Turkish FM say dignity 'most important element' of Arab Spring
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu attended a session titled "Is democracy winning?" in Davos as part of the World Economic Forum, Trend news agency reported referring to Anadolu Agency.
Speaking at the session, Davutoglu said that "yes, democracy is
winning, because, it is a historical process and history will judge
in the future."
"Cold war has ended in Europe, but now after two decades it is
ending in our region. Democracy will win in the end," Davutoglu
noted.
"If we had this meeting two years ago in Davos, nobody would think
of a democracy in Tunisia or Egypt. We have to be fair to these
people. In the last two years, they achieved a lot. But of course,
there is a long way to go for the full implementation of
democracy," Davutoglu said.
"I want to give an example from my personal life. My youngest
daughter, 12 years old, came to my library and saw my old
typewriter, looked at it as if it was an archeological object. I
thought, I wrote my thesis with it and at that time Mubarak was in
power. Afterwards, the computer came, internet came, Facebook came
and Mubarak was still there. But when Twitter came, he couldn't
resist. Old regimes will not come back," Davutoglu stressed.
"Dignity is the most important element of Arab Spring," Davutoglu
stated.
"Democracy is the best system to the search for dignity," Davutoglu
indicated.
"We should not act orientalist. We should not ask if Arabs can
achieve democracy. I can assure you, Arab and Muslim societies can
have the same level of democratic system," Davutoglu expressed.
Asked if Islam was a threat to democracy, Davutoglu replied "I
think the basic threat to democracy in the Muslim world is not
Islam, but this orientalist approach."
"The basic value of Koranic teaching is human dignity and the basic
value of democracy is human dignity. They don't contrast each
other," Davutoglu also said.
On the other hand, Davutoglu also held talks with various leaders
on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Davutoglu met with the Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mahamud, UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad
Medelci, Australian Foreign Minister Robert John Carr, and
President of the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and
Revolutionary Forces Sheikh Ahmad Moaz al-Khatib inDavos on
Thursday.
Davutoglu and Secretary General Ban discussed the Cyprus problem,
Syria, Iraq and Turkish-UN relations.
In his talks with Moaz al-Khatib,Davutoglu discussed the
international efforts on the Syrian crisis and the situation of
Syrian refugees and those displaced due to the civil war in
Syria.
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