As a founding member state of the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC), Turkey was represented by Turkish Delegation - which was headed by Turkish Directorate General of Civil Aviation Director General Prof. Dr. Kemal YÜKSEK - in the  70^th ECAC Director Generals Special Meeting which was formed by vis-à-vis and videoconference on 26-28 August 2021. 

The mentioned meeting was attended by the Director Generals of Civil Aviation Authorities and high-level representatives of 44 Member States, as well as the ICAO Secretary General and high-level representatives from international organizations such as the EU Commission, EUROCONTROL, EASA and JAA TO.

In the meeting, the most important agenda item was to specify the ECAC Region Represantive States  for the ICAO Council Membership elections for the following years 2022 and 2025. Director General Prof. Dr. Kemal YUKSEK took the floor on behalf or Turkey and  highlighted Pan European issue. Furthermore, Prof. Dr. YUKSEK clearly mentioned and  highlighted the fact that ECAC does not only consist of  the EU member states and ECAC should represent entire European Region. He stated that the election method for ICAO Council Membership, which was formed by ECAC and is currently ongoing, is not suitable in terms of fair representation of the ECAC Member States and added that the 4+4 model proposed by Turkey is more fair and sustainable.

During and the after the meeting, it was stated by Director Generals of the Member States that the 4+4 proposal –which was supported by an infographic- seems very impressive.  

 

Filip Cornelis - Director for Aviation (DG MOVE Directorate E) in the European Com-mission, in charge of Aviation, also stated that Turkey's achievements in the aviation sector in recent years have had positive results for Europe also. It was agreed that the relations between Turkey and EU should be accelerated despite the obstacles and it is believed that the developments in the aviation sector will lead to the revitalization of the existing relations.

In addition, it has been stated by Director General that the selected ECAC Stated as ICAO Council Member should provide services such as training and software to other countries in need of basic training and services within the framework of the ICAO initiative “No country left behind” which ensures that no country is neglected.

Furthermore, in addition to ICAO and EU Agenda, the participants have been informed on the issues of the lessons learned from the Covid-19 crisis, the problems experienced in the aviation economy during the crisis and the latest air traffic statistics in the recovery process, the 41st ICAO General Assembly, aviation safety, air traffic management, activities of the ECAC Secretariat and important meetings to be held in the upcoming period.

During the meeting, bilateral meetings were also held regarding the issues on the agenda for Turkey. In this scope, very important and fruitful meeting was held with Juan Carlas SALAZAR who was appointed as Secretary General of ICAO as of 1^st of August 2021.

 

Mr. SALAZAR emphasized the importance of Turkey's achievements in aviation in recent years and stated that Turkey made significant contributions to international aviation not only regionally but also globally. In this context, he emphasized the importance of cooperation with ICAO in order to share Turkey's experiences and to provide support in the field of training, software especially to the countries in need. He stated that establishing much tighter relations between Turkey and ICAO in the upcoming period is among their important goals. He stated that he would be pleased to hold a meeting in the Paris Office of ICAO in the near future in order to make the agreement between ICAO and Turkey more comprehensive.

On the other hand, the Director General of Civil Aviation Administration, Ms. Leontaridi a consensus was reached, to improve our current bilateral relations with the United Kingdom after Brexit. As a final point, the importance of mutual visits and new collaborations was emphasized with Mr. Tuntev, General Manager of Civil Aviation of North Macedonia, and Ms. Kraja, General Manager of Albanian Civil Aviation, in order to further enhance the ongoing civil aviation relations between our countries.

Respectfully announced to public.