A bilateral meeting between H.E. Secretary General Halil Ibrahim Akca and H.E. Kudret Ozarsay, the Honorable Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkish Cypriot State, was held on 17 April 2018 on the margins of the 23rd ECO Council of Ministers Meeting, in Dushanbe.
During the meeting, the ECO Secretary General commended the efforts of the Turkish Cypriot State for the realization of the Organization’s goals. He stated that Turkish Cypriot State has been the observer of the Organization since 2014 and it is a positive development that the 23rd COM approved the extension of the Observer status of the Turkish Cypriot State for another three years, in Dushanbe.
H.E. Kudret Ozarsay in return expressed his gratitude to the Secretary General for the efforts during his tenure to make the ECO a vibrant international organization. He also expressed Turkish Cypriot State’s willingness to enhance its role within the framework of ECO to organize more meetings in the coming periods. And he expressed that they are expecting from COM to make their participation in the ECO events easier by lifting the precondition of CPR approval for each event. He also expressed his gratitude for the extension of the Observer statute of the Turkish Cypriot State for another term. However, he stated that the condition of the renewal observer status for three year intervals may be lifted.
