Stefania Salustri
Head of Communications and Media Relations; Website Director Tel: +39 335 7919949; e-mail: stefania.salustri@aspeninstitute.it www.aspeninstitute.it
Paola Fienga Press Office
Tel: +39 331 6170009; e-mail: paola.fienga@aspeninstitute.it
PRESS COMUNIQUÉ
Europe and the Middle East: a double transition
Rome, March 2nd, 2012 – Aspen Institute Italia organizes in Istanbul, on March 2 and 3, the second edition of its international conference series “The Aspen Bosphorus Dialogue”. This year’s edition is called Double transition: economics and politics across Europe and the Mediterranean. The meeting – organized in collaboration with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Istanbul Policy Center at Sabanci University, and the Economic Research Forum of TUSIAD and Koc University – take place at the Four Seasons Hotel at the Bosphorus (Ciragan Cad. No. 28).
The conference will be held behind closed doors. Objectives of the conference and proposals emerging from the discussions will be illustrated in two Press Conferences, on Friday, March 2 at 4.15 pm and on Saturday, March 3 at 11.30am, both at the Four Seasons Hotel at the Bosphorus.
Outside the working sessions, and following an agreement with the Aspen Press Office, interviews and briefings can be scheduled with specific participants.
Key issues under examination include: the euro crisis and the Europe crisis; possible solutions to both; the desperate need for growth. Debate will focus on Europe’s relationship with the broader Mediterranean region and, in particular, on the evolution of the political situation one year on from the beginning of the Arab world’s transition period. Within a changing Arab world, the Turkish experience and the country’s geopolitical role represent a hub for the entire region’s development. Discussion will then touch on the most acute crises in the region, starting with Syria and Iran. The conference will also dedicate ample space to a discussion of energy issues: from supply security to resource diversification to big infrastructure projects.
Participants will include: Giulio Tremonti, Chairman, Aspen Institute Italia, Rome; Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rome; Ahmet Davutoglu, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ankara; Carl Bildt, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stockholm; Ali Babacan, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic and Financial Affairs, Ankara; Egemen Bagis, Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator, Ankara; Joaquín Almunia, Vice President and Commissioner for Competition, European Commission, Brussels; Marta Dassù, Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, Rome; Adam Posen, Member, Monetary Policy Committee, Bank of England, London; Fulvio Conti, CEO and General Manager, Enel, Rome; Giuseppe Recchi, Chairman, Eni, Milan; Richard Burt, Managing Director, McLarty Associates, Washington DC; Yossi Beilin, Founder and President, Beilink Business Foreign Affairs, Herzliya; Matthew Bryza, Member of the Board of Directors, Azerbaijan Methanol Company and Former US Ambassador to Azerbaijan; Volkan S. Ediger, Strategy Development & Research Coordinator, Kadir Has University, Istanbul; Fawaz A. Gerges, Director of the Middle East Center and Professor of Middle Eastern Politics and International Relations, London School of Economics, London; Daniel Gros, Director, Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels; Charles Kupchan, Senior Fellow and Director for Europe Studies, Council on Foreign Relations, Washington, DC; Fouad Makhzoumi, Chairman, Future Pipe Industries L.L.C., Dubai;
Chekib Nouira, Chairman, Institut Arabe des Chefs d’Entreprises, Tunis; Mehmet Ogutcu,
Chairman, Global Resources Corporation, London; Soli Ozel, Professor of International Relations, Istanbul Bilgi University, Istanbul; Arun Sharma, Chief Investment Officer for Global Financial Markets, IFC International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC; Metin Ar, President & CEO, Garanti Securities, Istanbul; Yilmaz Argüden, Chairman, ARGE Consulting and Chairman, Rothschild Turkey, Istanbul; Aldo Kaslowski, TÜSIAD International Honorary President and Vice-President of the High Advisory Council, TÜSIAD, Istanbul; Fuat Keyman, Professor of International Relations and Director, Istanbul Policy Center, Sabanci University, Istanbul; Rüsdü Saraçoglu, Former Governor of the Turkish Central Bank and Chairman, Allianz Insurance A.S.
and Allianz Life & Pensions A.S. Turkey, Istanbul; Ugur Terzioglu, Overall Chairman, TABA/AmCham; Senior Advisor, Astaldi, Ankara.
