President Erdoğan touched upon many issues such as climate change, refugees, Ukraine-Russia war and Islamophobia at the press conference he organised after the G20 Leaders Summit held in New Delhi, the capital of India. Emphasising that a fairer world is possible, Erdoğan said: "If 735 million people are struggling with hunger on one side, while luxury, splendour and waste are rampant on the other side, it means that there is a very serious problem here. At the point we have reached, unfortunately, billions of people from Africa to Asia work and sweat under very bad conditions for the pleasure and welfare of a handful of elites. This is neither fair, humanitarian nor conscientious. The cause of our problems is not the scarcity of resources, but the lack of compassion. As Turkey, we object to these injustices. We believe that a fairer world is possible. We are the country that provides the highest aid in the world in proportion to national income. We protect more than 4 million oppressed and victimised people who seek refuge in our country. By clearing the north of Syria from terrorist organisations, building permanent residences in this region with the support of sister countries, meeting the needs in every field from education to security, we are eliminating the main reasons that force people to migrate at the source. Nearly 600 thousand Syrians have returned to their homeland safely, voluntarily and with human dignity. As our projects come to life, hopefully this number will increase even more."

"WE SEE THE DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES OF CLIMATE CHANGE"

Underlining that the consequences of climate change are seen as forest fires, floods and droughts, President Erdoğan said: "Our theme this year was one world, one family and one future. In the first of the summit sessions, we discussed the environmental problems faced by our planet. The planetary crisis, which is called climate change, biodiversity, especially the loss of natural diversity, as well as pollution, is now making its impact felt more and more. We are already seeing the devastating consequences of this in a wide range from forest fires to flood disasters, from drought to warming. In fact, Turkey's responsibility especially in greenhouse gas emissions is quite low. Nevertheless, as Turkey, we are putting our hands on the line in this vital issue concerning the common future of our world and humanity. We are among the countries making the most meaningful contribution to the Paris Climate Agreement with our 2053 net zero emission and green development targets. We are taking important steps in both renewable energy and nuclear and hydrogen investments. We are the 5th in Europe and 12th in the world in terms of renewable installed capacity. The steps we have taken in the fields of energy efficiency and renewable energy have prevented 90 million tonnes of carbon equivalent greenhouse gas emissions annually."

Stating that the Zero Waste Project was deemed worthy of 5 international awards, Erdoğan used the following expressions:

"In line with our 2053 net zero emission target, we doubled our emission reduction target until 2030. We are one of the world's leading countries in the fight against desertification and erosion. We are working for a greener, cleaner and more livable Turkey and the world with the projects we realise in a wide range of areas. The Zero Waste Project, implemented under the leadership of my wife Emine Erdoğan, has been a turning point in this process. Our project, which is carried out with the slogan 'The world is our common home', has received 5 international awards, 3 of which were from United Nations offices and programmes. With the UN General Assembly decision, the Zero Waste Project turned into a global movement. With this decision, 30 March was declared as International Zero Waste Day. The importance of Zero Waste initiatives was emphasised in the G20 Declaration. In the first session of the Summit, we emphasised the importance of fair burden sharing between developed and developing countries, as well as the importance of increasing financing and technology transfer to developing countries. We will continue to work for the protection of our common home, our world."

"NONE OF US CAN FEEL SAFE"

Pointing out that everyone is a part of a great human family of 8 billion people, Erdoğan said: "In the second session titled "One Family", we conveyed the effort to strengthen global solidarity based on the fact that no one should be left behind. We expressed what needs to be done for the voluntary, safe and dignified return of refugees and displaced persons to their countries of origin. I would like to underline one point in particular here. Regardless of our beliefs, cultures and origins, we are all members of the great human family of 8 billion people. None of us can feel safe in a world where children die because they cannot find a piece of bread and water, where tens of thousands of hope travellers lose their lives in deserts every year, where our seas are rapidly turning into a gigantic refugee graveyard, where millions of people leave their homes due to wars and conflicts, where human life is increasingly devalued despite all the rhetoric, in short, where heartbreaking tragedies are happening right next to us."

"WE ARE MAKING INTENSIVE EFFORTS TO END THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR"

President Erdoğan stated that Turkey is making intensive efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war and will maintain close contact with all parties and said, "We are also making intensive efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war, which has been going on for a year and a half and has cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. We have made many diplomatic moves from the Istanbul process, which brought the parties around the same table, to prisoner swaps and the Black Sea Initiative. The Black Sea Initiative has delivered 33 million tonnes of grain to international markets. Thanks to the initiative, we prevented the food crisis from deepening further. As a result of our personal contacts, the initiative was extended three times. During my visit to Sochi on Monday at the invitation of Mr Putin, we once again discussed this issue with him at length. As Russia, Qatar and Turkey, we attach importance to the processing and delivery of one million tonnes of grain to African countries suffering from food shortages. Hand in hand, we will hopefully realise this. A process that excludes Russia in the grain issue is unlikely to be sustainable. We are of the opinion that all kinds of steps that will disturb the tranquility in the Black Sea and escalate the tension in the region should be avoided. Until today, we have avoided such a situation by meticulously applying Montreux and keeping in constant dialogue with the parties. We will soon convene the Food Security Working Group to contribute to global food security. We will continue to be in close contact with Russia, Ukraine, the United Nations and the international community."

"QURAN BURNING IS A PROVOCATION AND HATE CRIME"

"Attacks targeting Muslims and refugees have exceeded the limits of tolerance in some Western countries and have turned into a hate storm in some places," President Erdoğan said, underlining that these attacks are a clear provocation and hate crime.

"No one can expect us to remain silent and unresponsive to this. I believe that all countries, where Islamophobia is on the rise for the sake of the common future of people, should follow more decisive policies on this issue. If there is a gap in the legislation, it should be eliminated. If a law is necessary, it should be made quickly. As a responsible member of the international community, we consider it our duty to speak the truth in all clarity, based on the principle of 'a friend speaks bitterly'. In addition, we bring this issue to the agenda in all platforms we are a member of, especially in the United Nations. We contributed to the adoption of 15 March as the International Day for Combating Islamophobia by the United Nations General Assembly. The decisions of both the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly on attacks on the Holy Quran are important in this regard. We see that some countries have taken various administrative and legal measures against these acts and we are pleased with this. With the proposals and efforts of our country, the attack on holy books was also condemned in the G20 declaration. I call on everyone who defends humanitarian values, attaches importance to human rights and freedoms and believes that members of different faiths can live in peace to support the efforts of our country."

"MEDIUM-TERM PROGRAMME WAS APPRECIATED BOTH AT HOME AND ABROAD"

Erdoğan stated that the recently announced medium-term programme was appreciated both at home and abroad. Drawing attention to the World Bank's investments in Turkey, Erdoğan said, "We see that the medium-term programme we shared with the public on Wednesday has been appreciated both at home and abroad. The statement made by the World Bank is a manifestation of the confidence in the Turkish economy. The World Bank has added a new $18 billion investment package on top of the $17 billion investment package. Thus, the size of the investments planned by the bank in Turkey in the next 3 years will reach 35 billion dollars. As the prejudices against our country are broken, new institutions will be added to the World Bank. Together with the successes in our economy, we will see that international investments will increase further. On the one hand, while rapidly healing the wounds of the earthquakes of 6 February, on the other hand, we will never break away from our goal of Turkey's Century."