00:00Good afternoon, everyone.
00:01I would like to thank the Communications Directorate
00:04for organizing this very timely panel today.
00:08We meet at a time of multiple global crises.
00:12They all disproportionately affect women
00:15and reinforce deeply entrenched inequalities in our societies.
00:20But the most consequential crisis of all
00:23is the breakdown of the international order itself.
00:26We are witnessing a system that has repeatedly failed
00:31to prevent war, mass atrocities, and humanitarian catastrophe.
00:36From the invasion of Ukraine to Israel's genocide in Gaza,
00:40from the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank
00:44to the forced displacement of one million people in Lebanon
00:47and the widening of the war in Iran,
00:51the system has failed to uphold the principles it claims to defend.
00:55The rise of unilateralism, the paralysis of the Security Council,
01:00the selective applications of international law
01:03profoundly produced a crisis of legitimacy.
01:09Nowhere is this more visible than in Gaza,
01:13where the inaction and complicity of the international community
01:16led to the first live-streamed genocide in history.
01:19It has exposed the moral collapse of the international system
01:24and the West's credibility.
01:27Never again has been reduced to hell of rhetoric
01:31used by the victims when the victims are politically inconvenient.
01:37The international order must be reformed
01:40to reflect a multi-polar world
01:42and uphold human rights, justice, and peace
01:46above the narrow interests of the few.
01:48Without meaningful reform,
01:50the system will continue to fail
01:52and the most vulnerable, especially women and children,
01:56will continue to pay the price.
01:59And that's precisely why the perspective of women leaders
02:03is central to this discussion.
02:05Women leaders bring a different understanding
02:08of power of crisis governance.
02:11We tend to approach security more comprehensively,
02:15linking state security to food, energy, health care,
02:19dignity, and social resilience.
02:21In times of crisis,
02:23women leaders often treat the protection of families,
02:26support for vulnerable groups,
02:28the preservation of social trust,
02:30and the maintenance of dialogue
02:32as strategic priorities.
02:35This is why diversity in leadership matters,
02:38especially in times of deep instability.
02:42And when we look at who bears
02:44the heaviest cost of today's crisis,
02:47the importance of this perspective
02:49becomes impossible to ignore.
02:51Women and children account for more than 75%
02:55of those displaced by global crises.
02:58In crisis settings,
03:00violence against women reaches roughly twice
03:02the global average.
03:04In Gaza, we see this in its most brutal form.
03:09Women have been forced to give birth
03:11under bombardment without access to basic health care.
03:15Mothers have had to bury 20,000 children.
03:19Gaza now holds the grim record
03:21of highest number of child amputees in history.
03:26And still, under siege, hunger, and displacement,
03:29women struggle to keep families alive.
03:32From Ukraine to many other conflict zones,
03:36the pattern is painfully familiar.
03:39Economic crises, climate shocks,
03:41and health emergencies
03:42also hit women especially hard
03:44because they are often the first to lose income,
03:48the first to absorb rising care burdens
03:50as resources shrink,
03:51and among the most affected
03:53when essential services break down.
03:55That is why women must be placed
03:58at the center of responses to global crises.
04:01They hold families together,
04:03sustain communities through crises,
04:05and help rebuild after collapse.
04:08Their inclusion makes recovery faster,
04:11resilience deeper,
04:12and societies stronger.
04:14So the first priority must be
04:16to increase women's inclusion
04:18across the entire crisis cycle.
04:20In conflict, that means women in peace processes,
04:24local mediation, and early recovery
04:27because we know peace lasts longer
04:30when women are at the table.
04:31In climate policy,
04:33it means women with a real stake
04:35in resilience and the green economy.
04:37In health emergencies,
04:39it means that those who carry
04:40so much of the care burden
04:42must also be able to shape the response.
04:45In economic recovery,
04:47it means recognizing that women's participation
04:49strengthens the economy as a whole.
04:52And it means women fully present
04:55in digital governance,
04:56AI, and frontier technologies.
04:58The future cannot be designed wisely
05:01when so many women are still absent
05:03from the rooms where it is being built.
05:07Second, women must be far more present
05:09in leadership and decision-making positions
05:12across politics, diplomacy, peace, and security.
05:15Women leaders should be among the strongest advocates
05:18of peace, diplomacy, de-escalation,
05:21and reform of the international order.
05:23Third, prevention, response, recovery,
05:27and resilience policies
05:28must be designed around equality
05:30from the outset, from the start.
05:32Protection from violence,
05:35access to health care,
05:36safe shelter, legal and psychological support
05:39must be treated as core crisis infrastructure.
05:44But the response must also be intersectional.
05:48Women do not experience crisis in the same way.
05:51The burdens fall even more heavily
05:53on those who already face discrimination
05:56based on religion, ethnicity,
05:59migrant background, and disability.
06:01Muslim women in Europe, for example,
06:04are among the most disadvantaged groups
06:06facing layered discrimination
06:08through a triple penalty.
06:10As a woman, as ethnic minority,
06:13and as Muslim.
06:15We saw this clearly in Europe's shameful,
06:18unequal treatment of Ukrainian and Syrian refugees.
06:21So policies need to be tailored
06:24to the needs of women from diverse backgrounds.
06:27Otherwise, crisis response
06:29simply reproduces exclusion.
06:32We need stronger coordinated action
06:34against the global rise in racism,
06:37intolerance, and record levels
06:38of anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim,
06:42and anti-migrant hate speech
06:43and hate crimes
06:44because dehumanization at home
06:47damages social cohesion
06:49and makes suffering abroad
06:51easier to excuse or ignore.
06:54The final point I would like to make is this.
06:58I find it deeply disturbing
07:00that some of our colleagues in the West
07:03use the language of human liberation
07:05as a moral cover for war.
07:08We heard this argument in Afghanistan,
07:11we heard it in Iraq,
07:12and now we are hearing it again around Iran.
07:16But war has never liberated women
07:19and bombs have never brought freedom.
07:23Women leaders should be among the first
07:25to reject this colonial and Orientalist mindset
07:29which reduces women in our region
07:31to passive victims waiting to be saved
07:34by outside force.
07:36Women's rights in Iran
07:38are part of the universal struggle
07:40for human rights.
07:42And that struggle belongs first and foremost
07:45to Iranian women themselves.
07:47It should be supported
07:49through solidarity and human rights mechanisms,
07:53but it must never be instrumentalized
07:55to justify war.
07:57The strike on the girls' school in Minab,
08:00which murdered 160 girls,
08:03is a horrifying reminder
08:05of how deadly the language of liberation
08:08can become
08:09when it is turned into
08:10a justification of violence.
08:14Thank you.
08:16Thank you.
08:19Thank you for giving me the opportunity
08:21to talk about the Turkish context.
08:23If there is one crisis
08:25that most clearly shows
08:27our country's contribution
08:28to addressing global instability,
08:31it is Syria,
08:32one of the greatest humanitarian catastrophes
08:35since the Second World War.
08:38From the earliest days of conflict,
08:40Turkey pursued diplomacy
08:41and the escalation
08:42to prevent prolonged violence in Syria.
08:45But when those efforts failed,
08:47Turkey adopted an open-door policy
08:49and provided refuge, protection,
08:51and essential services
08:52to nearly 4 million refugees
08:54without discrimination
08:57based on religion or ethnicity.
08:59Much of the West at this time
09:02viewed the Syrian refugee crisis
09:04through the lens of border security
09:07and domestic political anxiety.
09:10Pushbacks were documented,
09:12refugees were increasingly treated
09:13as security threats,
09:15and across Europe,
09:16the crisis fueled fear,
09:17polarization,
09:18and the rise of far-right.
09:21Under the leadership
09:23of President Erdogan,
09:25Turkey chose a different path.
09:26Our country took a political,
09:29economic, and social risk
09:30by accepting millions of refugees.
09:33This was not the easy choice.
09:35It was not the popular choice.
09:37But it was the humane choice.
09:39It was a choice rooted in conscience,
09:42justice,
09:42and civilizational responsibility.
09:44Even when opposition parties
09:46sought to instrumentalize
09:48migrant suffering
09:49for electoral gain,
09:51President Erdogan
09:52did not choose populism
09:53over humanity.
09:55He chose principle
09:56over provocation.
09:58And I think this is exactly
10:00the kind of leadership
10:01that our world needs today.
10:03What also mattered
10:04was how this responsibility
10:06was carried out.
10:07Since 2011,
10:09Turkey has built
10:10extensive emergency capacity
10:12and the long-term social response.
10:14Women and girls
10:15have been placed
10:16at the center
10:17of migration management
10:18through policies
10:19that protected them,
10:20addressed their vulnerabilities,
10:22and supported
10:22their integration and recovery.
10:25Groups with vulnerabilities
10:26were identified early.
10:28Reception facilities
10:29included safe spaces,
10:31female officers,
10:32female doctors,
10:33and female interviewers.
10:34Syrian refugees
10:35were given access
10:36to health care and education
10:37from registration onward.
10:39Women facing violence
10:41were granted access
10:42to shelters.
10:44Psychosocial support,
10:45language training,
10:46and vocational programs
10:47helped many women
10:48gain skills,
10:50rebuild confidence,
10:51and participate
10:52more fully in the society.
10:54And integration policies
10:55were shaped
10:56around the background,
10:58education levels,
10:59and career goals
10:59of refugee women.
11:01Support for employment
11:02was combined
11:03with microcredit
11:04and entrepreneurship programs,
11:06helping many women
11:07move from dependency
11:09to participation.
11:10Women were also encouraged
11:12to take leadership roles
11:13in their communities
11:14and participate
11:15in local decision-making
11:16because real resilience
11:18begins when women
11:19are recognized
11:20as actors
11:21who strengthen
11:22their families,
11:23communities,
11:24and broaden social fabric.
11:26So before I close,
11:28I would like to very quickly
11:30widen the lens
11:31to how Turkey addresses
11:32global crises
11:33more generally.
11:34Turkey has responded
11:36to global crises
11:37through a model
11:38that combines diplomacy,
11:39mediation,
11:40and humanitarian action.
11:41At a time
11:42when many actors
11:43have turned to coercion,
11:45Turkey has kept diplomacy alive,
11:47acting as a mediator,
11:49facilitator,
11:50and bridge builder
11:50in crises
11:52from Armenia,
11:53Azerbaijan,
11:54and Somalia,
11:55Ethiopia,
11:56to Russia, Ukraine,
11:57and tensions
11:57between Pakistan
11:58and Afghanistan.
12:00These efforts
12:01have significantly contributed
12:02to regional
12:03and global stability
12:04and security
12:05making Turkey
12:06a stabilizing force
12:07in its region
12:08capable of reducing tensions,
12:10reopening diplomatic channels,
12:12and creating space
12:13for political solutions.
12:15In Syria and Libya,
12:17Turkey has supported
12:17territorial integrity,
12:19security sector reform,
12:21institutional recovery,
12:22and national reconstruction.
12:23In Sudan and Yemen,
12:25it has worked
12:26to preserve internal cohesion
12:27and prevent fragmentation.
12:29In Somalia,
12:30it has backed reconciliation
12:32and resisted divisive dynamics.
12:35Turkey has also addressed crises
12:36through the lens of justice
12:38as well as stability.
12:40From the Rohingya
12:40to Palestine,
12:41it has remained active
12:42on major humanitarian crises
12:44and emerged
12:45as one of the world's
12:47leading providers of aid.
12:49In Ukraine,
12:50it brokered and implemented
12:51the Black Sea Grain Initiative,
12:53a major diplomatic achievement
12:54that helped avert
12:55a deeper global food security crisis.
12:58Under President Erdogan's leadership
13:00and through the call
13:02the world is bigger than five,
13:04Turkey has made
13:05the reform of the international system
13:07part of its diplomacy,
13:08calling for a more just,
13:10representative,
13:11and consistent order
13:12in upholding international law,
13:14peace, and accountability.
13:16This is the role
13:17Turkey continues to play,
13:19carrying responsibility,
13:20defending justice,
13:22and acting for peace
13:23in a time of deepening crisis.
13:25Thank you so much.
13:26Thank you.
13:27We share your thoughts for sure.
13:31We share your thoughts for you.
13:31Thank you.
13:31Thank you.
Yorumlar