(GEN) WORLD WATER FORUM ENDS IN ISTANBUL.

ISTANBUL, Mar 23, 2009 (TUR) -- The Fifth Water Forum ended Sunday in Istanbul after five-day high level meetings and other events to discuss global water issues and to find solutions water security.

The forum ended with a closing session of the ministerial conference where Turkish Environment and Forestry Minister Veysel Eroglu delivered a speech.

"It is one of our most fundamental priorities to provide clean and adequate water for our peoples along with appropriate infrastructures and environmental services," Eroglu said.

Eroglu said the World Water Forum was one of most important step taken toward a global cooperation to find solutions to water problems.

"The forum has provided the opportunity for us to improve our ability to understand different point of views, and devise and share different solutions," the Turkish minister said.

Eroglu said heads of state and government who participated in the forum had issued a call for immediate action against negative effects of the global developments on water.

Sunday's ministerial conference also issued a declaration and an "Istanbul Guideline for Water Strategies."

(MB-BRC)

(THROUGH ASIA PULSE)