"Istanbul hosts an interesting conference this week
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
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Representatives of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) are in Turkey for a three-day conference. Among fifty countries that qualify to be a LDC, are small island states like Vanuatu or Kiribati, the very existence of which is probably unknown to the majority of Turks. The yearly meeting of the LDC is being held in Istanbul this year upon the invitation of the Turkish government. Most of the countries are participating on a ministerial level and the delegations are the guests of the Turkish state, in the true sense of the word. The meeting is part of Turkey's aggressive campaign for the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) membership for the period 2009 – 2010. It looks like the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government is not only after votes internally but also internationally. The vote of Vanuatu, with a population of 100,000 counts the same as the vote of Russia or China. Hence, the race requires a worldwide lobbying effort. Actually, a group of ambassadors have been traveling to the countries on the outskirts of the world, with a letter from President Ahmet Necdet Sezer in their pockets. Probably being the first Turkish person to set foot on the soil, they try to convince the leaders of those countries in the far away regions, how well Turkey will represent them at UNSC, despite the fact that it has been indifferent to their presence so far. You can be sure that all the candidates have followed the same course. That is, remembering those small countries only when their votes matter. Turkey is trying to convey the message that it is well suited with skills to be represented in the UNSC since it sits in a geography at the cross roads of civilizations, bridging two continents. And what better way is there to deliver this message than in the setting of the Bosporus? Instead of relying on the personal communication skills of the ambassadors that travel from one country to the next, it is certainly more practical to host their leaders at a dinner on a boat, sailing between the shores of the two continents passing under the two bridges joining two worlds. "
More:Istanbul hosts an interesting conference this week - Turkish Daily News Jul 10, 2007
