10/10/2011 President
10.10.2011 – Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), has condemned last night’s violent clashes in Egypt’s capital, which led to the death of at least 24 people, following a protest by Coptic Christians, joined by some Muslims, against an attack on a church in Aswan province last week. He called on all sides to stop violence immediately and to refrain from provocation, urging them to resolve all issues through open dialogue.
“As the Assembly recently said, peaceful coexistence and interaction between different religious communities is of paramount importance: it is a sign of pluralism and of an environment favourable to the development of democracy and human rights. Therefore sectarian confrontation and violent clashes between representatives of religious communities are a matter of grave concern for the Assembly.”
A January recommendation of the Assembly on violence against Christians in the Middle East pointed to a growing number of attacks on Christian communities and urged a strategy for ensuring freedom of religion in these areas.