Panel Session with Council of Councils (CoC) Presidents and
Dinner with H.E. Ali Babacan,
Former Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Economy
October 5, 2015
On October 4-6, 2015, GRF had the pleasure of hosting the Council of Councils (CoC) Eighth Regional Conference in Istanbul. Founded in 2012 by leading foreign policy institutes around the world including GRF, the Council is a platform aiming to facilitate dialogue for creating international awareness on the 21st century’s crucial global problems.
As a part of the conference, a panel session entitled “The Endgame in Eurozone and Europe’s Prospects as an Effective Global Actor” was held at the Seed Auditorium of the Sakıp Sabancı Museum on October 5th. The panel brought together guests from CoC member organizations, GRF members and a distinguished group of media and non-profit representatives, and was livestreamed on the GRF website. During the session, four CoC member organization presidents shared their assessments on the subject under the moderation of Prof. İlter Turan, GRF member and Former President of Bilgi University. After delivering their speeches, Thomas Gomart (IFRI), Richard N. Haass (CFR), Memduh Karakullukçu (GRF) and Volker Perthes (SWP) received a variety of questions from the audience.
Following the panel, a dinner was held with the participation of H.E. Ali Babacan, Former Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Economy, as a keynote speaker. In his address, based on his experiences and assessments, Mr. Babacan evaluated the changes in the Turkish economy, as well as domestic and foreign affairs since 2002. After his speech, Mr. Babacan answered the questions of the audience.
To read the transcript of the meeting please click.