Turkey will assume the six-month rotating chairmanship of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) on Sunday, succeeding Serbia.
Belgrade chaired the organization in July-December 2016, working on the development of economic, transport cooperation and cooperation with regional and international organizations.
Earlier in December, Serbia already handed over the chairmanship of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) to Turkey.
Turkey’s Chairmanship-in-Office in 2017 will see the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the BSEC. BSEC was launched as a regional initiative, with Turkey’s lead, in 1992 at the Istanbul Summit. In 1999, BSEC was officially transformed from an initiative into a regional cooperation organization, now comprising 12 member states, including Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine, as well as 16 observers and 15 sectoral dialogue partners.
