Prime Minister Tarique Rahman reached Istanbul on Tuesday afternoon on his way to Antalya, Türkiye, for a three-day visit. He will attend the World Leaders' Summit of the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) on November 11-12 and hold talks with leaders from different countries.
A Turkish Airlines flight carrying the prime minister, his wife, Dr Zubaida Rahman, and other members of the entourage landed at Istanbul International Airport at 1:20pm local time, according to his Deputy Press Secretary Hasan Shiplu.
After a brief stopover, the flight will leave for Antalya at 2:45pm local time and is scheduled to land at Antalya Airport at 4:05pm, Shiplu said.
The flight had departed Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 7:30am Bangladesh time. Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Prime Minister's Political Adviser and BNP acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister M Rashiduzzaman Millat, Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni, Dhaka North city BNP Member Secretary SM Jahangir Hossain, Cabinet Secretary Dr Nasimul Ghani and Principal Secretary ABM Abdus Sattar saw the prime minister and his wife off at the airport's VIP lounge.
COP31, the UN climate change conference, officially began in Antalya on Monday and will run through November 20. As part of the conference, the two-day World Leaders' Summit will be held on November 11-12.
The prime minister is scheduled to address a plenary session on November 12 and hold several bilateral meetings with world leaders on the sidelines of the summit. Newly appointed Foreign Secretary Salahuddin Noman Chowdhury said this at a briefing in Dhaka on Monday.
The prime minister will hold a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday evening.
