It has agreed that the next round of nuclear negotiations between Iran and six world powers will take place in Istanbul early next year.

“We and Iran agreed to a continuation of these talks in late January in Istanbul, where we plan to discuss practical ideas and ways of cooperating toward resolution of our core concerns about the nuclear issue,” European Union foreign-policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement after two days of talks in Geneva on Iran’s nuclear program.

Following the Geneva meetings, Ashton called Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoðlu on Tuesday to inform him about the decision to hold the next rounds of talks in Istanbul.

The talks in Geneva were positive, Ashton told Davutoðlu, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Selçuk Ünal. “Davutoðlu welcomed the decision to hold the next talks in Turkey and conveyed his gratification about hosting the meeting,” Ünal told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Tuesday. “He said Turkey would continue to contribute to global and regional peace.”