Obama embarks on final Asian tour, to meet Erdogan

Barack Obama has embarked on his eleventh and final Asian tour, during which he will attend the G20 summit in China, and then become the first US president to visit Laos, world media report, as carried by the Patria News Agency.

Before arriving in Hangzhou, China on Saturday for the G20 summit, Obama will make brief stops in Nevada and then Hawaii, where he will deliver a speech at the World Conservation Congress of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). On this occasion, Obama will also visit the tiny atoll of Midway in the middle of the ocean, in the very heart of a natural marine reserve that is home to 7,000 marine species.

Obama's advisor Ben Rhodes told reporters that the tour covers three central priorities of Obama's entire presidential term: climate change, the global economy, and the Asia-Pacific region.

At the beginning of his term, in 2011, Obama told Australian parliamentarians that "The US is a Pacific power and we are here to stay," but five years later, analysts claim, there is still much work to be done in that region.

Obama will also use the G20 to hold a one-on-one meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with Syria announced as one of the discussion topics.

Many see this summit in eastern China as the last opportunity for Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin to find common ground on Syria and Ukraine.

On September 5, the US president travels to Laos, which chairs ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) this year, where he will discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement.

During the tour, Obama has also scheduled a one-on-one meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has repeatedly threatened to break off relations with Washington, writes Index.