Chief negotiator Bagis begins talks in Strasbourg

State Minister and chief negotiator for European Union talks Egemen Bagis met yesterday with European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) President Jean-Paul Costa in Strasbourg. Bagis and Costa discussed Turkey's democracy and human rights reforms and applications filed with the ECHR from Turkey. Bagis and Costa also discussed measures to ease the court's working mechanisms, Bagis later met with Fiorello Provera, the deputy chair of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, and EP Turkey Rapporteur Ria Oomen-Ruijten. During these separate meetings, Bagis, Provera and Oomen-Ruijten discussed Turkey's EU negotiations and the EU's recent progress report on Turkey. He was also scheduled to meet with various European leaders, including EP President Jerzy Buzek and Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland. In related news, the EU has decided to raise its financial support to Turkey to €653.7 million for 2010, up from €566.4 million this year. The European Commission provides financial assistance to EU candidate countries and potential candidates under instruments for pre-accession assistance. The commission decided to allocate €781.9 million in 2011, €899.5 million in 2012 and €935.5 million in 2013 for Turkey. EU assistance to Turkey focuses on institutional structuring, cross-border cooperation, regional development, human resources and rural development.