Abe to Visit Turkey, Southeast Asia from Friday for Confabs

Tokyo, Nov. 11 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Turkey, the Philippines and Malaysia from Friday to Nov. 23 to attend international conferences, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday. Abe is exploring the possibility of having separate meetings during the trip with U.S. President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. After leaving Japan on Friday, Abe will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul. Abe is slated to attend a Group of 20 summit in the Turkish resort city of Antalya on Sunday and Monday for discussions on the global economy. At the G-20 summit, Abe will explain the "three new arrows" he has announced as numerical targets for his Abenomics economic policy mix. In Manila, Abe will join an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit on Nov. 18-19. Abe will then travel to Kuala Lumpur for an Association of Southeast Asian Nations-related summit on Nov. 21-22. The prime minister will talk about Japan's efforts on global issues and promotion of economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, Suga said at a news conference. At the ASEAN-related summit, Abe hopes to exchange views on the situation in the South China Sea, where China is continuing to build artificial islands in defiance of international criticism. END