World leaders visiting Turkey this weekend for the G-20 Summit will enjoy the famous “Turkish delight” as they will be gifted 21 boxes of sweets by a local producer on the instruction of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
“We have prepared 21 boxes of special pistachio delight, which is the best kind. There are many problems in the world, so I hope they will eat sweets to talk sweet,” Necmi Alpagot, owner of the delight company, told the Anadolu Agency on Nov. 11.
United States President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Saudi Arabia King Salman Bin Abdulaziz and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are among these world leaders that will have the opportunity to taste the special Turkish delight. The summit will take place in the Belek district of Antalya on the Mediterranean Sea on Nov. 15 and 16.
Alpagot said President Erdoğan instructed the organization committee to prepare Turkish delight to offer to leaders during his inspections of the summit area on Nov. 10. He stressed that committee members reached out to him and requested delight especially.
“Even President Obama will eat one of our delights. We were happy to prepare delight as a 101-year-old company,” he said.
Alpagot also noted that everyone in the world likes Turkish delight. “The world knows about our delight very well. Hopefully, leaders will like it as well. In case of their request to take the delight to their home countries, we will be able to prepare more,” he said.
He also reminded that they have already prepared jars of regional marmalade for the leaders as part of their duty to best promote Turkey and the region.