Peace is key to development: Turkish Cypriot leader

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Peace and development are two necessary terms for the world, said the president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Monday.

Policies that support international goods and services trade and provide sustainability should replace populist protectionist policies, Mustafa Akinci told the 9th Bosphorus Summit in Istanbul.

The globalization should expand impacts of the cooperation and peace conditions, he said.

"People, nations, and countries want to live prosperously but the half of world population has no chance for it," Akinci underlined.

He added: "There are war conditions in over 40 regions of the world, the number of people which affected by hot conflicts doubled in the last 10 years."

Reminding the United Nation's report, he said that half of the world population needs to live for under $2 daily.

All of these conditions -- poverty, hunger and health problems -- refer to a global economic crisis, he added.

"The whole humanity loses due to wars in the long term and large scale, peace is one of the important sources of development," Akinci asserted.

Citing the International Monetary Fund, the president also said that the world's growth rate would drop in 2019 due to the trade war stemmed from the U.S. additional tariffs on imports from China.

In this era, it is inhuman that using competition as a strategy for eliminating opponents, he said.

Touching on natural gas sources around Cyprus island, Akinci urged the Greek Cyprus administration to give up with the idea of using the island’s wealth on its own.

"This attitude does not serve peace; commonwealth should be reached with common mind," Akinci said.

Carrying this natural gas through Turkey and Greece to Europe will contribute to the peace and stability in the region, he added.

Also addressing the summit, Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov said if the peace cannot be established, its price must be paid by millions of lives like world wars.

The idea and project of the European Union are rooted in this situation, he added.

He underlined: "We need to focus on subjects which connect us rather than separating problems."

The three-day summit, which is attended by academics, politicians, experts, and businesspeople from several countries, started Monday under the theme of "Sustaining Peace and Development for All".

The 9th Bosphorus Summit is organized by the International Cooperation Platform under the auspices of Turkish Presidency.