Turkey becomes a member of General Coordinating

Turkey, attending FOREST EUROPE Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe with a delegation headed by Mustafa Kurtulmuşlu, General Director of Forestry, was selected as a member of General Coordination Committee and Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee. On Monday, 13 June 2011, Turkish delegations visited Hayati Güven, the ambassador of Turkey to Oslo. On Tuesday, 14 June 2011, General Directorate of Forestry contributed to the conference by opening a stand. Norwegian Minister of Agriculture and Food and the ambassador of Turkey to Oslo visited this stand and received information about the works carried out in Turkey. Following the opening speeches, country opinions were presented. On behalf of Turkey, Mustafa Kurtulmuşlu, General Director, delivered the speech. On Wednesday, 15 June 2011, the decisions were submitted for the signature of the ministers and the decisions agreed on were unanimously signed. One of the decisions is to evaluate all the works being carried out during FOREST EUROPE Ministerial Conference since 1990 and the second one is to kick off the preparations for a Legally Binding Agreement on Forests in Europe. Ministers responsible for the forests in Europe unanimously approved the launch of preparations for a legally binding agreement on forests and decided to establish an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee. 7 countries in the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee will prepare a Legally Binding Agreement on Forests in Europe in the context of Forest Europe Ministerial Conference, which is comprised of 46 signatory countries, observer countries and several non-governmental organizations. This agreement will be submitted to the Ministers for approval in the next Ministerial Conference to be held in 2013. Turkey will be one of the countries which are to draw up the first global legally binding agreement on forests. Another important decision taken in the conference is the changes concerning General Coordination Committee. General Coordination Committee, which was established in 1990 when the process started, is responsible for general affairs and coordination and comprises of 5 countries. With this conference, Turkey became one of the countries in the framework of the decisions agreed on in Oslo. Following these decisions, Mustafa Kurtulmuşlu, General Director of Forestry delivered a vote of thanks to the all participants and ministers. With these two significant decisions, General Directorate of Forestry on behalf of Turkey takes a position in two important bodies of the most important processes related to forestry in Europe. In addition to this, Turkey still holds the vice-chairmanship of the European Forestry Commission. For further information, please visit: FOREST EUROPE