25/06/2024 | 16:05:17 Thank you, chair. Thank you, Mister High Commissioner. Access to educational opportunities will get a person very far in life. It is the best tool to conquer poverty and inequality and, on the other hand, there are conflicts, hunger crisis and extreme weather events that jeopardise this goal for millions of boys, and especially girls. My question – our question – would be how and what strategies should we be developing to improve educational opportunities for children in countries that are... 22/04/2021 | 11:55:45 Thank you Madam President. Dear colleagues, our job as members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is not only to safeguard the institutions of democracy, the rule of law and the free press. Our job is to safeguard journalists, politicians, members of civil society who are bringing these institutions to life. I want to stress the importance of doing this continuously and tirelessly when it comes to our member Turkey. Let us remember that ten years ago the gold standard in... 27/01/2021 | 16:16:25 Dear President, dear colleagues. Today this is not a discussion about heroism. It is not a discussion about a man risking his life to fight corruption and the decay of the rule of law in his mother country. This is not a debate about Alexei Navalny per se, even though his story is a rather compelling one to tell. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the discussion plain and simple about upholding the rule of law and respecting human rights and our distinct duty as members of the Council of Europe... 24/01/2019 | 15:36:47 Turkey stands at a crossroads: does it want to be recognised as a part of Europe, or does it want to be a country that is not free and that uses State authority to repress freedom of the media and freedom of expression? President Erdoğan’s Turkey has all the characteristics of an illiberal democracy. More than 150 journalists are being detained, as is presidential candidate Selahattin Demirtaş of the HDP, and the media landscape is largely under President Erdoğan’s control. It is unacceptable...