Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs Benedetto Della Vedova will be in Ankara today and tomorrow to speak at the 12th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.
The Under-Secretary will chair the segment on the role of the private sector in the fight against desertification, which is at the root of numerous conflicts and among the main causes of the phenomenon of mass migration.
On the sidelines of the conference, the Under-Secretary will hold bilateral meetings with many of the African countries present, with a view to examining themes such as cooperation on environmental concerns, not least in light of the Paris Conference on Climate Change, migrations and collaboration in the United Nations.
While on this mission to Ankara, Under-Secretary Della Vedova will also hold a meeting with the Turkish Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs with the remit for European Affairs, Murat Esenli. The meeting will focus on bilateral economic themes, migration flow management, the fight against international terrorism and regional concerns that include the Syrian crisis.
Finally, while there, Della Vedova will place flowers at the site of the tragic bombing in Ankara of 10 October last, recalling the victims of the explosions that took place in the course of a demonstration for peace and dialogue.