Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), H.E. Mr Fernando Arias, and the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the OPCW, H.E. Ambassador Şaban Dişli

THE HAGUE, Netherlands —17 October 2019 — The Government of Turkey has contributed €30,000 to a special Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Trust Fund to support the project to upgrade the current OPCW Laboratory and Equipment Store. This project will result in the construction of a new facility, the OPCW Centre for Chemistry and Technology (“ChemTech Centre”).

The contribution was formalised during a ceremony at the OPCW Headquarters between OPCW Director-General, H.E. Mr Fernando Arias, and the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the OPCW, H.E. Ambassador Şaban Dişli.

Ambassador Dişli remarked: “OPCW plays a significant role in the field of disarmament and international security and it is the central actor in the chemical non-proliferation regime. This contribution is another display of the strong commitment of Turkey to the Chemical Weapons Convention and to the OPCW. The transformation of the OPCW laboratory into a Centre for Chemistry and Technology will be a qualitative leap in the Organisation’s capacity to perform its core tasks in verification, inspection and capacity-building. It will contribute to the strengthening of our collective security”.

Director-General Arias expressed his gratitude to the Government of Turkey for its support and appealed to all OPCW Member States in a position to make voluntary contributions to do so. He further emphasised the important role the new ChemTech Centre will play in strengthening the OPCW’s ability to address chemical weapon threats, boost its investigative capability, and enhance capacity building activities.

So far, twenty-one Member States and the European Union have contributed or pledged to contribute financially to the project, and a considerable amount has been raised to date.