The three-day Gulf Studies Forum opened on Saturday, December 3, 2016. The third in a series of annual events held to highlight academic scholarship covering the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council and their regional environment, the first day will be devoted to academic sessions on the relationship between Turkey and the Gulf states. A special guest lecture by Berat Albayrak, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Turkey, which was due to take part towards the end of the opening day, was cancelled at the last minute due to unforeseen circumstances on the part of the minister. The rest of the Gulf Studies Forum 2016 will continue as planned, please see links to the right for more details.