State Dinner, Ankara

Your Excellencies, President Gül and Mrs Gül; distinguished ministers and esteemed senior officials of the Republic of Turkey; Excellencies; ladies and gentlemen - Iyi akşamlar, nga mihi o te po ki a koutou, good evening to you all.

Firstly, may I express my sincere gratitude – personally to Your Excellency, to the protocol officials, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey and to all who have contributed to the arrangements that have been put in place for my wife, Janine, and me.  We are thrilled to be back in your beautiful country – a country that holds such a special place in the hearts of all New Zealanders. 

Tomorrow we will travel to the Gallipoli peninsula, where later in the week I will have the great honour of representing New Zealand at the annual Turkish and international commemorations to be held there. 

On Friday 25 April, at the Anzac Day services, we will be joined by thousands of New Zealanders and Australians, who will have travelled from all corners of the globe to pay homage to those brave soldiers – Turkish, New Zealand, Australian and other nationalities – who fought here ninety-nine years ago in your land, and many of whom lost their lives. 

Out of that shared historical experience grew a great friendship and affection between the peoples of New Zealand and Turkey.  In New Zealand, we remember the extraordinary words of reconciliation and compassion that President Kemal Atatürk extended to the mothers of the soldiers who died in Turkey.  Those words provided the seed for an enduring mutual respect between our countries, which resonates at all levels of our relationship.  The words are truly inspirational and remain poignant today to New Zealanders.

On behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand I thank the Government and people of Turkey for allowing us to travel to Gallipoli each year to pay our respects to our fallen.  I also thank you for the significant resources you commit to ensure our services are undertaken safely, and with respect.

Your Excellency, nearly one hundred years on from the start of the First World War, New Zealand and Turkey are focused on building a modern relationship for the 21st century.  The very valuable discussions I have had here in Ankara today confirm to me the many strands of mutual interest between our two countries, and the exciting opportunities that lie ahead for our relationship.

The work we are doing to increase our bilateral trade and economic relationship; to further promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges, including in education; and to be strong partners on the international stage are superb examples of the breadth of our invigorated engagement. 

The depth of our relationship is evidenced by the number of high-level visits by Ministers and officials to each other’s country.  In 2013 alone, four New Zealand Government Ministers visited Turkey.  It is my Government’s desire to remain effectively engaged and to seek ways to increase our ties.  We look forward to welcoming high-level visits from Turkey to New Zealand in the coming year, and will be very pleased to be able to repay – in a small part – some of the extraordinary hospitality shown to New Zealanders by your Government.

Your Excellency, Turkey is an important partner for New Zealand.  We value highly Turkey’s perspectives on global and regional issues.  Like Turkey, New Zealand is concerned about regional conflicts, particularly in the Middle East: such as the situation in Syria and the Israel-Palestine conflict.  These cause bloodshed and suffering for the victims of the conflicts and have the potential to destabilise wider regional, and indeed global, security.

Although New Zealand is a long way away from this region, as a small trading nation we are dependent on a rules-based, stable and peaceful world order.  We are committed to playing our part, whether through targeted humanitarian assistance or through military contributions to peace support operations.  By way of example, our contribution to peacekeeping in the Middle East has been continuous for more than 60 years. 

I would like to specifically acknowledge Turkey’s leadership in responding to the humanitarian crisis arising from the conflict in Syria.  The international community is indebted to Turkey for its work to relieve the plight of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees that have fled across the border into Turkey.

In this regard, New Zealanders are pleased that we can work collaboratively with Turkey where we have mutual interests.  A good example was the work we did together to build three schools for Syrian students in camps in South Eastern Turkey.

Your Excellency, next year we will commemorate the centenary of our shared experience at Gallipoli.  I am delighted that Turkey and New Zealand, together with Australia, are working together to ensure that the centenary is commemorated appropriately.  We look forward to continuing our work with your Government and officials on a number of collaborative legacy projects in both Turkey and in New Zealand. 

In conclusion Your Excellency, I would like to thank you and the Government and people of the Republic of Turkey for the warm hospitality and consideration that has been shown to me, my wife Janine, and our party.  These things are what all New Zealanders who visit Turkey, both to attend the Gallipoli-Anzac commemorations and for other reasons, see as the hallmark of Turkey and its people.

Your Excellency, I will conclude my remarks by expressing Janine’s and my thanks to you and Mrs Gül in Māori, the indigenous language of New Zealand:
Me te mihi nui mō ō manaakitanga, tēnā korua i ō manaakitanga mai, me te aroha tino nui: In acknowledgement of your friendship, I thank you both for the hospitality you have extended to us, and for the spirit in which it has been extended.

No reira, kia ora tātou katoa:  Again, greetings to you all.
Tesekkular