The third brainstorming was held at Institute of Strategic Thinking (SDE). Alon Ben-Meir, who is a professor at New York University and an expert on Middle East, also attended the meeting on “Obama’s Middle East Policy and Turkey’s Role” and it was chaired by Vice Chairman of SDE Board, Ambassador (R) Nüzhet Kandemir.

The meeting attracted great interest and the issues such as the differences between the Bush and Obama administrations in terms of the Middle East, the expectations on the Middle East from Obama, Palestinian-Israeli dispute, September 11 attacks, and estimations on the future of the Middle East were discussed.

The meeting started with the opening speech of Chairman of SDE, Prof. Dr. Yasin Aktay. Mr. Aktay briefly introduced Alon Ben-Meir to the guests. Mr. Aktay made a brief speech on the Middle East by roughly mentioning the topic of the meeting and thanked to the guests.

Alon Ben-Meir clearly indicated the differences between the policies of the Bush and Obama administration on the Middle East. He answered the questions like “What should have been done after September 11?” and “What has not been done?”. He said that the armed intervention in Iraq by the USA and Britain was a result of a wrong decision and it should not have been so because it overshadows the efforts for the peace process between Afghanistan and Iraq. During the Bush administration, “two-state solution” was suggested and it was important. He added that Obama wants the dispute between Israel and Palestinian end in any case and Obama has different approaches. Ben-Meir also talked about what Obama should do on this issue and the last step should be Turkey’s taking a serious part in the Middle East issues.

Emphasizing the need for Turkey’s role as a negotiator for the problems in the Middle East, Meir said that Turkey is a regional power and Turkey is trusted more than other states in the international arena. Meir ended his speech by saying “I believe that the problems in the Middle East will end”.

After the speeches, the question and answer section started. Meir answered the questions like “Do you believe that Israel really wants peace?”, “Do you believe that Al-Qaeda is responsible for September 11 attacks?”, and “Can the plans made in the mountains of Afghanistan be such flawless?”. Meir also said “In order to have peace in the Middle East and to improve the Turkish-Israeli relations, I hope that a new administration will come to power in Israel and the administration will discharge the Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel, Lieberman. I am usually asked whether Israel wants peace or not. Israelis also want peace. However, peace in the Middle East depends on the change in the mentalities of people.

The meeting ended with a cocktail.