FOREIGN MINISTERS OF CROATIA, BOSNIA AND TURKEY MEET IN NEW YORK

NEW YORK, Sept 27 (Hina) - The foreign ministers of Croatia, Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina on Friday agreed that Bosnia should join the Croatian-Turkish Economic Council. It was also agreed that a Joint Economic Committee should be set up to work on government-supported projects. #L# "I think that we should...set up a standing joint economic committee to review and assess concrete projects and decide whether they need government support," Turkey's Tansu Ciller told reporters after meeting Croatia's Mate Granic and Bosnia's Jadranko Prlic at the Turkish Mission to the United Nations in New York. "In fact, we don't only need a joint economic council, we need a joint business council," she added. She specified that Bosnia would probably join the Council at its next meeting in early November. Describing the meeting as "very constructive," Granic supported Turkey's role in the peace process in the region. "We discussed future cooperation and we will continue to work together," he added. "We are entering a new stage of economic cooperation between Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Turkey," was Minister Prlic's comment. "We have spent over US$ 800 million on reconstruction projects and expect to spend a billion by the end of the year," he said. "Reconstruction projects provide a great opportunity for future cooperation and joint presentation in third countries," he concluded. On Thursday evening, Minister Granic met US Assistant Secretary of State, John Kornblum, to discuss the situation in the region and the UN mandate in the Croatian Danubian area. Minister Granic reiterated that Croatia did not see any reason for extending the UNTAES mandate in the Danubian area. "We cannot have extremists dictating the tempo of reintegration," Granic said. The Croatian foreign minister also met with his counterparts from Greece, Romania and Cyprus. Greek Foreign Minister Theodors Pangalos is to visit Croatia by the end of October. (hina) as 272031 MET sep 96