SPEECH BY H.E. MR. AL? BABACAN, ON THE OCCASION OF THE ...

SPEECH BY H.E. MR. ALİ BABACAN, ON THE OCCASION OF THE
SEVENTEENTH MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF
FOREING AFAIRS OF THE BSEC MEMBER STATES
Distinguished Colleagues and Representatives,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As the Chairman-in-Office of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
(BSEC), I would like to welcome you to the Seventeenth Meeting of the Council
of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the BSEC.
This is my first BSEC meeting as Foreign Minister and I am particularly
pleased to have the opportunity to meet you and exchange views on some of the
important issues on the agenda of our Organization.
I wish to assure you that, like my predecessor, I will continue to actively
support BSEC in order to contribute to fulfilling the potential of our region and
the cooperation prospects it offers.
Esteemed Colleagues,
I would like to express my gratitude to you for your valuable contributions
at the 15th Anniversary Summit of BSEC on 25 June 2007, in Istanbul. We were
very pleased with the participation of the Member States at the highest level.
This level of participation was a reflection of the political support provided by
the Member States, as well as the strong credibility of the Organization.

With the Istanbul Summit Declaration, our Heads of State and
Government have given us guidance with regard to the future orientation and
vision of BSEC. We will work together closely with a view to implementing the
conclusions of the Summit.
One of the most important conclusions of the Summit, in our view,
concerns the redefinition of the focus and priorities of the BSEC in certain areas
of cooperation where we can derive tangible results, such as environmental
protection, trade, transport, tourism, energy, telecommunications, science and
technology and all forms of organized crime. It is important that we adopt a
sustainable working approach and develop effective operational capabilities with
a view to achieving our targets in these priority areas of cooperation.
We have respected these priorities throughout our Chairmanship. I believe
that the Ministerial Meetings in the areas of Transport and Culture, and events
such as “The Black Sea Oil and Gas Summit”, as well as “The 1 st Black Sea
Ring Highway and the 4 th Silk Road Conference” have contributed to the
implementation of some of the conclusions of the Istanbul Summit. In this vein,
a Ministerial Meeting on Science and Technology will also be held in the
coming days.
In the area of energy cooperation, in addition to “The Black Sea Oil and
Gas Summit” the “Ad Hoc Working Group on Cooperation Among BSEC
Member States in the Exploration and Extraction of Hydrocarbon Resources of
the Black Sea”, established by Turkey’s proposal, recently held its first meeting.

Distinguished Colleagues,
One of the most important objectives we share is to transform the BSEC
into a project-oriented organization. As the Chairmanship-in-Office, Turkey has
submitted various project proposals pertaining to areas ranging from
telecommunications to health and education. We cannot envisage a successful
model of economic cooperation which does not take into account the
environment. This is why one of the Turkish project proposals is related to the
environment.
On the other hand, our proposal for the city of Bursa to host a BSEC
Trade Center is currently being discussed at the relevant Working Group. Within
a couple of weeks, an event to promote this proposal will be organized by the
local authorities in Bursa, with the participation of the members of the
international media.
It is our expectation that such Trade Centers will not be established
exclusively in Turkey. The aim is to eventually set up similar Trade Centers in
all BSEC Members States and to create sectoral networks among them, which
will contribute to our common goal to develop our trade relations.
In order to contribute to the facilitation of trade relations in the BSEC
region, Turkey made a joint proposal with the BSEC Business Council to
identify and eliminate non-tariff barriers to trade. We also held two meetings on
visa matters related to businessmen and professional drivers.
During the past five years, with a yearly average growth rate of 6.2%, our
region has been one of the fastest growing in terms of GNP. The region’s total
GNP is nearly USD 3.4 trillion. This figure constitutes 7.6% of the world

economy. Once we achieve our set goals, I am confident that the existing figures
will continue rising. In keeping with this, organizing in the near future the BSEC
Business Forum and the Meeting of the Ministers of Trade will surely make
valuable contributions to our trade cooperation, as well.
Esteemed Colleagues,
We have been trying to initiate a thematic approach in the work of BSEC,
in the sense of establishing practical cooperation on certain issues of common
concern or interest such as climate change, achieving the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) and combating organized crime. These are areas
where increased cooperation was envisaged in the Istanbul Summit Declaration
as well. We believe that there is ample opportunity in the BSEC region for
active and meaningful cooperation in these spheres, which will consolidate the
culture of multilateralism in our region.
For example, we can have scientific meetings on climate change in the
near future to study its consequences in the BSEC region and take collective
action to tackle the challenges it poses. Likewise, we may conduct a detailed
study on MDGs to see to what extent these goals have been achieved and are
being pursued in our region and establish feasible modalities of cooperation in
areas where Member States have shortcomings.
With regard to combating organized crime, a joint meeting was organized
in Istanbul two weeks ago between BSEC and the relevant UN bodies to fight
human trafficking in the region. This meeting is considered as the contribution
of BSEC to the forthcoming international forum against human trafficking
which will be held in Vienna, in 2008. In the sphere of the fight against
organized crime, training courses and seminars on organized crime investigation

techniques were provided by Turkish authorities for the experts and security
forces of BSEC Member States.
At a time when the nexus between terrorism and organized crime has
emerged as a major threat to national, regional and international security and
stability, I would like to particularly emphasize the importance of a firm resolve
and cooperation to fight against them, in compliance with the relevant
resolutions and decisions of the UN Security Council and our international
obligations in this sphere.
Distinguished Colleagues,
During our BSEC Chairmanship, Undersecretaries and Deputy Ministers
of the Ministries of Education of Member States came together to exchange
views on how to further our cooperation in the area of education and contacts
among higher educational institutions.
Among other events, in the area of institutional renewal and good
governance, we hosted a seminar on regulatory impact analysis, simplification
and reduction of red-tape in BSEC countries.
One of the objectives of our Chairmanship was to establish a common
spirit of friendship and cooperation. To contribute to this objective, we
organized “The First Black Sea Games” in the Black Sea coastal cities of
Turkey. This event has shown that the peoples of BSEC countries can come
together and contribute to successful social events. Our subsequent aim should
be to extend this sort of public-to-public contact to other areas of cooperation
within BSEC. In this framework, a special responsibility rests also with the local
authorities and civil society organizations in our countries. One such event
organized by Turkish NGOs took place just before the Istanbul Summit. We

hope that this kind of public interest will be maintained in Turkey, as well as the
other BSEC Member States.
As you know, the interest of the European Union in the work of BSEC
and the BSEC-EU contacts aiming at concrete cooperation which have been
taking place for the past one year have resulted in the EU Commission
becoming the 14 th Observer in BSEC just before the Istanbul Summit. I believe
that this will allow the EU to witness the activities of the BSEC and the
opportunities and potential it offers for a mutually beneficial and fruitful
cooperation between the two organizations.
Distinguished Colleagues,
It is important that we continue to put our efforts together to ensure that
BSEC stays as an effective organization to serve the objectives of its Member
States to the benefit of all. The committed work of the Secretary General of
BSEC, H.E. Ambassador Leonidas CHRYSANTHOPOULOS and the members
of the Secretariat, as well as the strong guidance of the forthcoming Ukranian
Chairmanship-in-Office, will surely be of great value for the endeavors of our
Organization. Seizing this opportunity, I would like to wish success to Ukraine
which will be taking over the Chairmanship of BSEC from Turkey. We are
ready to share our views and experience with the forthcoming Ukranian
Chairmanship and we have already started this process.
In concluding my words, I would like to express my heartfelt wishes for
continued fruitful BSEC cooperation and a secure, peaceful and prosperous
Black Sea.
Thank you.