Turkey hands over PABSEC presidency to Ukraine
Ankara, November 3 (AZERTAC). Turkey handed over the rotating chairmanship of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) to Ukraine on Wednesday.
Ukraine`s Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn took over the rotating chairmanship from Turkey`s Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Sahin in a ceremony in Turkey`s northern province of Trabzon.
“Black Sea is a region bringing cultures and civilizations together,” Sahin said during the opening ceremony of the 36th PABSEC General Assembly in Trabzon.
Established on February 26, 1993 as a parliamentary dimension of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), the PABSEC has proved to be an effective forum for inter-parliamentary dialogue in the Black Sea region.
With a membership of 76 parliamentarians representing the national parliaments of the twelve BSEC Member States, the PABSEC facilitates the mobilization of efforts by the national parliaments aimed at promoting democratic values, the rule of law, pluralistic society and market economy. The main objective of the PABSEC is to provide assistance to the national parliaments in enacting the laws that are necessary for the implementation of the projects elaborated within the framework of the Organization of the BSEC and to establish the legislative foundation for successful multilateral economic, political and cultural cooperation in the region.
Azerbaijan, Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine are the members of the assembly.
