Speech by Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Spain José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero at the 2008-2009 Academic Year Opening Ceremony

President Deniz Ülke Arıboğan,
Distinguished officials and faculty members,
Dear students,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

President, thank you very much for your kind words, your warm welcome and for giving me the opportunity to open the academic year of this prestigious University.

I would like to begin by expressing the great pleasure I feel at being here with you today in this beautiful city of Istanbul. It is an honor and a privilege for me for two reasons: because it gives me the opportunity to address the generations who hold the future of Türkiye in their hands, and because, in addition, it allows me to present to the new generations, to you, the Alliance of Civilizations, an initiative and a commitment to the future that both Prime Minister Erdoğan and I have promoted from the very beginning.

There are very few places as meaningful as Istanbul for understanding how misleading it can be to divide the world into East and West, and this can be seen in the streets, in the surroundings, in the people and, of course, here at the University. As the Nobel Prize-winning Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, whom I had the good fortune to meet during his recent trip to Madrid on the occasion of the first Spain-Türkiye cultural encounter, has said, Istanbul is "a model of blending and an example of today's world". This is the strength it knows how to convey to each of its visitors. It is undoubtedly a strength based on hybridity and respect, because Istanbul is, as the Spanish writer Juan Goytisolo said, one of the most unique examples of cities "created and recreated by different cultures".

Spain, too, has been since ancient times, and continues to be, a space for dialogue between cultures. Just like Türkiye, it lies at one end of the European continent and has therefore been a historic meeting place: our past knows all civilizations closely. Like Türkiye, it embraces the Mediterranean, where some of the most brilliant moments in history took place. Like Türkiye, Spain knows that the true strength of a culture lies in its capacity to assimilate and integrate the best qualities of others.

When knowledge is born from passing through different visions, the city that springs from it becomes a city of bridges and gates, with neither walls nor borders. Then the university and the city enrich each other in a dialogue that is cosmopolitan, tolerant, open to progress and nourishes the whole of society.

As we have seen in the history of our countries, the university has been a privileged meeting place throughout history. In the 12th century, the legendary Toledo School of Translators was founded in Spain. There, scholars of three different ways of looking at the world, Christianity, Judaism and Islam, placed their mutual knowledge at the service of understanding and tolerance. Since then, for almost a thousand years, the university and knowledge have played an essential role in helping peoples get to know one another.

Today, universities continue to be the pioneers of this idea of a world without borders, in which all peoples unite in the universal language of knowledge and in which cooperation and sharing are essential.

We have never been as aware as we are at this historic moment that knowledge and the wealth of nations are linked. We now know that what truly drives economic progress is investment in research, development and innovation. Türkiye and Spain are clear examples of the important role that education, and especially the university, plays in the development, transformation, modernization and opening up of a country to the world. A university not only as a place where knowledge is gathered, but as the true center where thought is created. A university one comes to not only to receive a particular education, but to learn to be a citizen, a Turkish or Spanish citizen, but also a citizen of the world.

For this reason, the university is a point of reference for the Alliance of Civilizations, a concept put forward by our countries that would lose its meaning without the participation of universities, without the contribution of thinkers, and without the shared thought and action of all of us who are working to create spaces of coexistence between civilizations and cultures. Because the Alliance of Civilizations is also, and above all, a meeting of values and knowledge; a consensus that takes into account the reality of different cultures without losing sight of respect for fundamental rights such as freedom or equality.

The Alliance of Civilizations is today an initiative in the hands of the United Nations. It is global, political and action-oriented. This is its main advantage and added value compared with other intercultural and interreligious proposals.

However, the Alliance also has another specific feature: an essential security dimension, designed to prevent the prediction of a fatal and inevitable "clash of civilizations", particularly between the Islamic and Western worlds, as if these terms were opposites of each other, a prediction I believe to be mistaken, from coming true. Türkiye is a living example that refutes this so-called opposition.

The proposal we presented at the United Nations four years ago is now a strong, consolidated and institutionalized movement. Ninety countries and international organizations from all continents participate in the Group of Friends and politically support the Alliance of Civilizations.  

In November 2006, the High-Level Group completed, here in Istanbul, the report it had been asked to prepare. Following the recommendation of that report, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed the former President of Portugal, Dr. Sampaio, as High Representative for the Alliance. With the full support of the Governments in Ankara and Madrid, Dr. Sampaio is carrying out extremely successful work.

The High-Level Group's report presented a series of practical recommendations in four key sectors for building a better world: education, youth, migration and the media. Allow me to briefly touch on the first two, which concern you in particular and of whose importance you are the most vivid example.

I have already mentioned the value of education and its importance as a force for change. By promoting understanding and tolerance, education replaces ignorance and lack of knowledge about others with knowing others. Education is a key element in most of the issues the Alliance seeks to promote, such as the development of responsible media in relations between societies with different religious beliefs, the integration of diverse societies, and effective relations between contemporary societies.

A globalizing world requires a "globalizing" action towards knowledge and an awareness of the meaning, dignity and responsibility of each individual within the fabric of humanity. At the same time, it requires genuine equality of opportunity in order to promote a constructive social consensus against violence. In this context, education is a vital goal, but it is also a goal within our reach, and you are its best witnesses.

Throughout history, young people have been at the forefront of countless social and political advances and peace movements. At the same time, in many societies, especially in communities deprived of public services, employment and educational opportunities, young people, as the group most easily misled, have been drawn into extremist and violent groups. We must not forget that in many developing countries the majority of the population is under the age of 30.

You young people are not only the leaders of tomorrow but also the potential leaders of today, which is why we must listen to you and support your efforts to build a better world. The contribution of young people to the Alliance's goals is a key element, especially in preventing extremism and in encouraging effective dialogue and unity among people of different backgrounds, views and beliefs.

In line with another recommendation of the High-Level Group's report, the 1st Alliance of Civilizations Forum was held in Madrid in mid-January this year. In a few months, in April 2009, Istanbul will host the 2nd Forum. The third Forum will be held in Brazil, followed by other countries including Portugal, Qatar and Morocco.

The Istanbul Forum should not merely be a continuation of the one in Madrid; it should take stock by reviewing the decisions approved and implemented in Madrid. At its second meeting, the Forum must make a qualitative difference in both form and content. I have conveyed to Prime Minister Erdoğan Spain's offer of cooperation, with the support of the High Representative and the Alliance Secretariat, to achieve this goal. I have full confidence in the capacity and dynamism of the Turkish people to make this a reality.

In this regard, it should be recalled that the High Representative has asked the governments in the Group of Friends to prepare "national strategies", national plans that interpret the principles and goals inspiring the Alliance from each country's own perspective. Türkiye and Spain have prepared their own National Plans in light of their own concerns, reflecting their geographical position, history and national projects.

Having taken off and gained a certain momentum, the Alliance of Civilizations is now at a turning point in its development. It is now time for it to consolidate and clearly define its place within the United Nations system. To achieve this, we will work closely with Türkiye within the Group of Friends.

Speaking about the Alliance of Civilizations here in Istanbul does not make us forget that this country has an agenda full of ambitious goals ahead of it. Today, Türkiye is the cornerstone of many strategic issues, among which I would highlight its rapprochement with the European Union.

My Government firmly supports Türkiye's bid for membership of the European Union. I know it is not an easy task. It has not been easy for any country, and any Spanish political leader knows this very well.

If Europe, as I hope, wishes to assume the role of an influential actor in the contemporary world, a Türkiye within the European Union will give it the strategic strength and leading role that the Union sometimes lacks today.

As I said at the beginning, I would like to conclude by emphasizing that there are very few places more suitable than a university to speak about the Alliance of Civilizations. At the university, as teaching staff and students, you shape your personal perception of the world, but you also contribute to the creation of a collective perception. That is why your education in tolerance, your support for dialogue and your will to accept and value difference are decisive.

In a world where incomprehension and conflict have so often prevailed, we, Türkiye and Spain, have supported and will continue to support words over discord, in order to create spaces of coexistence, to build bridges, to fight prejudice and to tear down the barriers that separate us. You are here to continue doing this in the future.

The universities of this country, and especially this university that has welcomed me so generously, will respond, with the dynamism they have shown throughout history, to this goal that lies before all of us who wish for a future of understanding between cultures. I am sure of it!

Thank you very much.