Antalya Diplomacy Forum host African leaders

Antalya Diplomacy Forum this year host more than 70 countries, including 17 state heads of states to discuss the importance of diplomacy for peace and development.

Politicians, diplomats, opinion makers and academics from around the world have gathered in Turkey to discuss top global issues at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

This year’s edition is convened under the theme “Recording Diplomacy” kicked off on Friday with panel discussions.

The forum will continue with various panel discussions through Sunday, where prominent leaders will discuss a wide range of topics concerning international relations. 

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in opening address said the first high-level contact between Russia and Ukraine that took place on Thursday shows the Antalya Diplomacy Forum has started to achieve its purpose.

Mr. Erdoğan expressed hope for peace and common sense to prevail in the Russia-Ukraine war as soon as possible.

 “If the world had objected to the occupation of Ukraine in 2014, would we be facing the current outlook? Those who were silent for Crimea in 2014 now speak up, is justice valid only for a part of the world?”

Underlining that the number of displaced people is expected to rise, Erdoğan said that Turkey can never disregard acts of aggression against the sovereignty of a neighboring country.

Kyiv was left alone in its righteous cause, he said and added: “While supporting the legitimate struggle of Ukrainians, steps that may cast a shadow over it are never acceptable.”

On Thursday, the much-anticipated trilateral meeting between the foreign ministers of Russia, Ukraine and Turkey with facilitation from Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu concluded, which Ukraine’s Dmytro Kuleba said made “no progress” on achieving a cease-fire to the fighting that has caused 2.2 million refugees to flee across Ukraine’s borders. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow wanted to continue negotiations with Kyiv.

Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio, in a panel discussion on “Regional and global pathways to Peace and Prosperity,” stressed although there are wars and conflicts in many countries, the global focus is only on some countries, adding double standards of international communities and the media.

Added that people of African origin are exposed to discrimination. He said that there are 1.2 billion people in Africa and African countries could not find enough places in the UN Security Council, adding they only represented 5% in the decision-making process.