During his regular press briefing, Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland today informed journalists that he has appointed Gérard Stoudmann as his Special Envoy to assess the situation of media freedom in Turkey, following an invitation made by the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in April. “Turkey is a founding member of the Council of Europe and has played an important role in this Organisation for over sixty years. This mission has to be seen in the context of regular co-operation between the Council of Europe and its member states'', said Secretary General in his statement published on 30 May.