BLACK SEA ECONOMIC COOPERATION SUMMIT BEGINS IN ISTANBUL

Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
June 25 2007

ISTANBUL (A.A) -25.06.2007 -The 15th Anniversary Summit of the Black
Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) Heads of State and Government began
in Turkish metropolis of Istanbul with a meeting of foreign ministers
of BSEC countries on Monday.

During their meeting at the Ciragan Palace, foreign ministers will
shape up a final declaration and present it to the heads of state of
BSEC countries for approval.

Turkish FM Abdullah Gul, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov, Serbian FM Vuc
Jeremic, Greek FM Dora Bakoyianni, Bulgarian FM Ivaylo Kalfin,
Slovakian FM Jan Kubis, Romanian FM Adrian Cioroianu, Azerbaijani
FM Elmar Mammadyarov, Ukranian FM Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Armenian FM
Vartan Oskanian and Georgian FM Gela Bezhuashvili are participating
in the meeting.

-BSEC ANNIVERSARY SUMMIT-

BSEC member states believe that the 15th anniversary summit will
revive and give a new momentum to BSEC. 12 member states and 13
observer states, as well as executives of regional and international
organizations will be represented at the summit.

The 15th Anniversary Summit will be chaired by Turkish President
Ahmet Necdet Sezer. The summit itself, and the final declaration to
be released at the end of the summit are expected to be a milestone
as they stress the highest political directives for the future of
the Black Sea basin and BSEC.

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan will host a luncheon at the Ciragan
Palace in honour of participants, whereas President Sezer will host
a dinner at the Dolmabahce Palace.

-HISTORY OF BSEC-

On June 25th, 1992, heads of state and government of 11 countries
signed in Istanbul the Summit Declaration giving birth to the BSEC.

The BSEC is comprised of not only Black Sea littoral states, but
also covers a large geography from Serbia to Ukraine and Russia,
from Georgia to Armenia; i.e. it covers Southeast European, Balkan
and Caucasian countries and 370-million population.

Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia,
Belarus, Croatia, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel and the USA are the observer
countries.

Also a Bosphorus Statement was issued in 1992, when the organization
was established. In this statement, the signatories – which are also
the signatories of the Istanbul Summit Declaration – committed to obey
rules and principles of the Helsinki Final Act and the Organization
of Security & Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

BSEC turned into a fully-fledged regional economic cooperation
organization as the BSEC Charter, signed in Yalta on June 5th, 1998,
was put into force on May 1st, 1999.

The Permanent International Secretariat of BSEC is based in Turkey,
while the main target of the organization is to develop regional
strategies.

BSEC has four affiliated centres including Parliamentary Assembly,
Business Council, Coordination Centre for the Exchange of Statistical
Data and Economic Information, and Black Sea Trade and Development
Bank.

Turkey took over the rotating presidency of the BSEC from Serbia on
May 1st, 2007 for six months.

-SECURITY MEASURES-

Meanwhile, Turkish police tightened security measures for the 15th
anniversary summit of BSEC. The air space over the routes where
guests will use and Ciragan and Dolmabahce palaces have been closed
to civilian helicopter traffic.

Also, a security corridor has been set up on the Istanbul Strait.

Tankers, loaded with hazardous materials, are not allowed to pass
through the Istanbul Strait.