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Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland to undertake official visit to Turkey

05 February 2010 20:37 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. The Council of Europe Secretary General, Thorbjorn Jagland, will be undertaking an official visit to Turkey to meet the countryâ€™s political leaders, representatives of civil society and academics, APA reports quoting Council of Europe web-page. Following the recent election of a Turkish MP as President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and with Turkey due to take over the Chairmanship in the Committee of Ministers, the pan-European organisationâ€™s decision-making body (November 2010 - May 2011), this visit will be an opportunity for the Secretary General to discuss with his Turkish hosts his programme of reforms designed to enhance the Council of Europeâ€™s role in the European political architecture.

The Secretary General will be received on 7 February by the President of the Republic, Abdullah GÃ¼l. He will then have talks with the Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan, the Minister for Justice, Sadullah Ergin, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ahmet DavutoÄŸlu, as well as meeting the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, MevlÃ¼t Ã‡avuÅŸoÄŸlu, and the members of the Turkish delegation to the Assembly.

Thorbjorn Jagland will also be meeting representatives of Turkish NGOs and academics. On this occasion he will give a lecture at Bilkent University in Ankara on â€œTurkey and Europe: Turkey in Europeâ€. Open to the press - 10:30, Auditorium of the Faculty of Economics (Ekonomi FakÃ¼ltesi), Bilkent University campus â€“ Ankara.