‘TRT World Forum becomes global brand’

ANKARA

TRT World Forum became a global brand on its second anniversary as it attracted much attention, the TRT director-general said on Wednesday.

Ibrahim Eren was speaking to Anadolu Agency about TRT World Forum held on Oct. 3-4 in Istanbul under the theme “Envisioning Peace and Security in a Fragmented World.”

Anadolu Agency was the global communications partner of the event.

Eren said that this year's TRT World Forum was “fruitful and a brand value event for Turkey."

"In its second anniversary, TRT World Forum has become a world brand. Great attention to this forum in a short time resulted from the power of Turkey's voice," Eren said.

"This year the forum attracted great attendance. I hope we will increase the participant figure next year," he added.

Eren noted delegations from at least 600 top-tier think tanks, policy makers and academicians attended the TRT World Forum.

"Both in open and closed sessions, many topics concerning the world and region such as terrorism, security, rising powers, economic problems, immigrants and media were discussed. We plan to share reports on closed sessions with the forum attendees in December," Eren said.

In these sessions, attendees offered political models, which could measure the global injustice.

“Mutual solutions for world security and peace were sought. TRT World Forum discussed both regional problems and global crises. This is an important effort […] to convey Turkey's perspective to the world," he added.

Recalling that the forum's opening speech was made by Turkish Parliament Speaker Binali Yildirim and closing speech was delivered by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Eren said the president talked about EU-Turkey relations, UN's diminishing effect in international arena and its incapability for keeping international order.

Eren also said that they started works for 2019 TRT World Forum and thanked TRT World, TRT staff and TRT World Vision and Research Center Director Pinar Kandemir and her team for their efforts.

Meanwhile, Kandemir praised TRT World Forum and TRT World Citizen as they brought a new dimension to the international broadcasting.

TRT World also hosted the World Citizen Awards, which recognizes exceptional individual contributions to humanity.

Kandemir added that in line with Eren's vision, TRT is not only a media institution but also a platform.

Reporting by Merve Yildizalp:Writing by Can Erozden