The World Political Forum (also called Istanbul Forum) is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

, based in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, best known for its annual meeting in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

. The forum takes place with the participation of statesmen, CEOs, opinion leaders, bureaucrats and the business elite as well as renowned figures from reputable universities.

History

Ahmet Eyüp Özgüç is the current President of the Foundation which originally started the preparations for the summit in 2010 and sought to broaden its vision further to include providing a platform for resolving international conflicts. The first was held on 13–14 March 2011, in Istanbul and was hosted by the Turkish Foundation and supported by the Turkish Prime Ministry. The theme was “Changing to meet, meeting to change”, emphasizing the radical changes in policymakers’ thinking now taking place and the importance of sharing new ideas to address the urgent problems facing particularly the Middle East. The summit was the first of what Turkish Foundation President Ahmet Eyüp Özgüç planned to be an annual forum supported by the Turkish Foundation. Just as the G8 is losing out to a more representative G20 in global economic decision-making, the Turkish organizers intend that such summits provide a more democratic platform for voices of change. The second World Political Forum was held on May 17–18, 2012, with the theme of "Building a New World". Third summit is to be held in June 2013 with the theme "A New and Righteous World Order".

Participants

The two-day event called the “Leaders of Change Summit” opened March 13, 2011. It consisted of nearly 100 speakers: * Vedat Akgiray, Chairman of the Capital Markets Board of Turkey * Sayyed Ammar Alhakim, President of Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq *

Tariq al-Hashimi Tariq al-Hashimi ( ar, طَارِق الْهَاشِمِي, Târık el-Hâşimî; born 1942) is an Iraqi politician who served as the general secretary of the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) until May 2009. He served as the Vice President of Iraq from ...

, Vice President of Iraq *

Abdulkadir Aksu Abd al-Qadir or Abdulkadir ( ar, عبد القادر) is a male Muslim given name. It is formed from the Arabic words '' Abd'', ''al-'' and '' Qadir''. The name means "servant of the powerful", ''Al-Qādir'' being one of the names of God in the ...

, Vice President of Justice and Development Party * Metropolit Alexander, Russian Orthodox Church, the Metropolit of Astana and Kyrgyzstan *

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (; 8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founde ...

, 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations *

Ömer Aras Omar/Umar ( ar, عمر) is a masculine given name that has different origins in three languages across the world (Arabic, Hebrew and Germanic) even though it is best known as an Arabic name and the name Omar was mentioned in the Old Testament. Om ...

, Finansbank Group CEO *Prof. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan, Istanbul Bilgi University member of board of trustees *

Bülent Arınç Bülent Arınç (; born 25 May 1948) is a conservative Turkish politician. He served as the 22nd Speaker of the Parliament of Turkey from 2002 to 2007 and as a Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey between 2009 and 2015. Early life and education He w ...

, State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey *

Mykola Azarov Mykola Yanovych Azarov ( uk, Мико́ла Я́нович Аза́ров, ; né Pakhlo; Cyrillic: Пахло; born 17 December 1947) is a Ukrainian politician who was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 11 March 2010 to 27 January 2014. He was t ...

, Prime Minister of Ukraine *Sheik Dr. Muhammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, Kuwait Deputiy Of Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs * Ali Babacan, Minister of State and Deputy Prime Minister of Republic of Turkey * Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia * Egemen Bağış, Minister of EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator of the Republic of Turkey * Zvi Bar'el, Author-Journalist *Prof. Ali Bardakoğlu, Former President of Religious Affairs of Republic of Turkey *

Bartholomew I Bartholomew I ( el, Βαρθολομαῖος Αʹ, , tr, I. Bartholomeos; born 29 February 1940) is the 270th archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch, since 2 November 1991. In accordance with his title, he is regarded as the ''pr ...

, Patriarch of the Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Istanbul * Deniz Bayramoğlu, Journalist / Writer * Tevfik Bilgin, Chairman of BRSA (Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency) *Prof. Nick Bostrom, Oxford University Director of Future of Humanity Institute *

Pier Luigi Celata Pier Luigi Celata (born 23 January 1937) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who from July 2012 to December 2014 was Vice Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church. He spent much of his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He becam ...

, Secretary General of the Council of Inter-religions in Vatican *

Ahmed Najib Chebbi Ahmed Najib Chebbi ( ar, أحمد نجيب الشابي, french: Ahmed Néjib Chebbi) or simply Najib Chebbi (born 30 July 1944) is a Tunisian attorney and politician. Chebbi is a prominent figure of the Tunisian opposition movement; in 1983, he ...

, Tunisia Minister of Development, President of Democratic Party *

Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...

, Administrator of UNDP *Prof.

Paul Collier Sir Paul Collier, (born 23 April 1949) is a British development economist who serves as the Professor of Economics and Public Policy in the Blavatnik School of Government and the director of the International Growth Centre. He currently is a ...

, Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford Economics Department *

Wendy Chamberlin Wendy Jean Chamberlin (born 12 August 1948) is a veteran diplomat who has served in the United States Department of State and USAID, worked for the UN High Commissioner on Refugees ( UNHCR), and served as President of the Middle East Institute u ...

, President of Washington Middle East Institute * Eric Cornut, Head Novartis Pharma Region Europe *

Cengiz Çandar Cengiz Çandar (born 1948) is a Turkish journalist, senior columnist, and a Middle East expert. He is the author of Turkey’s Neo-Ottomanist Moment - A Eurasianist Odyssey (Policy Series) (2021); Turkey's Mission Impossible: War and Peace with t ...

, Coloumnist in Radikal Newspaper *

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (; born 5 February 1968) is a Turkish diplomat and politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey since 24 November 2015. He previously served in the same position from August 2014 to August 2015. He is ...

, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe * Gökhan Çetinsaya, President of Istanbul Şehir University *

Ahmet Davutoğlu Ahmet Davutoğlu (; born 26 February 1959) is a Turkish academic, politician and former diplomat who served as the 26th Prime Minister of Turkey and Leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) from 2014 to 2016. He previously served as ...

, Minister of Foreign Affairs *

Kemal Derviş Kemal Derviş (; born 10 January 1949) is a Turkish economist and politician, and former head of the United Nations Development Programme. He was honored by the government of Japan for having "contributed to mainstreaming Japan's development ass ...

, Director of the Global Economy and Development Program at the Brooking Institution * Ekrem Dumanlı, Zaman Newspaper Executive Editor *Prof. William Eimicke, Founding Director of School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University *

Şükrü Elekdağ Mustafa Şükrü Elekdağ (; born 29 September 1924) is a Turkish diplomat, academician, and politician. He graduated from Galatasaray High School and received his undergraduate from Istanbul Higher Education School of Economics and Commerce, w ...

, Ambassador, Member of the Parliament *Prof. John Ellis, Cern * Ekrem Erdem, AKP (Justice and Development Party) Deputy Chairman *

Zeynel Abidin Erdem Dr. Zeynel Abidin Erdem (born February 15, 1944 in Mardin) is a Turkish business tycoon and the honorary consul of the Kingdom of Spain to the Marmara Region of Turkey and the honorary consul of the Republic of Sudan to the Republic of Turkey. H ...

, Erdem Holding Chairman of the Board of Directors *

Recep Tayyip Erdogan Recep may refer to: People Surname * Aziz Recep (born 1992), German-Greek footballer * Sibel Recep (born 1987), Swedish pop singer Given name * Recep Adanır (born 1929), Turkish footballer * Recep Akdağ (born 1960), Turkish physician and polit ...

, Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey *

Hüseyin Erkan Hüseyin Erkan (born 1958 in Konya, Turkey) served as CEO of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) from June 2012 until October 2014. He was the Chairman and CEO of the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) from 2007 until 2012. After graduating from hi ...

, Chairman of Istanbul Stock Exchange *

Vincente Fox Vicente Fox Quesada (; born 2 July 1942) is a Mexican businessman and politician who served as the 62nd president of Mexico from 1 December 2000 to 30 November 2006. After campaigning as a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist, Fox was elec ...

, 35th President of Mexico and Member of the Club of Madrid *

Aart de Geus Aart J. de Geus (born June 11, 1954) is the co-founder, chairman and co-CEO of Synopsys Inc. De Geus graduated with a master's degree in electrical engineering (1978) from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Swiss Federal Institute o ...

, Deputy-Secretary-General of OECD *Prof. Jay Goodman, Professor of Political Science at Wheaton College *

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic no ...

, 45th Vice President of the United States of America * Zeynep Göğüş, Journalist - Writer *Prof. Mehmet Görmez, President of Religious Affairs of Republic of Turkey * Isak Haleva, Chief Rabbi of Turkish Jewish Community * Oğuz Haksever, Journalist *

Bakir Izetbegović Bakir Izetbegović (; born 28 June 1956) is a Bosnian politician who served as the 6th Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2010 to 2018. He is the current president of the Party of Democratic Action and member of the ...

, President of Bosnia Herzegovina *

Lionel Jospin Lionel Robert Jospin (; born 12 July 1937) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002. Jospin was First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 1995 to 1997 and the party's candidate for President of France in ...

, 165th Prime Minister of France and Member of the Club of Madrid * Ibrahim Kalin, Senior Advisor to the Prime Minister of Republic of Turkey *

Stephen Kinzer Stephen Kinzer (born August 4, 1951) is an American author, journalist, and academic. A former ''New York Times'' correspondent, he has published several books, and writes for several newspapers and news agencies. Reporting career During the 198 ...

, Journalist and Author * Metin Kilci, Undersecuretary of Republic of Turkey Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources *

Wim Kok Willem "Wim" Kok (; 29 September 1938 – 20 October 2018) was a Dutch politician and trade union leader who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 22 August 1994 until 22 July 2002.Temel Kotil, Turkish Airlines CEO * Ludger Kühnhardt, Director of the Center for European Integration Studies * Mehdi Mabrouk, Tunisian Minister of Culture *Prof.

Ali Mazrui Ali Al'amin Mazrui (24 February 1933 – 12 October 2014), was a Kenyan-born American academic, professor, and political writer on African and Islamic studies, and North-South relations. He was born in Mombasa, Kenya. His positions included ...

, Professor at The State University of New York at Binghamton * Murat Mercan, President of Turkish Parliamentary Foreign Relations Commission *

Hossein Nasr Seyyed Hossein Nasr (; fa, سید حسین نصر, born April 7, 1933) is an Iranian philosopher and University Professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University. Born in Tehran, Nasr completed his education in Iran and the United St ...

, Professor of Islamic studies at the George Washington University * Ahmet Eyüp Özgüç, Board of Directors of TÜGAV * Ömer Özkaya, Editor in chef of East West Researches Institute * Hegumen Philip, Russian Orthodox Church Hegumen *Prof.

Tariq Ramadan Tariq Ramadan ( ar, طارق رمضان, ; born 26 August 1962) is a Swiss Muslim academic, philosopher, and writer. He was a professor of contemporary Islamic studies at St Antony's College, Oxford and the Faculty of Theology and Religion, Uni ...

, Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford * Rahip Gregory Roschin, Russian Orthodox Church *Prof. Mehdi Roustami, Iran Oil University Faculty Member * Lucian Sarb, Euronews Director of News and Programmes * Ali Saydam, Bersay CEO *

Rabbi Arthur Schneier Arthur Schneier (born March 20, 1930) is an Austrian-American rabbi and human rights activist. Rabbi Schneier has served for over 50 years as the Senior Rabbi of New York City’s Park East Synagogue. While being honored with the Presidential Cit ...

, President and Founder of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation * Yavuz Semerci, Journalist and Writer *Prof. Yunus Söylet, President of Istanbul University * Lord Nicholas Stern, Professor at London School of Economics * Ümit Sezgin, Editorial Director of TRT TURK * Ferit Faik Şahenk, Chairman of Doğuş Holding * Idris Naim Şahin, Member of Turkish Parliament * Özay Şendir, Journalist and Writer * Sani Şener, TAV CEO *

Mehmet Şimşek Mehmet Şimşek (born 1 January 1967) is a Turkish politician and economist who served as a Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey from 24 November 2015 until the office's abolition on 9 July 2018. He previously served as the Minister of Finance from 2 ...

, Republic of Turkey Finance Minister * John Sitilides, Principal, Trilogy Advisors LLC, Washington, D.C. *

Hashim Thaçi Hashim Thaçi (; born 24 April 1968) is a Kosovar Albanian politician who was the president of Kosovo from April 2016 until his resignation on 5 November 2020 to face a war crimes tribunal. He was the first prime minister of Kosovo and the For ...

, Prime Minister of Kosovo *Prof. Vito Tanzi, Economist and Writer * Gönül Tol, Director for The Center Turkish studies at the Washington Middle East Institute *

Kadir Topbaş Kadir Topbaş (8 January 1945 – 13 February 2021) was a Turkish architect, businessperson and politician who served as Mayor of Istanbul from 2004 to 2017. Biography He was born on 8 January 1945 in Altıparmak village of Yusufeli district ...

, Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality * Hadi Ulengin, Journalist Writer * Levent Veziroğlu, Executive Vice President, Doguş Group Office of the Chairman * Rüdiger Voss, CERN Senior Physicist *Eric Walberg, Journalist * Ross Wilson, Atlantic Council Dinu Patriciu Director of Eurasia *

Hayati Yazıcı Hayati Yazıcı (b. 23 May 1952, Çayeli, Rize) is a Turkish lawyer and politician. He served as Turkey's Minister of Customs and Trade. Biography Hayati Yazıcı graduated in 1975 from the School of Law at Istanbul University. Starting of 1 ...

, Minister of State and Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey * Binali Yıldırım, Republic of Turkey Minister of Transport and Communications *

Taner Yıldız Taner Yıldız (born 3 April 1962 in Devecipınar, Boğazlıyan, Yozgat Province) is a Turkish politician. He is a member of the Justice and Development Party and served as the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources between 2009 and 2015. T ...

, Republic of Turkey Minister of Energy and Natural Resources * Durmuş Yılmaz, Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey * Ulrich Zachau, Country Director for Turkey Europe and Central Asia Region of the World Bank

References

External links

World Political Forum's official website {{Authority control 21st-century economic history Organizations based in Istanbul Foundations based in Turkey Global policy organizations Organizations established in 2011 2011 establishments in Turkey

History

Participants

See also

References

External links