Leaders of 11 southeastern European countries started a regional cooperation summit here on Wednesday, Xinhua reported.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul is hosting the meeting of the Southeast European Cooperation Process (SEECP).
Heads of state attending the meeting include Albanian President Bamir Topi, Croatian President Ivo Josipovic, Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov and Montenegro President Filip Vujanovic.
Representatives from the United States and Russia and Stephan Fule, European Union's commissioner for enlargement and European neighborhood policy as well as officials from UNESCO and the Black Sea Cooperation Organization are also present at the meeting.