President Aliyev participating in first World Humanitarian Summit-UPDATE

 President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev is taking part in the First World Humanitarian Summit, which opened in Istanbul, Turkey, May 23.

The summit is being held by an initiative of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon with the organizational support of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The summit involves representatives of 177 countries, including 125 heads of state and governments.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered the opening speeches at the event.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili, President of Macedonia Gjorge Ivanov, President of Mali Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, the 5th Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah IV Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of Lebanon Tammam Salam, as well as leaders of other countries are taking part in the summit.

A video message from Pope Francis to the participants of the summit will be played out.

Seven round table meetings and 15 sessions, where issues of organization of humanitarian relief supplies will be discussed, will be held during the summit.

Non-governmental organizations, international humanitarian structures, representatives of private sector have also been invited to participate in the summit. In total, nearly 6,000 people are attending the event.

The purpose of the summit is to strengthen the international humanitarian system.

It is not a coincidence that Istanbul was chosen as a venue to host the summit, since Turkey received the largest number of refugees.

The summit will continue its work May 23-24.

/By Trend/