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Turkish president intensifies diplomatic efforts at G20 summit

Turkey’s president held separate talks with world leaders during the G20 Leaders’ Summit held in Rome on Oct.30-31.

After attending a family photo shoot on the first day of the summit, Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended a special session on global economy and health.

Before the session, Erdogan had a short talk with US President Joe Biden, outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

Erdogan first met with EU Commission head Ursula von der Leyen for a 30-minute talk. The closed-door meeting was also attended by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Later, the Turkish president met Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. The 35-minute closed-door meeting was also attended by Cavusoglu and his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio, as well as Turkey’s Treasury and Finance Minister Lutfi Elvan, Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, and Justice and Development (AK) Party spokesman Omer Celik.

The Turkish leader also met Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte for a 30-minute talk.

Erdogan held another 30-minute closed-door meeting with his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo.

Following the talks, Erdogan and First Lady Emine Erdogan attended a dinner which Italian President Sergio Mattarella hosted in honor of the leaders participating in the summit.

On the second day of the summit, Erdogan started his bilateral talks by meeting with US President Joe Biden. The meeting lasted 1 hour and 10 minutes.

During the meeting, expressing a common will for the further strengthening and advancing of the bilateral relations, the two leaders agreed on forming a joint mechanism in this direction.

In a positive atmosphere, bilateral relations and regional issues were discussed.

Mutual steps to be taken in line with the shared perspective on increasing the bilateral trade volume were discussed, and the basis of strategic partnership and NATO alliance was underscored.

Erdogan and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron held a 50-minute closed-door meeting. He later met with European Council head Charles Michel for a 40-minute talk

The Turkish leader held his last meeting as part of the summit with Merkel. Olaf Scholz, the likely successor of Merkel, also joined her in the meeting with Erdogan.

After the bilateral meetings, Erdogan answered questions from reporters in a press conference.

Source: Anadolu Agency