Dear Members and Friends,

Our panel discussion event at the Cornell Club on Friday, December 14, 2007 with the topic "Turkey in a Troubled Neighborhood and What the Future Holds"  was a great success. The event was attended by many of our members and their guests. To our pleasant surprise, there were a lot of young Turkish-American professionals from the investment banking community that attended the panel. We were sold out.

Following the registration and a cocktail hour of networking, the panel started at 7 p.m. After Murat Agirnasli's opening speech, Professor Heath Lowry was the first speaker. His presentation and remarks were incredibly insightful and knowledgeable. By reading a chapter from his latest book he is working on, he shared his personal experiences in Turkey and moved the listeners. Following Professor Lowry, Mr. Abdullah Akyuz approached the subject from a business and economical perspective and had a very promising and optimistic approach. Both view points and Mr. Agirnasli's dynamic moderation kept all the attendees involved. There were great questions and answers.

On behalf of the Business Forum, Mr. Murat Agirnasli presented Professor Lowry with a trophy. The inscription on it read " In appreciation of his Tireless Work in History and his Relentless Pursuit of Truth." This we believe, is a well deserved recognition of a great scholar. The evening continued with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres and more networking.

We thank the participants and everyone who attended. We also thank Harlan Lazarus for his sponsorship at the Cornell Club. For those who couldn't join us last night, we hope to see you soon at our upcoming events.

Turkish-American Business Forum