ISTANBUL
Türkiye has shown that it is “the most patient and reliable candidate to become a member of the EU,” the President of the United Nations 75th General Assembly said Friday.
Speaking as part of the 6th TRT World Forum’s A World in Disarray: The Return of Geopolitics?” public session, Volkan Bozkir said: “…If there is political consensus, you are a member in a week. But if you do not have a consensus, they will make up excuses.”
He also underlined the importance of Türkiye in NATO.
“The US has a big size in NATO, but think about it without Türkiye, NATO will not be there either,” he said.
Over the topic of the Russia-Ukraine war, Victor-Viorel Ponta, the former Prime Minister of Romania, said that he was very happy to listen to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the matter and added that “it is happy to see people are worried about this crisis and war.”
For her part, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Latvia’s former president, underlined the importance of the grain leaving the Ukrainian ports.
“The fields (in Ukraine) that are rich in their fruits and in their grains and in the produce that is needed across the world have been turned into fields of devastation and mines that threatened to explode at any moment,” Vike-Freiberga said. “…with his efforts to ensure that at least some of the grain produced by the vast, fertile fields of Ukraine could leave the country.”
She also criticized the UN’s “outdated” structure by saying it is “totally paralyzed to be able to intervene and to ensure the peace that is so badly needed.”
Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, the head of the European Union Delegation to Türkiye, Vincent Biruta, the foreign minister of Rwanda and Mark Kimmitt, the former US Assistant Secretary of State, were also part of the session where experts discussed the competition between global powers that is, intensifying in different regions across the globe, from the Asia-Pacific to the Arctic.
The TRT World Forum 2022, a two-day annual event, started in Istanbul on Friday.
The gathering, which is held under the theme of Mapping the Future: Uncertainties, Realities and Opportunities this year, brings together academics, journalists, intellectuals, politicians, and members of civil society from around the globe.
Nearly 100 speakers and over 1,000 participants from nearly 40 countries are attending the forum, according to Mehmet Zahid Sobaci, the director general of TRT, Türkiye’s public broadcaster.
The forum will feature sessions on various subjects, such as the Ukraine-Russian war, global migration, and the energy crisis, as well as disinformation.
