President Gül Chosen the Statesman of the Year
Receiving the Chatham House Prize from Queen Elizabeth II which was presented for the first time to a Turkish statesman, President Gül also gave interviews to several renowned British media institutions, including BBC, BBC Turkish Service, Bloomberg HT, the Financial Times and The Economist.
President Abdullah Gül was presented with the Chatham House Prize by Queen Elizabeth II. Giving lectures at both Chatham House and the Center for Islamic Studies at Oxford University during his visit to Great Britain, the President also gave interviews to such famous media institutions as BBC, BBC Turkish Service, Bloomberg HT, the Financial Times and The Economist. He also opened the Yunus Emre Culture Center and the Mimar Sinan exhibition in London. The President, on the first day of his visit, met with Turkish expatriates residing in England as well.
President Abdullah Gül was presented with the 2010 Statesman of the Year Award from Chatham House, home of the Royal Institute of International Relations, by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II during a ceremony. Delivering a speech after having accepted the prize, the President noted: “I accept this award with profound honor and humbleness on behalf of may beloved country and the people of Turkey.” He further extended his thanks to the Queen for her gesture of awarding.
Giving a lecture on “The International System, Europe and Turkey in the First Quarter of the 21st Century” at Chatham House on the third day of his visit to Great Britain, President Gül proclaimed: “It is a strategic imperative for the EU to have Turkey as a member.”
President Gül noted that the realities behind the current challenges faced by the international community are very complex and he pointed out that a very different international order existed at the time of the Ottoman and British Empires. The end of the Cold War marked the beginning of the transition to a new international strategic environment, he asserted.
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President Abdullah Gül also gave a lecture on “The Islamic World, Democracy and Development” at Oxford University’s Center for Islamic Studies located in London. Touching upon the Islamic traces in Europe and the Renaissance, the President shared his thoughts with his audience about the relation between Islam, democracy and development. The ideas of ‘democracy’ and ‘development’, he noted, are the legacy of European Enlightenment. Nevertheless, he said, due to the negative legacy of colonialism, most of the Islamic countries and societies felt alienated from these notions. He further stated that the rich Islamic intellectual and civilizational tradition also combines the influences of the vast Mediterranean basin, as well as Persian and Turkic influences, the Indian subcontinental tradition, and the Chinese heritage. Hence, he continued, the diversity of Islamic tradition is still vibrant today.
Referring to what Turkey has achieved in recent years, President Gül said it has become a source of inspiration as a shining and rare example in the Islamic world as a vibrant democracy and a flourishing free-market economy and drew attention to the roles of Turkey has assumed in the international organizations. The Muslim world has the potential to do what Turkey has achieved, he said.
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President Abdullah Gül made a speech on “The Role of Emerging Markets and Turkey in Global Economic Recovery” in London.
During his address at “The City”, Great Britain’s heart of the business world, the President touched upon the trade volume between the two countries and noted that the total value of UK-Turkey trade currently stands at over 5.7 billion pounds annually. In the first half of 2010, he continued, the bilateral trade volume increased by 42 percent compared to the same period of last year, saying: “As Prime Minister Cameron stated during his visit to Turkey, our target must be to double our trade volume over the next five years. I think this target is reachable.” More than 2,000 UK companies have invested 2.5 billion pounds in Turkey. And hundreds of UK citizens are buying property in Turkey, he also pointed out.
The President enjoyed great interest from the British media and responded to queries from the journalists about several issues during his interviews with the respected institutions, including BBC, BBC Turkish Service, the Financial Times, Bloomberg HT and The Economist.
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Attending the opening ceremony of the Yunus Emre Culture Center in London, the President highlighted the importance of a country’s cultural assets as well as its diplomats, adding that this center, where people will learn Turkish and its culture through related activities, will also be the home of the 400.000 Turkish expatriates residing in Great Britain.
Further exploring the Mimar Sinan (Sinan the Architect) Exhibition held at the Royal Institute of British Architects, the President shared his sadness that Mimar Sinan is not known as well as he should be in the West, predicting: “This very exhibition will contribute to him being understood better in the West.”
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The First Couple, on the second day of their visit to Great Britain, met with Turkish expatriates residing in this country during a reception thrown by Turkey’s Ambassador to London, Ünal Çeviköz, at the Turkish Embassy. The President, referring to the nearly 400,000 Turkish expatriates living in England, pointed to the historic relations between Turkey and Great Britain on account of their empires’ past.
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First Lady Hayrünnisa Gül met with 35 Turkish students continuing their graduate and postgraduate studies in this country. The First Lady, hoping to see more Turkish students studying in Great Britain, stated: “You are our invisible faces here. You are the mirrors of our country. You are the bridge between Turkey and the countries you are studying in. There may be times when you face mishaps and hardships, but your targets should always be high and keep the bar high. I know this through my own children; you can experience problems during your studies. Nevertheless, bear in mind that all the problems you may face can be overcome.”
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President Abdullah Gül, as part of his program in London, met with the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, at the office of the Prime Ministry at 10 Downing Street.
PM Cameron welcomed President Gül at the door of his office. President Gül, on the last day of his visit, received the British Deputy PM, Nick Clegg and Foreign Minister William Hague at the hotel where he stayed.
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In 1919 British and American delegates to the Paris Peace Conference, under the leadership of Lionel Curtis, conceived the idea of an Anglo-American Institute of foreign affairs to study international problems with a view to preventing future wars. In the event, the British Institute of International Affairs was founded separately in London in July 1920 and received its Royal Charter in 1926 to become The Royal Institute of International Affairs. The Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) is an independent international affairs think-tank and membership organization. It is precluded by its Charter from expressing any institutional view or policy on any aspect of international affairs. It does not receive any statutory government funding and is not a government organization, although some government departments are corporate members of Chatham House and may fund specific projects.