Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the 4th edition of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF2025) in Antalya. AFP
The three-day event, "Reclaiming Diplomacy in a Fragmented World," runs from 11 to 13 April and is hosted by Turkey's foreign ministry under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's patronage. Erdogan is attending the forum, which is being held at the NEST Congress and Exhibition Centre in Belek, a resort town in Antalya Province.
Since its launch in 2021, the forum has become a regular fixture in Ankara's foreign policy calendar. Turkish officials have described it as a non-Western platform for open dialogue, offering an alternative diplomatic space for the Global South, Muslim world, post-Soviet states, and beyond, with some dubbing it the "Munich Security Conference of the East."
According to Turkish officials, this year's edition will bring together more than 20 heads of state and government, including leaders from Djibouti, Kosovo, Guinea-Bissau, Kyrgyzstan, Hungary, Montenegro, Rwanda, Serbia, Uzbekistan, and Zambia. Around 50 foreign ministers, including those from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Qatar, Iraq, and Jordan, will also be present.
Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty will attend the forum, participate in several sessions, and meet separately with some of his counterparts on the sidelines.
Key international organisations are also represented, including the Arab League, with its secretary general, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, in attendance, and the heads of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The forum comes amid mounting international strain, from Israel's war on Gaza and Russia's war in Ukraine to concerns over climate change, economic shocks, and the risks posed by artificial intelligence.
Over the weekend, over 50 panel sessions are scheduled, covering various topics, including counterterrorism, humanitarian aid, digital transformation, and food security.
A key side event is the "Contact Group for Gaza" session, established by the OIC and Arab League in November 2023 during an Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh. The group, made up of several Arab and Muslim countries, aims to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, promote a two-state solution, increase humanitarian aid, and pressure Israel to recognise Palestinian rights.
Other diplomatic gatherings include trilateral and bilateral meetings involving Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Iraq, where leaders will discuss various issues, including those specific to their regions.
The third edition of the Antalya Forum, held in March 2024, also discussed pressing global challenges in the presence of several international figures.
Antalya Governor Hulusi Sahin told the Anadolu Agency on Thursday that all preparations for the forum are complete and guests have started arriving.
"Our hotels in the Belek region are fully prepared," he said. "All our preparations are complete."
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