Turkey's top diplomat due at Black Sea bloc meeting

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA

Turkey’s foreign minister on Friday will be in Azerbaijan for a meeting of his colleagues from Black Sea coastal states.

In the capital Baku, Mevlut Cavusoglu will attend the 39th meeting of the council of foreign ministers of Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) member states.

"Turkey places importance on the work of the BSEC, which not only contributes to enhancing economic cooperation among the BSEC Member but also to cultivating a culture of dialogue and promoting stability in the region," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Turkey will continue its efforts to boost the group’s effectiveness, it added.

During the meeting, the ministers will discuss recent BSEC activities in the areas of transport, information and communication technology, energy, the environment, customs, fighting organized crime, agriculture, and culture.

They will also exchange views on additional steps to turn the BSEC into a more project-oriented organization.

Headquartered in Istanbul, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC) was established in 1992 with the aim of acting in a spirit of friendship and good neighborliness and enhancing mutual respect and confidence, dialogue and cooperation among the member states.

The group has 12 members; Turkey, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine.