IN
IT’S 15TH YEAR
Dr. Akkan SUVER
The Black Sea Economic
Cooperation, launched with the
signing of a foundation protocol
in 1992 in Istanbul, today
includes parliamentarians,
business councils, a bank, an
economic data center and a
partner NGO.
The Marmara Group Foundation,
which is presided by myself, was
accepted as a partner in the
Black Sea Economic Cooperation
Parliamentary Assembly in
December 2006 with its NGO
identity.
The Black Sea Economic
Cooperation, which is now a
stable reality rather than a
dream, an idea or a project, is
the strongest concrete evidence
of the belief and cooperation
for the common future of our
region.
As the Marmara Group Foundation,
particularly, with the ideal of
Black Sea to become a peace,
stability and common prosperity
basin, with the ideal of getting
our people, our countries closer
around the principles of
cooperation, solidarity and
common fate and with the ideal
of forming a mechanism in our
region which will be precedent
to all the world, we are aiming
and conveying this case from one
country to the other.
The greatest goal of the Marmara
Group Foundation is to form a
Black Sea basin, where not only
the goods and capitals but also
the ideas of people can roam
freely with no barriers.
If most of the countries of the
Black Sea Economic Cooperation
attempt to look at the future
with a brand new vision and hope
leaving their common past to
history, we take it as a common
perspective.
For The Black Sea region is the
meeting point of continents and
seas. It is where Europe, the
Mediterranean, the Caucasus,
Asia and the Middle East
intersect. There is also the
fact that the human is the focal
point of the region.
Our aim at this point as Marmara
Group Foundation is taking the
vision of removing the barriers
in front of the people’s
creativities and
entrepreneurships and
transforming and transforming
the relationship among the
countries in the region into a
multilateral cooperation which
is based on market economy
relationships.
We believe that it is possible
for this vision to be realized
in a long lasting and dynamic
structure, only if civil
initiative exists. For peace and
stability can only be permanent
when people come together with
cooperation and solidarity and
do common work for common goals.
The qualified human resource,
infrastructure of industry and
energy of the region, will make
the Member States candidates for
the fastest growing countries
with the most powerful economies.
Today, globalization is a fact.
Another fact is the rapid
transformation of the world into
one single economy with the
universalization of the law. The
existence and value of the
contribution of mechanisms like
the Black Sea Economic
Cooperation, is indisputable.
To transfer this existence and
value from one nation to the
other, as well as it has been
from one state to the other
since now, will supply a brand
new complementary and unifying
element to this philosophy.
On the other side, the EU,
reaching its 50th year of
foundation and the preparations
of the EU and the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation for
integration are complementary
for each other.
Because we take it is an element
that creates economical,
commercial and intellectual
potential for both these two
regional cooperation
organizations and third party
countries.
From this point of view, as the
Marmara Group Foundation we are
taking Black Sea as an
independent center of ideas to
work on the region to become
prosperous peace and stability
basin, which is purified from
tensions, and as a common living
place of development and
democracy for people.
We believe that we have the
necessary political and
intellectual will for such major
cooperation model to be
appropriated for our nation and
for encouraging the creative
energies of our people.
This is a historical opportunity.
The involvement of the civil
society in this organization is
another evidence of
contemporaneity and stability.
The Black Sea Economic
Cooperation will be another
guarantee of our bright future
with the addition of civil
initiative to money and politics.