The Sixth Annual Ambassadors Conference was inaugurated with opening remarks by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, on January 13, 2014 in Ankara.

Highlighting that the theme of this year’s Conference is determined as “Strong Democracy, Dynamic Economy, Effective Diplomacy”, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu stressed that Turkey has been going through an era of restoration for the last 10 years, in this vein, the theme of the Conference points at the three dimensions of this restoration.

Foreign Minister Davutoğlu said that philosophic basis of strong democracy is to accept that an individual has the capacity to demonstrate will, otherwise democracy cannot function. Foreign Minister Davutoğlu added “Human dignity gains value only if it is equally valid for each individual. Turkish foreign policy does not contain any step or any initiative conflicting with human dignity.”

Noting that states whose economies are not dynamic are forced to maintain their dignity, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu recalled that Turkish people has witnessed significant developments in the economic field during the last ten years and Turkey goes beyond the international standards on profit sharing and paid off its debt to IMF.

“Effective diplomacy is esteemed diplomacy” said Foreign Minister Davutoğlu underlining that in the sake of rationalism, diplomacy which is not able to advocate human dignity cannot succeed.

Within this framework Foreign Minister Davutoğlu maintained that Turkey’s effective diplomacy has four pillars and the first one is the strategic relations of Turkey with the EU. “Turkey’s membership to the EU is also an added value for the EU itself. In this regard, we attach importance to the opening of the Chapters 23 and 24 as soon as possible” Foreign Minister Davutoğlu said.

Foreign Minister Davutoğlu stated that the second pillar of the effective diplomacy is Turkey’s relations with the countries in the region and pointed out that Turkey has developed good relations in all fields with regional countries such as the Balkans countries, Greece and Russia. He emphasized that with the High Level Strategic Councils established during the last ten years, Turkey’s trade volume with its neighbors has increased tenfold.

Explaining that the third pillar of the effective diplomacy is new opening areas, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu names Africa, Asia and Latin America as the new opening regions. “Turkey is one of the most represented countries in Africa. Africa will be the rising continent of the 21st century. Already now, we should be active in every field in Africa” noted Foreign Minister Davutoğlu.

Mentioning that the last pillar of the effective diplomacy is Turkey’s work within the international organizations, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu said “We have become a candidate for UN Security Council in a short time following our tenure in the Security Council. We will work hard for the seat. We also aim to make İstanbul a UN center”.

Concluding his remarks, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu underlined that Turkish Foreign Ministry which carries out an effective diplomacy which is based on a strong democracy and a dynamic economy deserves appreciation.