- Turkish President Erdogan urged Italian PM Meloni to quit smoking at Gaza peace summit
- French President Macron laughed off Erdogan's hopes of Meloni giving up smoking
- Meloni noted that quitting tobacco might make her less sociable
While global leaders gathered to find a solution for broader Middle East peace, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan found a new target for his war on tobacco in Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. In an informal conversation on the sidelines of the Gaza peace summit in Egypt aimed at ending the war in Gaza, Erdogan told Meloni that he would find a way for her to quit smoking.
“I saw you coming down from the plane. You look great. But I have to make you stop smoking,” Erdogan was heard telling Meloni in footage aired by İhlas News Agency.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who was standing next to them, was quick to dash Erdogan's hopes and laughed, saying, “It's impossible!"
Meloni warned that quitting smoking might make her less sociable, saying, "I know, I know. I don't want to kill somebody.”
The Italian President, in a book based on a series of her interviews, had acknowledged that smoking helped her bond with global leaders, including Tunisian President Kais Saied.
Meanwhile, Erdogan has pledged to give Turkey a smoke-free future. Through a new nationwide "Smoke-Free Türkiye" campaign, Ankara is working on a 2024-2028 action plan to spread awareness, cessation support, and protect youth from tobacco smoking.
Meloni and Erdoğan were part of a summit in Egypt's Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, aimed at supporting the ceasefire reached in Gaza, ending the Israel-Hamas war and developing a long-term vision for governing and rebuilding the devastated Palestinian territory.
The gathering appeared designed to rally international support behind US President Donald Trump's vision for putting an end to the war.
