Wolfowitz, Kissinger to attend the Bilderberg meeting

Wolfowitz, Kissinger to attend the Bilderberg meeting [align=left]Todayâ??s Zaman
Thursday May 31, 2007 [/align]
The Bilderberg Group, which brings together people of influence from around the world, will begin its 2007 meeting in Turkey today.
Bilderberg is an annual conference of the global elite, the location of which changes every year. Power brokers from industry, oil companies, politics, banking, business, academia, royalty and the media get together to privately discuss the course of the world with no outside press coverage whatsoever. The secrecy of the group has attracted criticism and given rise to much conspiracy theory about possible covert plans of the global elite to rule the world. Many treat the meeting as a significant event during which participants also determine the following yearâ??s agenda.
However, the group claims it does not set policy.
The elite group will be meeting today at the Klassis Hotel in the town of Silivri, 40 miles from Istanbul.
Sources say the meeting, which will be held from May 31 to June 3, will mainly focus on issues such as a probable operation against Iran, energy policies and Turkeyâ??s EU membership process. During last year`s meeting, Turkey-EU relations were discussed quite intensely by the participants.
Two Bilderberg conferences were previously held in Turkey, the first in 1959 in Istanbul and the other in 1975 in Ã?esme, near the Aegean city of Izmir.
Economy Minister Ali Babacan, KO� Holding CEO Mustafa Koç and Yeni Safak columnist Fehmi Koru are some of the Turks expected to attend the conference, while former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and UN Development Programme (UNDP) chief Kemal Dervis are some of the international personalities expected to attend this year`s meeting.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry To Attend Bilderberg [align=left]CHRISTY HOPPE
The Dallas Morning News
Thursday May 31, 2007 [/align]
AUSTIN â?? Gov. Rick Perry is flying to Istanbul, Turkey, today to speak at the super-secret Bilderberg Conference, a meeting of about 130 international leaders in business, media and politics.
The invitation-only conference was started in 1954 and named for the Dutch hotel where the conference was first held. Those who attend promise not to reveal what was discussed, security is tight, and the press and public are barred. The conference has been the subject of conspiracy theorists and even Christian groups who wonder about its influence.
Robert Black, the governor's press secretary, said the governor was invited to attend and speak about state-federal relations. Mr. Black dismissed the conspiracy theories.
"He's looking forward to learning the secret handshake," Mr. Black joked.
He said that Mr. Perry is paying for the trip and host hotel, usually among the top in the world, out of campaign contributions from his Texans for Rick Perry committee.
Previous speakers at the conference have included such GOP stalwarts as outgoing World Bank chief Paul Wolfowitz and former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Last year, the conference was held in Ottawa, and the Toronto Star reported that it had received an unsigned press release saying that the 2006 group included David Rockefeller, Henry Kissinger, Queen Beatrix of Holland, New York Gov. George Pataki, media moguls, high-level officials from Spain and Greece, and the heads of Coca-Cola, Credit Suisse and the Royal Bank of Canada.
Bilderberg chairman Etienne Davignon, a former Belgian diplomat, granted the British Broadcasting Corp. a rare interview two years ago in which he brushed aside myths surrounding the organization.
"When people say this is a secret government of the world, I say that if we were a secret government of the world, we should be bloody ashamed of ourselves," Mr. Davignon said.
Mr. Black said that the governor was going because he was invited. "He looks forward to talking to them about the system of federalism here in the United States," he said.
Regarding the secrecy surrounding the event, Mr. Black said: "It's their conference, and I suppose they can run it anyway they want. The governor was honored that they would ask him to come speak on the American experience, and he's happy to do it."
Mr. Perry returns to Texas on Monday.