Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler said on Friday that so far 14 heads of state & government had confirmed to participate in World Water Forum in Istanbul.

Guler told reporters that the 5th World Water Forum would take place between March 16 and 22.

He said that 65 ministers as well as 133 high-level representatives from 117 countries would attend the forum.

Guler added that 4,000 security personnel and 4,000 technical and managerial personnel would work in the forum.

World Water Forum, organized by World Water Council once in three years, was held in Morocco (1997), the Netherlands (2000), Japan (2003) and in Mexico (2006).

Number of participants to the forum is expected to amount to 20,000.

The forum will be the biggest international meeting Turkey will host in regard to number of participants since the Habitat meeting in 1996.

World Water Council has 340 members from 65 countries. Turkey has 41 members.

The theme of the forum will be "bridging divides for Turkey", and "Istanbul Water Consensus" is expected to be signed during the forum.

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Güncelleme Tarihi: 13 Mart 2009, 15:53