‘Critical topics in critical times’ to be discussed at Atlantic Council summit in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

Global and regional business and policy leaders will come together at the eighth annual Atlantic Council Istanbul Summit on April 27-28 with the aim of developing ideas and action on the issues of energy, the economy and security.

Coming less than two weeks after the referendum approving shifts to an executive presidential system, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will deliver a keynote address on the second day of the summit, the organizers said in a statement on April 25. 

Among the other speakers will be Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Şimşek, Energy Minister Berat Albayrak, International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol, Qatari Minister of Energy and Industry Mohammed Al Sada, former Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio, and former National Security Advisors to President George W. Bush and Barack Obama Stephen Hadley and General James Jones respectively. Top officials representing Belarus, Israel, Kenya, Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania, and the United Arab Emirates will also be in attendance, alongside regional and global CEOs.

“Appropriately, this year’s theme is “Strengthening Transatlantic Engagement with a Turbulent Region,”” said Atlantic Council President and CEO Frederick Kempe. 

“At this critical moment, the Atlantic Council’s Istanbul Summit aims to build bridges in a part of the world that is riven by crises but remains so rich in opportunity and potential,” Kempe added.

“As in previous years, we will convene an impressive group of leaders from Turkey, the wider region, the United States and Europe with both the capability and determination to make a difference,” said Defne Sadıklar Arslan, the director of the Istanbul summit and the Atlantic Council’s representative in Turkey.

With a transatlantic approach in mind and a focus on solutions, the summit will cover a wide range of issues, including the impact of refugees, the Syrian war, Turkey’s relations with the United States and the European Union, economic and political issues of the Eastern Mediterranean, energy infrastructure investment opportunities in Africa, and private-public partnership models for energy financing.

The Atlantic Council Istanbul Summit 2017 is supported by many partners, including Chevron, Çalık Holding, Halkbank, Limak Holding, MAPA and Turkish Airlines.