BRUSSELS - A former Turkish diplomat will become a member of the "Wise Men" committee of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that will be assigned with preparing a new strategic plan for the alliance.
Retired ambassador Umit Pamir, who had also been Turkey's permanent representative to NATO in the past, will be one of the 12 wise men who will give shape to NATO's new "Strategic Concept".
The Wise Men Group will be headed by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, while former head of Royal Dutch Shell Jeroen van der Veer will act as the vice-chairman of the committee.
Apart from Pamir, Britain's former Defense Minister Geoff Hoon, head of the French National Library Bruno Racine, Italian ambassador Giancarlo Aragona, Canadian ambassador Marie Gervais-Vidricaire, Spanish ambassador Fernando Perpina-Robert Peyra, German ambassador Hans-Friedrich von Ploetz, Latvian ambassador Aivis Ronis, Greek ambassador Yannis-Alexis Zepos and Polish professor Adam Daniel Rotfeld will be the other members of the group.
NATO SG Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said that the existing Strategic Concept of the alliance should be updated in a way that would include new threats such as asymmetric terrorism.
Citizens could also contribute to the preparation process of the new concept by attending the forum to be opened on NATO's web-site, Rasmussen added.
The Strategic Concept is an official document that outlines NATO?s enduring purpose and nature and its fundamental security tasks. It also identifies the central features of the new security environment, specifies the elements of the alliance?s approach to security and provides guidelines for the further adaptation of its military forces.
The new Strategic Concept of the military alliance is envisaged to be prepared in three phases. First, seminars will be held in order to learn about the opinions of different circles. After exchanging views with member countries and asking for their expectations, main chapters will be determined and finally the text will be written.