On May 15-16 a delegation of TUSIAD board members, led by the Chair of the Board of Directors, Arzuhan Dogan Yalcindag, came to Washington for a series of meetings with Washington think tanks, financial institutions and U.S. government officials. The main topics discussed during the meetings were Turkish U.S. relations, political and economic developments in Turkey, Turkey’s EU accession process, PKK terrorism, and the Armenian issue.
On Thursday, May 15, 2008, in celebration of the 10th Anniversary of its inauguration, TUSIAD-US hosted a conference followed by a reception. The conference, which was entitled "The Foundations of US-Turkey Relations in the 21st Century," featured three panels, each with a Turkish presenter and an American respondent. Chair of the Board, Arzuhan Dogan Yacindag, made opening remarks and noted that relations between the U.S. and Turkey have improved over the past year, particularly following Prime Minister Erdogan’s meeting with President Bush on November 5th 2007. The first session of the conference, entitled "The Future of Turkish-American Relations," featured Dr. Mustafa Aydin, Professor at TOBB Economic and Technical University (ETU), and Dr. Ian Lesser, Senior Transatlantic Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States. TUSIAD Board Member Amb. Cem Duna (Ret.) moderated the panel.
The second panel was on "Turkey's Contribution to Energy Security and Stability in the Black Sea and Caspian Region" and was moderated by Amb. Ozdem Sanberk (Ret.). The participants discussed Turkey's role as an energy hub in the region and the implications of this in the context of US-Turkish relations. The discussion featured Amb. Mithat Balkan (Ret.), currently a Senior Advisor at Calik Energy, and Matthew Bryza, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the US Department of State.
Amb. Ozdem Sanberk also moderated the final panel, which was entitled the "Armenian Issue in a Broader Context." This panel discussed the difficulty posed to the US-Turkish relationship from the possibility of a resolution recognizing the alleged genocide of Armenians during World War I. Participants included Dr. Suat Kiniklioglu, Member of the Turkish Parliament for the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Matthew D. Bernstein of DLA Piper, and David Saltzman of Saltzman & Evinch, PC. Saltzman’s report “H. Res. 106: Legal and Factual Deficiencies," which was recently published by TUSIAD was also presented during this panel. Below you can find a link to this report.
Following the conference, attendees and other guests came together to celebrate the 10th year of the inauguration of the TUSIAD-US office. Following brief welcoming remarks by Arzuhan Dogan Yalcindag, TUSIAD’s Washington DC representative Abdullah Akyuz gave a speech to commemorate his 10 years as DC representative.
Click here to access Conference Program
Click here to access "US H.Res. 106: Legal and Factual Deficiencies" by David Saltzman
Click here to access Amb. Mithat Balkan's speech
Click here to access Mustafa Aydin's speech
