Clinton to address American-Turkish Council

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be a keynote speaker at this year’s annual conference on U.S.-Turkish relations, to be held by the American-Turkish Council, or ATC, between Sept. 30 and Oct. 2, the group has said.

This year’s other speakers include: Turkish State Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan; Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz; Ambassador Richard Morningstar, special envoy of the U.S. secretary of state for Eurasian energy; Alexander Vershbow, assistant secretary for defense in international affairs; Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman of the House Ileana Ros-Lehtinen; United States ambassador to Ankara Frank Ricciardone; Turkish Ambassador to Washington Namik Tan and Turkey’s Defense Undersecretary for Procurement Murad Bayar.

Also invited to speak but not yet confirmed are Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, the United States Chairman–designate for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey and Gen. Hulusi Akar, deputy chief of the Turkish General Staff, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

The ATC, whose members include top U.S. and Turkish companies doing business in both countries, aims to bolster U.S.-Turkish political and economic relations. Some of the ATC’s major members include top U.S. defense companies.