World leaders unite amid French grief

In this Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015, picture, people gather outside the French Consulate in Los Angeles to honor the victims of the Paris terrorist attacks. Multiple attacks across Paris on Friday night have left scores dead and hundreds injured. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

ANTALYA, Turkey—World leaders converged on Sunday for a summit in Turkey to send a message of unity in the face of the Paris attacks as France mourned after 129 people were killed in the worst terrorist assault in its history.

French President Francois Hollande vowed that France would wage “merciless” war on the Islamic State (IS) group, which claimed responsibility for the mayhem on Friday night that also left 352 people injured.

A day after the attacks, Paris sat in gloom, with the city’s major attractions shuttered from Disneyland in the east and the Eiffel Tower in the center to the Château of Versailles in the west, and its picturesque squares and avenues eerily quiet.

Schools, markets, museums and other tourist sites across the greater Paris area were closed beginning Saturday, and sporting fixtures canceled on the orders of the city or national authorities.

Bouquets, candles and messages of condolence were laid at French embassies worldwide throughout Saturday as nations joined France in mourning.

Stirring renditions of “La Marseillaise” rang out from Dublin to New York as global landmarks were bathed in the French colors and thousands marched in solidarity with Paris.

New York’s Metropolitan Opera led by star tenor Placido Domingo mourned the victims of the Paris attacks with an unscheduled performance of the distinctive French national anthem.

Singer Madonna paid a tearful tribute to the victims on stage by singing the classic French song “La vie en rose,” accompanied only by a guitar, during a concert in Stockholm.

London paid homage to the victims as some 2,000 people gathered at an evening vigil in the British capital’s Trafalgar Square, where fountains and the grand portico of the National Gallery opposite were lit to resemble the French tricolor.

In Montreal, Canada, 1,000 people gathered in front of the French consulate to pay homage to the victims.

“Montrealers, we are all Parisians,” said Anie Samson, who led the Montreal tribute.

G-20 summit

US President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin of Russia joined other leaders in the southern Mediterranean resort of Antalya on Sunday, less than two days after the attacks in the French capital.

The leaders of the world’s 20 most powerful countries agreed to step up border controls and aviation security in the wake of the Paris attacks.

They condemned the attacks as “heinous” and said they remained united in fighting terrorism.

The final document was due to be released later on Sunday.

The character of this Group of 20 (G-20) summit has been transformed by the attacks, with security and the Syrian conflict now eclipsing a traditionally financial agenda that must also deal with the spreading refugee crisis, climate change and tax avoidance.

An official in the French delegation, led by Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius after Hollande stayed home to lead his shaken nation, said it was expected that during the meetings “there would a particular emphasis on terrorism.”

The gathering offers the first possibility of a meeting between Obama and Putin since Russia launched its declared anti-

Islamic State air campaign in Syria, which the West suspects is aimed at propping up the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

The White House has said there may be an informal meeting between the pair, whose icy body language at previous encounters has grabbed as many headlines as their comments. But no formal summit is scheduled.

Host President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who wants to use the summit to cement his status as a global leader after a resounding election victory this month, has called on the world to forge a stronger “consensus” on terror in the wake of the attacks.

But whereas even the likes of Putin and Obama will have no trouble standing together in shared abhorrence of terrorism, overcoming differences on Syria will prove far trickier.

No music  

All musical events, including at the official dinner on Sunday night, have been canceled as a mark of respect for the victims of the Paris attacks for the summit, which officially kicked off at midday Sunday, Turkish presidential sources said.

The leaders will likely struggle to find common ground over the Syria crisis, with host Turkey deeply opposed to Russia’s airstrikes and finding only a lukewarm

reaction so far to its proposal for a safe zone free of IS jihadists to be created inside Syria as a haven for refugees.

“I pray and hope that G-20 will provide a platform whereby all of these issues can be discussed openly and then we can understand each other,” Erdogan said ahead of the summit.

Top diplomats gathered in Vienna on Saturday agreed a fixed calendar for Syria that would see a transition government in six months and elections in 18 months but failed to agree on the future of Assad.

Yet officials in Antalya have also insisted that they will not allow those behind the Paris attacks to derail the summit from achieving its original aims.

The refugee crisis is a key topic, with host Turkey housing some 2.2 million Syrian refugees from the conflict but the European Union wanting Ankara to do more to prevent migrants undertaking risky boat crossings to the EU. Reports from AFP, AP