Davutoglu, participating in the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation's (BSEC) 28th Foreign Minister Council in Odessa, Ukraine replied to Anadolu Agency's (AA) questions.
Davutoglu expressed 22nd chapter's importance as being the first chapter to be opened after 3 years of stagnation and as a sign to revitalize accession process.
He stated that the opening of the chapter was finalized a couple weeks ago during his visit to Germany, and said, "Even German foreign Minister Westerwelle greeted me."
Stating that he talked to each of his European counterpart who are said to be against the opening of the chapter, Davutoglu said, "Every country's position is important for us. Turkey has always been open to criticisms within European values. It has always been able to answer to the criticisms maturely. However, it is not acceptable that this chapter would not be opened because of unrelated issues."
Davutoglu said Turkey would observe each country's position, and added, "There are those who approach Turkey in a constructive way, even if they criticize. But of course we would take an appropriate stance against those who try to freeze Turkey-EU relations."
Also reacting against the statements aiming at reflecting as if there was a chaos going on in the country, Davutoglu said, "Everybody should stay calm in this period. However, those who expect us to be calm, should first keep calm themselves."
Davutoglu said, members states of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) made direct contributions to the stability and security of Euro-Atlantic and Euroasian regions.
Speaking at BSEC's 28th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Davutoglu greeted the outgoing BSEC president Ukraine for the activities that it had organized during its term between January and June 2013.
Davutoglu said, BSEC presented great opportunities with an approximate 20 million square meters of surface area, 330 million population, $3.4 trillion GNP and important energy corridors.
"Europe has been passing through an economic crisis now. However, crisis and austerity measures should not be presented as excuses to obstruct our joint commitment to develop the regional relationship," said Davutoglu.
Listing increasing trade and investments, providing sustainable development, strengthening civil society and reforming the organization's institutions as the activities performed during Turkey's presidency (July-December 2012), Davutoglu said, Turkey's trade volume with the Black Sea region surged to $60 billion in 2012, from $10 billion in 2002.
Davutoglu also gave examples from the ongoing projects, and said he expected the Black Sea ring road to be completed as soon as possible, and added that the "Developing Sea Routes Project" would contribute in improving maritime relations between the regional countries.
Also pointing out the significance of the regional projects including Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway and Trans-Anatolia natural gas pipeline, Davutoglu said the steps on multi-entry visas and border crossing should be accelerated regionally.
Davutoglu said the international community's interest in the region has increased recently, and added, "BSEC is making vital contribution in regional stability and security by binding the regional countries with a close spirit of cooperation. The region's stability is directly related to Euro-Atlantic region and Euroasia's security and stability."
Davutoglu also met his Ukrainian counterpart Leonid Kozhara as well as Moldovan foreign minister Natalia Gherman on the sidelines of the BSEC meeting.
Armenia replaced Ukraine as the new president of the BSEC for the next 6 months on Friday.
Turkey to turn Black Sea into one economic basin
Davutoglu said, "We are decisive about turning the Black Sea into one economic basin."
Following the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation's (BSEC) 28th Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Odessa, Ukraine, Davutoglu replied to the Anadolu Agency's (AA) questions.
Stating that the BSEC, established under the leadership of Turkey, was an organization that proved its importance in international economic and political circles in the post-Cold War period, Davutoglu said they held consultations with his counterparts about regional developments.
"Making the Black Sea basin a place of peace and welfare is a strategic goal for Turkey. We established either high level cooperation councils or signed visa exemption and free trade agreements," said Davutoglu, adding that Turkey's trade volume had surged by almost 500 percent in the last 10 years.
Davutoglu said, "We are decisive about turning the Black Sea into one economic basin, starting the establishing a highway ring around the Black Sea."
He also announced that his Ukrainian counterpart would visit Ankara to attend the bilateral strategic cooperation council's joint strategic planning group meeting next week.
