Socialist Group

The European Parliament is in the process of electing its President. For the position, the European Council the name of PES leader Sergey Stanishev was also considered. Late last night, however, his group raised the candidacy of the Italian David-Maria Sassoli.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is scheduled to meet next week to discuss whether to degrade Turkey's status and reopen a monitoring process against the country in response to the authoritarian slide in the country.  

FM Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has been lobbying PACE, which he once chaired in 2010, not to relegate Turkey.

A delegation from the European Parliament's (EP) Socialist Group, including EU Turkey rapporteur Kati Piri, is set to pay a visit Feb. 19 to the Sur district of southeastern Diyarbak?r province, where the clashes between the security forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants have been ongoing for months.