Technology & Science
Erdoğan Uses Johannesburg G20 to Unveil Türkiye-Australia COP31 Bid and Press Gaza Ceasefire
At the Nov 22-23 2025 G20 summit in South Africa, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that Türkiye will co-host the UN’s COP31 in Antalya in November 2026 and leveraged the forum to demand G20 backing for an immediate Gaza ceasefire and more inclusive global economics.
Focusing Facts
- Erdoğan told leaders on 22 Nov 2025 that Türkiye and Australia had formally agreed to stage COP31 in Antalya in November 2026.
- He committed that renewables will exceed 60 % of Türkiye’s electricity mix by 2025 and that solar-wind capacity will quadruple by 2035.
- On 23 Nov 2025 he met France’s Emmanuel Macron, urging preservation of the Gaza truce and renewed Ukraine peace talks.
Context
Middle-power summit activism is not new: at the 1955 Bandung Conference, newly de-colonised states similarly tried to weld anti-imperial rhetoric to concrete economic cooperation, yet lacked the institutional heft of today’s G20. Erdoğan’s dual message—climate leadership and mediation in Gaza/Ukraine—mirrors that tradition while tapping into 21st-century trends: rising middle-income emitters seeking legitimacy through green pledges, and a diffusion of diplomatic brokerage away from Cold-War superpowers. If COP31 in Antalya materialises, Türkiye will join the handful of non-OECD hosts (e.g., Indonesia 2007, Egypt 2022) steering the climate agenda, signalling a longer-term shift of normative power toward the Global South. Whether his Gaza ceasefire push endures depends on structural forces—Israel-Palestine cycles and great-power vetoes—but the optics of a NATO member siding with South Africa at the ICJ underscore a century-long arc in which former peripheral states increasingly weaponise multilateral law. In a 100-year view, the episode may mark incremental evidence that geopolitical and climate governance is tilting toward heterogeneous, issue-specific coalitions rather than G7-centric blocs.
Perspectives
Turkish pro-government media
Daily Sabah, Hürriyet Daily News — Portray Erdoğan as an energetic global peacemaker whose unwavering defence of Palestine and active shuttle diplomacy at the G-20 can unlock lasting peace from Gaza to Ukraine. Given their editorial alignment with Turkey’s ruling AKP, the papers lavish praise on Erdoğan’s initiatives while omitting criticism of his government’s role in regional tensions, functioning in effect as domestic political promotion.
South African local press
IOL, EWN, The Citizen — Cast South Africa as a courageous champion of human-rights whose genocide case against Israel wins Erdoğan’s public admiration and elevates the nation’s international standing during the summit. With the summit on home soil, these outlets foreground flattering foreign praise to boost national prestige and sidestep harder questions about South Africa’s own diplomatic leverage or Turkey’s contested record.
Azerbaijani regional outlets
APA, Trend — Emphasise Turkey’s economic and climate agenda at the G-20—calls for fair debt restructuring and the joint hosting of COP31—presenting Ankara as a constructive partner for developing economies. Because Baku maintains strategic ties with Ankara, coverage stays narrowly on cooperative themes and avoids contentious topics like Gaza, giving readers a selective, upbeat picture of Turkish policy.