Monday, March 27

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Notes:

Speakers at this year’s Opening Session on Monday March 27th were: the United States Ambassador to Turkey, Ambassador Ross Wilson; the Turkish Ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Nabi Şensoy; Chairman of Koc Holding, Mustafa V. Koc; and Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB), Rıfat Hisarcıklıoğlu. The Plenary that followed was entitled “A Candid Discussion of US-Turkey Relations”, and displayed the considerable analytical talents of Vice Chairman of The Cohen Group, Ambassador Marc Grossman; American Enterprise Institute Vice President Danielle Pletka; Washington Institute’s Dr. Soner Cağaptay; and Bilgi University’s Prof. İlter Turan.  The moderator of the panel was Dr. Ian O. Lesser of the Woodrow Wilson Center.  As hoped, this discussion displayed the renewed vigor in US-Turkey relations on both sides of the Atlantic, and the preparations of business and governments to move on to a stronger, more demanding level in the relationship. 

Monday’s Luncheon featured speaker was The Honorable Chuck Hagel (R) US Senator from Nebraska.  Senator Hagel spoke of the importance he attaches to the US-Turkey relationship and urged everyone who valued this relationship to continue their good work in promoting it further. 

In Sector sessions, the Undersecretary for Defense Industry (SSM), Murad Bayar discussed ways in which US and Turkey can continue to cooperate in the Defense Industry, while the newly appointed Energy Coordinator of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Mithat Balkan, and Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs of the Department of Energy, Karen Harbert, discussed the importance of Turkey’s energy role in a dynamic region.  The President of GYODER, Haluk Sür informed the attendees about the recent developments in the Turkish Real Estate market and opportunities available for all interested investors in this area.

At the day’s second Defense session, Lieutenant General Hilmi Akın Zorlu, Chief for Plans and Principles, Turkish Armed Forces, delivered a speech on the Global and Regional Defense & Security Policy Issues.  The session on Turkey’s EU negotiations and their impact on US-Turkey relations was especially popular, featuring remarks by The Honorable Joost Lagendijk from the EU Parliament, and The Honorable Egemen Bağış from the Turkish Parliament.  At the afternoon Trade session, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, H. E. Kürşad Tüzmen, and Congressman Robert Wexler (D, FL) Chair of the US-Turkey Congressional Caucus, addressed the importance of expanding trade between the two countries. Other distinguished speakers who took part at the Monday sessions included Michael J. Dwyer, Chief Economist, from the Department of Agriculture and Alp Pıdık, General Manager of MarSA, who spoke of the opportunities in Agribusiness Trade and Investments. An important Energy sector topic was Power Privatization.  During this session Osman Demirci, Vice President of the Privatization Administration and Yusuf Günay, Chairman of the Energy Market Regulatory Authority, together with other panelists discussed the timing and importance of the proposed power privatization process.

The two cultural events of the conference took place on Monday.  In the afternoon, author of the newly released book “Osman’s Dream”, Caroline Finkel, talked about the ordeals and anticipations of preparing her book for publication and signed copies for the Conference attendees. The Cultural Gala Reception and fundraising Dinner was the highlight of the evening. It’s theme was “Rediscovering Patara: Gateway to an Illustrious Past and a Bright Future,” and its goal was to raise funds for the work of Akdeniz University (Antalya, Turkey) unearthing and preserving Patara, an Ancient City on Turkey’s Mediterranean Coast.  Speeches by Prof. Gül Işın of Akdeniz University and Prof. James Muller of the University of Alaska, illustrated the ongoing archeology and drew a vivid historical connection between the political principles of two founding Fathers of the American Constitution, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton and Patara and the Lycian League. The sumptuous dinner was well attended, and a good amount of funds were raised for this good cause. 

Tuesday, March 28

Presentations >>

Notes:

Tuesday’s program began with the Golden Horn Breakfast at which Majority Whip of the House of Representative, The Honorable Roy Blunt (R, MO) gave the keynote address.  Keynote speakers for the morning Sector sessions included: Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew J. Bryza and Ambassador Selahattin Alpar, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director for Bi-lateral Political Affairs who spoke about the recent dynamics in US-Turkish Relations at the Defense Session.  The Honorable Hikmet Çetin, NATO’s Senior Civilian Representative for Afghanistan and other Panelists talked about the new project opportunities for companies in the region.  This year for the first time a special session was held for Homeland Security Issues. Speakers from US Department of Homeland Security, Turkey’s Undersecretariat of Customs and private sector companies with interest in this area participated.  Other sessions of the morning covered issues in Agribusiness Livestock Sector, and “New Faces in Turkish Banking” brought together representatives of the foreign banks that have formed partnerships with Turkish banks such as Fortis Bank CEO Tayfun Bayazıt, Chairman of the Board of TEB, Yavuz Canevi, CEO of Deutsche Bank Turkey, Dilek Yardım and the Senior Vice President of GE Consumer Finance James Richmond. 

The Tuesday Luncheon Keynote address was delivered Minister of State for Foreign Trade, H. E. Kürşad Tüzmen who gave an attention-grabbing speech that emphasized the role of trade in the promotion of better relations between the two countries. Minister Tuzmen underlined the new initiative of his Ministry, “The year of the Americas: 2006-2007,” during which trade attention will be focused on six US States: New York, Florida, Illinois, Texas, California and Georgia.  Sharing the Luncheon podium was Assistant Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Earl Anthony Wayne, who concurred with Minister Tuzmen on the importance of increased trade while noting as well the persistence of impediments to trade that need to be corrected.

Tuesday afternoon continued with the Networking Session, American-Turkish Council’s traditional Foreign Service Institute Reception for Turkish language officers assigned to the US Missions in Turkey and several Sector Committee meetings.

The evening Sector dinners were preceded by a Grand Reception in the Hotel Foyer, following which participants divided among the four dinners: Agribusiness & Food Industries, Defense & Security Affairs, Construction & Energy and Trade & Commerce. At the Trade & Commerce Networking Dinner, Minister Tüzmen and Undersecretary for International Trade at the Department of Commerce, Franklin L. Lavin, addressed the guests, while General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, gave an inspired speech at the Defense & Security Affairs Dinner.

Wednesday, March 29

The Wednesday morning program was devoted to Committee meetings and the Defense & Security Affairs Breakfast, where Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kohler, Director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency was given the Defense Citation.

ATC conferences cannot be successful without the help and hard work of the many Volunteers who devote their time and skills to support this important annual event on US-Turkish Relations. So in addition to our 700 Turkish and American participants, we thank an outstanding crew of Volunteers who helped make this year’s conference one of the best. 

Awards

The Annual Conference is the occasion when the American-Turkish Council and Turkish-US Business Council acknowledge the hard work and dedication of individuals and companies that have made noteworthy contributions to the furtherance of the US-Turkish relations. This year was no exception. We thank the following individuals and companies and recognize them for their efforts and hard work: