Turkey asks Black Sea organization to vacate historic HQ

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

The Permanent International Secretariat of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) has been asked by the Turkish Foreign Ministry to vacate its headquarters in a historical waterfront building (yalı) on the European side of the Bosphorus.

The ailing infrastructure and insufficient capacity of the yalı, which suffered a fire on its roof last year, have been cited as reasons for vacating the building by the ministry.

Established in 1992 on the initiative of Turkey, there are 12 member countries of the BSEC.

The Permanent International Secretariat of the BSEC was established in 1994, and Turkey has provided the Müşir Fuat Paşa Yalısı in İstinye on the Bosphorus to serve as the headquarters of the secretariat.
 
The office of the Turkish Foreign Ministry in Istanbul is also situated in the same building.

As the international secretariat has been asked to find a new building for its HQ, the Fuat Paşa Yalısı building will be assigned by the government to serve another purpose after its restoration.

Although the Turkish state remains the owner of the building, the move to relocate the BSEC permanent secretariat will still have to be approved by the member countries. This approval is expected to be voted on before the end of the year.

It has been reported that the permanent secretariat is planning to move to the building that currently hosts the Turkish Football Federation (TFF), also in the İstinye neighborhood of Istanbul.