Addressing the second session of the G20 Leaders’ Summit, Erdoğan said: “A system which does not serve people, does not give people peace and welfare, does not value them and does not ensure justice and security has no chance to succeed. It is impossible for the current global economic architecture, which was built upon ambition, dominance, injustice and unearned income, to protect people or the nature.”
“We see that the pandemic further deepens many problems”
“We have less than 10 years ahead of us to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals,” Erdoğan underscored, and said: “We should make the best of this period and recover the time we have lost. We see that the pandemic further deepens many problems, poverty and inequality in particular. Especially our African brothers and sisters and our Asian and Latin American friends are experiencing very serious difficulties. Refugees and forcibly displaced people make up the most fragile segment in the face of the pandemic. Besides economic difficulties, these people have to fight xenophobia and Islamophobia, fueled on purpose, too.”
“We should strengthen the financial resources of humanitarian aids towards war-torn regions and communities under risk,” Erdoğan noted.
“We provide humanitarian aid and protection to millions of people in need”
Stating that Turkey is the country that has hosted the most refugees over the past six years, Erdoğan said: “We host four million foreigners, most of whom are Syrians, in our country. We provide humanitarian aid and protection to millions of people in need inside the borders of Syria, in Idlib and in many other places. These figures are higher than the populations of big cities in most of your countries. We continue our efforts to ensure that those who have taken shelter in our country live in harmony with our people in a dignified way. Moreover, we continue these efforts with determination although many of the promises of support made to us have not been kept. From now on, we expect everyone to assume responsibility and share the burden and duties fairly. A system which does not serve people, does not give people peace and welfare, does not value them and does not ensure justice and security has no chance to succeed. It is impossible for the current global economic architecture, which was built upon ambition, dominance, injustice and unearned income, to protect people or the nature.”
“We work to contribute to the stability, tranquility, and domestic peace of our region”
Pointing out that it is wrong to take the fatal effect of the COVID-19 virus as the only cause of the loss of life of almost 1.4 million people around the world, Erdoğan stated: “The global system’s crooked structure, which now produces problems instead of solutions and deepens these problems, has also a role in the formation of this grave scene. The pandemic has both laid bare this crookedness of the current order and reminded once again that all the people are on the same boat.”
“It has been better understood that how accurate our call for, ‘The world is bigger than five,’ which we often make from the United Nations podium, is,” the President said, adding that the importance of the struggle Turkey is waging for rights, freedoms and justice on different fronts, from Syria, Libya and the Eastern Mediterranean to Nagorno-Karabakh, Iraq and Palestine has become apparent. Erdoğan stressed: “We firstly work to ensure our national security, the safety of life and property of our citizens, and then to contribute to the stability, tranquility, and domestic peace of our region and of places that are dear to our hearts.”
“We have always been patient and calm in the Eastern Mediterranean issue”
Further stressing that Turkey makes every effort to eliminate terrorist organizations, prevent conflicts and strengthen stability, Erdoğan went on to say: “We are the only NATO country which fights hand-to-hand against DAESH in Syria. Although we have been left alone, we have caught nearly nine thousand foreign terrorist fighters thus far and sent them to their countries. We have introduced a prohibition of entry to our country for nearly 100 thousand people whom we have identified to have links with conflict zones. We have enabled more than 411 thousand Syrian brothers and sisters of ours to return to their homeland by making the areas, where once terrorists used to roam, secure. The education and consultation support we have provided to the Government of National Accord of Libya has prevented the country from further dragging into the civil war. Despite the provocations by Greece and the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus, we have always been patient and calm in the Eastern Mediterranean issue. We have contributed to the ending of the 30-year-long occupation in Nagorno-Karabakh.”
“We take necessary precautions for the protection of ecosystem and biological diversity”
Stating that necessary precautions for the protection of ecosystem and biological diversity in Turkey are taken, Erdoğan noted: “We produce 63 per cent of our electricity from domestic and renewable resources. We rank 13th in the world and 7th in Europe in terms of installed solar energy capacity.”
Stating that while Turkey continues its investments concerning environment, it also prioritizes digital technologies, Erdoğan said Turkey hosts the United Nations Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries, and that supporting the activities of the Bank is in line with the G20 priorities.