Sampaio: The Alliance of Civilizations gaining visibility

Sampaio told Today’s Zaman that membership in the AoC has already reached a number that the original financial and administrative structure can no longer sustain. There are 100 member countries and international organizations in the AoC to date. Co-founded by Turkey and Spain only five years ago, the AoC has become the most visible international organization promoting intercultural dialogue.

Sampaio said he appreciates the active role Turkey has taken in the creation and realization of this global initiative, adding: “Twenty-seven countries have already submitted their national programs. Only a year ago this number was eight. This shows a growing interest in the AoC. But along with the growth of the alliance, all sorts of civil society organizations, international institutions and universities are submitting their projects to the alliance. But who is going to finance these projects?” The issue of financial restructuring will be one of the subjects discussed during the AoC’s third forum in Rio de Janeiro from May 27-29. A former president of Portugal, Sampaio was in İstanbul to speak at the second session of the İstanbul Conferences Series organized within the framework of the AoC. The first speaker in the series was Professor John L. Esposito and the next will be Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr.

‘We can’t stand by just doing nothing’

Sampaio explained that the AoC was developed to counter the “clash of civilizations” thesis, although it has limitations such as not being involved in political issues. Sampaio said they cannot solve large international problems but everyone has a role to play. “The alliance is a kind of a catalyst of mutual work and understanding. I am a true believer in this. I think it was a very good idea,” Sampaio said. The high representative is particularly proud of the Southeast Europe Regional Strategy approved by 14 foreign ministers in Sarajevo in December last year. “We are currently busy preparing the Mediterranean Regional Strategy,” he said.

Despite the fact that by bringing the foreign ministers of Southeast Europe the AoC surpassed its original expectations, Sampaio is careful to set limits on the activities of the AoC. The alliance limits itself to work in four major areas: migration, youth, media and education. “We are not going to solve territorial problems or refugee problems. These remain significant international problems but they are not our issues. We must be prepared when the time comes to act on the development of projects and programs combining the civil societies of the Palestinians and the Israelis and see what person-to-person diplomacy can achieve. We will never be involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a political sense. We will rather foster a kind of relationship that will always be necessary in the future if peace is to be maintained. This is what we are doing at the moment,” Sampaio said.

In fighting media stereotypes and prejudices the AoC has created the Rapid Response Media Mechanism (RRMM) to bring out the constructive side of the media. Sampaio regards this project as one of the most important projects of the alliance. The RRMM aims to support the voices trying to decrease tensions in terms of crisis with the cooperation of experts. To this end, the AoC has been developing an online Global Expert Finder database to support the work of journalists covering stories on religious, cultural and political tensions among diverse groups and communities. Indicative to the alliance’s stress on media projects, the Rio de Janeiro Forum will be concentrating mainly on media cooperation issues.

We cannot deny the problems of Muslim minorities in Europe

Commenting on the rise of discussions on Islamophobia, which started with the Danish cartoon crisis, Sampaio said the problem of Muslim minorities in the West is a new and complex one for Western governments. “We cannot deny the problems of Muslim minorities in Europe and that minorities in Europe should not be victimized. We need strong coordination to bring people together,” he said.

Emphasizing that nothing can be built on mutual potential misconceptions, Sampaio pointed to the idea that everyone should respect different identities. “If you look to some so-called Western societies you will find sentiments of fear. You see what happened in the case of the ‘Fitnah’ movie. You see what happened in the case of the minarets discussion in Switzerland. The liberty of press, the liberty of religion and the liberty of communication have to be compatible with respect of others,” Sampaio commented.