Türkiye’s first lady Emine Erdoğan on Tuesday called for concrete steps to fight the climate crisis at an event titled "Zero Waste for the World, Our Common Home," at the Presidential Complex in the capital Ankara.
"We should take effective and concrete steps at the global level to fight the climate crisis. If we did not take steps today, unfortunately, there will be no living space on which we can establish peace and justice," Erdoğan said.
Highlighting the importance of zero waste in fighting the climate crisis, Erdoğan said: "The Zero Waste Advisory Board is to be established within the U.N. Türkiye has started initiatives to spread the practice all over the world.
The zero waste movement under the auspices of the first lady, which was launched in 2017, not only achieved national success but also global recognition and appreciation around the world. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his gratitude to the first lady during a conference in New York in September,
Stressing that Ankara is ready to share its experiences with all the countries, Erdoğan said that we can overcome all crises with unity and solidarity. Turning to other global issues, such as migration, and the food crisis, the first lady said that Türkiye extends its hand of friendship wherever there are oppressed people, from Ukraine to Syria, from Palestine to Myanmar.
"With this understanding, we host Ukrainian, Crimean and Tatar orphans in our country. It should not be forgotten that war has no winner and peace has no losers," Erdoğan asserted.
Türkiye has brought warring sides together at the diplomacy table, and sometimes these moves help prevent global crises through initiatives such as the historic Istanbul grain deal, she highlighted.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu Tuesday stated that Türkiye has explained its zero-waste policy with its 257 missions all around the world.
"As members of a religion where waste is strictly forbidden, we have assumed a leading role against this threat. We started our work under the auspices of first lady Emine Erdoğan, who is the voice of global conscience in many bleeding wounds, especially in Africa."
"As one of the five countries with the largest diplomatic network, we have explained our zero waste policy around the world with our 257 missions," the minister highlighted.
"We are now working on the establishment of a U.N. meeting and advisory board to be addressed by first lady Emine Erdoğan. We will also discuss zero waste at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, the new center of attraction for global diplomacy," Çavuşoğlu said.
Çavuşoğlu said in the age of uncertainty the world is going through, the U.N. has more roles to play than ever before.
Saying that Türkiye works with the U.N. on a wide spectrum under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's leadership, Çavuşoğlu said: "The zero-waste movement will be passed on to the future generations as a global awareness initiative."
