PM to visit Türkiye tomorrow to attend COP31, possible meeting with Erdogan

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will leave Dhaka tomorrow (10 November) for a three-day official visit to Türkiye, where he is expected to attend the World Leaders’ Summit of COP31 and may hold a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The summit will take place in Antalya on 11-12 November, with the possibility of a meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of the conference, Foreign Secretary Salahuddin Noman Chowdhury told reporters today (9 November).

“There is a possibility of a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the sidelines of the conference,” he said at a press briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the upcoming visit.

The foreign secretary also confirmed meetings with the Australian prime minister, the president of Uzbekistan, deputy prime minister of China and the British foreign minister.

During the summit, Tarique Rahman is scheduled to address a plenary session on 12 November and hold several bilateral meetings with world leaders.

Additional Foreign Secretary (Public Diplomacy and Other Priority Matters) A K M Shahidul Karim and senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were present at the briefing.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam recently said Bangladesh would urge developed countries to provide climate finance in the form of grants rather than loans and take responsibility for their contributions to global carbon emissions at COP31.

Bangladesh will highlight its achievements in climate resilience and share its experience in addressing the impacts of climate change across South Asia and the wider Asian region.

At the same time, the country will underline the support it needs to tackle future climate challenges, particularly the need for climate finance in the form of grants rather than loans.

Dhaka will also stress that major carbon-emitting countries must take responsibility and ensure accountability in global climate negotiations.

“Although Bangladesh’s contribution to global carbon emissions is almost negligible, we are ultimately among those suffering the consequences,” Shama Obaed said recently.

Earlier, an inter-ministerial coordination meeting chaired by Shama Obaed reviewed Bangladesh’s preparations for the 31st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, including the prime minister’s participation in the high-level segment.