Istanbul World Political Forum
The World Political Forum (also called Istanbul Forum) is a non-profit foundation, based in Turkey, best known for its annual meeting in Istanbul. 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: