Turkish president calls New York visit 'fruitful'

ISTANBUL

Just back from his visit to the U.S. to attend the UN General Assembly (UNGA), Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dubbed it a “fruitful” trip.

“In my speech, I delivered our country’s stance on issues such as Palestine, Rakhine [state of Myanmar], Syria -- which became the symbol of global injustice --, refugee crisis and migration,” Erdogan told reporters at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport returning from his visit to New York where he attended the 74th session of the UNGA.

Erdogan said he also highlighted the danger that Islamophobia and cultural racism pose for the global peace.

Turkish leader's Tuesday speech at the UNGA received a wide acclaim and #OurVoiceErdogan hashtag became trend topic on Twitter with the tweets of people expressing gratitude to Erdogan for bringing up the international issues in the platform.

The president also recalled that he had bilateral meetings with the world leaders on the sidelines of the UNGA.

He said trilateral summit of Turkey, Malaysia and Pakistan in New York discussed the efforts to be put forth for the benefit of the region and focused on sensitive issues of Jerusalem and Islamophobia.

Erdogan’s busy schedule also included an annual dinner by the Turken Foundation -- a group which supports Turkish and Muslim students in the U.S. -- and a meeting with representatives of Muslim communities in the U.S. as well as a meeting of the Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC).

He also inaugurated a photo exhibition featuring the works of renowned Turkish-Armenian photographer Ara Guler.

* With contributions and writing by Sena Guler