President Erhürman: We stand on the side of humanity and civilisation

President Tufan Erhürman issued a written statement on Friday, saying: “We stand not on the side of a world shaped by power and interests, but on the side of humanity and civilisation.”

The statement of President Erhürman is as follows:

“This war will of course come to an end. However, the moment when dozens of children were killed in an attack on a primary school, for example, will remain forever as a bleeding wound in the conscience of humanity and civilisation.

Those who advocate peace, dialogue and diplomacy based on law rather than war are labelled ‘romantics’.

The ‘realists’ constantly propagate to everyone that what truly matters is interest and power — as if those they call ‘romantics’ did not already know this.

Indeed, the reality is that we live in a world where interest and power are decisive. Is this, however, something that belongs only to the present? Or is it something new?

Those who call for peace, dialogue and diplomacy based on law rather than war are not denying this reality — they are in fact saying that, for the sake of humanity and civilisation, it should not be so.

That is why no one, whether at home or abroad, needs to lecture us on the role of interests and power. We already know this. It is precisely for that reason that we defend a life — both domestically and internationally — in which law, not interests and power, is decisive, and where problems are resolved not through war and conflict, but through dialogue and diplomacy.

In short, we stand not on the side of a world shaped by power and interests, but on the side of humanity and civilisation. . .”