18/10/2011 | President
“It is no longer acceptable to make excuses when it comes to ratification of the European Social Charter,” said PACE President Mevlut Cavusoglu, speaking today at a ceremony in Strasbourg to mark the Charter’s 50th anniversary. “All human beings have basic rights, and these include health, employment and the right to be ‘free from want’,” he pointed out.
18/10/2011 | President
“A truly intercultural model of 'living together', which allows culturally different groups within society to interact, is the most effective response to intolerance, extremism and xenophobia - the worst evils our societies have to face today,” said the PACE President today, addressing the 21st Session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. “As the Assembly and the Congress have stated on numerous occasions, dialogue, integration and interaction between different communities start at local level,” he said.
14/10/2011 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu will make an official visit to Norway from 19 to 21 October. During his visit, he is due to meet the President of the Storting – Norwegian Parliament – Dag Terje Andersen and the leaders of political groups as well as the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide. He will hold an exchange of views with the members of the Storting Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence and with the Norwegian delegation to PACE.
10/10/2011 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu 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.
10/10/2011 | President
Speaking at a forum in Baku on the humanitarian aspects of the challenges of the 21st century, PACE President Mevlut Cavusoglu has said that overcoming prejudice, discrimination and xenophobia through a truly intercultural model of “living together” is a key challenge for Europe and the world.
22/09/2011 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Cavusoglu today called for increased co-ordination between PACE and the European Parliament (EP). At a meeting of the PACE Presidential Committee and the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament, he welcomed “good progress with regard to the accession of the European Union to the European Convention of Human Rights, in particular the agreement reached on the modalities of participation of EP representatives in PACE meetings when the Assembly elects judges onto the European Court of Human Rights.”
20/09/2011 | President
“I am shocked by the news of today’s bomb explosion in Ankara, in which – according to initial reports – three people have died and several people have been injured as a result of this act of violence," said PACE President Mevlut Cavusoglu. "My thoughts are with them and their families. The perpetrators of such terrorist activities should know that terrorism has no place in a democracy, and that no-one can reach their goals through such inhuman and heinous attacks."
19/09/2011 | President
“In my mind, ‘wider’ Europe is associated rather with countries which are our neighbours, but beyond the strictly geographical frontiers of Europe,” the Assembly President said, referring to PACE's recently-established “Partnership for Democracy” status. The Assembly, he added, is pursuing a strategy of bringing non-member states closer to the Council of Europe and to its standards. “In the wake of the Arab revolutions, we have even intensified our efforts,” he said, recalling that the Parliament of Morocco was recently granted this status and that the Palestinian National Council is likely to receive it during the October plenary session.
19/09/2011 | President
Today’s politicians bear responsibility for overcoming humanity’s past errors and moving the world community in a direction which will preserve civilization, PACE President Mevlut Cavusoglu has said. Speaking at a round table in Kyiv on risk reduction, the President said humanity could either move towards balanced development, with human rights and democracy at its core, or regress to promoting only short-term interests which could eventually lead to the destruction of civilization.
09/09/2011 | President
“After showing some signs of relief during the past year, the economic and financial crisis is deepening again in Europe. We all know too well from tragic past experience that when the cake becomes smaller and smaller and there is not enough for everybody, it becomes increasingly difficult to ensure that the rules of the game are the same for everybody. Discrimination is therefore a real threat to our societies,” today said PACE President Mevlüt Cavusoglu addressing the Assembly’s Committee on Equal Opportunities during its meeting in Paris.
08/09/2011 | President
"On this day of the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks we first and foremost pay tribute to the victims and their families, declared Thorbjørn Jagland, Kostyantyn Gryshchenko and Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. "This tragic date of mourning should serve as a reminder that terrorism has no ideology, no nationality and no religion. Terrorism in all its forms is a violation of the most fundamental human right: the right to life. Regardless of where, by whom and against whom terrorist offences are perpetrated, these crimes affect us all and target humanity as a whole," they added.
06/09/2011 | President
In a speech before the Political Affairs Committee, meeting today in Caserta, Italy, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has underlined that the request for “Partner for Democracy” status with the Assembly, submitted by the Palestinian National Council, came as “a logical development” as the Assembly had been co-operating closely with Palestinian representatives for a number of years.