CUMHURIYET- Columnist Mustafa Balbay writes on the Black Sea Economic Cooperation summit being held today in Istanbul on the group’s 10th anniversary. A summary of his column is as follows:
The Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) is 10 years old. BSEC was formed in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union as part of new initiatives with the melting of ice and the emergence of new giants in the region. The BSEC summit to be held in Istanbul will also celebrate the 10th anniversary of the organization. The BSEC summit, which is beginning even before the lobbying activities of the Seville summit have cooled down, is a reflection of Turkey’s place within the new world balance. When we take a look at these 10 years, it may at first seem that there is nothing tangible at hand. However, the laying of a building’s foundations and constructing its ground floor are the longest steps during the building’s whole construction. If the foundations are sound, the rest comes easy. We can liken the desire of countries around the Black Sea to improve their relations within an atmosphere of mutual trust to laying down the foundations. Its taking shape may be the building of columns, and institutionalizing relations may be completing the groundwork. We seem to have reached this point. The EU, today aims to be a world power more than a regional one, but is confused on how to do this as it was first established on the desire of six countries to form a steel union. Following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the USSR’s Black Sea Navy was divided up between Russia and the Ukraine. This led Turkey to come to mind when speaking of the greatest navy in the Black Sea. Adding economic power to this comes not from saying ‘I am the most powerful’ but rather ‘I can establish the best relations.’ The Eurasia Agreement, in addition to the energy agreements between Russia and Turkey, may be followed by others. If Turkey and Russia can establish a sound relationship, solutions to all the problems in the region starting with one between Armenia and Azerbaijan may be facilitated. The heads of state from Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and Moldova are attending today’s summit. Russian’s deputy prime minister and foreign ministers from Greece and Armenia are also coming. While celebrating the 10th anniversary of the BSEC, we hope that it will be more institutionalized in the next 10 years to come.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION