Turkish president seeks support for U.N. council seat
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Turkish President Abdullah Gul asked Tuesday for support from the General Assembly for Turkey's candidacy for a non-permanent seat at the U.N. Security Council.
"Turkey has not been represented at the Council for nearly half a century. We believe that the tenets of our foreign policy and our economic, social and cultural characteristics will help us make contributions to the efforts of the Council," Gul said as he delivered a speech at the inauguration of the 63rd term U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York, USA.
Turkish president also said Turkey was accepted as an "emerging donor country" by the international community and the country contributed effectively to the improvement of peace thanks to its role facilitating dialogue in regional issues.
Gul said in his speech that it was of vital importance to fight against terrorism, racism, xenophobia and all kinds of religious discrimination and extremism.
"We need to be more awake against the risk of estrangement between different cultures and religions," Gul said, adding the "Alliance of Civilizations" initiative was an important tool in this respect.
"Turkey will continue to be a leading country that will help this initiative achieve its goals," he said.
Commenting on the problems of developing countries, Gul said that such countries should be supported within the framework of a renewed global development agenda and through foreign investments and expanded commercial opportunities.
Gul also said Turkey offered special financing opportunities for development, health, education and agriculture projects carried out in various parts of the world.
"Thanks to such aid programs, Turkey is now acknowledged as an 'emerging donor country' by the international community," he said.
Referring to the regional political problems as well, Gul said Turkey contributed to the improvement of peace in its region.
"In this context, I believe that the 'Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform' proposed by Turkey would constitute a useful framework for the formation of a reliable atmosphere that would make it possible to discuss common regional issues in a democratic arena," Gul said.