Turkish PM Davutoğlu decides to attend Davos six years after Erdoğan's dramatic exit

ANKARA

PM Davutoğlu, who assumed office in August, will reportedly join the conference in the Swiss ski resort of Davos between Jan. 22 and 24. AA Photo

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has decided to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit in Davos, six years after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who was prime minister at the time, stormed out of a panel on the Gaza war.

Davutoğlu, who assumed office in August, will reportedly join the conference in the Swiss ski resort of Davos on Jan. 23 and 24, sources from the Prime Ministry told state-run anadolu Agency on Jan. 5. 

Meanwhile, Davutoğlu is planning an official visit to Germany on Jan. 11-12 and to Britain from Jan. 19 to Jan. 21, sources also told the agency. The same sources underlined that the schedule of these visits had yet to be finalized.

Erdoğan had stormed out of a WEF panel on Gaza on Jan. 29, 2009 in protest at the moderator of the debate, repeatedly shouting “one minute” and accusing fellow debater Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Since the incident, a landmark point in Turkish-Israeli relations, Turkey has not been represented at the presidential level at the meeting. Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan attended the summit in the name of Turkey between 2009 and 2014.

The annual winter meeting organized by the Swiss nonprofit organization WEF gathers prominent political, academic and business leaders together with top global issues in a wide range of topics dominating the agenda.