Turkey held a "successful organization" for the first annual meeting of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF) with full in-person participation, said the Turkish foreign minister on Sunday.
Speaking at his closing speech of the three-day high-level event, Mevlut Cavusoglu said it became one of the first and biggest international events during the pandemic and it was held under compliance with all health measures.
Around 8,000 PCR tests were conducted each day of the event.
"I think it will be a model for events of this scale in the future," Cavusoglu added.
Thanking all participants "who enriched this forum with different perspectives," he said: "Our goal during the forum was not to repeat the spoken words, not to repeat what is known. We wanted to go beyond our 'speech notes' in terms of diplomacy."
Antalya Diplomacy Forum has seen a high turnout from the leaders and foreign ministers of different countries, with Cavusoglu holding more than 50 bilateral meetings. A total of 11 heads of state and government, 45 foreign ministers, and attendance at ministerial level were part of the forum, according to the minister.
"This means that one out of every five foreign ministers in the world was here," he said.
Additionally, the event was attended by about 60 representatives of international organizations and high-level personalities, many Turkish and foreign guests from the business and academic world, and 256 young people in total, including undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students from more than 50 universities.
Two leaders' sessions, 15 panels, 25 side events, including ADF Talks, and two youth forums were organized.
Noting that today "most of the problems that occupy the global agenda are experienced in the Mediterranean Basin," where the forum took place, Cavusoglu said there is room for all voices and all ideas in the region.
"Today it is in our hands to turn the Mediterranean into a sea of friendship," he said. "For this, we need innovative diplomacy and new approaches."
"We hope that the Antalya Diplomacy Forum will be a place where everyone who seeks creative solutions to international problems can take part. Hopefully, Antalya Diplomacy Forum will become a long-term platform," he concluded.
