UN official praises Turkey’s leading role in Alliance of Civilisations

A UN official on Tuesday hailed Turkey’s support and leading role in the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC).

Speaking to Anadolu Agency following the inauguration of the UN body’s Geneva Office, the UN High Representative for the UNAOC, Miguel Angel Moratinos,​​​​​​​ said their main headquarters will be in New York, but they want to be closer to the Europeans and the Middle East to reinforce their activities in these regions.

“We have to fight anti-Semitism, we have to fight Islamophobia and we have to understand what is going on in Europe,” Moratinos said.

“Geneva would be a platform to organise conferences and some kind of roundtables in order to bring together different cultures and people,” he noted, adding that they want to give the body much more visibility, and increase cooperation with UN member states and UN agencies.

Praising Turkey’s and Spain’s leading roles in the alliance and their strategic positions in the world, Moratinos said: “Both countries combine the efforts between the East and the West and they are ready to collaborate and to spread this important message that we have to live together.”

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Turkey has a tremendous past and it is an “outstanding actor” in its region, he added.

The Geneva office of the UNAOC was opened with a ceremony late on Monday.

The opening ceremony was attended by Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, Spanish Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albares, UN High Representative Moratinos, and Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva, Tatiana Valovaya.

The Alliance of Civilizations initiative, founded 16 years ago under the co-chairmanship of Turkey and Spain, aims to overcome fear and polarization between Muslim countries and Western societies.

They continue to provide consistent political and financial support to UNAOC.

Today, the UNAOC also benefits from the political support of 127 UN member states, one non-member state, and 28 international organizations representing all continents, societies and cultures.