Experts in the field of energy from the academic and business world, along with policymakers from a number of countries, will be in attendance to analyze a set of topics at two major panel discussion sessions. The first panel will be “Caspian Transit Corridor: Revival of the Silk Road” and the other will deal with the “Southern Corridor: Main Conduit for Energy Sources.”

The forum aims to create “a space for multilateral cooperation and to avoid geopolitical rivalry,” according to its website. Speaking to Today’s Zaman last week, Haldun Yavaş, the general secretary of the Caspian Strategy Institute (HASEN), which is responsible for the organization of the forum, said the major objective of the event is to develop a comprehensive approach to understand and address to the opportunities and problems of the broader Caspian Region, without resorting to controversial issues that don’t serve peaceful dialogue between the sides in the region.

Yavaş said the Caspian Region and Eurasia have recently become a focal point for international relations with their vast energy resources and transportation routes. The forum will be an attempt to define these regions in terms of what they have to offer to the world and what strategic interpretations are possible concerning their rising significance.

The forum hopes to introduce peace and prosperity in the Caspian countries, help further integration and pave the way for further trade and resulting interdependence. İbrahim Türkmen İstanbul