The Opening Ceremony of the International Conference on the “Role of Youth in Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism: Holistic Approaches from Education to De-Radicalization” co-organized by the Turkic Council and the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations started.
Participants at the level of Ministers, senior representatives from UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Office for South South Cooperation (UNOSSC), Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and International Center for Sport Security (ICSS) and other specialized agencies of the UN, government officials, representatives of non-governmental organizations and academicians came together with 200 young leaders coming from nearly 40 countries from Africa to Central Asia to discuss ways and means of strengthening the role of youth in preventing and countering violent extremism.
At the opening ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey HE. Tuğrul Türkeş, UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, and Secretary General of the Turkic Council Ambassador Ramil Hasanov addressed the participants.
Touching upon the special role that the Youth has in countering and preventing violent extremism and radicalization, Ramil Hasanov emphasized that the world faces a significant increase in violent extremism at a pace that never seen before and this increase not only damages our current living conditions but also threatens our common future. Mr. Hasanov informed the audience about the activities of the Turkic Council on the youth sphere, in particular Turkic Council International Youth Camp, Junior Diplomatic Training Programs and First and Second World Nomad Games.
Mr. Al-Nasser, for his part, stressed that the threat of violent extremism was growing and increasingly targeting young people. He underlined that security responses trigger even more violence in most of the world and that the true response should be meaningful youth engagement. He highlighted the important role and voice of youth against violent extremism in modern life. He informed the audience on the programs in the sphere of youth carried out by the UNOAC and emphasized that it was high time to talk with youth, not talk about youth.
Deputy Prime Minister Tuğrul Türkeş stressed the importance of education, social media, civil society institutions to address the root causes of the problem. He further expressed that the conference that views the youth as the part of solution rather than the source of the problem would contribute to the unification of the hearts and minds of the youth. He pointed out the responsible media should strike the right balance between the freedom of expression and the danger to feed the violent extremist tendencies.
Following the opening ceremony, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed between the Turkic Council and the UN Alliance of Civilizations. With the signing of the MoU by Secretary General of the Turkic Council Ambassador Ramil Hasanov and UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, a legal basis for joint activities and projects to be realized in the future between the two organizations will be laid.
The opening ceremony will continue with the speeches of the Spokesperson of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey Ambassador İbrahim Kalın, UN Assistant Secretary General and UNDP Administrator and Director of Regional Bureau for Europe and the Common Wealth of Independent States (RBEC) Cihan Sultanoğlu, Director General for Multilateral Political Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey Ambassador Hasan Ulusoy, Chairman of the Turkish National Coordination Committee for the UN Alliance of Civilizations Prof. Bekir Karlığa, President of the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) Mohammed Hanzab and Vice President of Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) Mehmet Süreyya Er. UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Youth Ahmed Alhendawi will take part in the opening ceremony with a video message.
The two-day conference will focus on examining the violent extremism with its political, social and developmental dimensions while touching upon the root causes of radicalization and the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters. Panel discussions will provide a platform to reveal the ways and means through which the youth can contribute to the work done towards preventing radicalization and extremism. Concrete case studies will be presented on de-radicalization strategies and programs through the use of innovative methods including social media and sports. The conference will serve as an opportunity for young leaders to exchange experience and knowledge on preventing and countering violent extremism, while creating a favorable environment and an opportune occasion for establishing network among different organizations and NGOs.
The results of the conference will be presented at the 6th Summit of Heads of State of Turkic Council on the theme “Youth and Sports” that will be held in Bishkek on 18 November 2016.
