“I believe that ASCAME will create this new knowledge and a new mentality for the Mediterranean.”

“The only thing which will pave the way to the future is strong cooperation in the Mediterranean.”

Dear members of the Mediterranean family that shares the Mediterranean which is the cradle of civilizations;

I respectfully greet you on behalf of myself, Mersin CCI and Logistic Commission of ASCAME.  

The Mediterranean is the heart of civilizations and the ancient trade that gives life to civilizations. The Mediterranean basin has a long history of innovations and logistic values. The Mediterranean Basin is a place where transportation routes meet. However, the real issue today is not this historic richness; the real issue is how we can transform this power into new dimensions and carry to the future. 

For the last ten years and so; we have been talking about the global changes, changing maps and emerging markets etc… Unfortunately, following the 2008-09 global economic-financial crisis, these slogans have become out of date and obsolete. Still, the World hasn’t been able to overcome social, political and economic issues and the end of the tunnel doesn’t look so bright. Simple slogans and simple solutions are not enough to solve global and regional problems. 

The World strongly needs a new knowledge…

The World economy strongly needs a new philosophy and a new mentality.   In fact; the problems that we have been confronting for a while entail an inevitable new mentality. I believe that ASCAME will create this new knowledge and a new mentality. We can’t cope with global issues individually. And if the ship is sinking, there is no point in decorating your cabin. Therefore, we can solve the global and regional issue only by regional cooperation and integration on all levels. Now that we are talking about the Mediterranean; we clearly have numerous problems. Our ports have many problems; investment problems, cooperation problems, integration problems so on… Each port in the Mediterranean is in fierce competition one another. It is such a competition that each port wants to be the leader, the biggest and without rival. Each port demands the biggest share. A famous American marketing expert says that “We have no obligation of becoming the biggest but we have a passion inside us”. We know that in an economy not emotions but reality talks. Realistic projects will reach the target. The fierce competition that we have created artificially creates unplanned and obsolete projects. Each country or port city can act individually for their small and medium scale investments. However, for big investments and projects, global and regional cooperation is a must. The Mediterranean is accustomed to big projects. Surveys canal is an exemplary one. Surveys canal is a canal that not only interests Egypt but also interests the whole region. It is a real investment. Its has met the needs. With its international law ground, it hasn’t created a monopoly. On the contrary, it helped develop the region. So, like this project, all big scale investments in the Mediterranean must be realized in cooperation and integration. Because the only thing which will pave the way to the future is strong cooperation in the Mediterranean. The med countries must regard themselves not rivals but strategic partners.

To destroy the natural integration of history isn’t a possible and wise way. Thousands of years of Mediterranean history have made us a single-family. We are so connected to each other that small events in the far corner of the Mediterranean affect all of us. The real solutions of the issues are strong and sincere cooperation and acting together. A new World emerging and we see that this new World will be much more fierce and cruel on economic sense. So we can’t be rivals. Our real rivals in this new World will be Asia and America. We must stop competing among us and focus on our real rivals. Turkey has advantages over the Russia, Caucasus, Iraq and Turkic countries. Egypt has advantages in East Africa and the Gulf countries. Morocco has advantages in West Africa. Spain has advantages in West Europe; and Italy has advantages in mid-Europe, etc. etc.

Each med port and each med country is important and has on its own advantages. Why aren’t we using these advantages? We are not rivals. We must stop illogical competition among us and share our projects. We must share our know-how. We must share our experiences. And we mustn’t forget our real rivals. Am I suggesting too idealistic ideas? I don’t think so. I believe in this cooperation and I believe in this Mediterranean family soul. It is clear that we cannot act individually in this new World. Either we see this reality or we go on fighting with our shadows.

05/26/2015