MIKTA nations agree on cooperation to tackle global challenges

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - The nations included in MIKTA, a partnership between Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Türkiye, and Australia, on Thursday agreed on more cooperation to tackle global challenges.

"... we are living in a fragmented world due to the rising global tensions that pose risks to the stability of global economy and security and that overcoming these challenges requires cooperation between countries, and that no country can solve these problems on its own," read a joint declaration after the 8th MIKTA Speakers’ Consultation in Istanbul.

Parliament speakers of MIKTA exchanged views on the challenges and opportunities facing national parliaments in the 21st century, and discussed the importance of promoting multilateralism and addressing global interdependence.

In the face of increasingly complex global challenges, the parliament speakers reaffirmed that parliamentary diplomacy has become a crucial tool for building global dialogue and cooperation.

As the international system and institutions are having difficulties in fulfilling their responsibilities to address current challenges, prevent violence, restore peace, and ensure stability, the parliament speakers emphasized the need of strengthening institutions.

"We emphasized the need to strengthen the multilateral system and its institutions, in particular the UN, in order to better address these challenges and promote a more just and peaceful world order, and this will be possible through the reform of international institutions in the light of the principles of justice, pluralism and inclusiveness, and invited the governments of the MIKTA member countries to take an active role in efforts towards reforming the international system," the declaration said.

They underlined that wars, terrorism, environmental disasters, natural disasters, poverty and food access constraints, are factors that increase irregular migration.

"We noted with appreciation the humanitarian approach of Türkiye, the country hosting the largest number of refugees in the world," it said.

They also called for combating all forms of discrimination including xenophobia, racism and Islamophobia, which have been on the rise all over the world in recent years.

Turning to ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the parliament speakers underlined the importance of the shipment of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea in the context of food security and commended Türkiye for its initiatives and mediation for the signing of the Black Sea Grain Initiative with the UN.

They also expressed deepest condolences to Türkiye over last month's powerful earthquakes in Türkiye's southern region that claimed the lives of at least 46,104 people.

"We underlined that the strong solidarity shown by MIKTA countries by immediately deploying search and rescue teams and medical and humanitarian aid in the aftermath of the disaster is a welcome example of international cooperation in the face of disasters," according to the statement.