The Turkish Ambassador at AUBG




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  • 2014-11-29 21:09:49
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The Turkish Ambassador for Bulgaria, Süleyman Gökçe, gave a lecture about the Turkish-Bulgarian relations in the 21st century in AUBG Panitza Library on Wednesday, Nov. 26. The focal points of his speech laid on the civil war in Syria, the difficult situation created by ISIS, and the asylum seekers that had passed the Syrian-Turkish border. Other topics that were discussed were the Turkish current and future investments and the impact of Turkish culture in the region and the world. Gökçe was welcomed by Robert Phillips, Jr., associate professor in the department of Politics and European Studies. Phillips gave a brief outline of Gökçe’s career, who had studied International Relations and Foreign Policy in Ankara and Oxford. In 1990, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, and subsequently, he served in the Turkish embassies in Rome, Kabul, Islamabad and London. Gökçe officially took office as Turkish Ambassador in Bulgaria in December 2013. Gökçe began his lecture by promising a very brief presentation and a long Q&A session. “We must acknowledge the values of asking and interaction,” he said. Then he explained the principles of current Turkish foreign policy, which include fundamental freedom and security as well as integration with the countries and regions in its vicinity. Four and a half billion US dollars was the number that Gökçe put on the cost of the refugee wave from Syria for the Turkish state. The ambassador emphasized that “Turkey is hosting more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees, and we provide food, education, and services.” He also mentioned that the principle of burden sharing between nations had not worked well in this case, “The EU help was zero.” While the entirety of the EU countries host about 150 000 Syrian asylum seekers, over 180 000 refugees had crossed the Syrian-Turkish border in only three days. “You have to see this, think about it, and internalize it,” Gökçe advised the audience. The Ambassador underlined Turkey’s position as the largest economy in the region and pointed out the special role of Istanbul, a city with 14 million inhabitants and a great potential for further growth. “One hundred and forty-five countries in the world have less population than Istanbul,” Gökçe offered as a comparison. In terms of infrastructure investments, the ambassador mentioned that Turkey’s spending amount to the second largest number in the world today, surpassed only by China. As a concrete project, Gökçe named Istanbul New Airport, which is planned to be the second airport in the world situated in the sea – the first one can be found in Japan. Furthermore, a third bridge over the Bosphorus as well as a motorway under the strait are projects for the future of the Turkish infrastructure. [caption id="attachment_24073" align="alignleft" width="294" caption="Photo from: http://hdpicss.com/"]Photo from: http://hdpicss.com/[/caption] When asked for the greatest contribution of Turkey to the world, the Ambassador returned the question to the interrogator, who answered that the Turkish cinema nowadays could be seen as a big cultural contribution. Gökçe agreed and added that Turkey comes second after the US in the global movie business today. In terms of cultural achievements, the ambassador also mentioned that in the year 2013, about 50 000 books had been published in Turkey, with an amount of individual copies of 700 million. In comparison, Bulgaria had published 3 500 new titles and printed 4 million books in the same time. “So, while the population of Turkey is eleven times higher than that of Bulgaria, the number of individual copies in Turkey exceeds that in Bulgaria by almost 200 times,” Gökçe calculated. The Ambassador thanked the audience and the organizers for the opportunity to give this lecture and for their attention and patience. Subsequently, the discussions about the future of Turkey and the region were continued in the lobby in front of the library, where food and drinks were provided.