ANKARA - The head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on Tuesday that Turkey should not allow the current global crisis affect its progress in environmental issues negatively.
Turkish Environment & Forestry Minister Veysel Eroglu and OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria held a joint press conference following their talks in capital Ankara.
During the conference, Gurria said the economic crisis should not be a destructive factor, stating that the crisis might continue for a while, however, environmental issues and climate change would affect humanity for a very long time.
Gurria said Turkey made a remarkable progress in environmental issues since OECD issued the "Turkey Environmental Performance Report" in 1999.
He also said that Turkey was the leading country in the world regarding the fight against erosion.
Commenting on climate change as well, Gurria said Turkey should take measures on such issue as the rich bio-diversity in the country was under threat despite impressive efforts.
(DO-CE)
(GEN)