INVITATION

Dear Colleagues,

We are delighted to invite you to Istanbul, the city where Behçet’s disease was first described, to attend the 21st International Conference on Behçet’s Disease, which will be held on June 25–27, 2026, at the Istanbul University Main Campus.

When Hulusi Behçet published his comprehensive evaluation of three patients in 1937, it became clear that the condition, previously diagnosed under various names, represented a distinct clinical entity. Soon thereafter, similar cases were reported from different parts of the world, establishing Behçet’s disease as a truly global disorder.

Behçet’s disease affects multiple organs, including the skin and mucosa, eyes, joints, blood vessels, brain, and intestines, and continues to draw the attention of clinicians and basic scientists worldwide. Owing to its multisystemic nature, it remains a model of interdisciplinary collaboration.

Although Hulusi Behçet initially proposed that the disease might arise from inflammation triggered by a novel virus or infections of the oral cavity, its etiopathogenesis remains incompletely understood. Despite remarkable progress over the past decades, the mechanisms underlying its inflammatory response, shaped by the interplay of genetic and environmental factors, are still not fully elucidated.

For all these reasons, we warmly invite you to Istanbul, where continents meet and where the history of Behçet’s disease began, to discuss the latest insights into its pathogenesis and clinical spectrum, to learn about recent advances, and to share our collective experience.

We also believe that the dedicated sessions on “Inflammatory Pathways and Targeted Treatments” will enrich the scientific program by integrating current knowledge from related inflammatory diseases and by facilitating the translation of emerging discoveries into improved care for our patients with Behçet’s disease.

It will be our great pleasure to welcome you to the 21st International Conference on Behçet’s Disease, and we look forward to an inspiring and memorable meeting in Istanbul.

With kind regards,

Ahmet Gül