President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a speech on Saturday at the 5th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe.

Noting that the Summit takes place at a time of regional and global developments of critical importance, President Erdoğan called on member states to expand their concrete supports to and active participation in the CICA.

"Disorder, rather than order, prevails in today’s world, unfortunately," said President Erdoğan.

"In our immediate environ, we are struggling with conflicts, civil wars, proxy wars, and terrorism. The CICA serves as a platform where we can take joint steps against all of these challenges.

As Turkey, we are working to steer the dynamics around us towards peace, prosperity, and stability. We are doing everything in our power in order for the civil war in Syria to come to an end and stability to be established.

We host nearly 4 million Syrians as guests in our country. We have dealt heavy blows to terrorist organizations DAESH and the PKK-YPG, which poses a threat to Syria’s future, through our cross-border operations against terror.

We have liberated an area of over 4 thousand square kilometers from the occupation of terrorist organizations. We have enabled 330 thousand Syrian refugees to return home, to their own country."

"We invite all the countries to abide by the UN resolutions and respect Al-Quds’ historical and legal status"

Touching upon the Palestinian issue as another open wound of the region, President Erdoğan recalled Turkey's active stance regarding this issue, and said: "It is a requirement of human dignity that occupation, oppression, and injustice no longer be Palestine’s destiny, so-to-speak."

"We reject attempts to create faits accomplis in Al-Quds. We invite all the countries to abide by the UN resolutions and respect Al-Quds’ historical and legal status."

Stressing Turkey's support for the efforts aimed at ensuring peace and ending violence in Afghanistan, President Erdoğan said that Turkey will maintain its activities within the context of the "Heart of Asia – Istanbul Process".

President Erdoğan added: "We expect the Kashmir problem to be solved through dialogue between Pakistan and India on the basis of relevant UN resolutions in line with the Kashmiri people’s expectations."

Further stressing that Turkey also closely monitors the situation of the Rohingya, President Erdoğan called for an immediate end to this humanitarian tragedy.

"There can be no legitimate justification for terror and violence"

Pointing to Turkey's current co-chairmanship of mediation groups within the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, President Erdoğan noted that it would be beneficial to expand the mediation capacity within the CICA, as well.

Drawing attention to rising violent extremism and terrorism across the world, President Erdoğan said that Turkey, as a country fighting against terror for 35 years, has become the target of many different terrorist organizations ranging from DAESH and PKK to FETO and Al-Qaeda.

Tens of thousands of Turkish citizens have lost their lives in terror attacks so far, President Erdoğan stated.

"Let me underline that there can be no legitimate justification for terror and violence. It is important to display a firm and clear stance on this issue. Policies of eliminating one terrorist organization by means of another will only lead to more bloodshed, more occupation, more oppression, and more tears. Syria, unfortunately, attests to this bitter truth."  

“We don’t approve of unilateral sanctions that undermine regional stability and economic cooperation”

Voicing the need for taking concrete steps with a view to guaranteeing the foundations of stable and sustainable development, President Erdoğan, to that end, called for multilateral solutions on the basis of equity.  

President Erdoğan said: "We attach importance to the development of combined transport corridors in our region and support the reconstruction of the modern Silk Road. The most visible example of this approach of ours is the Trans-Caspian East-West-Middle Corridor Initiative, which passes through the Caucasus and Central Asia and reaches China. I would like to note that we don’t approve of unilateral sanctions that undermine regional stability and economic cooperation."

ILKHA