PanARMENIAN.Net

EU Troika discusses situation in South Caucasus
06.05.2008 19:28 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ President of the EU General Affairs
and External Relations Council, Slovenian Foreign
Minister Dimitrij Rupel, headed the ministerial EU
Troika meeting with Turkey in Ankara today. The
Turkish delegation was led by the Minister of Foreign
Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, Ali Babacan. The
Troika meeting was also attended by European
Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn and Jean-Pierre
Jouyet, Secretary of State for European Affairs,
representing the next EU Council Presidency holder,
France, says the publication at the EU website.

The first part of the Troika was devoted to reviewing
the state of EU-Turkey relations. Special attention
was given to Turkey’s progress in the EU negotiation
process and to the implementation of Accession
Partnership priority tasks. GAERC Council President,
Dr Rupel, stressed that the Slovenian Presidency is
working hard to open two chapters at the negotiation
conference in June. He pointed out that the year 2008
is important for the continuation of the reform
process in Turkey. He welcomed the amendment of
Article 301 of the Penal Code, a constructive step
towards ensuring freedom of expression, as a sign of
readiness to pursue reform. EU expects Turkey to make
progress both in aligning national law with European
legislation and in implementing it. Dr Rupel expressed
the expectation that Turkey will implement the
Additional Protocol to the Association Agreement in
respect of all EU Member States. On a settlement to
the issue of Cyprus, the EU welcomed Turkey’s
commitment to contribute to the process of seeking a
comprehensive solution.

The second part of discussions focused on an exchange
of positions on topical international issues in the
wider neighborhood – Iran, progress in the Middle East
peace process after Annapolis, and the situation in
the Southern Caucasus.