President Erdogan attends G7 summit, holds meetings with world leaders

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Southern Italy on Friday to take part in a session of the G7 Leaders Summit on Africa, the Mediterranean, AI and energy.

The second day of the G7 Leaders Summit, hosted by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, started with a session on irregular migration by G7 leaders and the European Union.

Erdogan met and talked with leaders from around the world on Friday and he held a one-on-one meeting with his UAE counterpart Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, addressing bilateral ties, regional and global issues.

Erdogan underlined that it is important for the Islamic world to oppose in unity the genocidal policies implemented by Israel in the Palestinian territories.

The establishment of an immediate and permanent cease-fire in the war-torn Gaza Strip and easy delivery of aid for humanitarian needs dispatched to the region for the Palestinians must be considered primary agenda items, Erdogan noted, adding that efforts must be made in this regard.

Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas despite a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Nearly 37,300 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 85,100 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis also attended the G7 summit’s session on Africa and the Mediterranean, as the Vatican had confirmed on Thursday that he would meet U.S. President Joe Biden, President Erdogan, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and India’s Narendra Modi, along with others, at the G7 summit in Italy.

The day will end with a dinner by Meloni for the world leaders in a castle in the harbor city of Brindisi, near Borzo Egnazia, the site of the summit.

U.S. President Biden will reportedly not attend the dinner, after also skipping Thursday’s dinner with world leaders. No reason was given on Thursday for his skipping the event.