No: 27, 25 January 2015

H.E. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, will pay a visit to Strasbourg on 25-26 January 2016 to congratulate the President of the PACE on his election at the Winter Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and to hold meetings with the CoE officials.

During the visit, Minister Çavuşoğlu will have meetings with Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Mr. Thorbjorn Jagland and the newly elected President of the PACE.

During the meetings within the Council of Europe, of which Turkey is a founding member, challenges faced by Europe such as immigration, refugee crisis, fight against terrorism as well the rise of extremism and intolerance in Europe and areas of cooperation will be discussed.

Turkey has been among the countries with the most contributions to the Budget of the Council of Europe as of January 2016. At the same time, the number of Turkish members at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe has been elevated from 12 to 18. Turkish national delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu, will participate in the Winter Session of the PACE for the first time with 18 members.

Turkey’s close cooperation with the Council of Europe, the only pan-European organization, and its institutions will continue.