The Kuala Lumpur Summit will ‘unpack’ issues concerning Muslims and the global community. Turkish Ambassador to Malaysia Merve Safa Kavakci says that apart from leaders, non-governmental organisations and academicians also play a part in finding solutions and coming up with objectives for the future.
Question: What is the purpose of the Kuala Lumpur Summit and Turkey’s hope for the conference? What is your take on Malaysia’s effort to host this summit?
Answer: Turkey is grateful to Malaysia for initiating this summit.
Many Turkish leaders and intellectuals will be in Kuala Lumpur for the summit this month to “unpack” some of the challenges that the global Muslim community, the ummah, faces in today’s political climate and landscape.
It will be a platform for us to hear how leaders and intellectuals contextualise important matters and how we can resolve challenges.
Q: What will Turkey bring to the table? What is the most important message from Turkey?
A: Turkey will present its position.
We believe the world is greater than the five (in reference to the United Nations Security Council’s permanent members — the United States, Russia, China, Great Britain and France).
There are haves and have-nots, and there is a lot of atrocity committed against people from different ethnicity, religion and nationality.
This is not necessarily a discussion about Muslims per se although Muslims comprise a large number of the global community.
They are in the east and west, south and north. Hence, it is important that we discuss challenges and deal with issues plaguing the world from global warming to climate change.
The summit will allow Turkey to voice our opinion, which can be summarised by a remark from our president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has said that the world is greater than the five, and that there must be justice and equality so that we can all live in peace.
Q: What can the participating countries achieve? Will you urge for unity or solidarity in regard to the ummah?
A: The summit will have various parts. Leaders will have a platform to exchange ideas and address the world.
Intellectuals, academicians, non-governmental organisations and community leaders will exchange ideas and engage with one another.
Hopefully, this will be a platform where we not only talk the talk but walk the walk as well.
We need to come up with a declaration that can be turned into a roadmap, a schedule of gradual progression for the summit’s goals.
Therefore, there should be a common understanding on the priorities that can be challenged and, of course, there will be discussions on their practicality or how to go about finding solutions to some of the challenges.
Q: Kashmir, Uighur, Rohingya and Palestine. What can we expect from the summit?
A: I think we can’t talk about the plight of the Muslim ummah without making references to some of these disfranchised, maligned people and communities, which are facing atrocities.
Turkey is currently hosting 3.5 million Syrian refugees who fled their country because of civil war. And, therefore, we know how difficult it is.
The position of Turkey will be no different. We hope world leaders will be proactive in looking for solutions for the betterment of the global community.
These are not just Muslim issues and problems, they concern humanity itself.
Hopefully, the summit will shed light on these issues.
Q: Syria is Turkey’s immediate concern, apart from Palestine and Israel. When do you expect closure, especially in Syria?
A: Syria is an immediate concern for Turkey.
Unfortunately, we have been left to our own devices.
There is an ongoing operation — Operation Spring — to create a safe passage for the 3.5 million Syrian, Arab and Kurdish refugees in Turkey who need a home and a safe passage to return to their homeland.
This is a tragedy for humanity that, unfortunately, leaves us as the only country that has to pay the price for the terrorist attacks of the Daesh, as well as the PKK. (PKK or Kurdistan Workers’ Party is a Kurdish militant and political organisation based in Turkey and Iraq.)
It is right across from our border and our citizens are under threat.
Therefore, we have to carry out operations not just for the safety and security of our Turkish citizens, but also the refugees whom we are providing shelter to and who will eventually need a safe passage back to their homeland.
This is an immediate concern for all of us, to the rest of the world and especially for Erdogan, who was in London recently for the Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) Summit.
This is the most important issue that leaders need to discuss.