TURKISH PRIME MINISTER ERDOGAN ADVOCATES FOR "NEW GLOBAL ORDER"

Town Topics
Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey elaborated upon his
foreign policy, urging nations to come together under a "new global
order" based on trust and peace, during a Woodrow Wilson School
address in Richardson Auditorium last week.

"The global problems of our age require solutions on a global scale,"
he said, suggesting that "we must move from the understanding of a
world solely based on a perception of risk and threat, to a global
order which is based on solidarity and trust." Differences should be
embraced as a "source of enrichment," he explained.

War, economic crises, hunger, poverty, energy security, terrorism,
and climate change were listed as the major problems facing the
world today by Mr. Erdogan, who delivered the talk in Turkish. Event
attendees heard a simultaneous translation into English via wireless
transmitters.

Addressing such problems effectively would entail an equitable
and participatory global political order, Mr. Erdogan said, adding
that Turkey strives for a policy of "zero problems with all of our
neighbors," something particularly important as Turkey is uniquely
positioned as a bridge "between East and West," and "between Europe
and the Islamic world."

In her introductory remarks, Princeton University President Shirley
Tilghman said that "Turkey occupies a critical place in the world"
and has an important role to play vis a vis global security, in a
"region beset by ethnic, religious, and political tensions."

As a key player and U.S. ally in the region, Turkey has a long
relationship with neighboring countries like Greece, Russia,
Azerbaijan, Iran, Syria, and Iraq, Mr. Erdogan explained, while
also mentioning Turkey’s relationship with Armenia, noting that the
two countries are currently engaged in diplomatic talks mediated
by Switzerland.

Mr. Erdogan disapproved of the long delay regarding Turkey’s member
European Economic Community. "No other country has had to wait so
long," he said of the process, which began in 1959.

Praising President Barack Obama’s April visit to Turkey as one that
"once again reaffirmed the mutual trust and cooperation between the two
countries," Mr. Erdogan called the relationship a "model partnership."

The prime minister, along with a number of other Turkish officials,
visited Princeton between meetings of the United Nations General
Assembly, which preceded the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh.

Characterizing the 21st century as "the century of peace, not war; of
trust, not fear; of justice, not injustice; of order, not terror; of
prosperity, not poverty," Mr. Erdogan said, "It is our responsibility
to establish this kind of world."