Brussels, 09/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 10 November, Turkey will take over the six-month chairmanship of the Council of Europe (CoE), the day after the European Commission has published its report on the state of progress in talks for the country's membership of the EU - see related article pages 4 and 5. In a statement, Turkish Ambassador to the CoE Daryal Batibay sets out the priorities of the Turkish presidency, to: - support the reform of the CoE, which is the guardian of respect for human rights in Europe, calling in particular for “greater political commitment” from its member states; - reform the ECHR to reduce its turn-over time and improve the “quality and coherence” of its judgements, as well as the effectiveness of their implementation; - facilitate the EU's accession to the European Convention on Human Rights; - strengthen the CoE's monitoring mechanisms; - and support the work of the CoE's Group of Eminent Persons, led by the former German foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, who is looking into the causes of rising intolerance and discrimination in Europe (the creation of the group being a Turkish initiative). The Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, is to give a press conference in Strasbourg on Wednesday. (Gp./transl.jl)