Turkey aspires to bridge north-south divide at UN conference on LDCS

Sitting between Europe and Asia, the host of the fourth conference, Turkey, appears set to promote an agenda that may not exactly coincide with what the previous hosts had in mind on reasons why these countries are so poor and how they can develop. Turkey, widely viewed as a “bridge between East and West,” now aspires to bridge differences between the wealthy North and the poorer South by offering a midway answer for these key questions, according to Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Turkey will be responsible for supervising the implementation of goals that will be declared at the fourth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries for the next 10 years. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Istanbul on Saturday for the conference, which will take place May 9-13. Other dignitaries include the heads of state or government of about 50 countries. In total, 192 countries and 47 international organizations will be represented at the conference, which is expected to draw some 10,000 participants.