YEREVAN (RFE/RL) - The Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), a largely ineffectual grouping of 11 states occupying a vast geographical area, began its biannual plenary session in Yerevan last Wednesday with a broad range of issues on its agenda.

The assembly, made up of legislators from member states, will make non-binding recommendations to the organization's executive bodies on the "development of communications" in the Black Sea basin, "legislative framework" for combating corruption and other matters at the end of their two-day discussions.

Set up in 1992 with the aim of promoting economic, political and cultural cooperation among the peoples of the area, the BSEC has yet to become a f functioning multilateral structure with a real impact on policy.

Traditional rivalry and uneasy relations among some of the member states are among the factors impeding integration.

Armenia, which has no diplomatic relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan, has so far drawn few tangible benefits from its participation in the organization. "In my opinion, this organization shows few signs of activity towards promoting economic cooperation, the goal for which it was created," said Victor Dallakian, a senior member of the Armenian parliament. "So it would be naive to think that the Armenian economy can develop rapidly thanks to the BSEC," he told RFE/RL.

Necati Cetinkaya, the head of the Turkish parliamentary delegation, commented evasively on whether contacts within the BSEC framework could contribute to a normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey.

Ankara opposes a full normalization before a solution is found to the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict.

"We don't have problems that cannot be settled," Cetinkaya said. "We should look at the future and not the past," he added, in an apparent reference to Yerevan's pursuit of international recognition of the 1915 genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. The remark reflected Ankara's categorical denial of the genocide accusations.

Alluding to the recent passage by some European parliaments of resolutions condemning the 1915 mass killings, Cetinkaya said Armenia "should not succumb to provocations from abroad."

Also taking part in the Yerevan session is a senior delegation from the Azerbaijani parliament led by vice-speaker Arif Rahimzade. Speaking to RFE/RL, he expressed optimism about prospects for a Karabagh settlement.

"We are moving towards peace," he said.