Turkish President Erdogan Calls for Closer Cooperation Among Black Sea Countries

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that despite being different in terms of language, culture, political courses and economic situations the countries of the BSEC are brought together by "a common denominator": the Black Sea.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday called on the countries of the Black Sea region to enhance cooperation within the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC).

"It is up to us, the member states, to make efforts to reinforce our cooperation under this umbrella. Here in Anatolia, we have a saying: a neighbor needs even the ash of another neighbor," Erdogan said, speaking at the opening of the BSEC meeting in Istanbul, as quoted by the Anadolu news agency.

The BSEC was founded in 1992 and is comprised of 12 members: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine. Not all member states have access to the Black Sea.

Despite being different in terms of language, culture, political courses and economic situations, Erdogan said that the countries of the BSEC are brought together by "a common denominator": the Black Sea.

"We all together need to do more than we currently do for the Black Sea, which always gives us more than what it takes from us," the Turkish leader stressed.

The participants of the meeting in Istanbul are expected to discuss such matters as the expansion of cooperation between members, development of cross-border roads, sea and energy infrastructure, as well as renewable energy, green technology and energy efficiency.