ECO meeting held in Turkish Republic of N. Cyprus

A working meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) on "Waste Water Management and Purification Technology" takes place in the TRNC.

Delegations from Turkey, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Tajikistan and an ECO Secretariat delegation attend the meeting at the Dogu Akdeniz University campus in Gazimagusa.

Making opening remarks of the meeting, Donmezer asked the international community and especially Islamic states to lift illegal sanctions and embargoes imposed on Turkish Cypriot people.

Stressing that organization of this international meeting in the TRNC was very important for them, Donmezer said she believed the meeting would contribute to solution of waste water problem in the TRNC.

Recalling that synchronous referendums had been held in the TRNC and Greek Cypriot side on April 24, Donmezer said that the Greek Cypriot side which voted 75 percent "no" to resolution of the Cyprus issue by rejecting Annan’s plan joined the European Union while the Turkish Cypriot side which accepted the plan with 65 percent "yes" vote was outside the bloc, which was a very serious injustice.

Expressing her hope that the international community would review this unfair situation between the two peoples on the island and make every contribution to correct this unjust situation, Donmezer said they expected Islamic countries to play a pioneering role in this process.

Meanwhile, ECO Deputy Secretary General Dr. Sh. Aleskerov said that ECO Secretary General Askhat Orazbay could not attend the meeting as he was currently paying an official visit to Azerbaijan.

Participants of the working meeting will depart from Cyprus on Saturday.

TRNC can participate in ECO’s economic, technical and cultural activities under a decision made at Ministers Council meeting in Islamabad between November 28-29, 1992.

A seminar on "Control of Air and Sea Pollution" was held under the ECO structure in Girne city of TRNC between August 25-26, 1998 with participation of representatives from Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan.

ECO is an inter-governmental regional organization established in 1985 by Turkey, Iran and Pakistan for the purpose of sustainable socio-economic development of the member states.

ECO is the successor organization of Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD) which remained active from 1964 up to 1979. In 1992, the Organization was expanded to include seven new members, namely: Islamic State of Afghanistan, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Republic of Uzbekistan. (MS-AÖ)