The "Axis of Türkiye," one of the initiatives of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) led government to strengthen diplomatic ties on the global front, will be built by a “wiser, fairer and more virtuous” power, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Thursday.
Çavuşoğlu was speaking at a symposium at Istanbul University entitled “Turkish Foreign Affairs at the Centenary of Republic.”
Türkiye’s top diplomat mentioned “solidarity diplomacy” (named as earthquake diplomacy by some media outlets) in the wake of the Feb. 6 earthquakes in Türkiye’s southeast, which killed thousands. He said Türkiye witnessed outstanding international support after the disaster.
“It is the result of our enterprising, humane, passionate, and influential foreign policy,” the minister said. Türkiye was one of three countries registered as the most charitable country based on the humanitarian aid it delivered compared to its gross national income.
“As a matter of fact, our diplomacy is simply a display of visionary stance fused with the spirit of times, which has been evident in thousands of years of our state traditions,” he said.
“Turks had their own state where they went; every state meant diplomacy. We live in lands where diplomacy was born, where history’s first peace treaty was signed,” Çavuşoğlu said, referring to the 2,300-year-old Treaty of Kadesh between Egyptians and Anatolian civilization Hittites.
“Our legacy and experience is the basis of the reputed ability and power of Turkish diplomacy today,” the minister further said.
Çavuşoğlu recounted President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s words in a recent speech where he said Türkiye was a diplomatic power creating solutions, serving as a mediator at other times, a diplomatic power defending its legitimate rights and interests with dignity, patience and resolve.
He said Türkiye today had one of the most significant diplomatic networks in the world with 260 missions.
Recalling the situation report written by a Turkish diplomat after an attack targeting him killed his family and how he ended the news that he was “on duty,” Çavuşoğlu said they would remain “on duty” thanks to the strength they drew from the Turkish nation and their history.
“We were on duty when we evacuated over 100,000 Turkish citizens from abroad during the COVID-19 pandemic. We were on duty during the evacuation of people during the Ukraine war; we were on duty while helping earthquake victims.
“Although we are left alone in working for peace in Ukraine, we exerted efforts. We continue our duty by leading Istanbul Grain Agreement to thwart a global food crisis. We continue our duty as mediators to resolve conflicts in places from Somalia to the Philippines, working on normalization efforts with other countries to ensure peace and stability. We continue our duty by fighting Islamophobia and racism everywhere,” he said.
Çavuşoğlu said Türkiye had self-confidence for new initiatives while other countries preferred isolating themselves, noting Asia’s new initiative, boosting diplomacy with Latin American countries and Africa opening, as well as its efforts to spread the practice of Zero Waste across the world. “We continue our duty by advocating efficient multilateralism,” he said.
“We will continue our work for a fairer world order,” he concluded. Türkiye has a fierce supporter of reforms in the United Nations, giving more say to countries outside superpowers in world affairs. President Erdoğan famously adopted the motto “the world is bigger than five” about members of the U.N. Security Council.
