As part of the Blue Peace for the Middle East project, two meetings were held in Istanbul in March 2013. One meeting was a detailed discussion between a group of  Iraqi and Turkish academics and scientists to examine various potential confidence building measures across the Tigris River Basin. The meeting was hosted by Okan Unversity in Istanbul and held at their campus. Along with the academic and scientific community, representatives from Water Ministries were also present at the meeting. Some of the potential confidence building measures discussed included exploring common methodologies to jointly measure quality and quantity of water across the river, exchanging technology and technical expertise between the two countries and joint capacity building of personnel involved in management of the river basin. Such potential confidence building measures embody the Blue Peace concept of exploring the use of water as a means for peace and cooperation.

Participants at the meeting were Dr Aysegul Kibaroglu, Okan University, Dr Hasan Sarikaya, former Undersecretary, Ministry of Forestry and Environment, Turkey, Mr Mustafa Çelik, Head of Department, Transboundary Water Issues, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Turkey, Dr Ahmet Saatci, Director, Turkish Water Institute, Prof Dr Ibrahim Gurer, Gazi University, Dr Unal  Sorman, Middle East Technical University, Mr Moaid Mahmoud Al-Tmemy, Chief Senior Engineer, Head of Operation and Planning, National Centre for Water Resources Management, Iraq, Dr Adil Ali Bilal Al-Hamdani, Head of Water Resource- DWRRC, Mosul, Dr Yadgar Kamal Ahmmad, Koya University, Dr Diary M Ali, Suleymania University.

The second meeting was a brainstorming session between a group of media leaders from across the Middle East who form the core group of the Blue Peace Media Network. The discussions centred on means of expanding the Blue Peace Media Network across the region as well as increasing the capacity and knowledge of the mainstream media in issues relating to water and the environment.Various innovative activities have been planned for the coming future to connect media leaders across the region to each other as well as bridge the gaps between the media and experts who hold the knowledge on these subjects.

The meeting was hosted by Zaman Group, and was attended by members of the core group from Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon