ISTANBUL, June 25: The leaders of a dozen nations in the Black Sea region, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, met in Istanbul under tight security on Monday for a summit on trade, transport and energy cooperation.

The gathering of the Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) opened with warnings that political tensions and unresolved conflicts between member states were hindering economic exchange in the oil-rich region.

“Political conflicts constitute an important hurdle in the way of economic cooperation and development,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a lunch he hosted at the summit.

“We have to make efforts to find a solution to political problems by ourselves within the region,” he added.

The BSEC, which was founded 15 years ago, comprises the Black Sea littoral states -- Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine -- as well as Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Greece, Moldova and Serbia.

Turkish police stepped up security measures ahead of the summit, and five people suspected of having links with the Al-Qaeda network were arrested in Istanbul on Sunday.

Prior to the meeting of heads of state and governments, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul held a rare bilateral meeting with Vardan Oskanian, his counterpart from Armenia, with which Turkey has no diplomatic ties.—AFP