Presidential hopeful Gül woos 'Bilderbergers'

By DUYGU GÜVENÇ
Turkish Daily News
Jun. 03, 2007

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül arranged a special dinner for the participants at the Bilderberg conference who are meeting in Istanbul this year. The Foreign Ministry protocol organized the dinner for about 150 people at Muayede, the biggest hall in Dolmabahçe Palace on Friday.

Gül handed out swift invitations to participants at the Bilderberg conference, considered a meeting of the people who run the world.

Dutch Queen Beatrix, Spanish King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia, NATO Secretary General Jaap G. Hoop de Scheffer, Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhonen, Austrian Prime Minister Alfred Gusenbauer, President of the European Commission José M. Durão Barroso, Foreign Minister of Sweden Carl Bildt, EU Commissioner Olli Rehn, the President of the United Nations Development Programme Kemal Dervis were invited to Gül's special dinner for “Bilderbergers,” according to foreign ministry sources.

Abdullah Gül was nominated as the presidential candidate of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and failed to get elected following the annulment of the vote by the Constitutional Court last month. Gül previously said he is still a candidate of the Justice and Development Party for the presidential elections.

State Minister Ali Babacan is among the participants at the conference this year. Turkey was one of the topics of discussion at the Istanbul meeting. Over the years Bilderberg meetings have hosted Turkish politicians like former President Süleyman Demirel and former Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz. The Bilderberg Conference is an unofficial meeting of influential, powerful figures from the realms of economy, media and politics since 1954. This is the third gathering of Bilderberg in Turkey since 1954 and will end on June 3.