EU's Ashton visits Turkey ahead of next week's Iranian nuclear talks

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton met with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu yesterday ahead of next week's nuclear talks between Iran and world powers in Istanbul. Davutoglu and Ashton also discussed Turkish-EU relations as well as regional and international issues. In a press conference afterwards, Davutoglu characterized their discussion as positive but added that Turkey would still "like to see a stronger will on the part of the EU" towards accession. He also criticized the current slowdown of accession talks, saying that it shows "a lack of vision on the part of the EU." This was Ashton's first visit to Turkey in her new role as head of the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU's foreign ministry and diplomatic corps. At the press conference, Ashton said that in her new role, she is "keen to have the right strategic dialogue with Turkey." While the talks come just one week before the Iranian nuclear meetings in Istanbul, Foreign Ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal reiterated that Turkey is only hosting the meetings and serving as mediator. Asked what role Turkey would play in the meetings, Ashton reiterated that Turkey would not have a stake in the negotiations.