Six Black Sea Countries Sign Letter of Intent on Naval CooperationSix countries littoral to the Black Sea signed a letter of intent here Wednesday on the establishment of a Black Sea Naval Cooperation Task Group (BLACKSEAFOR).The representatives of Turkey, Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia and Ukraine attended the signing ceremony held at the State Guest House in Ankara, Turkey's Anatolia news agency reported. The BLACKSEAFOR will be responsible for conducting joint humanitarian missions, search and rescue operations in the Black Sea. The force, initiated by Turkey, will also organize forums regularly for the promotion of cooperation and friendly relations between the member countries. In a joint statement, issued following the ceremony, the six countries confirmed that the purpose of this initiative is to contribute to further strengthening friendship, good relations and mutual understanding in the Black Sea. The statement said that the BLACKSEAFOR is intended to be an on-call force, composed of naval units of the participating nations. The force would perform tasks including search and rescue operations, humanitarian assistance, mine-clearing, environmental protection, good-will visits, and any other actions agreed by all participating nations. The signatories reiterated their willingness to speed up their efforts to finalize the agreement and take it into effect. |
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