G20

G20 leaders gathering in Rome for their first meeting since the start of the pandemic face a global recovery hampered by a number of obstacles: an energy crisis driving higher fuel and utility prices, new outbreaks of Covid-19 and blocked supply chains.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan arrived early on Oct. 30 in Rome to attend the 16th G20 summit. 

Erdoğan was welcomed at the Fiumicino-Leonardo da Vinci International Airport by Ankara's Ambassador to Rome Ömer Gucuk and Vatican Ambassador Lutfullah Göktaş, as well as the staff of the Rome and Vatican embassies.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will head to Italy and the U.K. to attend the G20 Leaders and COP26 climate summits, Turkey's Communications Directorate said ob Oct. 28.

Angela Merkel took another step towards resigning from politics today after receiving an official document for her dismissal from the post of chancellor, where she spent 16 years, the Associated Press reported.

Merkel attended today the first session of the new German parliament, but sat in the gallery for VIP guests. Merkel was elected to the Bundestag 31 years ago.

Between 80,000 and 180,000 medics have lost the battle with Covid-19, according to the World Health Organization. According to her, doctors and nurses should be vaccinated with priority. In the UK, more than 50,000 are newly infected per day, for the first time since July.

Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar met on Oct. 21 with his U.S., British, Greek and Spanish counterparts in Brussels. Akar and British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace discussed bilateral and regional defense and security as well as defense industry cooperation.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Oct. 18 Turkey forecasts ending the year 2021 with a 9% economic growth.

"While most of the G20 countries threw in the towel in 2020 at the peak of the pandemic, we became the second-largest growing country among them by expanding 1.8%," he said, speaking at Turkey-Angola Business Forum.

Turkey's Treasury and Finance Minister Lutfi Elvan said on Oct. 14 he participated in a G20 ministerial meeting in the US.

"We have discussed global inflation pressures, recent increase in commodity prices and rising global debt at the meeting," Elvan wrote on Twitter.

EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson and Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu discussed recent developments in Syria and Afghanistan on Oct. 12. 
"In the meeting today we discussed challenges resulting from the situation in Afghanistan and other areas of concern -- challenges that can only be solved by working together," Johansson said on Twitter.

Turkey has proposed the establishment of a special working group at the G20 to address the Afghanistan-related issues and warned the international community that Afghan people cannot be left to their fate.