19 AUGUST WORLD HUMANITARIAN DAY

Minister for EU Affairs and the Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis released a written message for the occasion of 19 August World Humanitarian Day.

In his message, Minister Bagis referred to the following:

"We are going through a period in which the concept of humanitarian aid should be remembered the most. In fact, the best humanitarian aid that could be made is to question why such aid is still needed. In the globalization process in which the communication and technology have significantly developed, the deepening difference that we observe between the East and the West, the North and the South is the shame of the humanity. We clearly see that the West and the North irresponsibly consume the sources of the world and on the other hand we also witness the famine, drought and the poverty that reign in the East and the South of the world. This situation can never be accepted as humanitarian. The mentalities that long for wealth by means of exploiting others' resources are the common problem of the humanity.

As Turkey, we would like to make a call and invite the rest of the world to be fair. Whenever there is a disaster in the world, Turkey will be right there to give aid as it always happened before. During the flood disaster that hit Pakistan last year, Turkey did not only attract the attention of the world to this tragedy but also did its best by providing aid to the region.

Today, Turkey approaches with the same sensitivity to Somali and Africa that encounter famine, drought and widespread diseases. We once more invite the other countries to provide humanitarian aid to the region. The humanitarian aid campaign which was initiated by the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is intensifying each day. The monetary aid that has been collected in the Ministry for EU Affairs has been handed over to the Red Crescent in the iftar meal on 16 August 2011. Turkey tries to give its support to the region in many aspects: we share the sorrows of the people in Somali and during this holy month of Ramadan, we share our food with the people in Somali. The visit of Prime Minister Erdogan to Somali together with Emine Erdogan and a crowded committee once more proved that the Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey represented the collective conscience of the humanity.

Now, it is time to remember our humanitarian values and time to realize them.

Establishing a world order which is more peaceful and fair is only possible when all people gather around the humanitarian values. Otherwise every disaster that is encountered would result more serious. I would like to take this sorrowful occasion as a means to warn our allies who remain insensitive to Turkey's fight against terrorism. Our message is quite clear: The security of Paris, London and Berlin depends on the security of Hakkari. As long as the European countries fail to give their support to Turkey in its fight against terrorism and as long as they continue to be a secure land for PKK, the security of the European people will also be under this threat. Once more we would like to invite the European countries and NATO to bear more responsibility towards preventing the financing of the PKK and preventing PKK from finding a ground to live in European countries.