Controversial elite group meets in Istanbul

Today's Zaman
Jun. 03, 2007

"Attention, planet Earth: Your future is being decided today at the annual Bilderberg Group conference."

This year's five-star resort site is the Klassis Hotel in Silivri, Turkey, 40 miles from Istanbul," reads a message posted May 31, on the Web site of New York's popular newspaper, The Village Voice. The author of the piece, like pretty much of the international and Turkish media, got both the date and the place wrong. The Bilderberg meeting was not in Silivri but in Istanbul, at the Ritz Carlton. It did not start on May 31, but on June 1. What could all this secrecy and outright misinformation about the dates and places of the meeting mean?Could it mean that conspiracy theorists, convinced that the Bilderberg conference -- a yearly invitation-only gathering of global powerbrokers in a luxury hotel usually in the Western hemisphere -- decides the future of humanity, are actually right. In certain quarters the war in Yugoslavia and even the endeavors of Osama Bin Laden, among many other things, are said to have been devised by the Bilderberg group.

Deciding the world's fate or not, the mystique surrounding the conferences is certainly nerve-wracking for your more average earthling. Not a word of what is said at the Bilderberg meetings can be breathed outside as the participants are only accepted upon making agreement not to reveal what is discussed. Although meeting minutes are taken and released afterwards, names are not registered. The conference venues and the list of participants are kept secret until the last minute.

The Bilderberg group has an office in Leiden, South Holland, but it does not have a Web site.

Not everyone agrees. Mehmet Ali Birand, a Turkish journalist said to actually be attending this year's Bilderberg meeting, asked in his column in the Posta daily asked “Why are we so scared of Bilderberg?” and explained that Bilderberg has nothing to do with any of the conspiracy theories that roam about. “Bilderberg meetings constitute a forum where international developments are discussed, debated and where participants learn a lot from each other. It is not much different from a seminar or a conference organized by an upscale NGO.”

Furthermore Birand argued there is an added benefit for the country, “Under these circumstances, coming together in Istanbul, they will also discuss Turkey. They will try to make head and tail of the situation. They will receive information. Let's not forget that their gathering in Istanbul is an opportunity for all of us because of these aspects of the meeting.”

Cüneyt Ülsever, another Turkish journalist who attended the conference in 2005, thinks differently. “I don't agree that it is important for Turkey, per se. It brings together the most important people from politics, business and bureaucracy. This is why it is important.” However, “It could be important for Turkey too, if our prime minister delivered a speech and used the opportunity to have all these people together. It might be turned into an opportunity if we manage to use it right,” Ülsever said. He added that the prime minister of the host country automatically has the right to show up before the Bilderberg guests and make a statement if they so choose.

Ülsever, as an attendee of one of the meeting, treats all the conspiracy theories about Bilderberg as nonsense. “There are no policies set at the end of the meetings, there are no decisions taken,” he wrote. He blames the secrecy of the meetings and some journalists' approach to the Bilderberg meeting for the bad reputation the meetings have.

This year’s guests

In its 55th meeting the Bilderberg again brings together the powerful global elite. The “high priests” this year are expected to look at Iran and nuclear proliferation, global warming, Turkey's EU membership, the Middle East and “democracy and populism.”

Turkish State Minister Ali Babacan, former Foreign Minister Hikmet Çetin, UN Development Program (UNDP) head Kemal Dervis, Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen's Association (TÜSIAD) President Arzuhan Dogan Yalçindag, former TÜSIAD President Erkut Yücaoglu, Koç CEO Mustafa Koç, Bogaziçi University Rector Ayse Soysal, Coca-Cola Company Executive Director Muhtar Kent, former Ambassador Cem Duna, and journalists Cengiz Çandar and Mehmet Ali Birand, as well as Ümit Boyner and Emre Gönensay, are this year's Turkish participants of the Bilderberg conference.

Dutch Queen Beatrix, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, Finnish Finance Minister Jyrki Katainen, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, International Monetary Fund (IMF) President Rodrigo De Rato and EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn are some of the global guests of the meeting.

Meanwhile, security around the Ritz Carlton near Istanbul's Taksim Square was extensive. The police blocked roads and sidewalks accessing the hotel. Pedestrians cannot get within 50 meters of the hotel. Nobody is allowed to enter the Ritz Carlton except the Bilderberg guests. The meeting is expected to end on June 3.