Alliance of Civilizations and Union for Mediterranean Region

Alliance of civilizations and Union for Mediterranean region: Two compatible or concurrent processes.

On 11 July 2009, the Global Political Trends Center (GPoT) organized in collaboration with Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS) the first conference within the Turkish Season in France. This conference, entitled “Alliance of civilizations and Union for Mediterranean region: Two compatible or concurrent processes?”, aimed at finding further cooperation and comprehension areas between France and Turkey, which have been historically ad culturally tied through centuries.

The Secretary General of UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations and the former President of Portugal, H.E. Jorge Sampaio delivered the keynote speech at this occasion. Besides, a considerable number of prestigious academicians, journalists, diplomats both from Turkish and French sides took part in the sessions of the Conference.

The sessions of the conference mainly focused on the potential areas which would foster the Alliance of Civilizations, as well as on the main components of Union for Mediterranean region. The diversity and the complementarity of the speeches delivered contribute to the development of an intellectual interaction between all invitees and the creation of a fruitful ground for fostering mutual comprehension both in social and political levels. The prospective membership of Turkey to the European Union was also been discussed and the potential advantages and the necessities during the process have been elaborated. In this context, the strategic assets of this membership to the EU and the main contributions of this membership to Turkey were examined.

One of the common issues mentioned during the sessions was the necessity of global governance of the current challenges that the multipolar and multicentric world faces. The role of the globalization as a social and historical reality was also another issue which was discussed in detail with regards to its implications to such initiatives. It has also been emphasized that any political initiatives (like Alliance of Civilizations or Union for Mediteraanean region) could not go further without strategic planning. It is of utmost necessity to deal with a diversity of problems within the framework of fundamental principles such as democracy, rationality, social justice, protection of human rights, etc.

"Speeches made by Speakers from Turkey"