On May 7-8, 2025, the President of the Scientific Council of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization, Professor Emil Constantinescu, took part in the twenty-eighth Eurasian Economic Summit organized in Istanbul by the Marmara Group Foundation for Strategic and Social Research.
The Eurasian Economic Summit is a landmark regional event organized annually by the Marmara Group Foundation, which this year brought together civil society leaders, politicians and decision-makers, religious leaders, representatives of the business and academic communities, representatives of international organizations and media conglomerates from over 40 countries.
An anniversary edition
The summit also marked the 40th anniversary of the Marmara Group Foundation for Strategic and Social Research, which has organized the event since 1997. On this festive occasion, the Foundation instituted the "Süleyman Demirel" Award for Democracy in honour of the former President of the Republic of Türkiye (1993-2000), who, during his long political career, embodied a model of democratic governance of the Turkish state and of regional cooperation. The award was presented to the President of the Scientific Council of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture and Civilization of the Levant, Professor Emil Constantinescu.
In his acceptance speech, President Constantinescu emphasized that,
"At the critical moment in recent history that was the collapse of the USSR and the subsequent reshaping of regional loyalties, Prime-minister (later, President) Süleyman Demirel chose to surround himself with visionary people who, like him, understood the intrinsic importance of dialogue, cooperation, and collaboration in achieving mutual benefits between countries. I am pleased to note that many of these visionaries are still with us today – a little older, perhaps, but bearing in their eyes that same spark of genius that miraculously seems to render the impossible possible. […] At a time when regional and global priorities are shifting, when we are witnessing the unravelling of the post-1945 world order – an order based on fundamental rights, values and principles that have come to be associated with the broad framework of 'democracy' — we must not lose sight of the reason that led each of us to take the decisions we did so many years ago: our innate and shared belief in the fundamental values of peace, dialogue, and democracy as factors capable of facilitating greater mutual understanding between people and nations alike."
High-level debates
Participants at the 28th Eurasian Economic Summit deliberated on the role and responsibilities of digital life and dialogue in today's information society, as well as attempting to outline the steps humanity needs to take in order to harness the global economy, energy, nature, and agriculture for the benefit of all of human society. The main theme of the Summit's 2025 edition was "Dialogue for a liveable world," which was discussed and analysed over the course of sessions focusing on topics such as "Peaceful solutions to ongoing conflicts and involuntary migration," "The economy in a digital world: The role of banks in the contemporary economy," "Digital energy: The power of algorithmic trade," "The future of the internet and of artificial intelligence," "International cooperation in healthcare: Eliminating stress and confusion," or "Resilient Cities in the Face of Disasters: The Path to Sustainable Urban Agglomerations."
The Dialogue of Global Leaders
The summit ended with a session dedicated to speeches by former heads of state, called the Sagacious People Session, whose theme this year was Peaceful Solutions for Rebuilding Peace. Speaking were the former presidents of Turkey (Abdullah Gül), the Czech Republic (Václav Klaus), Croatia (Stjepan Mesić and Ivo Josipović), Slovenia (Borut Pahor), North Macedonia (Gjorge Ivanov), Moldova (Petru Lucinschi), Albania (Bamir Topi), Tunisia (Moncef Marzouki), and Romania (Emil Constantinescu). In his address, titled "The Culture of Peace through Education," the President of the Scientific Council of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization pointed out that "we cannot contend that, throughout history, peace itself would have been considered a perennial value of humanity. On the contrary, it has been nothing more than a fleeting consequence, a brief respite between the end of one conflict and the outbreak of another."
Cultural-civilizational meetings in Istanbul
During the Eurasian Economic Summit, the former presidents of Romania and Albania, Emil Constantinescu and Bamir Topi, took part in a signing ceremony of a Declaration for Transparency and Integrity proposed by the San Francisco-based Federation of World Peace and Love (FOWPAL). The ceremony was led by Federation's President, Hon. Hong Tao-Tze, who also took the opportunity to present President Constantinescu with an evocative painting titled "Energy and Hope".
The President of the Scientific Council of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization, Professor Emil Constantinescu, was also the guest of the Romanian Cultural Institute headed by Mr. Dragoș Tiberiu Niță. Discussions between the two focused on deepening the existing institutional partnership between the Romanian Cultural Institute in Istanbul and the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization, in the framework of the Institute's project, Cultural Diplomacy in the Western Black Sea Region: Knowledge Networks between Port Cities as Strategies for Peace, Coexistence, and Sustainable Development.
On this occasion, President Constantinescu also presented the Romanian Cultural Institute in Istanbul with a selection of volumes published by the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization, as well as with a painting of Queen Maria of Romania, kindly donated by the artist, Prof. Dr. Fetihe Erbay, Head of the Department of Museum Studies at Istanbul University.
The delegation of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization also met with the Secretary General of the Organization for Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), H.E. Amb. Lazăr Comănescu, with whom they discussed BSEC's support for the Cultural Diplomacy in the Western Black Sea project, also involving the Black Sea Universities Network (BSUN).
