Mr. Secretary General,
Dr. Haila Al-Mekaimi
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am privileged to join you here in this seminar, co-hosted by the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) and Kuwait University. It is an honor to be under the roof of such a distinguished academic institution.

As we are commemorating the ACD’s 20th anniversary, it would be timely to reflect on how to benefit from this platform more effectively and how to promote cooperation in Asia. Therefore, this event presents a good opportunity for us.

Distinguished guests,

One of the defining characteristics of our century is increasing weight of Asia globally. Asia’s economic and geopolitical role in more inter-connected and inter-dependent world is continuously growing. At the same time, many global actors have shifted their interests to the region.

Indeed, regional cooperation in Asia is expanding while regional integration is making progress, as the Asian countries seek to work together for a more resilient, sustainable and inclusive future for their societies.

In light of these facts, Türkiye introduced a new strategic vision in 2019 into our Asia policies through “Asia Anew” Initiative. The Initiative intends to streamline comprehensive and holistic perspective for Türkiye’s relations with Asian countries.

With this Initiative, we want to explore new opportunities presented by traditional and innovative areas of cooperation.

We explore the opportunities in the areas such as connectivity, logistics, transport, defense industry, energy, digital technologies, finance, green development and especially cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

We are ready to work with each partner in Asia to enhance connectivity to contribute to peace, stability and sustainable development across the region. In order to achieve these goals, we support effective multilateralism, dialogue and cooperation, regional and international solidarity, peaceful resolution of disputes and avoiding tensions in Asia. We also believe regional initiatives in Asia should be open, transparent and inclusive.

As a continent-wide and ever-growing informal dialogue forum, ACD meets these above-mentioned conditions. The strength of the ACD lies in the commitment of its Member States to cooperate based on inclusiveness, shared interests and complementarity. Türkiye, in its Chairmanship in 2019-2021 has endeavored to increase the profile and enhance the relevance of the ACD in Asia and beyond.

Ladies and gentlemen,

One of the six pillars of the ACD cooperation is tourism and culture. Cultural diplomacy is also one of the main dimensions of Türkiye’s Asia Anew Initiative in light of the fact that strong relations between people can put connectivity into life and make the bonds between countries stronger. Consequently, cultural diplomacy has become more influential and evident than ever before.

Cultural activities and interactions have become one of the main pillars of today’s diplomacy. Our rich culture, with its ever-attractive feature, stands out in Türkiye’s foreign relations as well.

Türkiye is also an active member of the UNESCO, the leading international organization in cultural affairs. Türkiye is currently a member of the UNESCO Executive Board for the term 2021-2025. In the meantime, the number of our properties in UNESCO World Heritage List have reached to 19. Additionally, the elements on the Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists increased to 21.

We are proud of our deep-rooted cultural and historical ties with Asia. Our existing ties will facilitate and accelerate further cultural exchanges with our Asian partners.

We are aware of the cultural diversity of the regions, sub-regions and countries in Asia. This multiculturalism provides many opportunities to explore in cultural and people-to-people exchanges. We have listed an inventory of actions to be capitalized in order to expand and deepen our relations with Asian countries.

This list indeed comprises various cultural aspects such as introducing reciprocal cultural years, organizing exhibitions, concerts, book and film festivals, engaging in mutual library cooperation, joint academic researches on culture, language and history, promoting tourism including culture, health and gastronomic tourism.

They will serve as a living guideline to enhance our cultural promotion in the region, together with other components of our soft power such as Yunus Emre Cultural Centers, Turkish Maarif Foundation, Türkiye Scholarships, etc.

Distinguished guests,

The convergence between tourism and culture, and the increasing interest of visitors in cultural experiences, oblige me to address the issue of tourism, as well.

Türkiye is one of the world's top 10 travel destinations, welcoming more than 45 million foreign nationals every year.

On the other hand, we have been living with a global health crisis for the last 2 years. The Covid-19, has taken a heavy toll on all nations. Culture and tourism are one of the main areas affected by the pandemic seriously.

Facing this challenge, Türkiye introduced ‘Safe Tourism” concept in 2020 to overcome pandemic obstacles. It is one of the first of its kind. Thanks to it, we hosted over 15 million tourists in 2020 despite serious pandemic restrictions. In January-November 2021, 23 million tourists visited Türkiye.

Tourism between Türkiye and Kuwait is also remarkable. Kuwait is the country that sends most tourists to Türkiye in proportion to its population. Before pandemic, more than 374 thousand Kuwaitis visited Türkiye in 2019. During the pandemic, 120 thousand Kuwaitis visited Türkiye in 2020, and this number increased to 225 thousand for January-November 2021. These numbers show Kuwaiti friends’ confidence to Türkiye’s health and tourism capacity.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Last but not least, in today’s world, I am of the belief that we should speak cultural coexistence before cultural cooperation. The world has been suffering for a quite long time due to the tensions and conflicts arising from racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, hatred and intolerance.

Various extremist elements exploit the mutual suspicion, fear and polarization between the Muslim countries and Western societies. In order to overcome this tendency, the Alliance of Civilizations (AoC) was launched in 2005 by H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the then Prime Minister of Türkiye, and by H.E. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the then Prime Minister of Spain. The Alliance of Civilizations subsequently became a UN initiative upon its endorsement by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The Group of Friends of the Alliance of Civilization established under the umbrella of the UN, today consists of 146 members, including Member States and international organizations.

We believe that in order to resolve all of kind of hatred speech and intolerance, people from different cultures need to regard each other with tolerance and engage in dialogue. Respect and tolerance is the only way for different identities to co-exist.

I would like to conclude my speech by expressing my thanks once again to the ACD Secretariat, Kuwait University and all those who contributed to the symposium.

Thank you.