Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend K.Ramazanova / A meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) began in Turkey.
Zakir Hashimov, the Azerbaijani Ambassador to Turkey, informed from Istanbul that attending the meeting are the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, as well as the foreign ministers of Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Romania, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine. The ministers will coordinate the final declaration of the summit.
At 6pm [ Baku time] there are plans to hold a BSEC summit. The Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Turkey to participate in the event with Russian President Vladimir Putin and heads of other BSEC member-countries. Foreign Minister Vadan Oskanian will represent Armenian in this top meeting.
The summit will discuss prospects of interaction of the Black Sea basin countries in the fields of energy, trade, transport, environmental protection and the fight against crime. Representatives from the UN, the OSCE, the European Union, the World Trade Organization and the World Bank are expected to be in attendance.
The BSEC was founded at Turkey's initiative with respect to establishing multilateral cooperation of Black Sea basin countries in the spheres of trade and economic trade, transport, telecommunications, tourism and ecology.
Thirteen countries - Austria, Belarus, Germany, Egypt, Israel, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, the United States, Croatia, Tunisia, France and Czech Republic hold observer status of the BSEC.