CROATIAN UPPER HOUSE SPEAKER LEAVES FOR TURKEY

ZAGREB, Sept 25 (Hina) - House of Counties Speaker Katica Ivanisevic left for Turkey to attend an international conference on security and cooperation which opened in Antalya on Thursday. The conference, which closes on September 28, is being held under the auspices of NATO and the Turkish Parliament and in cooperation with the Turkish ministries of defence and foreign affairs. The conference will focus on the new security architecture in Europe and will bring together senior NATO and Council of Europe officials and representatives of parliaments and governments. "This conference is important to us because Croatia represents one of the essential factors of preserving the peace in this region and Europe in general," Ivanisevic told reporters before leaving. Ivanisevic said she would address the conference on the process of peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danube river region and the two-way return of displaced persons, and would present the Croatian government's view that the UNTAES mandate should be terminated on January 15 next year as envisaged. (hina) vm 251522 MET sep 97