Turkey's finance minister says not to attend Davos meeting

Turkey's finance minister said Friday that he would not attend this year's Davos Economic Forum.

Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek told a news conference in Ankara on budget performances of 2009 that he would not attend the Davos Summit because of some changes with his program.

"I had been set to pay visits to London and New York to meet with investors. However, my program was changed. I am going to accompany Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his visits to two different countries."

Earlier, Prime Minister Erdogan and State Minister & Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan announced that they would not participate in the Davos meetings.

During last year's summit, Prime Minister Erdogan stormed off a panel discussion with Israeli President Shimon Peres, and vowed to never come to Davos again. "For me Davos is over. I will never attend this meeting again," said Erdogan, angered by the panel's moderator who had failed to give much time to the Turkish premier to respond to Peres' remarks over Israel's Gaza offensive.

/World Bulletin/