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Azerbaijan takes over chairmanship of Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization

16 April 2009 14:50 (UTC +04:00)

Yerevan â€“ APA. At the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization in Yerevan, Armenia handed over the chairmanship of the organization to Azerbaijan, APA reports quoting Novosti-Armenia. Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said at the joint press conference that they had handed over the chairmanship to Azerbaijan and wished Baku success in the consolidation and reinforcement of the region. Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mammadguliyev said they had taken over the chairmanship with responsibility and that they would do their best to make BSEC a more efficient organization. He said the main priorities of Azerbaijanâ€™s chairmanship were to solve organizational problems, eliminate legal shortcomings impeding the cooperation and effective work. The diplomat said regional cooperation might be successful only in the atmosphere of peace, stability and security and underlined that they would focus on the protracted conflicts. He said Azerbaijan first of all intended to organize the meeting of BSEC ministers responsible for information and communication technologies.

BSEC was established in 1992. Azerbaijan, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Serbia are permanent members of the organization. US, Austria, Belarus, Croatia, Czechia, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Slovakia are observers in the organization.