BEIJING, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Turkey signed a charter for a planned international space program Thursday, making it the ninth member of the organization, which has its headquarters in Beijing.

    On behalf of the Turkish Government, Oktay Ozuye, Turkish ambassador to China, signed the convention on the proposed Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO), which is designed to promote the peaceful use of space technology in the Asia-Pacific region.

    Turkey is ready to work with other friendly countries in the region for the peaceful use of space technology, said the ambassador.

    He hopes that the Turkish Parliament will ratify the convention when it is in session in winter this year.

    Among those at the function were diplomats from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan, Peru and Thailand and space officials from China. The eight countries signed the document last October in Beijing.

    Sun Laiyan, director general of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), said China welcomes the move by Turkey to sign the convention.

    Luo Ge, secretary general of the Secretariat of the Interim Council of the APSCO, said that the use of space technology could be vital in predicting natural disasters, such as the devastating earthquake in Indonesia, and coordinating relief and rehabilitation work for people in areas hit by the disasters.

    "I hope that the other nations in our region will also join this ambitious cooperative program for the socio-economic benefit of the Asia-Pacific Region in general, and the APSCO member States in particular," he said.

    A multi-purpose small satellite project involving some members of APSCO is now being built and will probably be launched next year, he noted, which will be used mainly for environmental protection and other Earth observations and scientific research.

    China, Thailand and Pakistan initiated a proposal in 1992 on the formation of a multinational organization in a bid to promote cooperation in space technology and applications in the Asia-Pacific region.

    In August 2003, officials from those countries agreed in Bangkok that the APSCO headquarters would be located in China.

    China, working in cooperation with departments of the United Nations and other international organizations, have offered short-term training programs for 260 trainees from countries in the Asia and Pacific region, mostly developing ones, during the past five years.

    In March, China announced its decision to provide weather information equipment to the seven countries that signed the convention so they could receive its satellite weather information free of charge.

    The weather information coming from Fengyun Meteorological Satellites has been used in weather forecasting, natural adversities prevention, environmental monitoring, and data transmission and scientific research. Enditem