Gul attends 15th summit of non-alignment movement as special guest

President Abdullah Gul yesterday attended the heads of state and government session of the 15th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt at the invitation of his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak, and as special guest of the event. Mubarak welcomed Gul and other leaders attending the summit at the Maritime International Congress Center. After listening to speeches delivered during the session, Gul took part in a luncheon hosted by Mubarak in honor of the leaders and top officials from the 118 member and 17 observer countries. On the sidelines of the summit, Gul also held a number of bilateral talks, meeting with Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic, Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov, Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, Bahraini Crown Prince Shaikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa. Speaking to reporters before leaving for the meeting, Gul said that he would be the first-ever Turkish president to attend a NAM summit, and that Turkey would be represented at the highest level at the meeting for the first time. Gul said the NAM was founded some 50 years ago during the Cold War by several countries seeking to act independently from the Western and Eastern blocs. Stating that after the bipolar system ended, the movement set new goals and took new roles, Gul said currently the NAM has nearly 120 members from all over the world with a voice in international politics. Telling how Turkey was represented at the deputy prime minister and ministerial level at the last two summits, Gul also said that Turkey has been making sincere and effective efforts in recent years to solve international and regional problems. Turkey has done much to promote peace, stability, and cooperation-based relations in its own region and a wider geography, Gul added, telling how Ankara has initiatives to strengthen, diversify and deepen its relations with African, Latin American and Far Asian countries despite their geographical distance from Turkey. NAM's establishment was spearheaded in 1955 by Egypt, India and Yugoslavia in apparent reaction to the postwar bipolar international system. The only European member of the movement is Belarus, while 53 members are from Africa, 38 from Asia, and 26 from Latin America and the Caribbean.