Argentina hosts ‘World is Bigger Than Five’ panel

By Dildar Baykan and Muhammed Emin Canik

BUENOS AIRES (AA) - A panel discussion on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s motto “World is Bigger than Five” was held on Tuesday in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires, the host of upcoming G20 leaders' summit.

Erdogan has long advocated reforming the structure of the UN Security Council, using the motto: "The world is bigger than five," and has criticized the five permanent Council members -- China, France, Russia, the U.K., and the U.S.

The panel was part of a series of discussions under “Today’s Turkey”. The topics included Turkey's foreign policy agenda, trade, and investment challenges Turkey and Latin America face, and Turkey's foreign policy towards Latin America.

Media representatives, academics, NGOs and think tanks were among the participants of the panel, which was held at the Argentine Council for International Relations (CARI) headquarters.

Moderated by CARI’s Contemporary Eurasia Studies Working Group Coordinator Lila Roldan Vazquez, the session was jointly organized by the Embassy of Turkey in Argentina and CARI.

Speaking at the panel were Hasan Basri Yalcin, SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research Director, Mehmet Necati Kutlu, Latin Studies Center director at Turkey’s Ankara University, and Alper Batur of Turkey’s Treasury and Finance Ministry.

Turkey’s ambassador to Argentina Meral Barlas as well as other foreign envoys in the city joined the panel discussion.

During the panel, SETA’s Yalcin made a presentation titled “Turkey’s Foreign Policy Agenda and UN Reform”.

Turkish academic Kutlu talked about “Turkey’s Foreign Policy Toward Latin America after the 2000s”.

He said that Turkey provided scholarships for 500 students from Latin American countries last year.

Ministry official Batur talked about “Challenges facing Turkey and Latin America on trade and investment”.

- G-20 summit in Argentina

Argentina will host G20 leaders’ summit under the theme “Building consensus for fair and sustainable development” on Nov. 30-Dec. 1.

Erdogan will attend the G20 leaders’ summit in Argentina and he will pay official visits to Paraguay and Venezuela on Dec. 2-3.

“The G20 leaders’ summit will be an opportunity to review the works carried out to achieve the goal of sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth, which is one of the main items of the global agenda, and to discuss such issues as international trade, development, employment, healthcare, economic and social effects of digitalization, climate change, terrorism and migration,” Turkish Presidency said in a statement.

Erdogan is expected to hold bilateral meetings with some of the participating heads of state and government as well as with representatives of international organizations on the summit’s sidelines, the statement added.

On Tuesday, U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said U.S. President Donald Trump and Erdogan will meet on the sidelines of the summit.