Honorable Professors,

Distinguished Guests,

First of all I would like to welcome you all here to our Ministry.

It is always a pleasure for me to come together with academics.

Stanford University is one of the leading institutions in advancing science and technology.

It must be a matter of pride for you that many of the leading global technology firms from Google to Yahoo and HP were created with ideas produced at Stanford.

And we are happy to know that there are around 70 Turkish students who are currently studying at your University.

We are also proud of course, to have Turkish lecturers like Mr. Yürükoğlu, who is also here with us today.

In May 2012, President Gül participated in the NATO Chicago Summit. As part of the trip, the President visited Stanford University and gave a lecture on leadership. He also visited the Silicon Valley.

I had the privilege to accompany the President on that visit. Stanford University and its pioneering role in technological innovations are impressive.

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I know that you have a tight program. So, I will keep my remarks short.

After my introduction, my colleagues from different departments will brief you in detail about the Turkish foreign policy.

Dear Guests,

There are two simultaneous transformations taking place on both sides of the Mediterranean.

To the north, Europe is embroiled in a deep economic and political crisis, which will ultimately define the future of the European project.

To the south, what we are seeing is the dismantling of a century-old status quo in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

What started as a mere financial crisis has quickly turned into a political struggle for the European Union.

In that respect, the course of European integration will not only have a direct impact on Turkey, which is a candidate country, but on the entire neighborhood, which still needs the transformative power of the EU.

The discussion about Turkey’s EU membership gains a whole new dimension with the transformation unfolding across the MENA region.

Our neighbors are closely following our political process as they grapple with challenges of their own.

And those challenges are great indeed. Their journey will change the security and political paradigms as we knew them.

There is no doubt that the road to building representative political systems based on inclusive institutions is a long and arduous one. But the process is irreversible.

You remember, that nine Turkish citizens were killed by Israeli forces, as a result of the Israeli commando raid on the international humanitarian aid convoy, headed by the Mavi Marmara, which was bound to Gaza in May 2010.

After this assault we downgraded our diplomatic ties with Israel and required that Israel must apologize before a restoration in our relationship was possible.

This apology came after three years and our Prime Minister accepted it on behalf of the Turkish people.

As President Obama indicated in his speech to Israeli students during his visit to the country, recognition of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and their right to be a free people in their own is more urgent now than ever.

We hope to see a positive reflection of this development in our relations with Israel on regional issues, first and foremost on the Middle East Peace Process.

We will continue to support all initiatives toward a just, comprehensive and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on the vision of two-state solution.

Its common geography and shared history with the region dictate that Turkey follows an active policy in the face of developments in the region.

Although we are pleased to see those countries in transition take important strides in the right direction, the situation in Syria remains a source of utmost concern.

Every day scores of innocent people are dying and thousands are fleeing to neighboring countries.

Today, we in Turkey host close to 400 thousand Syrians, half of them in the camps near the border.
So far, we spent 600 million US Dollars to accommodate their basic needs.
We will continue to support the Syrian people in their rightful struggle for dignity.

Our values and interests leave us no other option than siding with the people against a brutal dictator.

Dear Guests,

Our foreign policy vision, which is enshrined in Atatürk’s dictum “Peace at Home, Peace in the World”, remained unchanged. It entailed first and foremost creating a belt of peace and security around Turkey.

Likewise, our commitment to multilateralism and our strong ties with the community of democratic nations remains intact.

What changed, is Turkey’s growing capabilities in foreign policy, thanks to the political, economic and social reforms of the last ten years.

Today, Turkey is one of the fastest growing economies of the world, and that is despite the crisis in the EU, our main trading partner.

Currently, Turkey is the 6th largest economy in Europe and 15th in the world. I’m happy to say that our economy is one of the most dynamic and robust in the region.

Though there is ample room for improvement, our democracy inspires many in our neighborhood and constitutes the backbone of our growing soft power.

Today, Turkey feels better positioned to carry more responsibilities in steering the course of events in its wide neighborhood and beyond.

These efforts are first and foremost geared towards building peace and prosperity in our neighborhood.

We intensified relations with neighboring countries during the last decade and established High Level Cooperation Councils, signed Free Trade and Visa Exemption Agreements.

Our trade volume with our neighbors has increased 6 times over the last 10 years, reaching 86 billion USD in 2012.

But as an emerging power, Turkey’s foreign policy cannot be confined to its immediate surroundings.

Turkey also intensified its relations with African, Asian and Latin American countries.

In 2008, Turkey hosted the 1st Turkey-Africa Summit and established a strategic partnership with Africa. Since 2009, we opened 22 new embassies in Africa alone. Our trade volume with the continent reached 19 billon USD in 2012.

In line with its foreign policy vision, Turkey has significantly increased the number of its diplomatic missions abroad.

Today, Turkey has 209 diplomatic missions, ranking 9th in the world. Within a couple of years, we will be among the top 5 countries.

What is equally important is the increase in the number of diplomatic missions in Turkey from 148 in 2002, to 242 in 2012.

These figures reflect the interest of other countries in Turkey, as a regional and global player.

We did not only dwell on bilateral relations but raised our profile at multilateral platforms too.

Turkey evolved from being a flank country of NATO to a central state with increasing engagements all over the world. I can also say confidently that we have become one of the major players in the UN.

In 2008, after almost half a century, Turkey was elected to the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member for the period of 2009-2010.

We announced once again our candidacy for non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council for the period of 2015-2016.

Our peace building efforts in countries such as Afghanistan and Somalia, our mediation endeavors between parties from the Middle East, the Balkans and the Horn of Africa; and the leading role that we play in global initiatives such as the Mediation for Peace and the Alliance of Civilizations are some of the examples.

Humanitarian and development assistance is booming in Turkey, reaching 2 billion USD last year. We are committed to upholding the fundamental rights of peoples in Somalia, Syria, Myanmar and in Gaza.

Dear Guests,

Seizing the opportunity to talk to members of your esteemed institution, I would like to comment on Turkish-US relations.

We share a great alliance and partnership with the United States. Our countries cooperate in a broad geography, covering Iraq, the Middle East, North Africa, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Eastern Mediterranean and Central Asia.

Turkish-US relations complement each other. We share similar positions on critically important issues, such as counter-terrorism, energy security, nuclear non-proliferation and global economic developments.

President Obama during his visit to Turkey in 2009, described Turkish-US relations as “Model Partnership”, and we are currently going through one of the best periods in our bilateral relations.

High level visits between the two countries are carried out frequently. President Gül visited the US to attend the NATO Chicago Summit in May 2012.

Former Secretary of State Clinton visited Turkey in June and August of 2012. Secretary Kerry paid a visit just recently, in early March 2013.

I am confident that this upward trend in our bilateral relations will continue.

Dear Guests,

We in Turkey aim to establish a balanced relationship with all global and regional players while advocating stability, security and prosperity.

To this end, we pursue a more proactive and multi-dimensional foreign policy.

Now I would like to conclude my remarks here and give the floor to my colleagues. Again, I thank you all for visiting us and hope that you have fruitful meetings during your stay in Turkey.