The 65th General Assembly of PABSEC Held in Azerbaijan
The 65th General Assembly of PABSEC Held in Azerbaijan
The 65th General Assembly of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) was held in the capital Baku, hosted by the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan.
The session, chaired by Speaker of the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan Sahiba Gafarova, was attended by Chairperson of the National Assembly of Bulgaria Nataliya Kiselova, Speaker of the Assembly of North Macedonia Afrim Gashi, PABSEC Secretary General Asaf Hajiyev, Head of the Turkish PABSEC Group Fatih Dönmez, and representatives from member countries.
Speaking at the General Assembly, Head of the Turkish PABSEC Group Dönmez emphasized that success in the fields of transportation and logistics is not only possible through national infrastructure investmets, but also through cross-border cooperation and administrative coordination.
Stating that Turkey supports regional projects in this field, Dönmez said, "Projects such as the Middle Corridor, Zangezur, and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars line are multi-dimensional development initiatives that not only have economic but also strategic and political implications."
Dönmez noted that after Azerbaijan ensured its territorial integrity following the Second Karabakh War, a historic opportunity emerged for sustainable peace in the region, adding, "A peace agreement to be signed between Azerbaijan and Armenia will create positive effects not only in the South Caucasus but also throughout the Black Sea basin. As Turkey, we continue to support this process."
Touching upon Israel’s attacks on Gaza, Dönmez said, “We strongly condemn Israel’s airstrikes against Iran, which come on top of the genocide that has been ongoing in Gaza for 20 months. These attacks, which clearly violate international law, are part of Israel’s strategic destabilization policy. Ten PABSEC member countries have recognized Palestine. We invite the other member countries to recognize Palestine as well.”
Dönmez also stated that Turkey continues its mediation efforts to end the Ukraine-Russia war, expressing their hope that the meetings held in Istanbul on May 16 and June 2 would contribute to peace.
"One of the underlying reasons for these wars is access to energy resources"
Speaking to members of the press, Dönmez said that the conflict between Israel and Iran, which has escalated to the level of war, has disrupted the peace of the region.
Dönmez said, “It is not possible for us to accept Israel’s actions aimed at destabilizing the region. Of course, we do not desire nuclear power in our region. If Israel possesses it, we are against Israel; if Iran possesses it, we are against Iran. But actions taken based on unfounded reasons that may lead to regional destabilization benefit no one. The Israeli government clearly revealed its intentions with the massacre it carried out in Gaza. We hope common sense will prevail, and we will emerge from this war environment as soon as possible. We should be talking about peace, not war. One of the underlying reasons for these wars is access to energy resources. Let us use energy not for war, but for peace.”
PABSEC Chairmanship Transferred to Bulgaria
At the end of the meeting, the PABSEC Chairmanship was handed over from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria. Speaker Gafarova transferred the position to Chairperson of the Bulgarian National Assembly Kiselova.