Speech of PM Erdoğan

Acceptance note by Mr. Ertuğrul Günay at the Rafik Hariri UN-HABITAT Memorial Award Ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, 22 March 2010.

Honourable Executive Director, Excellencies, Distinguished Guests,

It is an honour for me to receive Rafik Hariri UN-HABITAT Memorial Award on behalf of our Prime Minister, H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

On this occasion, I would like to convey my gratitude to the representatives of UN-HABITAT and members of Rafik Hariri Foundation as well as the esteemed members of jury who found Prime Minister Erdoğan eligible for this substantial Award.

This Award, which aims to reward leadership and statesmanship skills of Prime Minister Erdoğan as well as his efforts as Mayor of Istanbul exerted for the success of the HABITAT II Conference and for his contribution to conflict resolution, tolerance and peace building initiatives in our region and international cooperation worth too much to us since it has been given in memoriam of the late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

All the efforts and endeavours of the late Prime Minister Hariri for the reconstruction of Lebanon will always be remembered with appreciation by all international community, particularly by Lebanese People.

Distinguished Guests, as a sign of the importance attached to the UN-HABITAT work, Turkey hosted the HABITAT II Conference in 1996, in Istanbul.

We are very pleased that two essential documents namely “İstanbul Declaration” and “Habitat Agenda” were adopted at this Conference.

Within this framework, as we did in the past, we will continue to support UN-HABITAT activities in future.

Concluding my words, I would like to reiterate my gratitude for this distinctive Award which I receive on behalf of Prime Minister Erdoğan and wish you all the success in your deliberations during the fifth session of the World Urban Forum.