Turkey stands at the forefront of the terror threat. For decades now, we have braced against all manner of terrorism, driven by all manner of twisted ideologies.

The onslaught has been virtually relentless, and we have suffered for it. The threat was never solely home grown. Driven in no small part by our geographic location, it had complex and stubborn regional and international roots.

Today, the fallout from invasions and war, simmering tensions fueled by unresolved conflicts, and political and social fault lines left to fester in our region, have combined to further exacerbate the risks we face from terrorism.

As many struggle to learn just the acronyms, let alone comprehend the changing motives, tactics and goals of the many faces of terror, Turkey is once again in the trenches, fighting on not one, but three fronts, whether it is from revolutionary left in the form of DHKP/C, ethnic separatists as with the PKK or those exploiting religion, like Al Qaida, DAESH or Al Nusrah.

And this struggle is taking its toll, not just in terms of the direct damage inflicted socially, politically and economically, but also in terms of its byproducts, like the ever growing refugee crisis fueled by the chaos in our immediate vicinity.

In this struggle that at times feels overwhelming, we have taken comfort in the support, solidarity and cohesion that this Forum has fostered among like-minded nations and international institutions alike.

Indeed, our work has enabled us all to better understand the challenges we collectively face in our counter-terrorism efforts. And it has allowed us to realize that in this struggle, we, together, are only as strong as the weakest link that binds us, in our efforts to confront the complex challenge that terrorism poses.

This is why our engagement with the GCTF will remain robust.

With that, let me highlight some of the main achievements of our collective efforts.

We have jointly inspired the foundation of Hedayah, the Center of Excellence for CVE (Countering Violent Extremism); the International Institute for Justice and the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund.

We have all contributed to the revision of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. The six Working Groups of the Forum adopted 11 papers and today, we aim to adopt two more such papers, in addition to the launching of two new initiatives.

As the co-chairmanship of the Horn of Africa and Yemen capacity-building working group, we are delighted to continue together a harmonious and productive cooperation with the EU until 2017. On that, more is in preparation for the rest of our Co-Chairmanship with the EU.

We have supported the Dutch-Morrocan initiative to establish the GCTF Working Group on Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTF). It was timely and necessary for raising awareness and the sharing of information and intelligence.

We also co-chair the FTF Working Group within the anti-DAESH Coalition together with Holland.

We also appreciate the momentum and synergy that the GCTF has been able to provide for the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 2178. More is definitely needed in this area, but the efforts by the GCTF and others, including the Coalition, will surely continue.

Distinguished Participants,

As this is the last meeting we organize together with our US co-chair, we are all too aware that our turn to pass the baton is also rapidly approaching.

After a six month period with our Dutch colleagues, we will turn over our responsibilities to our Moroccan brothers.

This will be a new chapter for us: A challenge to give a new and perhaps even stronger impetus to our relationship with the GCTF.

Our Distinguished Dutch colleague, His Excellency Koenders, will, during this meeting, share with the participants the vision of the upcoming Co-Chairmanship.

Today, as already presented by my Distinguished Colleague and Co-Chair John, we propose the adoption of two important decisions.

The first entails the preparation of a toolkit to guide members and others on the full life-cycle of radicalization. We have identified gaps in the work the GCTF has done until today and propose areas of further activity, together with a Working Group to lead the effort. Conducting meaningful research and drawing from academia will be crucial in this effort.

Our second proposed decision for today is on creating a “clearing-house mechanism” within the GCTF for counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism capacity-building assistance. Bringing supply and demand together in these areas, this mechanism will help with effective implementation.

Now, let me come back to the crucial topic of CVE and the CVE Summit Action Agenda, which provides us with a new challenge:

Working together, it is now our responsibility to position and empower the GCTF as the Forum where initiatives born of the Summit will grow and sufficiently mature, before being taken forward.

Under the lead of the co-chair, we are also looking forward to building further on our existing cooperation with the EU in the Horn of Africa, on countering the financing of terrorism and also violent extremism.

With the establishment in Djibouti of a Center of Excellence for CVE in Africa, there is now a new body through which we can focus our bilateral and multilateral assistance for our African brothers and sisters. We will make use of this new CVE tool to provide capacity-building training in Africa itself.

This brings me to my last point, which, even though it will sound like a cliché, is crucial here; and that is the importance of implementation.

In all our efforts, be they local, national or regional, we must ensure rapid, effective and careful implementation. Used actively, the Clearing-House Mechanism will be very beneficial in this regard.

In closing, let me once again thank you, John, for these four years of fruitful cooperation; as partners in crime, co-chairing the GCTF. Let me also say that while you may be leaving the gavel, there is certainly much more work for the US to do within the GCTF. The initiatives that you launched only at this, the last meeting of your Co-Chairmanship, stand as a testament to the vital importance of your continued active engagement.

I also wish every success to the new Dutch co-chairmanship. Our Dutch colleagues should know that we are ready to help in any way that we can.

Last but not least, I must extend our warmest appreciation to all the past and present members of the Administrative Unit in Washington D.C. for their hard work. We also wish the incoming Administrative Unit team all the best in their endeavors.

Now, I yield the floor to my Dutch colleague for his opening remarks.

Bert, the floor is yours.