At the invitation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Irina Bokova spoke on the theme of “Culture of Peace – UNESCO’s Vision and Practice.” The assembly included the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, and a wide range of cabinet ministers, as well as some 200 Ambassadors of Turkey.

The Foreign Minister opened the Conference with a wide-ranging review of the state of play in the world and Turkish foreign policy. He highlighted the trends of continuity and change affecting the world, and the need for Turkey to continue its policy of promoting "peace at home -- peace in the world."

In all this, the Foreign Minister underlined "the immense potential of Turkey in the field of culture," stressing the strength of cooperation with UNESCO.

Reviewing the horizon of challenges facing the world, the Director-General said, “a culture of peace cannot be ‘decreed’ through treaties alone -- it must be nurtured through the dignity, rights and capacities of every man and woman, as a way of being, a way of interacting with others, a way of living on this planet. To succeed, it must be founded on solidarity, on the basis of human rights, on the principles that have guided UNESCO since 1945.”

Irina Bokova highlighted 2015 as a turning point year for the international community, in shaping a new global sustainable development agenda. This is also the 70^th anniversary of UNESCO and an opportunity to place UNESCO’s message at the heart of the future agenda.

“Hard power is not enough -- we need soft power to build a culture of peace today. The founders of UNESCO knew this, and Turkey was one of them – we must renew this message for new times,” declared Irina Bokova.

“We all recognise the growing interdependence of the world. Can we make this interdependence a source of strength? All societies share a single destiny. Can we act with single determination to craft the future we want for all?”

In her speech, the Director-General presented the wide-ranging scale of UNESCO’s contribution to shaping an ambitious, universal and comprehensive new agenda to follow 2015 – starting with education and lifelong learning, and including harnessing the sciences for sustainable development, promoting access to information and freedom of information, advancing gender equality, and safeguarding cultural heritage and diversity.

In this respect, she highlighted the need to do everything to strengthen the binds of a single humanity, sharing a past and a future. This was why, she said, she travelled to Iraq, to Baghdad and Erbil in November, to stand with the Iraqi Government and people against the outrages they are suffering.

“Along with a deep humanitarian crisis, we see unprecedented cultural cleansing, cultural eradication and cultural looting -- We see the intentional destruction of irreplaceable landmarks, communities attacked on the basis of their identities, the systematic looting of ancient sites for illicit trafficking, to finance extremist groups, and shocking violations of human rights -- these are attacks against the people of Iraq, against their identities.”

In response, the Director-General highlighted the emergency action taken by UNESCO and called for ever greater cooperation regarding Iraq and Syria, to create protected cultural areas and to halt the illicit trafficking of cultural goods.

In all of this, the Director-General thanked the Government of Turkey for its strong engagement –regionally and across the world, namely as President of the G20. On this basis, she called for a new chapter to deepen the partnership with UNESCO ever more. This may build on wide ranging existing cooperation, including with the UN Alliance of Civilisations initiative, and through the International Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures. 

“Turkey is custodian to one of the world’s most venerable diplomatic services -- the traditions of this country can be said to have shaped diplomacy as we know it today,” she said. “At the same time, a new Turkey is rising -- an influential economic leader, a strategic power with a global voice, and I look forward to strengthening cooperation between Turkey and UNESCO.”

In closing, Irina Bokova recalled the final paragraphs of the recent UN Secretary General "The Road to Dignity by 2030":

"We must embrace the integrated essential elements of Dignity, People, Prosperity, Planet, Justice and Partnership."