Babacan attends union for the mediterranean FM meeting

Foreign Minister Ali Babacan yesterday attended a foreign ministers meeting of the Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean in Marseille, France. The meeting started with a working dinner hosted by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. During the meeting, the diplomats discussed such issues as the location of the union's secretariat, its work methods, and key project areas for the bloc. Before the meeting, Babacan spoke with his British counterpart David Miliband on Turkey's EU accession process and developments on the Barcelona Process. With 43 member countries, the Union for the Mediterranean represents 750 million people and aims to develop common projects in areas such as water purification, solar energy, and domestic security. France and Egypt will assume the co-chairmanship of the union for the next two years. During the meeting, some disagreements between Israel and Arab countries were also solved.