ISTANBUL (AA) - The world allocated 900 billion USD for armament last year, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday.
Taking the floor at the opening session of the ''Forum Istanbul 2005'' held in Turkish commercial hub of Istanbul, Erdogan said, ''when we think how much money the world allocates to overcome poverty, we can say it is nothing (when compared with the money allocated for armament). We can do nothing against the global terrorism with this understanding. On the contrary, we can only strengthen global terrorism, and now the humanity is paying the price.''
Touching on the differences between the old and new members of the European Union (EU), Erdogan said, ''we should join the seventh frame program because we believe that joint search and development activities should be carried out in coming years in order to eliminate economic and technologic differences. Industries of EU member states can integrate with each other, only with such concerted efforts. It is obligatory to develop a common identity and perspective for the future, irrespective of the distance between the new and old members of the EU. EU can become a global power only if it admits different facilities, sources and domestic potential.''
-GLOBAL WORLD HAS CAUSED NEW POLES AND DIFFERENCES-
Erdogan said that the globalizing world has caused new poles and differences and added, ''in this globalizing world, the differences between the poor and rich countries have increased. Although the new civilization understanding was expected to result in a human-centered development, a contrary tableau has occurred due to competitions and ambitions.''
After his speech, Erdogan met Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who is also in Istanbul for this meeting.
(BRC-MS)
2005-05-05