TEPAV Organized a Program for the American Journalists and Experts
20/10/2008 - Viewed 1478 timesTEPAV brought a group of nine American journalists, bloggers and experts to Turkey during October 12-18, 2008 facilitated by funding mainly from the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), but also on an event basis by Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD) and American Business Forum in Turkey (ABFT).
The idea of organizing such kind of a program came into mind a few months ago when there were fast-paced developments in Turkey in relation to both domestic and foreign policy issues. At such a time in which even the Turks had difficulty giving meaning to these developments, it was thought that such kind of a trip would be useful for experts/journalists concentrating on the Middle East region in general and Turkey in particular. This Turkey trip aimed to provide this selected group of experts with the opportunity to gain first hand information from prominent Turkish analysts, politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen in order to contribute to better informed and more insighful analysis on Turkey in the American media.
The trip included Ankara and Istanbul sections. The Ankara section of the program included meetings with the Turkish President, H.E. Abdullah Gul, Mr. Rifat Hisarciklioglu, the President of TOBB, Mr. Murat Ozcelik, Turkey's Special Envoy to Iraq, Prof. Ahmet Davutoglu, Chief Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Erdogan and the US Ambassador in Turkey, Amb. Ross Wilson. TEPAV also organized a round table meeting on October 14, 2008 in which Mr. Murat Yetkin from Radikal Daily made a presentation on internal developments within Turkey, Prof. Meliha Altunisik from Middle East Technical University on Turkish foreign policy with an emphasis on the Middle East and Prof. Mitat Celikpala of TOBB University on Turkish foreign policy with an emphasis on the recent developments in the Caucasus. The short presentations were followed by questions from the American journalists/experts. The group also had the opportunity to meet with political party leaders whose schedules were available to meet with the group.
The last two days of the program included meetings in Istanbul. TUSIAD organized a working luncheon in which the group members could have a discussion on the latest internal and foreign policy developments within Turkey. The TUSIAD lunch was followed by a round table meeting at DEIK with representation from the Turkish business sector. Another round-table meeting was organized at TOBB Plaza on October 16, 2008 in which Prof. Fuat Keyman, made a presentation on the recent developments in relation to the domestic Turkish politics followed by a Q&A section and a fruitful discussion. Other participants of the round-table meeting were prominent journalists and academics from the Istanbul area. The round-table discussion was followed by a lunch organized by the American Business Forum in Turkey (ABFT). This lunch was attended by the representatives of the American firms that have a presence in Turkey. The topic of the discussion was the investment climate, the foreign direct investment flows into Turkey and the recent global economic crisis. The last event of the Turkey program was a dinner at Ciragan Palace organized by DEIK and Turkish-American Business Council. The honorary guest of this dinner was General Scowcroft.
The American delegation was headed by Ambassador Morton Abromowitz, former US Ambassador to Turkey. Other experts included: Morton Abromowitz, former US Ambassador to Turkey; Ms. Kate Palmer, Deputy Managing Editor of Foreign Policy; Carolyn O'Hara, Senior Editor at Foreign Policy; Trudy Rubin, International News Columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Spencer Boyer, Director of International Law and Diplomacy at the Center for American Progress, Caleb Howe, editor of the Red State blog, Georgie Anne Geyer, columnist for Universal Press Syndicate, Ben Lando, Energy Editor of United Press International and Stephan G. Richter, Publisher and Editor in Chief of The Globalist.
The idea of organizing such kind of a program came into mind a few months ago when there were fast-paced developments in Turkey in relation to both domestic and foreign policy issues. At such a time in which even the Turks had difficulty giving meaning to these developments, it was thought that such kind of a trip would be useful for experts/journalists concentrating on the Middle East region in general and Turkey in particular. This Turkey trip aimed to provide this selected group of experts with the opportunity to gain first hand information from prominent Turkish analysts, politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen in order to contribute to better informed and more insighful analysis on Turkey in the American media.
The trip included Ankara and Istanbul sections. The Ankara section of the program included meetings with the Turkish President, H.E. Abdullah Gul, Mr. Rifat Hisarciklioglu, the President of TOBB, Mr. Murat Ozcelik, Turkey's Special Envoy to Iraq, Prof. Ahmet Davutoglu, Chief Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Erdogan and the US Ambassador in Turkey, Amb. Ross Wilson. TEPAV also organized a round table meeting on October 14, 2008 in which Mr. Murat Yetkin from Radikal Daily made a presentation on internal developments within Turkey, Prof. Meliha Altunisik from Middle East Technical University on Turkish foreign policy with an emphasis on the Middle East and Prof. Mitat Celikpala of TOBB University on Turkish foreign policy with an emphasis on the recent developments in the Caucasus. The short presentations were followed by questions from the American journalists/experts. The group also had the opportunity to meet with political party leaders whose schedules were available to meet with the group.
The last two days of the program included meetings in Istanbul. TUSIAD organized a working luncheon in which the group members could have a discussion on the latest internal and foreign policy developments within Turkey. The TUSIAD lunch was followed by a round table meeting at DEIK with representation from the Turkish business sector. Another round-table meeting was organized at TOBB Plaza on October 16, 2008 in which Prof. Fuat Keyman, made a presentation on the recent developments in relation to the domestic Turkish politics followed by a Q&A section and a fruitful discussion. Other participants of the round-table meeting were prominent journalists and academics from the Istanbul area. The round-table discussion was followed by a lunch organized by the American Business Forum in Turkey (ABFT). This lunch was attended by the representatives of the American firms that have a presence in Turkey. The topic of the discussion was the investment climate, the foreign direct investment flows into Turkey and the recent global economic crisis. The last event of the Turkey program was a dinner at Ciragan Palace organized by DEIK and Turkish-American Business Council. The honorary guest of this dinner was General Scowcroft.
The American delegation was headed by Ambassador Morton Abromowitz, former US Ambassador to Turkey. Other experts included: Morton Abromowitz, former US Ambassador to Turkey; Ms. Kate Palmer, Deputy Managing Editor of Foreign Policy; Carolyn O'Hara, Senior Editor at Foreign Policy; Trudy Rubin, International News Columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Spencer Boyer, Director of International Law and Diplomacy at the Center for American Progress, Caleb Howe, editor of the Red State blog, Georgie Anne Geyer, columnist for Universal Press Syndicate, Ben Lando, Energy Editor of United Press International and Stephan G. Richter, Publisher and Editor in Chief of The Globalist.
Tags: Middle East, Turkish Foreign Policy,
