Top diplomats serenade NATO meeting with ‘we are the world’

The secretary general of NATO and the EU foreign policy chief joined ministers from the military alliance for an unlikely rendition of the 1980s pop classic “We Are the World” at a glitzy gala dinner.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Greek counterpart Nikos Kocias took to the stage late Wednesday at the dinner thrown for NATO foreign ministers at their two-day meeting in the southern Turkish city of Antalya, images showed.

They joined in with Turkish singer Behzat Gerceker and his Enbe Orkestrasi in a rendition of “We Are the World”, the catchy charity single written in 1985 by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie.

“Let’s sing one last song, the song of peace!” Gerceker told the guests before inviting the other VIPs on stage.

The Greek and Turkish diplomats were then joined by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini. US Secretary of State John Kerry had left earlier Wednesday.

After a day of talks focused on the risk of conflict with Russia and instability in Afghanistan and the Middle East, images showed the tie-less diplomats joining hands on stage at the night-time party in the upscale coastal hotel on the Mediterranean.

Stoltenberg himself sang into the microphone offered by Gerceker, while Mogherini was seen showing the NATO chief the right swaying motions to make during the song.

The NATO meeting, the first such gathering of foreign ministers outside Brussels since 2011, wound up Thursday after talks focusing on Afghanistan, Russia and the battle against Islamic State (IS) jihadists.