Turkey's Erdoğan holds high-level meetings with G20 leaders in Rome

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Saturday met with world leaders on the sidelines of the G20 Rome summit.

Erdoğan met Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi at the La Nuvola Convention Center, which host the 2021 summit in Italy, the first in-person summit since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 35-minute closed-door meeting was also attended by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio, as well as Turkey's Treasury and Finance Minister Lütfi Elvan, Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, and Justice and Development (AK) Party spokesman Ömer Çelik.

The Turkish president also received Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. The two officials held a 30-minute closed-door meeting.

Separately, Erdoğan met with EU Commission head Ursula von der Leyen for a 30-minute talk. The closed-door meeting was also attended by Cavusoglu.

The 2021 G20 summit, which has convened the leaders of the world's 20 leading economies and representatives of international organizations, began in Rome on Saturday.

The two-day summit, hosted by the G20 term president Italy, was inaugurated by Italian Premier Draghi.

The group of the 20 largest and most advanced economies is to address the coronavirus pandemic, ways to foster a robust economic recovery and boost global cooperation on climate action.

Meetings are also expected to discuss migrant crises and other geopolitical issues.

The Rome summit is the 16th G20 gathering at the level of heads of state and government. The first was held in Washington in November 2008, and the previous one was held online under the presidency of Saudi Arabia in November 2020.

The forum has met every year since 1999, and includes, since 2008, a yearly summit, with the participation of the heads of states and governments.