UNITED NATIONS - Turkish president said on Tuesday that Turkey was accepted as an "emerging donor country" by the international community and the country contributed effectively to the improvement of peace thanks to its role facilitating dialogue in regional issues.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul delivered a speech at the inauguration of the 63rd term UN General Assembly meeting in New York, USA.
Gul said in his speech that it was of vital importance to fight against terrorism, racism, xenophobia and all kinds of religious discrimination and extremism.
"We need to be more awake against the risk of estrangement between different cultures and religions," Gul said, adding that the "Alliance of Civilizations" initiative was an important tool in this respect.
"Turkey will continue to be a leading country that will help this initiative achieve its goals," he said.
Commenting on the problems of developing countries, Gul said that such countries should be supported within the framework of a renewed global development agenda and through foreign investments and expanded commercial opportunities.
Gul also said that Turkey offered special financing opportunities for development, health, education and agriculture projects carried out in various parts of the world.
"Thanks to such aid programs, Turkey is now acknowledged as an `emerging donor country` by the international community," he said.
Referring to the regional political problems as well, Gul said that Turkey contributed to the improvement of peace in its region.
"In this context, I believe that the `Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform` proposed by Turkey would constitute a useful framework for the formation of a reliable atmosphere that would make it possible to discuss common regional issues in a democratic arena," Gul said.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Tuesday that his country extended full support to the efforts to find a political settlement in Cyprus, adding that any settlement should be based on a new state with two founding states of the equal status.
"The initiative should be based on the UN parameters which favors the principle of bi-communal structure and the political equality of the two sides," Gul told the 63rd term UN General Assembly meeting, urging the international community to ease economic limitations on the Turkish Cypriots.
Gul also asked for support from the General Assembly for Turkey`s candidacy for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council.
"Turkey has not been represented at the Council for nearly half a century. We believe that the tenets of our foreign policy and our economic, social and cultural characteristics will help us make contributions to the efforts of the Council," Gul said.
The Turkish president later met Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski.
(YMB-DO)