By deciding to host an international regional forum in Istanbul following the "One Minute" crisis, this is the government's way of freezing out the Davos summit. Named the Istanbul World Forum, the summit will be bringing a series of significant figures from Asia, Europe and the Arab world together.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Azerbaijan President İlham Aliyev, Prime Minister of Jordan Fayez Al- Tarawneh, England's Minister of State for Trade and Investment and Development Lord Gren, Tunisian Minister of Foreign Affairs Refik Abdessalem and former President to Iran Muhammed Hatemi are just a few of the political figures expected to attend. According to the information obtained, if Russian President Vladimir Putin's schedule allows, he also plans to attend the Istanbul summit.
The Istanbul World Forum, which is being held in coordination by the Prime Ministry Office of Public Diplomacy and the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) will take place on October 13th-14th in the Istanbul Congress Center.
ISRAEL TO PARTICIPATE
Two significant figures from Israel will also be attending the summit. Both former Israeli diplomat Alon Ben Meir and one of the most respectable writers for Haaretz Gideon Levy will be arriving to Turkey. Chief Rabbi Yitzchak Haleva will also be participating in the summit as a panelist. There will be 25 topics covered during the forum spanning from Islamophobia to the arts and from international law to politics.
GLOBALLY INFLUENTIAL ACTIVISTS TO ALSO SHOW PRESENCE
With over 250 panelists, during the meeting a wide variety of topics will be covered dealing with regional issues, international justice, development and economy as well as the arts. In addition to some of the world's most respected academics, the panel at the first-ever Istanbul World Forum will also have another surprising element. A number of activists from major movements such as 'Occupy Wall Street' and the April 6th movement in Tahrir Square which led to the over throwing of the Mubarak regime will also be actively participating in the forum.
This is a translation of an article originally written by Mehmet Ali Berber.