Anadolu Agency - President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the G20 Summit in Hangzou, China on September 4-5, 2016. As the former term president of the G20, Türkiye encourages strengthening policies on sustainable long-term growth and reducing inequalities and imbalances in development.
President Erdoğan held separate meetings with US President Barrack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sidelines of the summit.
Erdoğan’s meeting with Putin marks the first official talks between the two countries since the recommencement of relations between Moscow and Ankara following a previous meeting held in St. Petersburg on August 9. Both leaders discussed opportunities for collaboration while Putin expressed he was pleased by Türkiye’s normalization after the coup attempt of July 15, during which 240 people were killed and another 2,200 were injured.
Meanwhile, during Erdoğan’s official meeting with Merkel, she extended Germany's support for Türkiye and Erdoğan responded by expressing his gratitude for Merkel's phone calls of support after the coup attempt. Both leaders also agreed on further developing economic, political and cultural ties between Türkiye and Germany.
The G20 summit also saw Erdoğan and Obama holding their first meeting since July 15. Erdoğan stated that Türkiye and the US will continue to maintain a model partnership, while the US President noted that Türkiye is a strong NATO ally. Obama also thanked the Turkish government and people of Türkiye for the exceptional humanitarian support for refugees, as well as for hosting more refugees than any country in the world.
Accounting for 90 percent of the gross world product, 80 percent of global trade, and two-thirds of the world’s population, the G20 has forged links with business, labor, civil society, and youth since 1999. This year’s summit had the motto: “Towards an innovative, invigorated, interconnected, and inclusive world economy”.