The Mediterranean Commission of ELEC for the first time held a conference on the eastern side of the “mare nostrum”, namely in Istanbul. The conference on the role of Turkey as a European and regional hub proved to be most interesting (see summary).  Turkey – and especially the European side of the Bosporus where the Istanbul conference took place –  is a rapidly growing into a developed region and a strategic hub. In the past the tentative EU membership perspective was already an anchor for Turkish reforms. This could be even  more the case in the future now that the refugee crisis makes close cooperation still more essential.