Turkey to assume leadership of council of Europe decision-making body

Turkey will take over the Council of Europe's (CoE) decision-making body next week, just one day after the European Commission releases its annual report on the country's progress towards European Union accession. The CoE and the EU are separate institutions. As a Turk already chairs the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu hailed Turkey reaching high places in Europe. "We'll chair both PACE and the Committee of Ministers. This is a historic occasion," Davutoglu told a group of reporters accompanying him on his China trip. Turkey, a CoE member since 1949, will assume chairmanship of its Committee of Ministers next Wednesday. As this January ruling party Deputy Mevlut Cavusoglu was elected PACE's chairman for a two-year term, the first Turk ever at the post, as of next week Turkey will have the responsibility for the CoE's two main mechanisms.