Your Excellency President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Your Excellency Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan, General Ozkok, distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen, It is an honour for me to be addressing this distinguished gathering.
I thank the Centre of Excellence – Defense Against Terrorism and General Hilmi Ozkok , Chief of the Turkish Defense Forces, for organising this conference and for inviting me.
Allow me to take this opportunity to thank the people and the government of the Republic of Turkey for the generous support provided to the Afghan people over the past four years. In particular, the deployment of Turkish troops within the International Security Assistance Force for Afghanistan represents a valuable contribution to the security of Afghanistan, and I commend the professionalism with which the Turkish forces have conducted their two missions in Afghanistan.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We live in times of great changes. Globalisation is rapidly shrinking Our world into a global village, where common opportunities and challenges shape our lives. While the growth in wealth and progress in technology are the source of great promise, inequality, disease, organised crime and terrorism remain serious menaces. Our triumph against these common threats will unreservedly depend on our joint effort and cooperation.
Among the common challenges, terrorism poses by far the gravest threat to our livelihoods and our peace. It is a common threat to humanity; it transcends ethnic, religious or geographical borders. Terrorism has no moral predication; it just follows an ideology of hate and terror. Terrorists in many parts of the world may come from different backgrounds and pursue different goals, but they all share a disregard for the sanctity of life.
I reject the view that considers religion as a source of terrorism and regret the supposed link that is sometimes drawn between terrorism and religion. The term ‘Islamic terrorism’, which is frequently used in the media to describe acts of brutality and violence, is fundamentally misleading, not to say offensive to the beliefs of the followers of the great faith. Islam, not only condemns unequivocally any act that violates the life and property of an innocent individual, the Holy Koran has, in fact, equated murdering an innocent person to the killing of all humanity.
Far from being complacent in terror, Muslims have actually been among the most afflicted victims of international terrorism. I do recognise, however, that there are individuals and groups who have misused the name of Islam to mask their pursuit of rather political goals.
We must ensure that the true voice of the Muslim world – the voice of peace and tolerance – prevails over the very few who preach hatred. Today in Afghanistan, the Afghan people, our ulema, our community elders, our members of parliament, our teachers and students, all are united in fighting a murderous campaign by terrorists, coming mainly from outside our country, who kill our innocent people and burn our schools and mosques.
Speaking about Afghanistan, ladies and gentlemen, the experience of our country shows that more often than not extremist tendencies and terrorism emanate from political agendas and the pursuit of narrow interests by governments – rather than religious conviction. The roots of the terrorist regime that ruled Afghanistan until about four years ago, for example, were not to be found in the religious fabric of our society, but rather in the successive patterns of invasion, war and interference that Afghanistan went through over the past two decades.
Some of you in the audience will remember that dark era of the Afghan history when Afghanistan came under the occupation of the Soviet Union in 1979, whose subsequent attempts to impose the rule of the communist ideology on our people failed in the face of a solid resistance by the Afghan nation. Afghanistan during those years received support from the international community, which was vital to our ultimate victory against the Soviet army. However, a significant amount of the assistance that flowed to the Afghan resistance from outside went to support radicalism.
This trend contributed significantly to the growth of extremism in the region. Many countries either pursued or acquiesced with this policy because they calculated that communism could be fought better through extremist elements. Regrettably, they remained oblivious to the long-term consequences of doing so.
A further historical mistake was committed when, at the end of the Cold War, the West turned away from Afghanistan, assuming that, with the demise of the Soviet Union, Afghanistan had lost its strategic importance. Afghanistan, a country already impoverished by war and destruction, was left alone, dangerously vulnerable to the extremist forces and external interference from the region. A period of chaos followed that left the institutions of the Afghan state completely destroyed, and paved the way for what amounted to a hidden invasion of Afghanistan, in form of the Taliban and the Al Qaida network. The repressive Taliban regime was a phenomenon alien to Afghan history and tradition. It was a force propped up by outside interference and was intended to tarnish the national identity and historical heritage of Afghanistan.
The Afghan people were deeply alienated, but were powerless in the face of the insidious enemy. It was only with arrival of international community in the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy that we were able to overthrow the rule of terrorism in our country and began to regain control of our own destiny.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Many places in the world have now seen terrifying acts of brutality emanating from the very elements that once killed and tortured the people of Afghanistan while the rest of the world remained indifferent. The lesson from Afghanistan, therefore, is that extremism must not be used as an instrument of foreign policy, or tolerated any purpose whatsoever. To tolerate and support extremism in one country, assuming that it would Not spill over geographical boundaries, would be short-sighted and counter-productive. The celebrated Persian poet, Sa’adi, famously said:
The children of Adam are limbs of one another,
Created from a single substance,
When one limb suffers pain,
The others cannot be at rest.
We live in an interdependent world – and it is true that no-one is secure if there is violence and terrorism in any part of the world. Since terrorism is a universal threat, I believe it is only through international cooperation that we can defeat this common enemy. Once again the experience of Afghanistan is a good model to go by because it has shown that through comprehensive and sincere cooperation between countries in all fields, from military and security to diplomacy and development, we can begin to overcome the challenge of terrorism. Such a cooperation has been instrumental in the transformation of Afghanistan over the past four years. With help from the international community, we in Afghanistan have taken significant steps towards a stable, peaceful, prosperous and democratic country. Whereas four years ago, the Al Qaida-Taliban nexus ruled and turned Afghanistan into a haven for terrorists, today Afghanistan is a free country and a staunch ally of the world in the fight against terrorism. Whereas four years ago, our people were deprived of their basic rights and freedoms, today millions of our boys and girls are going to school and our people are participating freely in the political life of the country. Afghanistan has now established permanent institutions of state and we are working to further build the capacities of these institutions to serve the Afghan people.
Afghanistan today is also the scene of an unprecedented phenomenon: a co-operation of different civilizations aimed at helping our country to rebuild and achieve lasting stability. Among many others, there is the example of Kabul-Kandahar-Herat highway, which is currently being reconstructed through a joint project by the US, Japan and Saudi Arabia. This cooperation between a Western, a Buddhist and a Muslim country is perhaps the best example of a cooperation among civilisations, and I am pleased that Afghanistan has become a model for such cooperation in the international arena.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Despite the progress that we have achieved in fighting terrorism, the challenge still remains. Regrettably, innocent men and women in some parts of our country continue to become victims of violence perpetrated by terrorists who receive significant support from beyond our borders. To respond to the continuing challenge, international cooperation and commitment by states that are allied in this fight must be strengthened and expand on all fronts. All states must be sincere in their support for our common fight and must pursue a zero-tolerance policy towards individuals, groups and governments that may be complacent.
As a different, but equally important dimension of international cooperation, we must not allow the preachers of clash and division within our countries to influence our policies. Speaking at this conference, I cannot help making a reference to the recent episode of the publication of cartoons disgracefully depicting our Holy Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him). Islam requires Muslims to respect and believe in Jesus and Moses as prophets of God, where their denial as prophets leads to heresy.
Muslim religious sensitivities and beliefs must also receive due respect from other traditions. We have to ensure that respect for religious and cultural values becomes an essential element of the global culture that we all want to adhere to. We must isolate both those who insult a great religion in the name of free speech, as well as those who wreak havoc and violence on the streets claiming to protest in the name of religion.
In a bid to ensure lasting harmony and peace in our world, we must work to build bridges between cultures and civilisations. In this respect, I applaud the joint initiative by my friend, Prime Minister Erdogan, and Prime Minister Zapatero of Spain, to promote an ‘Alliance of Civilisations’. This initiative, like the ‘Dialogue among Civilisations’ thesis proposed by another good friend of mine, former President Mohammad Khattami, and the ‘Enlightened Moderation’ concept by President Pervez Musharraf, are all timely and valuable steps. On my part, over the recent years I have consistently advocated the theme of ‘Cooperation among Civilisations’ as an imperative in today’s world for nations to come together and address our common challenges. A peaceful future for our world, I believe, depends on the nature of our collective response to this imperative.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Turkey is a bridge between West and East, and a country that represents a fascinating blend of many great civilisations. I seize the opportunity of being in Turkey today to call for a global effort, building on the existing initiatives, to translate our shared vision into reality. I will work with the distinguished leaders I just mentioned and other leaders and organisations from across the world who may share our vision, to take these initiatives forward. Afghanistan is determined to continue to play an active role in our collective effort to build a peaceful world.
Thank you. |
