With a view to emphasizing the importance of mediation at the international level, the SEcond Istanbul Conference on Mediation, the first of which was held in February 2012 with the initiative of Turkey, is organized under the auspices of Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, on 11-12 April 2013 under the theme “Keys to Effective Mediation: Perspectives from Within”.

At the Conference, peace efforts in the major disputes regions which figure highly on the international agenda will be addressed, in this context, cases in Somalia, Afghanistan and Syria will be discussed. Moreover, the Middle East Peace Process and peace efforts in Sudan and Philippines will be reviewed.

In addition to the Special Representatives of the United Nations, European Union and African Union as well as statesmen involved in the resolution of the disputes concerned, international experts specialized in conflict resolution and representatives of NGOs also participate in the Conference as speakers.

The main objectives of the Conference are to emphasize Turkey’s role in the peaceful resolution of international disputes, to maintain the momentum achieved through the “Mediation for Peace” initiative co-launched in 2010 by Turkey and Finland and to contribute to the building of a national capacity in Turkey in the field of mediation and conflict resolution.

Within the framework of its mediation efforts which are believed to contribute to the efforts of stability and peace building in the region and beyond, Turkey aims to transform İstanbul Mediation Conferences to a traditional platform where all actors working in the peace building could share their experience and knowledge.