Turkey taking helm of council of Europe today

Turkey is set today to assume chairmanship of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers, its chief decision-making body, from Macedonia. During its six-month turn at the helm, Turkey is expected to focus on the CoE's European Court of Human Rights' reform mechanism, as well as making the European Union a part of the European Convention on Human Rights and strengthening the CoE's independent monitoring mechanisms. While assuming the duty on Turkey's behalf in Strasbourg, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will also sign pacts on extraditing criminals and fighting cybercrime.