ANKARA
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu attended a session titled "Is democracy winning?" in Davos as part of the World Economic Forum.
Speaking at the session, Davutoglu said that "yes, democracy is winning, because, it is a historical process and history will judge in the future."
"Cold war has ended in Europe, but now after two decades it is ending in our region. Democracy will win in the end," Davutoglu noted.
"If we had this meeting two years ago in Davos, nobody would think of a democracy in Tunisia or Egypt. We have to be fair to these people. In the last two years, they achieved a lot. But of course, there is a long way to go for the full implementation of democracy," Davutoglu said.
"I want to give an example from my personal life. My youngest daughter, 12 years old, came to my library and saw my old typewriter, looked at it as if it was an archeological object. I thought, I wrote my thesis with it and at that time Mubarak was in power. Afterwards, the computer came, internet came, Facebook came and Mubarak was still there. But when Twitter came, he couldn't resist. Old regimes will not come back," Davutoglu stressed.
"Dignity is the most important element of Arab Spring," Davutoglu stated.
"Democracy is the best system to the search for dignity," Davutoglu indicated.
"We should not act orientalist. We should not ask if Arabs can achieve democracy. I can assure you, Arab and Muslim societies can have the same level of democratic system," Davutoglu expressed.
Asked if Islam was a threat to democracy, Davutoglu replied "I think the basic threat to democracy in the Muslim world is not Islam, but this orientalist approach."
"The basic value of Koranic teaching is human dignity and the basic value of democracy is human dignity. They don't contrast each other," Davutoglu also said.
Davutoglu holds talks with various leaders
On the other hand, Davutoglu also held talks with various leaders on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Davutoglu met with the Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mahamud, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci, Australian Foreign Minister Robert John Carr, and President of the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces Sheikh Ahmad Moaz al-Khatib in Davos on Thursday.
Davutoglu and Secretary General Ban discussed the Cyprus problem, Syria, Iraq and Turkish-UN relations.
In his talks with Moaz al-Khatib, Davutoglu discussed the international efforts on the Syrian crisis and the situation of Syrian refugees and those displaced due to the civil war in Syria.
