Thursday, 16 April 2009
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Thursday Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) was the backbone of regional stability and the most practical mechanism in containing political risks and conflicts.
Delivering a speech at the 20th BSEC Foreign Ministers Council in Armenian capital Yerevan, Babacan said with such perspective, Turkey strongly supported BSEC.
Commenting on Turkey's position regarding the global financial crisis, Babacan said the dimensions of the crisis made regional and global coordination all more important.
Babacan said enhancing the cooperation among BSEC members, which gave way to concrete projects like ring and sea highways, would be beneficial for all members.
Reiterating Turkey's offer to host the Joint Technical Secretariat of the Sea Highway Project, Babacan said Turkey, with its coasts in both the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, was the most suitable candidate.
Babacan urged the private sector and the businessmen to participate more actively in activities of BSEC, noting that visa practices set an obstacle in the way of interaction between private sectors of different countries.
He said Turkey favoured a closer relation between BSEC and the EU.
Babacan later separately met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammad Guliev.
