3rd chatman house roundtables held in Istanbul

The second meeting of the Chatham House Istanbul Roundtables, hosted by Akbank, was held on September 15 and 16 at the Sakip Sabanci Museum in Istanbul. The event, focusing on Turkey and its neighbors in the process of change, looked at the developments in Turkey's neighbors in Europe and the Middle East, as well as opportunities and difficulties posed by such developments. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Central Bank Chairman Erdem Basci made a speech during the meeting. Besides, the opening speech of the meeting was made by Suzan Sabanci Dincer, Chairman and Executive Board Member of Akbank and also a Member of the Chatham House Panel of Senior Advisors, who said that we have been going through a process in which global balances rapidly change and the developing countries become prominent thanks to their economic performances. "In such a process, Turkey has attracted the attention of entire world with its performance amid economic crisis and its effective foreign policies. Turkey undertakes its balancing role in the region firstly with its economic dynamism and stable democracy," Dincer added. Speaking at the meeting, Chatham House Director Robin Niblett said that they have seized the opportunity of discussing the striking developments in Turkey's neighbors extending from Europe to Caucasus, Central Asia to Middle East and Northern Africa during the third roundtables, and that Turkey has been reorganizing its foreign policies in order to overcome such developments encompassing both important risks and opportunities.