The MahlerFest in Boulder, Colorado, an annual gathering, concluded with a performance of the Eighth Symphony.
European diplomats alarmed by the gathering threat concluded that the Turkish leadership was sympathetic to conservative Islamists travelling to fight Assad, who had, until his brutal response to pro-democracy demonstrations in 2011, been a friend of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
"Sharks is where they really dropped the ball," said Elizabeth Wilson, director of the Pew Charitable Trusts' international ocean policy unit, which had observer status at the gathering, which concluded Monday.
The gathering, which concluded yet another victorious two-weekend run Sunday, continued to prove why it's an international draw for the fanciest 1percentt.
The thousands of people gathering for the concluding stage, and the many millions who watch the drama develop on television over three weeks, deserve the chance of that kind of climax, rather than the certainty of its denial.
After three days of partisan bravado at their dueling winter conventions, the Republican Party concluded its gathering here today and the Democratic Party closed its meeting in Washington.
The two-day gathering, which concludes Tuesday, was organized by the Heartland Institute, a Chicago group whose antiregulatory philosophy has long been embraced by, and financially supported by, various industries and conservative donors.
The company has been taking versions of its road show to movie gatherings, including the recently concluded Tribeca Film Festival.
It has become customary for the Valdai gatherings to conclude with an on-record session with Mr. Putin.
Professor Kulchytsky said he had been given the task of gathering research but concluded that the famine had been man-made.
