Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is set to participate in the 10th Global Forum of the United Nations (UN) Alliance of Civilisations, scheduled to take place in Cascais, Portugal, from November 25 to 27, 2024.

The forum, which Türkiye has co-hosted with Spain since 2005, is the highest-level event of the Alliance of Civilisations and is hosted by a member of the Alliance's Group of Friends every two years. The last forum was held in Morocco in 2022.

Among the distinguished participants at the forum are President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, High Representative of the Alliance of Civilisations Miguel Angel Moratinos, King Felipe VI of Spain, and representatives from member countries of the Alliance of Civilisations Friends Group.

Minister Fidan will deliver the opening speech of the forum, where he is expected to address the resurgence of polarisation and discrimination, the need for solutions to chronic problems in the Middle East, and the importance of international solidarity against Islamophobia.

In conjunction with this year's forum, the 'UN Global Conference on the Protection of Religious Sites' will be organised in line with the UN General Assembly Resolution 'Promoting a Culture of Peace and Tolerance to Protect Religious Sites' adopted in 2021.

Additionally, the Ministerial Meeting of the Friends Group of the Alliance of Civilisations will be held on the margins of the forum, where Foreign Minister Fidan will also address the meeting. The meeting will conclude with the adoption of the Cascais Declaration by the members of the Friends Group. (ILKHA)