26 th ATC Annual Conference was held in Washington

26 th ATC Annual Conference was held in Washington

COL. Preston Hughes (Ret.)
Chairman, ATC Defence & Security Affairs Committee

In late March 2007, the American- Turkish Council and the Turkish- American Business Council co-hosted a conference in Washington covering all aspects—including cultural, economic/ commercial, political and defence—of the Turkish-American relationship. In the broad area of defence and security affairs, defence policy was the focus of one seminar, in which General Ergin Saygun, Deputy Chief of the Turkish General Staff, presented the Turkish perspective. Participating with General Saygun on this panel was Admiral Edmund Giambastiani, Vice Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, who spoke on the same topic from the US perspective. Defence industry cooperation received considerable attention as well. Mr. Murad Bayar, Undersecretary for Defence Industry (SSM) participated throughout the conference in seminars and meetings, which focused on enhancing US-Turkish defence industry relations. Participants from the US side included Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kohler, Director of the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency and Mr. Greg Suchan, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Political- Military Affairs and Dr. James Finley, Deputy Undersecretary of Defence for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L).

Defence industrial ties were further enhanced as US and Turkish companies in the defence industry field met in company-to-company meetings to discuss partnership opportunities.

There were seminars dealing with Developments in Technological Infrastructure of the Turkish Defence Industry and with Logistics Capabilities of the Turkish Armed Forces. Representatives of the Turkish Army, Navy and Air Force participated in the latter seminar, along with MG Orhan Ugurluoglu, Deputy Undersecretary for Technology and Coordination in the Ministry of National Defence.

The premier social event of the conference was the Defence Dinner, at which General Saygun, Gen. James Jamerson of Lockheed Martin and General James Jones, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) spoke. General Jones emphasized the need to find ways to further strengthen the ties between the US and Turkey, ties which are important to both countries, to the region and, indeed, to the world.

Conference attendees declared this to be one of the best annual conferences in recent years. The formal presentations were interesting and concise, allowing time for questions and discussion. This year’s more extensive networking opportunities—both scheduled and informal/on the fringes of the conference—provided all defence companies ample opportunity to pursue new business opportunities and develop new ties with potential partners. With a successful conference to build on, we hope to be even bigger and better in 2008. Mark your calendar now and plan to attend. The dates are 13-16 April 2008.