Iran News web site
October 13

Leading a high level trade and business delegation, President Mohammad Khatami is scheduled to arrive in Istanbul today for the seventh ECO heads of state summit. Turkey will take over the rotating presidency of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) from Iran.

ECO was originally established in 1985 with just three member states, namely Iran, Turkey and Pakistan. In 1992, seven other nations joined ECO (Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Afghanistan) rounding out the member states to 10. The Cento Central Treaty Organization accord preceded ECO by several decades. However, the objectives of Cento was mostly political. Tehran, Ankara and Islamabad were the only member states of Cento. Prior to the Islamic revolution in Iran, the above three states acted as an "iron wall" allied with the West against communism. Back then, Iran was the most notable and prominent member of this triangle because of its vast oil reserves and strong economy. In those days, Pakistan and Turkey had rather weak and unhealthy economic structures, which did not have a great deal in common with the expanding Iranian economy. But in today's world, these 10 states with a population of over 300 million and a total area of 7.8m square kilometres need to collaborate much more closely within ECO and move toward a grand coalition/alliance.

The cultural affinity between these states, such as a common religion, automatically removes a number of artificial, social and cultural obstacles that stand in the way of expanded cooperation. Even though many of the ECO member states are part of other international organizations, nevertheless, they should amplify their activities within ECO, since a number of these countries, specifically CIS member states of ECO, are deprived of direct access to open seas. In the event these states develop their transportation infrastructures, they will be able to access open seas via Iran, Pakistan and Turkey, thereby freeing themselves of economic dependence to Russia.

In conclusion, the three pivotal founding member states of ECO can play a crucial role in the realization of this lofty goal. This potentially tremendous development could spell into a whole new and brighter chapter for our region.

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