Turkey To Get Observer Status At Central American Body

Turkey will be an extra regional observer at the Central American Integration System in 2015, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday.



The ministry said Turkey's application was approved on Dec. 16 by the organization's council of ministers of foreign affairs in Belize, Central America.



The addition of Turkey as an extra regional observer will be formalized in the first half of 2015 during a foreign ministers' forum in Guatemala City, Guatemala.



In its capacity as extra regional observer, a state can participate in the meeting of presidents and the council of ministers.



The Central American Integration System, founded in 1991, is the institutional framework of Regional Integration in Central America, created by the states of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. Subsequently, Belize joined afterwards as a full member; in 2013. The Dominican Republic did likewise.



Turkish Ministry of Foreign affairs said it gave importance to the integration in regional organizations operating in Latin America, and that it would be engaged in similar initiatives in the future.



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