Opening Speech: Envisioning Peace and Security in a Fragmented World

President of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Binali Yıldırım and Director General and Chairman of TRT İbrahim Eren delivered keynote speeches at the opening ceremony of the TRT World Forum and highlighted a wide range of issues that are of primary interest to peace and security in today’s increasingly fragmented world.

İbrahim Eren, Director General of TRT, began his speech by welcoming over 600 distinguished guests to the TRT World Forum. Eren stated that TRT’s aim is to bring what is not shown and provide a platform for the voice of those who are unheard. The TRT World Forum was established to provide a platform to debate and propose new ideas from perspectives that have not yet been considered. Eren drew attention to conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Myanmar and Palestine and questioned the international community’s commitment in finding viable solutions to these and other humanitarian disasters.

Binali Yıldırım began his speech by emphasising Turkey’s contribution to ending the Syrian Civil War, refugee crisis and the fight against terrorism. Nonetheless, according to Yıldırım Turkey is being left to deal with these issues alone. Europe’s hard stance against refugees and the United States’ support to the PKK’s Syria offshoot PYD/YPG have put a stress on Turkey’s shoulders.

Yıldırım called for the reformation of international institutions, such as the United Nations Security Council, in order to make these bodies more effective in addressing the common problems of the world. He added that the only way