Iran’s FM arrives in Baku for ECO meeting

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has arrived in Azerbaijani capital Baku to take part in a summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).

Salehi arrived in Baku late on Sunday to attend the 20th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of ECO, which will be held on Monday. He is also expected to meet with senior officials of the country.

The ministerial meeting of ECO is scheduled to be followed by the 12th Summit of Heads of State/Government of ECO, in which Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will partake on Tuesday.

Last week, Salehi met with ECO Secretary-General Shamil Aleskerov in Tehran, and he called on the organization to broaden its relations with other regional and international bodies.

“In the path of progress, the ECO should expand its relations with other regional and international organizations and identify opportunities for cooperation,” Salehi said on October 7.

For his part, Aleskerov described the Islamic Republic as an ECO “significant player” and appreciated Iran for hosting the ECO secretariat.

ECO is an intergovernmental regional organization established in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey for the purpose of promoting economic, technical and cultural cooperation among the member states.

In 1992, the ECO expanded its members to include seven new countries of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.