The New Anatolian, Turkey
Oct 28 2006
Turkey set to bring dynamism to BSEC
Turkey is aiming at bringing a new dynamism to the organization of
the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), during its six-month term
presidency starting Wednesday.
BSEC Deputy Secretary General Ambassador Murat Sungar told The New
Anatolian that Turkey will carry out a more active policy during its
Term Presidency and as a sign of that Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul
is expected to participate in the upcoming 15th meeting of the
Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Moscow next week.
"International developments are making the Black Sea region much more
important for almost all countries. The region, which lies at the
crossroads of Europe and Asia has big economic potentials. Turkey,
which led efforts to establish the BSEC 15 years ago, now aims at
bringing a new momentum to the organization," Sungar said.
According to Sungar, despite various interesting projects being
raised by BSEC members in the past, most of them haven’t been
realized. "One of the projects that will gain more importance in the
coming period will be the so-called ring-road project, which aims to
link the countries of the region," Sungar said.
Turkey is also planning to host a major meeting of the BSEC next
June, which will bring the heads of states of the member countries to
Istanbul. The event will mark the 15th anniversary of the BSEC.
On June 25, 1992, the heads of state and governments of 11 countries
signed in Istanbul a summit declaration and the Bosphorus Statement
giving birth to the BSEC.
The organization came into existence as a unique and promising model
of multilateral political and economic initiative aimed at fostering
interaction and harmony among the member states, as well as to ensure
peace, stability and prosperity encouraging friendly and
good-neighborly relations in the region.
Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova,
Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine are the founding members of the
BSEC. Serbia and Montenegro also later joined.
The United States and Israel are among the 13 observer states.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress