ANKARA - Special meeting of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Board will be held in Istanbul between April 1 and 2, 2004 on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of establishment of the agency.
Releasing a statement on Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the IEA was established in November of 1974 in response to the oil crisis as an autonomous intergovernmental entity within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to ensure the energy security of industrialized nations.
Recalling that the special meeting of the IEA Executive Board would be held in Istanbul between April 1 and 2, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that a general assessment would be made at the meeting about activities of the agency in the last three decades, and the participants of the meeting would exchange views over the future roles to be undertaken by the IEA.
''The meeting's being held in Turkey, which has been playing a bridgelike role between energy producer countries and consumer countries, will enable Turkey to explain risks of oil transportation through the Turkish Straits in regard to environment, human health and security, and protection of Istanbul's cultural heritage,'' the Ministry of Foreign Affairs added.
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States are the member countries to the IEA.
(UK) 29.03.2004