Cooperation between Turkey and Syria

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said the cooperation between Turkey and Syria served as a model for other countries in the region and carried the potential to change the ill fate of the Middle East.

In his address to a ministerial meeting of the Turkey-Syria High Level Strategic Cooperation Council on Tuesday in Ankara, bringing together 26 ministers from the two countries, Davutoglu said other countries in the region followed the example of Turkey and Syria in establishing bilateral cooperation.

"The cooperation launched between Turkey and Syria has served as a model for the region, and its success is closely monitored by the whole region. If it proves successful, not only it will enhance the relations between the two countries, but also it will change the ill fate of the region," said Davutoglu.

He said the decisiveness displayed by Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in taking the required decisions in a very short time, accelerated the cooperation between the two countries.

Davutoglu referred to the 51 agreements signed between Turkey and Syria last year, adding that in today's meeting they were evaluating the progress made in implementation of these agreement as well as exploring new ways of cooperation. He said they would compile findings of the ministerial meeting into a report which would be submitted to the meeting of the prime minister of the two countries which is set to take place in the afternoon.

Turkish foreign minister thanked the Syrian side for completing the ratification and approval processes of the said agreements. He said the Turkish parliament's schedule caused some delays in the Turkish side of the agreements, promising to complete the approval and ratification processes as soon as possible.

Syrian Vice President Hasan Turkmani, the head of the Syrian delegation who also addressed the ministerial meeting, expressed the happiness of the Syrian side over the growing ties between the two countries.

He said they were exploring ways to further enhance the bilateral relations in today's meeting. He said the vision of the leaders of the two countries bolstered the bilateral cooperation.

The meeting was closed to the press after the speeches of Davutoglu and Turkmani.

Source : Journal of Turkish Weekly

Davutoglu: Ο ρόλος των ΜΜΕ στην διεθνή διπλωματία

ANKARA (A.A) - Turkey's minister of foreign affairs said on Tuesday that media organs were important actors for public diplomacy.

Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoglu attended the "Turkish-Speaking Countries Media Forum", jointly organized by Turkey's Directorate General of Press & Information and Turkish Foreign Ministry's Center for Strategic Research, in the Turkish capital of Ankara.

Speaking at the opening of the forum, Davutoglu underscored the importance of public diplomacy.

"Today, diplomacy is no longer a series of negotiations carried out by diplomats behind closed doors or in wide conference rooms. New diplomacy fields are rising nowadays," he said.

Describing public diplomacy as one of such fields, Davutoglu said media organs were important actors for public diplomacy.

The minister said, no matter what kind of decisions were taken by political leaders and how successfully diplomats implemented such decisions, those decisions could not gain respectability in public unless a healthy public diplomacy was launched.

Davutoglu said that media organs were responsible for creating the perception of a positive and friendly atmosphere between countries.

The minister also noted that press should be institutionalized and freedom of press should become widespread in the Turkic world.

Expressing the importance of a strong press culture and presence of a powerful media, Davutoglu said Turkish media should have a stronger position in the world as Turkey currently had an effective global position in terms of economy, diplomacy and energy.

Source : Turkish Weekly Journal