The 39th Conference of Commandants (CoC), hosted by the Turkish War College in Istanbul, opened this morning. The participants, Commandants of leading military educational institutes from 40 different nations, were warmly welcomed by General TASDLER, Commandant of the Harp Akadimileri Komutanligi (HAK).
In the presence of General Ilker BASBUG, Chief of the Turkish General Staff, the Commandant of the NATO Defense College and Chairman of the Conference of Commandants Lieutenant General Wolf Dieter LOESER officially opened the CoC 2010 with a heartfelt speech on the importance of international cooperation in education. Academies, colleges and educational institutes in general provide men and women in uniform with the basis of their knowledge, he said, and educating them in the importance of international cooperation and open dialogue is the first step towards operational integration. No procedures or operations can be truly merged if our minds are not focused on the same objectives.
The floor then passed to General BASBUG and Ambassador ILDEM, Director General for International Security Affairs in the Turkish Foreign Ministry, who underlined the importance of dialogue, not only among the members of the Alliance but also between NATO and Partner countries. From this point of view, Ambassador ILDEM stated, the Regional Cooperation Course run by the NATO Defense College plays an extremely valuable role in building mutual understanding with NATO partners.
The next two days of the 39th Conference of Commandants will be devoted to discussions based on four “thinking platforms” aimed at establishing the basis for effective common education of defence personnel.
The main purpose of the CoC is to facilitate the exchange of information between those responsible for higher defence education and to promote cooperation in this field between Colleges in NATO countries and their counterparts in Central and East European and Mediterranean Dialogue countries. The members of the CoC are the Commandants of the main Defense Colleges of each of the Alliance countries, the NATO School (Oberammergau), the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, the Geneva Centre for Security Studies, the European Union Security and Defense College, the PfP Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Institutions, plus some Commandants of higher defence establishments in the PfP, MD, ICI and Contact nations.
LtCol. Mario Masdea, Chief Public Affairs Office, ITA-A
Collège de Défense de l'OTAN