The Atlantic Council will this week host world leaders for the 8th time in Turkey at the Istanbul Summit which will focus on regions from Syria to Africa and the Black Sea region to the eastern Mediterranean, discussing issues on the international agenda regarding the economy, national security, energy, trade and the Syrian refugee crisis.The 8th Atlantic Council Istanbul Summit will be held April 27-28 and bring together top business leaders as well as state leaders from across the Middle East and North Africa Region (MENA Region) who will generate ideas and take action regarding energy, the economy and security while seeking opportunities in the midst of increasing challenges. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is expected to attend and participate as a keynote speaker on the second day of the summit, nearly two weeks after the successful referendum in Turkey, addressing more than 500 high-level attendees.

Other key speakers at the summit will include Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Şimşek, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Berat Albayrak, International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol, Qatar's Energy and Industry Minister Mohammed Saleh Al Sada and Spain's former Foreign Affairs Minister Ana Palacio, along with Stephen Hadley, the former national security adviser to former U.S. President George W. Bush, and former National Security Adviser to former U.S. President Barack Obama Gen. James L. Jones, as well as numerous ministers and bureaucrats from Belarus, Israel, Kenya, Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and CEOs representing corporations from around the world.Atlantic Council President and CEO Frederick Kempe spoke about the significant timing of the Istanbul Summit in the context of critical issues affecting the region saying, "This year's theme is titled, 'Strengthening the Trans-Atlantic Engagement with a Turbulent Region,' in accordance with the period we are currently in," adding that the region is rich in potential despite the challenges it currently faces.The summit, which focuses on providing solutions with a trans-Atlantic approach, will cover a wide range of issues including the refugee crisis, the Syrian civil war, Turkey's relations with the U.S. and the EU, solutions to the economic and political problems in the eastern Mediterranean region, investment opportunities in Africa for energy infrastructure and private-public cooperation models in energy financing