On July 7, when leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations gathered at Toyako Lake, Hokkaido, for their annual summit, I happened to be in Istanbul for the opening session of the multinational Global Conference on Global Warming.
Although a message from the Turkish president was read in proxy, speeches were delivered in person by the prime minister, the minister of energy and resources and the mayor of Istanbul. They expressed their views enthusiastically well beyond the time originally allocated to them.
Istanbul was selected as the venue for this international conference after Turkey officially decided to join other advanced nations obliged to reduce or control greenhouse gas emissions one way or another under terms of Attachment I of the Kyoto Protocol. Adhering to those conditions is one of the prerequisites for Turkey to become a member of the European Union.