Turkey and America: Indispensable Allies at a Crossroads: Third Annual Sakip Sabanci Lecture with Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke

Richard C. Holbrooke, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and vice chairman of Perseus LLC, delivered the third annual Sakip Sabanci Lecture. He was the chief architect of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement, ending the war in Bosnia; assistant secretary of state for European and Canadian Affairs (1994-96); U.S. ambassador to Germany (1993-94); assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (1977-81); and has served as managing editor of Foreign Policy and director of the Peace Corps in Morocco.

To establish a prominent forum for exploring Turkey’s increasingly important role in the world, the Brookings Center on the United States and Europe (CUSE) and Sabanci University launched a lecture series two years ago in honor of Sakip Sabanci. Mr. Sabanci was one of the foremost Turkish business leaders of his generation, a visionary supporter of Turkey’s democratic and economic reforms, and a strong advocate of Turkey’s efforts to join the European Union.

Ambassador Holbrooke also joined Ms. Güler Sabanci, chairperson of the Sabanci Group; Brookings President Strobe Talbott; and a prestigious international jury in announcing the winners of the second Sakip Sabanci international research award for the best essays on the Ottoman legacy in the Balkans and the Middle East.