Abant Platform To Be Held In Washington

WASHINGTON - ''Abant Platform'' will take place from April 19-20 in Washington, the United States.
Issuing a statement on Tuesday, the Johns Hopkins Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) said that SAIS and Turkey's Journalists and Writers Foundation would co-host the two-day conference, ''Islam, Secularism and Democracy: The Turkish Experience''.
The conference would examine the relevance of Turkey's secular, Muslim and democratic attributes for the larger Islamic world in today's post-September 11 environment, SAIS said and noted that the conference served as this year's ''Abant Platform'', a forum that since 1998 annually brought together prominent Turkish intellectuals from diverse ideological backgrounds to discuss political and social matters and international dynamics in the spirit of dialogue and reconciliation.
This year is the first time the ''Abant Platform'' will be held outside of Turkey, and Turkish participants will be joined by American colleagues.
During opening session, Mehmet Aydin, Turkey's Minister of State in charge of Religious Affairs, would give the keynote address, and on the second day, Ali Babacan, Turkey's Minister of State in charge of Economic Affairs, and Kemal Dervis, vice chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP), would give the day's opening remarks, SAIS said.
More than 40 panelists will participate in roundtable sessions exploring ''The Relevance of the Turkish Experience for the Middle East, Central Asia and the Caucasus'', SAIS added.
(MS-AY) 13.04.2004