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| EU Foreign Ministers who gathered for the General Affairs Council meeting welcomed Turkish Government's democratic initiative, including measures addressing "the Kurdish Issue", voicing its expectancy for concrete measures ensuring full rights and freedom for all. The Council welcomed Turkey's continued commitment to the negotiation process, noting that positive steps have been registered in the areas of the judiciary, civil-military relations and cultural rights. The EU Foreign Ministers invited Turkey to step up the pace of reforms and and called for improvements in a number of areas, including: "Freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom of religion in law and in practice for all religious communities, respect for property rights, trade union rights, rights of persons belonging to minorities, civilian oversight of the military and women's and children?s rights, anti-discrimination and gender equality." The EU recognised Turkey as an important regional player, particularly for the security in the Middle East and the Southern Caucasus in the final document, and said it played a key role in energy supply and the promotion of dialogue between civilisations. It also welcomed the significant diplomatic efforts towards normalisation of relations with Armenia, signing of the protocols in October 2009 to this end. The Council welcomed the signing of the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Nabucco gas pipeline in July 2009 underlining that timely completion of the Southern corridor remained one of EU's highest energy security priorities. The EU Foreign Ministers also called on Turkey to actively support the ongoing negotiations aimed at a fair, comprehensive and viable settlement of the Cyprus problem within the UN framework noting that Turkey's commitment and contribution was crucial for a comprehensive settlement. |