28-29 Apr. 2004

Preparing for the Istanbul Summit Events NATO Istanbul Summit - 28-29 June 2004 News 28/04/2004 - NATO Secretary General to visit Turkey 22/03/2004 - NATO Summit Meetings of Heads of State and Government Opinions Speech by NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, at a dinner hosted by the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr.Abdullah Gül, Istanbul, Turkey Speech by NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, at Galatasaray University, Istanbul, Turkey. Preparations for the NATO Istanbul Summit, to be held on 28 and 29 June, were the focus of a visit by the NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, to the city on 28 and 29 April. The Secretary General met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Abdullah Gul and other Turkish officials responsible for summit preparations. “Our Summit agenda will be based on two main tracks: Outreach to our partners and internal work on our transformation,” the Secretary General said in his address at dinner hosted by Foreign Minister, “Indeed, the Istanbul Summit will have a strong focus on our partnerships with the EU, the Caucasus and Central Asia, and the Mediterranean and the wider region. It will address our missions in Afghanistan and the Balkans. And to succeed in our ambitions, it will also take forward NATO’s transformation agenda.” The Summit will be attended by Heads of State and Government of the now 26 NATO member countries, as well as senior representatives from partner countries. Summit meetings are held at landmark moments in NATO's evolution and aim to adapt Alliance policies to changing needs and circumstances. This will be the 17th Summit in NATO’s history. ‘Shaping change’ During the visit, the Secretary General spoke to students at Galatasaray University about the Summit agenda. “The Istanbul Summit will bring home a fundamental truth – that even in this new, complex environment, we can still very much shape events, and not be their victims. There is no reason to feel helpless in the face of rapid change,” the Secretary General told the audience, “We must shape the change. There are plenty of opportunities to do so. Because we have the instruments previous generations lacked.”