Pretoria - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ironed out his country's stance on various foreign policy issues -- including Africa, the Middle East and global governance -- during a public lecture at a packed hall in Pretoria.
Among those who attended the lecture on Wednesday were Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, heads of mission and government, academia and business delegations.
In his address, Erdogan touched on Turkey's plans to boost diplomatic and trade relations with Africa, saying the continent had made some impressive achievements despite ongoing wars, diseases and drought.
"Our goal is to strengthen our relations in every field and take advantage of our mutual friendship and opportunities of cooperation," Erdogan said, adding that they were ready to cooperate with Africa in many fields such as trade, investment, rural development, energy and transportation.
Turkey was the fastest growing economy in the first quarter of 2011, with an 11% increase in gross domestic product. It was the second fastest with 8.8% in the second quarter. The Turkish economy was the 17th biggest economy in the world. Turkish-South African trade volume stood at $1.2 billion in 2010.
Among Turkey's many plans for Africa is the opening of 21 more embassies around the continent, to bring the total number to 33.
Erdogan also committed to work hand-in-hand to address instability in other parts of the continent like Somalia, saying the world can never be totally free if there is fighting in other parts of the world.
Moving on to global governance, Erdogan called on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to be reformed and engage the African countries in its work. He criticised the make-up of the UNSC, saying that power should be distributed evenly.
The UN Security Council features China, Russia, UK, US and France. Non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms, which Erdogan said must be revisited.
He turned his attention to the Middle East, saying what was now required for the UN Security Council was to say "yes" to the legitimate demands of the people in Palestine.
Speaking about the 1967 borders, Erdogan said Israel first seemed to have accepted going back to the borders of 1967, but somehow seem to have become distanced from this set up.
As a staunch supporter of the Palestinians' statehood bid in UN meetings, Erdogan urged world nations in his UN address to recognize Palestine as an independent state.
"[The Palestinians] are there to exist. They are not there to be condemned, to struggle in an open-air penitentiary."
He added that the Palestinian people were forced to find ways to survive and use the channels between Egypt and Gaza to provide themselves with food and medicines.
An unimpressed Israeli diplomat at the conference, however, said the tunnels were used to smuggle weapons.
Erdogan countered that the tunnels were not used for nuclear bombs, sulphur bombs or tanks.
He said the purpose of tunnels dug between Gaza and Egypt was to provide food and animals for Muslim festivals.
On the issue of the diplomatic crisis with Israel, Erdogan blamed Israel for "victimising the positive relations of the two countries." But he was quick to mention that his country has problems with the Israeli government but not its people.
"We do not have any problems with Israeli people. All our claims are related to the Israeli authorities," Erdogan said, adding that the international community should prevent Israel from pursuing the wrong policy.
Erdogan is quite popular at home. He held his position since 2003, and was recently re-elected to a new term. All the while, both Turkey's economy and geopolitical footprint have been growing noticeably.
