Thank you Madame Chair,
President of the General Conference,
Madame Director General,
Dear Delegates,

Approximately 6 months after the last session of the Executive Board, unfortunately
we are still not meeting in better conditions today.
Global economic crises, problems in supply chains, food and energy shortages and
most important of all, unjustified wars and ongoing conflicts still continue to affect
our lives and shadow our efforts.
Under these severe circumstances, we appreciate UNESCO's efforts to carry out its
programmes and respond to emerging crises.
In this regard, we commend the rapid reaction of UNESCO in Ukraine in accordance
with the decision taken at the 7th Special Session of the Executive Board.
We also support the vision to go beyond emergency measures and efforts to plan
medium and long-term actions in Ukraine for the post-war recovery period.
On this occasion, I would like to once again reiterate that we reject Russia's decision
to annex Donetsk, Luhansk, Herson and Zaphorizhia regions of Ukraine as we did not
recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea with an illegitimate referendum.
This decision, which constitutes a grave violation of international law, cannot be
accepted.

Dear colleagues,

During the first half of the biennium, education was at the center stage.
The Transforming Education Summit and its PreSummit were the beginning of a
transformation process towards a more equitable and inclusive education system.
At the Summit, President Erdoğan highlighted that the ideal of strong society can
only be achieved through a high quality education process and expressed our
readiness to support global efforts.
We continue to support UNESCO’s leading role in reforming the Global Education
Cooperation Mechanism and realizing the SDG4.
In this regard, we transmitted our support letter for the Paris Declaration last month.
We acknowledge the potential of Artificial Intelligence and Open Science to
transform the future of humanity for the better and in favor of sustainable
development.
Türkiye took its place among the countries that have an AI strategy last year, with the
adoption and entry into force of The National Artificial Intelligence Strategy.
Given the importance of the scientific and innovative policies in combating global
challenges such as climate change, food security, access to drinking water and
sanitation, the “Zero Waste” project initiated under the auspices of First Lady Emine
Erdoğan deserves special attention.
With this project, we aim to increase the recycling rate of waste to 60% by 2035.
On the margins of the UN General Assembly, Her Excellency Emine Erdoğan and UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres signed the Global Commitment to Zero Waste.
In a short span of time, more than 20 dignitaries have signed off this commitment.
We encourage all Member States and UNESCO to join others to promote and give
their support to this ideal.
Dear colleagues,
Another milestone event of this year, Mondiacult 2022, provided us an ample
opportunity to discuss the future of cultural policies and to display our strong call for
culture to be included as a specific objective among SDGs.
On this occasion, we would like to join others to thank Mexico for their hospitality
and organizing an excellent event.
As a member of G20, we are also glad that culture continues to be a part of the G20
Agenda. Last month, Ministers of Culture met in Indonesia and discussed “culture in
the post-pandemic era” and “culture for sustainable living”.
The UNESCO meeting on "Mobilizing Civil Society for the Cultural Heritage of the
Oceans and UN-SDG14" was held in Antalya in May.
We are also willing to organize similar events in this field with the Secretariat in the
coming months.
3 more Turkish cities recently joined the Global Network of Learning Cities, bringing
the total number of our cities in this network to nine.
We would also like to commend UNESCO's efforts in crosscutting flagship initiatives.
In this regard, I am glad to express that relevant Turkish authorities are ready to lend
their support to the Spirit of Mosul project.
This support could include, inter alia, train the trainers programme; sharing best
practices on education technologies; assignment of Turkish teachers; supporting the