JOHANNESBURG - President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said on Monday that efforts to remove poverty, protect common environment and goals of human rights, democracy and better management should continue.
Addressing the meeting of heads of state and government at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit, President Sezer recalled that they had come together at the Millennium Summit two years ago in New York and that they had ''put forward their commitments about removal of poverty, protection of common environment and human rights, democracy and better management''.
''The commitments and requirements mentioned in the Millennium Statement are still valid. As the countries which adopted the Millennium Statement, we should continue our efforts aiming to reach the goals mentioned in this statement. If we don't take determined steps with this objective, we fail to remove the difference between the wealthy and poor countries and leave a clean and livable environment to next generations,'' he said.
Noting that it had been observed that expectations could not be met completely in last decade since the U.N. Environment and Development Conference held in Rio in 1992, Sezer said, ''fight against poverty still has priority in our agenda. Globalization which threatens several countries and social circles should be oriented in a way which gives beneficial results for whole humanity and social and economic developments should be carried out in line with protections of environment and these necessitate a more comprehensive cooperation and more effective mechanisms both at national and international levels.''
Stating that it would be their duty to reiterate loyalty to Rio principles and take steps that set up a powerful relationship between economic and social development and protection of environment at Johannesburg summit, Sezer said, ''at the U.N. Millennium Summit, we altogether decided to halve the population who have less than one U.S. dollar daily income and suffer from hunger until 2015. And it is possible to reach this goal if we make necessary efforts and contribution under our common responsibilities.''
Stressing that the prior target of globalization should be ''removal of existing injustice in distribution of income among countries'', the President said that these income differences made poor countries' underdeveloped status lasting while underdevelopment caused exclusion from international economic system, preparing an appropriate atmosphere for appearance of terrorism.
Recalling that the International Conference for Financing of Development held in Monterrey had constituted an important phase in finding of necessary financial opportunities for a sustainable and stable development, Sezer said, ''another result we got in Monterrey was that better management would be one of the important conditions of cooperation process that would be formed among countries in field of sustainable development in the future. With this respect, decisions at national level will be taken and implemented by contribution of individuals and civil organizations in coming period and this will constitute the basis of this process. Meanwhile, international better management depends on development of transparency in functioning of multinational organizations.''
Referring to the problems of African continent, Sezer said that a solution has to be found immediately to the starvation problem which threatens 13 million people who live in south of the continent. Sezer also stressed that more effective measures have to be found to AIDS disease which comes the first among the problems of Africa.
Noting that Turkey is at the intersection point of the Mediterranean, Black Sea and Caspian Basin, which are among the most sensitive regions of the world, Sezer said that ''Turkey which is surrounded by the sea from three directions and which has the straits, big rivers and many plant and animal species that need special protection, attributes great importance to development of environment consciousness both at the national and international level.''
Sezer recalled that Turkey signed the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity during the Rio conference as a sign of the importance it attributed to international cooperation regarding environment and that it later put it into enforcement, adding that efforts are underway in Turkey to sign the U.N. Convention on Climate Change although it brings heavy burdens for Turkey.
Sezer said that Kyoto Protocol will give opportunity to take steps in decreasing of greenhouse gases that causes global warming, adding that ''in that respect industrialized countries' fulfilling their obligations carries great importance. It is important for countries to launch efforts to implement the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change and to put into force the Kyoto Protocol. Turkey also organized a series of meetings to implement Agenda 21, it formed the environment agenda of the country and the Rio summit decisions were reflected to the Five Year Development Plans of Turkey. The national environment action plan which was prepared by the contributions of the concerned institutions was adopted and that studies started to improve the standards of living and to develop the environment awareness and to ensure a sustainable economic, social and cultural development in Turkey.''