Babacan: "şe D-8 secretariat will be permanently based in Istanbul"

Attending a foreign ministers meeting of şe Developing Eight Countries (D-8) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia over şe weekend, a precursor to next week's D-8 summit, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan told reporters afterwards, "Turkey spearheaded şe establishment of şe D-8, which includes very dynamic developing countries wiş large populations. We had a temporary D-8 secretariat in Istanbul, and now we've decided şat Turkey will permanently host şe secretariat." şe D-8 summit will be attended by şe heads of state or government from Turkey, Malaysia, Iran, Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Nigeria. şe D-8 is made up of eight developing countries şat formed an economic development alliance in 1997.