In a recorded video message to the UN Alliance of Civilizations forum that opened in Doha on Sunday, Erdogan said that as long as there are dictators in the Middle East who shower their people with gunfire and do not tolerate dissent, peace and stability will remain a far cry.
Erdogan also slammed Israel without mentioning it by name and said with its state terror, peace and stability will not come to the region.
The Turkish prime minister could not attend the forum because he was recuperating from a minor surgery.
The opening forum was attended by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations President Jorge Sampaio, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missnad, wife of Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Qatar Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Atiya, German President Christian Wulff, Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Manuel Chavez and a number of other dignitaries and ministers from different countries.
Addressing the gathering, Ban said the forum is important as it is held at a time when the region is beset with strife and violence.
Ban called on the youth to help combat multiple threats faced by the planet, such as climate change and environmental destruction, and ensure a sustainable future for generations to come.
“We have only this Earth, and it is up to us to preserve it,” Ban said.
“Our future is at risk, yours and mine, but also more broadly the future of mankind. You know the threats as well as I: climate change, environmental destruction, growing scarcities of essential resources — water, food, energy, the clean air we breathe,” he said.
Sheikh Mozah expressed her support for youth as a main component in the Alliance of Civilizations Forum.