Syria, refugees to top agenda as Turkey hosts G20
Print Edition
LEADERS from the world’s top 20 industrial powers will meet in Turkey from today seeking to overcome differences on issues including the Syria conflict, the refugee crisis and climate change.
With the health of the global economy less of a headache than in previous years, it is the war in Syria that will cast the longest shadow at the two-day Group of 20 summit in the resort of Antalya.
The five-star venue may seem far from the tragedy of the conflict that has left more than a quarter of a million people dead, but the border with Turkey’s neighbor is just 600 kilometers away.
Security will be tight even by the standards of previous meetings, with about 12,000 police on duty and the authorities conducting raids in search of Islamic State militants.
The meeting is the biggest gathering of world leaders ever hosted by Turkey and gives President Recep Tayyip Erdogan an opportunity to present himself as a key global player two weeks after his party regained its parliamentary majority.
The G20 format provides a rare chance for United States President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin of Russia to mix with the likes of Saudi King Salman and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“I pray and hope that G20 will provide a platform whereby all of these issues can be discussed openly and then we can understand each other,” Erdogan told CNN ahead of the summit.
Finding agreement on Syria will be tough, with Russia vehemently opposed to host Turkey’s strategic aim of toppling President Bashar al-Assad and Ankara so far only receiving a lukewarm response to its plan of a safe zone inside Syria.
“A breakthrough is very unlikely on Syria or the refugee question,” said Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, Ankara office director for the German Marshall Fund of the US.
At the same time, he said the G20 will make a show of unity on the aim of bringing peace to Syria in the final communique.
“They will want to end on a positive note, on a convergence of strategy,” he said.
Sources said the final communique was expected to mention refugees, even if some countries did not see the G20 as the right forum for the discussion.
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