Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 28 2009

Armenian, Greek Cypriot ministers to attend civilizations meeting

An international forum to be held in Ä°stanbul next week will be a
compelling event with high-profile participation from world leaders,
while 30 foreign ministers had already confirmed their participation
in the forum as of yesterday.

The Second Forum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations
(UNAOC) will be held on April 6-7, coinciding with US President Barack
Obama’s visit to the Turkish capital, which is also expected to begin
on April 6. The White House has yet to release a detailed agenda of
Obama’s visit, but he is expected to participate in the forum in
Ä°stanbul on its second day after wrapping up his talks in Ankara.

Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou, whose government is
not recognized by Ankara, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian,
with whose country Turkey has no diplomatic relations with, and Greek
Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis, whose country is still at odds with
Turkey over disputes concerning the Aegean Sea, are among the at least
30 foreign ministers who will participate in a high-level
brainstorming meeting within the framework of the UNAOC forum in
Ä°stanbul.

Among those expected to be present at the second forum is former
Iranian President Mohammed Khatami, whose earlier "dialogue of
civilizations" initiative laid some of the groundwork for the UNAOC.

Iran, along with 82 other countries, is a member of the Group of
Friends of the alliance. As of yesterday afternoon, the alliance
secretariat had not yet received an affirmative or negative response
from Tehran for the invitation extended to Iran at the foreign
ministerial level. Forbes magazine on Thursday said, "Though the
alliance this week would neither confirm nor deny, it’s a good bet
there will be representatives there from Iran."

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, whose probable candidacy
for the top NATO post has led to a heated debate both in his country
and abroad, will also be in Ä°stanbul to participate in the UNAOC
Forum, only a few days after a NATO summit on April 3-4 when the
transatlantic body is expected to announce its next chief.

Rasmussen, along with Azerbaijani President Ä°lham Aliyev, Bulgarian
Georgi Parvanov, Slovenian President Danilo Türk, has already
confirmed to Ankara his participation in the forum, diplomatic
sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Today’s Zaman
yesterday. Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who will participate in a
trilateral summit with the presidents of Turkey and Pakistan on April
1 in Ankara, is also likely to attend the forum.

The UNAOC held its inaugural forum in early 2008 in Madrid.

28 March 2009, Saturday
EMÄ°NE KART ANKARA