Foreign

Home page

Foreign

Turkey takes over the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Chair

10 November 2010 16:50 (UTC +04:00)

The conflict in Georgia, situation in Cyprus, cooperation between the Council of Europe and the OSCE, as well as results of the informal meeting of the ministers for sports of the Council of Europe member countries held in Baku on September 22, 2010 were also discussed at the session. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammerberg submitted a three-month report on the human rights in Europe.
In the end of the meeting, Turkey took over the Chair of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for the next six months.
Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and outgoing Chairman Antonio Miloshoski outlined the main achievements of his countryâ€™s chairmanship since it began on 11 May.
Ahmet DavutoÄŸlu, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Turkey, then outlined the priorities of the Chairmanship for the coming six months. Turkey said it has set five priorities to make the 61-year-old European body more visible and more active. Among Turkeyâ€™s priorities are: continuing reforms at the council; actively contributing to reforming the European Court of Human Rights to reduce its burden; assisting in a report to the Committee of Ministers next May in Istanbul that will recommend ways to fight growing discrimination, racism and Islamophobia; empowering independent inspection institutions and facilitating an adequate environment for the completion of ongoing negotiations between the EU and the council for the formerâ€™s decision to join the European Convention on Human Rights, one of the most fundamental documents of the Strasbourg-based council.
Turkey will take the chairmanship until May 11, 2011.
The Committee of Ministers Chair rotates between the member countries every six months in accordance with the alphabetical order. Turkey will hand over the chairmanship to Ukraine in the committeeâ€™s 121st session in Istanbul on May 11, 2011.