TRT World Forum kicks off in Istanbul

The 2018 TRT World Forum kicked off on Wednesday, gathering hundreds of politicians, academics, journalists and businesspeople in Istanbul.

Theme of this year’s forum is  "Envisioning Peace and Security in a Fragmented World", in which discussions will take place on proposing solutions for the most pressing global issues of our time.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will make a speech titled "In Pursuit of Justice in a Fragmented World" at the closing ceremony of the forum.

The two days conference will focus on transformations in the international system since the First World War, the European Union as a post-WWII project and the shifting security equation in the Middle East.

The leadership role of Women in a time of conflict, new media and trust formation, and international cooperation in counter-terrorism will also be discussed in the forum.

"Concrete solutions to humanitarian issues"

This year’s forum will bring together over six hundred distinguished guests and speakers from around the world.

Rania al Abdullah, the queen of Jordan and Ivo Josipović, former president of Croatia will be in attendance.

Other participants include former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the ex-deputy prime minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim, the UN secretary general’s special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura, and former World Bank managing director Mamphela Ramphele.

Ibrahim Eren, the TRT director-general, will inaugurate the forum, which will feature four public sessions:

- A World in or Out of Order? A Hundred Years Since WWI

- The EU and its Discontents: Is it the End of the European Project?

- Disrupting the Established Order: The Rise of the Global South

- The Leadership of Women in a World of Conflict.

“The forum is expected to produce concrete solutions to the recent humanitarian issues with the participants’ opinions and the Turkish approach,” Ibrahim Eren has said.

Ibrahim Kalin, Presidential Spokesperson of the Republic of Turkey, will participate the first session on Thursday, entitled "Regional Players and the Shifting Security Equation in the Middle East".

Mevlut Cavusoglu, Minister of  Foreign Affairs of Turkey, will also attend the joint keynote address on Thursday with Stef Blok, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will address the forum at the closing ceremony of the forum on Thursday with a speech entitled "In Pursuit of Justice in a Fragmented World".

World Citizen Awards

Turkey’s first English-language television  news channel TRT World will also host the World Citizen Awards in Istanbul on Wednesday.
The event will take the form of a gala dinner in Istanbul, with attendees from around the world in the fields of politics, academia, arts and entertainment, humanitarian aid and business.
Four awards will be conferred in the categories of Education, Communication, Lifetime Achievement and a special Citizen of the Year honor.

Turkey’s First Lady Emine Erdogan will address a key speech at the night.

TRT World held its first international meeting last year in Istanbul under the theme of “Inspiring Change in an Age of Uncertainty”.