3. The 2015 G20 will be held in Turkey in November, what is your expectation for this summit? Some say that Turkey is the perfect location for a summit like G20, how do you feel about that? As you may know that the G20 next year will be held in China, what is your suggestion to China?
Meeting the risks and challenges of today's world requires strong multilateral efforts as many of the challenges can only be responded collectively. In that respect, G20 is an important instrument. Its membership comprises a mix of the world's largest advanced and emerging economies, representing about two-thirds of the total population, 85 per cent of global GDP and over 75 per cent of global trade.
Turkey has been an active member of the G20 and took over the Presidency in 2015. After the G20 Leader's Summit in Antalya, we will hand over the presidency to China.
The G20 is the premier platform for global economic and financial issues and we hope to achieve further steps during the Antalya Summit.
Turkey is the perfect location for the G20 Summit as it represents the meeting point of the East, the West, the North and the South. It is in Europe, in Asia and in very close proximity to Africa. It is a part of the Balkans, the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The Black Sea and the Caucasus connections further enhance its multi-dimensional character. Therefore, Turkey is a perfect venue to announce united efforts at the meeting point of multiple regions and continents.
This year's summit will underline Turkish presidency's key messages:
a) We strive for helping to enable inclusive and robust global growth through collective action with a view to lift the potential of the global economy.
b) Our priorities were formulated as the three I's: Inclusiveness, Implementation and Investment.
c) In connection with the above mentioned priorities, we address issues related to low-income developing countries and small-and medium-sized enterprises as cross-cutting themes under G20 work streams.
In brief, this year Turkey focuses on ways to make the G20 more relevant to the rest of the world. We want to make sure that our decisions and actions would benefit non-G20 countries as well and provide the ground for a better global dialogue. We concentrate on both the national and international levels of inclusiveness. Gender equality, employment, food security and energy access for all were significant parts of our agenda.
The Turkish presidency's proposal for G20 countries to prepare concrete and ambitious national investment strategies to support their national growth strategies has received broad support from the membership.
During its presidency, Turkey has also been actively engaged in the implementation and improvement of the achievements of the Brisbane Summit. We worked closely with Australia and China as part of the Troika.
Let me give a few examples to the achievements of the Turkish presidency:
-In May 2015, G20 Ministers of Agriculture meeting was convened for the first time since 2011 and highlighted the importance of food security. An "Action Plan on Food Security and Sustainable Food Systems" will be submitted to the leaders for endorsement in Antalya.
-Turkey hosted the first G20 Energy Ministers meeting in Istanbul and access to energy was one of the top agenda items. The Energy Ministers also came together with African Energy Ministers and institutional investors to discuss access to energy in Sub Saharan Africa at a high level conference held on 1 October 2015.
-A new G20 engagement group, the Women-20 (W20), was established to promote gender inclusive economic growth.
-The World SME Forum has been established in cooperation with the International Chamber of Commerce, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey and world Chambers Federation.
In November 2015, in addition to the G-20 Leaders Summit, the following important meetings will be held in Antalya: November 12-14, 2015, Think-20 Summit; November 13-14, 2015, Labour-20 Summit; November 14-15, 2015, Business-20 Summit.
I am sure that the Chinese presidency will be very active and efficient next year. China will do the follow-up of the Brisbane Action Plan as well as the outcome of Antalya Summit and come up with some new and innovative ideas to further the work of G20. We have to continue the work to make G20 more relevant to the rest of the world. For only then, G20 can be a truly global platform.
4. The presidents of China and Turkey made clear their resolve to combat terrorism, including the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, during talks in Beijing in July and the Turkish people suffered a lot in the Ankara bombing in October. What Turkey will do in the next step to fight against terrorism?
Terrorism is a global problem and no country in the world is spared of its ugly face. We have all witnessed deadly attacks and damage. The tragic event in Ankara this past October was unfortunately not the first and only terrorist attack in Turkey. We have been fighting with terrorism for more than 30 years now and have lost more than 35.000 of our citizens during this period.
Turkey condemns all forms of terrorism and believes that the fight against terrorism necessitates cooperation and coordination among all. We are actively engaged in bilateral, regional and international fora to fight this menace. We are ready to work together with all countries who are seeking our cooperation. There are strong and clear communication channels between Turkey and China in terrorism related matters.
5. As we all know that Turkey is a leading power in the Middle East, how do you see the leadership evolve in the next 10 years?
In recent years we have been witnessing major political changes in the Middle East and North Africa, which unfortunately had many adverse effects on our country and beyond. To this end I can only mention some major areas of great concern: Security issues, terrorism and the refugee situation.
The longer the conflicts in our neighborhood continue, the more the security and humanitarian problems will increase. Today, the case of Daesh (ISIS) and the refugee issue have already evolved in to global crises. Countries have difficulties finding solutions on their own. Global issues necessitate global solutions. We need to work together to find solutions to these problems.
It is difficult to make a prediction for the future of the Middle East. I can only say that the countries of the region and the international community need to focus on the problems, take responsibility, govern their populations in peace and work together in a coordinated manner.
What the Middle East needs is more cooperation, reconciliation and the will for cohabitation. There are many countries in the Middle East which have vast human and natural resources, great traditions and a rich intellectual background. If the countries in the region can work together, the Middle East will not only be able to resolve its problems but will be one of the major contributors to global wealth and security. Turkey is ready to contribute and work towards this end.
