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| April 30, 2003 | Wednesday | Safar 27, 1424 |
Pakistan must back process of reasserting UN centrality: Zaki
ISLAMABAD, April 29: Pakistan should persuade the world to reassert the centrality of the United Nations because the US has wrecked an agreed international order, said Akram Zaki, the former secretary-general for the ministry of foreign affairs. He was speaking at a seminar on “Iraq and International Order” organized by the Friends here on Tuesday.
Akram Zaki observed that by refusing to be a party to the policy for aggression, the UN had withheld legitimacy to the US war of aggression and occupation of Iraq as well as Iraq’s fragmentation in Sunni, Shia and Kurdish parts.
“Turkey paved the way for Islam to enter Europe and we saw there again a resurgence of Islam.” He said it was obvious that Turkey would return at one time to the Asian fold since difficulties were being created for it by the US, and the Europeans had refused to give a categorical date for its entry in to the European Union as well as Cyprus was also trying to prove difficult.
The vice-chairman of Policy Research Institute, Dr Imtiaz Bukhari, said like Pakistan, Turkey was placed in a strategic area and it had to balance its relations with a number of neighbours. However, Turkey would not permit the establishment of Northern Iraq, he said, adding Turkey was a Muslim state though its outlook was not theocratic, but mild and liberal and hence Pakistan should benefit from this country’s foreign policy inputs.
The foreign policy analyst and columnist, Gunduz Aktan, said as a result of the breakdown of American immune security system after 9/11, the US had established a nexus between weapons of mass destruction and terrorism.
He said the US felt threatened by an elusive network with roots in Islamic bloc. In the US eye, the concept of liberation struggle and self-determination had undergone a change and in the new concept, countries had a right to wage war against terrorism.
He argued that self-determination could be fought without recourse to terrorism, which needed not to target civilian population or targets.
To a question as to why the Turkish parliament did not allow the use of its territory for the US troops, Mr Aktan replied there could be many reasons but primarily the Turkish Grand National Assembly acted in national interest; and perhaps, also, to show solidarity with the Muslim world. To another question, he said Turkey had strategic cooperation with the US but Turkey did not belong to America’s strategic coalition.
He did not agree that Iran, Iraq and Turkey could come together under an Islamic umbrella or grouping of countries.
Lt-Gen Talat Masud (retired) raised a question whether Mr Aktan saw a convergence between US and Israel policy in the Middle East, to which the latter replied that Sharon’s expansionist policy would create a number of problems for Turkey and his country could not go ahead with Israel.
Gen Mirza Aslam Beg (retired) dwelt on economic, military and political aspects of Turkey’s relations with the US.
Dr S M Rahman spoke about challenges facing the Muslim world and the question on every body’s mind whether the next country to be targeted might be Syria or Iran or Pakistan. —Jonaid Iqbal
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