International cooperation is vital to achieving targeted results, especially in the fight against terrorism, Türkiye’s Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop said Monday as he addressed the 13th Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) in the southern province of Antalya.

"We must display a principled, determined stance in the fight against terrorism, which is, unfortunately, one of the most prevalent problems we face on a both regional and global level," Şentop told the assembly, which is taking place for the first time in person since 2019 under the theme of "Strengthening Multilateralism in Changing International Dynamics."

The world is dealing with intricate and changing dynamics, as well as a myriad of old and new issues like economic crises, wars, pandemics, draughts and migration movements, along with rising racism and xenophobia in especially the Western world, hybrid threats and global power battles, Şentop explained.

"In that regard, Türkiye is doing its part on a regional and international level and fighting all terrorist organizations, starting with the PKK/YPG, the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and Daesh," he asserted.

The number of displaced people due to terrorism, war, violence and human rights violations has surpassed 100 million worldwide, Şentop revealed, noting that fresh mass migration risks continue threatening Türkiye’s security and stability. "As the country hosting the world’s biggest refugee population since 2014, we see that this load is not fairly shared by the international community," he said.

The Turkish diplomat drew attention to the instability that is currently fueling irregular migration, terrorism and drug trafficking in Afghanistan and said only a political system consisting of all ethnic and political factions would enable the establishment of peace that would honor every Afghan citizen. "Unfortunately, we don’t see the expected developments in Afghanistan," he said.

Broaching another source of conflict in the Middle East, Şentop also expressed hope that the dispute between Israel and Palestine would be resolved with the foundation of an entirely independent and sovereign Palestinian state in East Jerusalem. "Settling a fair and comprehensive solution to this dispute in line with international law and U.N. resolutions is pivotal to reestablishing permanent peace and stability in the Middle East," he said.

Şentop went on to argue that the broader Asian continent had "shared willpower" to turn their region into a more "livable, sustainable, stable and peaceful" landscape. "Now is more important than ever to have common willpower and act in unison as global politics, economics and sociology undergo significant, challenging times," he said, adding the continent is "rebuilding itself on top of its existing values and rising on every level possible."

"Mentioning the Asian continent with only its problems would be unfair as it’s a continent that cradles and leads world history and civilizations," he said.

Pointing out that presuppositions accepted as default guides and experiences considered useful in most matters throughout history today lose their validity, Şentop said one thing that wouldn’t lose its validity is "the common stance we display against injustices and the responsibility we carry in preventing a chaotic environment that would resolve conflicts through violence from taking over international relations."

"Multilateralism is another key point that comforts us and helps us look to the future with hope. The solution to global problems relies on cooperation and joint efforts based on effective multilateralism. It’s a historic responsibility to encourage multilateralism in changing international dynamics," Şentop said.

Türkiye, he highlighted, wholeheartedly believes these codes and always prioritizes dialogue, consultation and diplomacy at a time the international system seeks a balance. "We aim to lead our foreign policy with the notion of eliminating inequalities and injustices and functionally facilitating multilateralism around the world," he said.

He further expanded his point by recalling President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s renowned principle that "the world is bigger than five" and argued that multifaceted institutions, especially the U.N. Security Council, need to be "reformed" in a way that will meet today’s necessities.

"The existing U.N. system is dysfunctional, antiquated and most importantly unjust," Şentop said. "Those who supposedly guide the U.N. and build its rules exempt themselves from those rules. This isn’t multilateralism; it’s Western siding," he explained and urged the assembly to support the "world is bigger than five" principle in an effort to spread awareness that a fairer multilateralism is possible.

"The problems of Asian nations will only be resolved through the willpower of us Asian nations. The Western world’s attempts to interfere in our problems, to preach civilization and history to other nations without facing its own colonialist past cannot go beyond a futile attempt. Asia is Asia and the West is the West," Şentop said.

Türkiye believes in embracing its region and regional solutions, he said but admitted that international attempts in Asia remain weak in terms of institutionalization. "In that regard, institutionalization and increasing the corporate capacity of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) will pave the way for Asian initiatives," he noted.

Türkiye served as the president of the APA for the last term and hosting the last four general assemblies was "an honor" Şentop added and stressed the need to renew all fundamental documents and take necessary steps to make the assembly more effective.

"The ideas and targets that will come out of this assembly will contribute to the reinforcing of connections between the peoples and their nations, as well as their shared ideals," he concluded.

The APA aims to promote peace in general and the Asian region in particular. It was established as the Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace (AAPP) in September 1999 by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed, acquiring its current name in 2006 during the seventh session of the AAPP.

The 13th APA summit, which hosts parliamentary delegations from 27 member countries, will come to a close on Tuesday in Antalya.