Turkey maintains its commitment to EU, FM Çavuşoğlu says

The Seventh Annual Ambassadors' Conference, organized by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, started yesterday in Ankara. Speaking at the start of the four-day annual Ambassadors' Conference, Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that Turkey is determined to push the course of Turkish foreign policy to the top level of contemporary civilization. He said: "Turkey maintains and stays committed to its assertive stance for the integration process with European institutions. Along with this commitment, we are experiencing some unfair practices and incorrect approaches due to bias coming from our European friends toward Turkey's membership. While such shortsighted approaches occur, we are trying and taking steps to regain enthusiasm about the EU accession process from the public."

He underlined that Turkey's Foreign Ministry would work hard for permanent peace, no matter what problems it faced.

"World order is constantly changing and is forming foundations of another order. Turkey does not have the luxury of monitoring these changes as an outsider," he said, "We are bound to understand, adapt and even to direct these changes. We are experiencing an era in which important questions must be answered in order to rightfully interpret the course of history. Can we say that with the end of the Cold War the bipolar order was eliminated and left its place to a unipolar or multi-polar order? Or are we faced with various levels of power that is distributed around a non-polar world? We also need to ask ourselves where is the relation of the U.S., which is seeking to get back on track with its economy, with China, the rising power of the East, taking us."

Touching on regional problems including the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Syria, Çavuşoğlu reiterated Ankara's calls for "a safe zone and no-flight zone over Syria" to prevent a new wave of migrants coming to Turkey.

He said that Turkey has become the sixth biggest diplomatic power in the world with 228 foreign representatives. He also revealed that Istanbul had become the second city in the world with the most consulate generals after New York. He described Turkish diplomacy as "fair, peaceful and people-oriented."

The Ambassadors' Conferences, which have been held regularly since 2008, bring together Turkish ambassadors serving both abroad and at home. This year's conference, New Turkey: Sustainability and Alteration in Foreign Policy, will be held on Jan. 5-9 in Ankara and Çanakkale. Deputy prime ministers, ministers and senior officials from relevant institutions will take part in panel meetings.