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Miliband discusses EU bid, climate in Ankara talks
At Parliament, the commission’s chair, Haluk Özdalga, of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), first of all expressed the honor of being able to host the gathering as there were only four weeks left before the upcoming Copenhagen conference on climate change.
Turkey as a nation is moving both slowly and quickly on the climate change issue, Özdalga said, adding: “Slowly because it was one of the last countries to approve the Kyoto Protocol.” He spoke briefly on the reasons for Turkey’s delayed passage of the protocol through Parliament but also praised the nation for its progress on the issue.
The UN Climate Change Conference known as COP15 will take place in Copenhagen between Dec. 7 and 18. More than 15,000 officials will attend from 192 countries, including some heads of state.
“Where were we two years ago? We weren’t even party to Kyoto. There was widespread pessimism and our industrialists were opposed to Kyoto. … We had struggles to persuade everyone. We explained that we would be able to fight against climate change without swaying from our industrialization and development goals,” Özdalga said, noting that the Parliamentary Environment Commission had played a decisive role in this persuasive work. Also noting that the commission believed in the power of cooperation with Britain on the issue, he said: “We trust Britain’s friendship and support during Turkey’s EU journey.”
Miliband commended the commission for their work, noting that climate change was an issue that affected all nations and that in the long term it was a significant and political issue. “The most important problem in the world with regard to the fight against climate change is the lack of sufficient political willpower. Politicians need to be courageous on this topic,” he said.
Climate change can effect many fields, including politics, economics, culture and security, but despite this tremendous influence it is not attributed enough importance, he said, underlining that nations like Turkey need to take the lead in the struggle against global climate change.
Miliband also emphasized that 20 percent of climate change was caused by the disappearance of the world’s forest, particularly in nations like Brazil. He encouraged support for farmers to direct them away from cutting down trees and toward conservation, and also commented that it was necessary to increase public awareness on the issue and dangers represented by climate change.
Later in the day, Miliband held talks with both Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. Earlier, on Wednesday in İstanbul, Miliband also met with State Minister and chief EU negotiator Egemen Bağış. The two had a meeting at the prime minister’s office in Dolmabahçe Palace. Miliband said after the meeting that he was aware that there have been doubts about the continuation of his country’s support for Turkey’s EU bid, and added that Britain would be loyal to its commitments.
Upon his arrival, the British foreign secretary had said: “Turkey is a key partner for the UK. And it’s a European partner: I am very clear that Turkish accession to the EU is important and will be of huge benefit to both Turkey and the EU.”
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