The Forum, which was founded in 1964 by the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of Turkey under the name of Regional Development Cooperation (RCD), was renamed the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in 1985.
The organization's founding and main purpose is to create suitable and favorable conditions for the continuous promotion of sustainable economic development in the region by targeting the common prosperity and well-being of member states.
In the early 1990s, the ECO laid the foundations of the cooperation partnership by accepting five Central Asian countries as members, namely the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan. Currently, a total of 10 countries, namely the Republic of Turkey, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan, are members of the organization, while the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is an observer country.
