Turkey hails North Macedonia's Black Sea bloc entry

By Gozde Bayar

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey on Tuesday congratulated North Macedonia on becoming a member of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC).

"The participation of North Macedonia, which became a member of NATO in 2020 and decided to start accession negotiations with the EU, will increase the possibilities and capabilities of the organization in the fields of regional cooperation," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

North Macedonia officially joined the BSEC as its 13th member on Monday.

The other members are Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine.

"We firmly believe that our deep-rooted relations with North Macedonia, which is one of the important actors for the stability and peace of the Balkans, will gain a new dimension with the regional cooperation under the BSEC," read the statement.

Turkey will provide all kinds of support to North Macedonia for its rapid and effective participation in the governing body of the organization, it added.

As a founding member, Turkey hosts the BSEC headquarters and secretariat, and closely follows the regional bloc’s activities.