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Turkey’s relations with the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO)

Turkey, along with Pakistan and Iran, is one of the three founding members of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). ECO, which is generally summarized as a commercial and trade oriented organization, provides a platform that brings Turkey and the Central and South Asian States together. ECO currently has 10 members (Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan).

The activities of ECO in different fields are being closely monitored by relevant Turkish institutions and authorities. Turkey supports the activities of ECO by holding meetings in Turkey as well as participating in various meetings held by other member countries. In this regard, Turkey hosted the 11th ECO Summit Meeting and the 19th Council of Ministers (CoM) Meeting in Istanbul on 20-23 December 2010. At this Summit Meeting, Turkey assumed the rotating ECO Presidency from Iran.

Currently, under Turkey’s ECO Presidency, which covers the period of 2011-2012, an Eminent Persons Group (EPG) comprising of representatives from member countries has been set up at the initiative of Turkey. The First EPG Meeting was held in Turkey on 25-26 July 2011. ECO is expected to align itself, in all aspects, with the new regional and international developments and challenges, once the reports and proposals of EPG are implemented.

17 years after its expansion, the working principles of ECO have been regulated and its institutional framework has largely been completed. The organizational structure of ECO comprises a Secretary General (SG) and Seven Directorates which operate under the guidance of the SG. These Directorates and its distribution among member countries are as follows:

- Directorate of Trade & Investment (Pakistan),
- Directorate of Transport &Communications (Iran),
- Directorate of Agriculture, Industry & Tourism (Turkey),
- Directorate of Energy, Minerals & Environment (Azerbaijan)
- Directorate of Project & Economic Research & Statistics (Kazakhstan),
- Directorate of Human Resources & Sustainable Development (Turkey-Vacant),
- Drug and Organised Crime Coordination Unit – DOCCU (Iran).

66% of the current ECO budget is being financed equally by the three founding members. In this respect, Turkey finances 22% of ECO’s budget (Turkey’s annual contribution equals to 643.335 USD).