Turkey-EU political dialogue meeting to be held in Istanbul

The third round of a meeting on Turkey-European Union political dialogue to solve critical issues in Turkey's accession negotiations and to foster cooperation in regional and international politics will take place in Istanbul on June 7. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and EU Affairs Minister and Chief EU Negotiator Egemen Bagis will represent Turkey. EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton and EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule will also attend the meeting, which will be held at the Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at the Bosporus, on behalf of the EU. The EU Commission launched a "positive agenda" plan last month to revive the stalled negotiations, and the festering issue of visa liberalization will be reviewed during the meetings. In addition, the recent situation in Syria, the second round of presidential elections in Egypt and the political developments in North Africa and the Balkans will also be discussed during the meeting, a written statement from the Turkish Ministry of EU Affairs said on Tuesday. Since the Lisbon Treaty took effect in 2009, the dialogue meeting replaced a previous meeting, the EU-Turkey Ministerial Troika meeting, which had been held once a year from 1999 onwards once Turkey acquired the status of EU candidate country.