ANKARA - Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said on Tuesday that Turkey was situated in the middle of many clashes and threats in geographical aspect and this brought a special responsibility to Turkey.
In that respect Turkey had to be a member of U.N. Security Council, said Gul in the opening of the seminar held in Bilkent Hotel.
Noting that the world went through a basic transformation process after the end of the cold war, Gul said that threats directed at global stability and security also changed by the change in the world. Gul stated that U.N. had a central role in protecting stability and peace in the international field, pointing out to the importance of prevention of clashes before they erupted and of acting rapidly in times of crises.
''We shouldn't forget that a country can't be in peace when its neighbour is not fully in peace,'' said Gul adding that any clash couldn't be restricted to only one region, because such clashes could affect a broader geography.
Recalling that the participation of Turkey in peace operations went back to Korean War, Gul said that factors such as transparency, determination of borders of mission, impartiality and deterrence were important in peace keeping operations.
Gul recalled that Turkey was a candidate to become a member of U.N. Security Council for the period between 2009-2010, adding that Turkey was not represented in Security Council for almost half a century. Gul said that in case of membership, Turkey would serve international peace and stability in a better way.
Issuing a message to the seminar, Prime Minister Erdogan said that the traitorous attack on two synagogues in Istanbul proved once again that no nation or region is exempt from terrorism and fight with terrorism required international solidarity and common action. ''We are resolved to continue our fight with this global trouble in the best way possible,'' Erdogan added.
(ÖŞ-AY) 18.11.2003