Diplomatic World_nummer 57

Istanbul city bird view
© Shutterstock
globalization or fail to act in concert as a community and
thus suffer together the consequences of our inability to
do so. From climate change to migration, terrorism to
humanitarian crises, cyber warfare to hate crimes, the
international community should be able to think and act in
a collective and coordinated manner so as to put in place
the necessary measures that will help us tackle our common
problems and take advantage of the existing and emerging
opportunities.
Given its geostrategic location at the confluence of all these
threats and opportunities, Turkey is among those countries
who feel that need maybe more than many others. Indeed,
fighting against several terrorist organizations at the same
time; bearing the brunt of the crisis in Syria including by
hosting more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees; acting as a
bridge between Europe and Asia not only in a geographic
but political and economic sense too; constituting an energy
hub between the Caspian and Middle Eastern oil and
natural gas reserves and the Western markets; being the only
member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
which is also a member of NATO and a candidate for EU
membership, Turkey not only appreciates too well the need
for true international cooperation, but is also well placed to
contribute to it. In other words, international cooperation,
for us, is not a choice but an obligation that we have to
support with all the means available to us.
However, international cooperation is not something that
happens automatically or just by paying lip service to it.
The key to successful international cooperation lies in
meaningful dialogue among nations that will allow us to
better understand each other and find the ways and means
to jointly act upon our common objectives and ideals.
Indeed, without true dialogue, a sense of joint ownership
and mutual understanding, any project of cooperation is
doomed to remain limited, failing to translate our words and
promises to actual deeds and deliverables.
This is exactly why Turkey has taken the lead in launching
several initiatives aiming at providing a platform to different
nations, organizations and private stakeholders to agree
on a common vision vis-à-vis common challenges. The
Alliance of Civilizations, for instance, which we have
initiated with Spain to create an environment of better
understanding and tolerance between different religions by
stressing on what unites us rather than what separates us,
is currently the second largest international organization
21