Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu went to Greece to attend the 31st Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) which was held in Thessaloniki on 12 December 2014. Turkey is one of the founding members of BSEC.

During the 31st Meeting of the Council of Ministers, the works of BSEC in many areas such as trade, transportation, energy, communication, science-technology, tourism and education have been discussed. Furthermore, the Ministers exchanged views on the steps that may be taken to render the organization more project-oriented, more effective and more visible.

Speaking at the meeting, Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu underlined the need for a BSEC reform in order to render the organization more effective and expressed that strengthening the Secretariat and the establishment of new working groups to develop cooperation in different sectors should be at the heart of this reform efforts.

On the occasion of the meeting, Foreign Minister H.E. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu also held bilateral meetings with Foreign Ministers of BSEC countries. Foreign Minister met with the Greek Foreign Minister whose country holds the Presidency of BSEC.

Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu stated that at the meeting, review of the Third Meeting of Turkey-Greece High Level Cooperation Council which was held last week and the resolution of the Cyprus issue constituted the main items on the agenda.

Stating that he conveyed to his Greek counterpart that the continuation of negotiations in Cyprus is very important for the establishment of a permanent peace, Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu said that as a confidence building measure, he suggested Turkish and Greek Foreign Ministers to go to the Island together.

Following the visit of the Atatürk House in Thessaloniki within the framework of the visit, Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu departed for Komotini.