On 5 October 2023, the Vice-Chair of the EPA Governing Board, Mrs. Meltem ÖNHON (Türkiye) attended the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) workshop for young diplomats, representing the EPA on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe at this occasion.

The sixth edition of the Workshop for Young Diplomats from the BSEC Member States, jointly organized by BSEC PERMIS and the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation Türkiye (KAS), was held in Antalya, on 4-6 October 2023. The topic of this edition was “The Importance of Connectivity in the wider Black Sea Region”.

Mrs. ÖNHON presented the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe Programme to the participants and moderated a training session focussing on the ways to further develop cultural cooperation in the Black Sea Region, and the role of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe Programme in this regard. The Workshop provided a most valuable opportunity for emphasizing the importance of regional cooperation and the role young diplomats may have as future foreign policy decision-makers in promoting and strengthening this cooperation in the Black Sea area.

The BSEC joined the EPA on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe as an observer in 2020, and regularly participates to EPA events.