Turkey, int'l group express concern over Myanmar coup

By Zuhal Demirci

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey and its four partners in a cross-national dialogue group on Wednesday expressed concern over the political situation in coup-hit Myanmar.

"We are concerned over the recent political situation in Myanmar and we call for the adherence to the rule of law, good governance, the principles of democracy and constitutional government,” read a joint statement by the foreign ministers of Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Australia, whose initials make up the group's acronym, MIKTA.

"Furthermore, we urge all parties in Myanmar to exercise self-restraint and put forth dialogue in finding solutions," the statement added.

Myanmar's military declared a state of emergency on Monday, hours after detaining ousted President Win Myint and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior members of the pre-coup ruling party National League for Democracy (NLD).

The coup took place hours before the first session of the country's new parliament was set to convene following elections last November in which Suu Kyi's NLD party made sweeping gains.

The military claimed the coup was staged due to "election fraud" in the polls, which it said resulted in the dominance of the NLD in the parliament.

Wednesday's 18th MIKTA Foreign Ministers' Meeting was held via videoconference and was chaired by South Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha.

- Coronavirus

Reasserting MIKTA's commitment to multilateralism, the statement said: "We are pleased to acknowledge the successful delivery of the first-ever head-of-state-level statement made on behalf of MIKTA at the United Nations, which demonstrates MIKTA's solidarity and commitment to upholding multilateralism."

"We reiterate our continued support for the United Nations system and initiatives such as the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator and its COVAX Facility, amongst others, to ensure an effective response to our common challenges," it added.

The countries welcomed "the emphasis of the President of the UN General Assembly on multilateralism, which is fitting with MIKTA's priorities and are ready to work together in ensuring effective and efficient functioning of the UN General Assembly in the face of the challenges posed by COVID-19."

According to the statement, the group affirmed its commitment to "acting in full solidarity to overcome the pandemic while minimizing its economic and social impacts."

"MIKTA countries will continue to collaborate and exchange best practices, including to achieve extensive immunization against COVID-19," the statement added.

Calling for equitable access and distribution of safe, affordable and effective COVID-19 vaccines for all, it called on all stakeholders to further strengthen international cooperation in this regard.

The statement also stressed "the launch of dialogue channels among our health ministries, ministries in charge of women affairs, development cooperation agencies and academic experts."

MIKTA will be chaired by Australia in 2021.

All five countries in the group, which was established in 2013, are G20 members recognized as middle-power countries in international diplomacy.