Behlul Cetinkaya
30 June 2020•Update: 01 July 2020
ANKARA
The envoys of various countries stationed in Turkey discussed on Tuesday how the international system would reshape in the aftermath of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Several envoys and Turkish parliament speaker Mustafa Sentop met at a panel in the capital Ankara, titled Post-pandemic international system, organized by the Institute of Strategic Thinking (SDE) and Azerbaijani Embassy.
In an opening speech, Muhammet Savas Kafkasyali, the head of SDE, criticized the current modern international system by citing unresolved problems around the world.
If the problem is the system itself, this system cannot be improved, Kafkasyali said, adding that there was a need for a different point of view to solve the problems.
For his part, Hazar Ibrahim, Azerbaijan's ambassador to Ankara, said the COVID-19 outbreak had dramatically changed all dynamics of daily life, including "how we act, how we behave."
Underlining that the countries around the world and their economies were facing an unprecedented pandemic, Ambassador Mourad Adjabi of Algeria noted that global problems required global cooperation as COVID-19 forced joint action.
Brazilian Ambassador Carlos Martins Ceglia asserted that it was what happened after pandemics that shaped the world throughout history, not the pandemics themselves.
No one should be left behind
Also taking part in the panel, Pakistan's ambassador Syrus Sajjad Qazi said no country or nation should be left behind when the virus recedes, arguing that the next pandemic would begin in those countries left behind.
Evaluating the need for reform in the UN and other global problems, Russian envoy Alexei Yerkhov highlighted the cooperation in fighting the coronavirus.
The main issue should be to represent those who are not represented, he said.
Citing changes both in the UK and the international system that was prompted by the world wars, British Ambassador Dominick Chilcott said he believed the international system would be improved in the post-pandemic era.
The coronavirus pandemic has claimed over 506,000 lives in 188 countries and regions since it originated in China last December.
The US, Brazil, Russia, and India are currently the worst-hit countries in the world.
More than 10.3 million COVID-19 cases have been reported around the world so far, with recoveries exceeding 5.26 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.
*Writing by Burak Bir
