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Media Room News AoC In The News Message by President Jorge Sampaio on the occasion of the launch of Euronews in Turkish
Media Room News AoC In The News Message by President Jorge Sampaio on the occasion of the launch of Euronews in Turkish | Message by President Jorge Sampaio on the occasion of the launch of Euronews in Turkish |
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Message by President Jorge Sampaio,
I am really thrilled that Euronews is now launching a Turkish-language version. This decision highlights the important role that Turkey plays as a vehicle for dialogue and understanding among cultures. There could not be a more appropriate moment for this launch than this year – which features Istanbul as the European Capital of Culture. But this is also very good news because media can play a tremendous role in promoting mutual understanding among people and cultures and fighting stereotypes and stigmatization. In this respect, Euronews is playing a pioneer role and represents a unique bridge builder that must be praised.UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, on the occasion of the launch of Euronews in Turkish 29 January 2010 Turkey’s high level commitment to contribute to building bridges across cultures is clearly expressed in its founding role of the Alliance of Civilizations, when back in 2005, Prime Minister Erdogan decided, jointly with his Spanish colleague, Mr Zapatero, to co-sponsor a new United Nations’ initiative aimed at addressing widening rifts between societies and at promoting dialogue, understanding and mutual respect among peoples. Turkey’s role in promoting greater understanding among cultures was showcased at the Istanbul Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations last year. The Forum, attended by over 2,000 senior politicians, business leaders, international organizations, foundations, heads of civil society, media and youth organizations, helped generate a new momentum behind ground-breaking cross-cultural initiatives. The Forum demonstrated how new ideas and innovative partnerships between the private sector and civil society, between governments and foundations, could help change the conversation over divisive intercultural issues and build a new commitment to bridge cultural divides. I am particularly encouraged by the wide-ranging National Plan for Intercultural Dialogue developed by the Turkish Government, which reaches far into the diverse branches of society to create new initiatives aimed at promoting respect and trust among multiple cultures. The launch of Euronews in Turkish is just the latest step in Turkey’s strong track-record of building bridges across cultural perspectives and creating a new outlook on cultural relations. It is also testimony to Turkey’s strong commitment to good governance of cultural diversity, which is at the foundation of the UN Alliance of Civilizations’ I wish to offer my heartfelt congratulations to all concerned on the opening of this new chapter in building deeper and stronger relations between people and communities of diverse ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds. |