The 11th Ambassadors' Conference, organized annually by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2008, started on Saturday in the capital Ankara with the theme "Robust Diplomacy: Active on the Ground and at the Table" and will continue until Friday. Some 254 ambassadors from central organizations and on duty abroad are expected to attend the meeting along with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, several ministers and foreign guests. The Ambassadors Conference plays a major role in the in-house and inter-institutional coordination and planning of Turkey's foreign policy, as well as in terms of public diplomacy. The theme of this conference points out that Turkish diplomacy employs various tools with a holistic approach to protect Turkey's national rights and interests and contributes to international peace and stability in the face of global and regional challenges. President Erdoğan will deliver instructions to the ambassadors and the country's foreign diplomats and challenges and opportunities will be put on the table to be discussed in a comprehensive manner.

In addition, other high-profile Turkish officials, such as Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop, ministers, senior public officials and high-level foreign dignitaries will address the ambassadors.

Economy, security and defense will be some of the core subjects of the conference with a whole day allocated for each. Conflict resolution, crisis management, expert panels, rising global populism and racism will also be tackled at the event.

Today, after the formal opening, a common panel with the participation of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM), the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK), the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD), the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen's Association (MÜSİAD), the Anatolian Lions Businessmen Association (ASKON) and the Turkish Contractors Association (TMB) will be held with the theme of "Turkey's Foreign Trade Strategy."

This will be followed up with speeches by Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Kudret Özersay, Foreign Affairs Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilov, Foreign Affairs Minister of Jordan Ayman Safadi and Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy.

Ayman Safadi will be visiting Turkey for two days and will have a bilateral meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on the relations of the two countries and regional and global issues.

As has become traditional, the closing of the conference will be in another city rather than the capital Ankara. On Aug. 9, the closing ceremony will take place in Black Sea province of Samsun to mark the 100th anniversary of the arrival of modern Turkey's founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, in Samsun to launch the war of independence.

May 19, 1919, was a milestone in Turkish history as it was the day when Mustafa Kemal, later to become Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, arrived in the Black Sea city of Samsun from Istanbul to organize the war that saw the remnants of the Ottoman Empire transformed into modern Turkey four years later.

Furthermore, a book containing previously unpublished documents from the archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs titled "1919 in its Centenary: Documents from our Archives" will be launched on the occasion of the Conference.