29/06/2010 | President
"Parliaments must be the driving force behind the elaboration of national action plans for intercultural and inter-religious dialogue. They must contribute to such plans not only through ideas and political impetus, but also through parliamentary control of the executive which has to implement them", PACE President said today addressing in Astana the OSCE Conference on tolerance and non-discrimination. "Besides such specific plans, parliaments should take into account the intercultural and inter-religious dimension in their overall legislative work", Mr Cavusoglu said.
28/06/2010 | President
"We are witnessing a revolution of sorts – in Europe and the world – in which women are rising in large numbers to claim leadership roles in our societies," said PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu, encouraging young female leaders in his opening address to the fifth annual Summer University for Democracy in Strasbourg today. "Much remains to be done, and the Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly are in the midst of this struggle which I consider vital for the good management of the world of the future," said the PACE President.
28/06/2010 | President
“Today we pay our respects to all victims of torture. We also pay tribute to all those who work to denounce cases of torture and provide help to alleviate their tragic consequences. The Council of Europe has been fighting torture during the more than 60 years of its existence. All 47 Council of Europe member states stand behind the prohibition of this and other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as required by the European Convention on Human Rights," declared the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers and the PACE President.
28/06/2010 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu will make an official visit to Moscow on 1-2 July. During his visit, he will meet the Speaker of the State Duma Boris Gryzlov, the Chairman of the Federation Council Sergey Mironov and the Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov. Talks are also scheduled with the leaders of factions in the State Duma, young politicians, and with representatives of NGOs.
22/06/2010 | President
“We strongly condemn today’s terrorist attack on a bus in Istanbul, in which three people have been killed, including a child,” the Chair of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe Antonio Milošoski and the President of its Parliamentary Assembly Mevlüt Çavusoglu said in a joint statement. “Bloodshed like this will never bring victory, only sadness and anger. We stand together with the families of those killed this morning, and share in their distress, they added.
17/06/2010 | President
Speaking on 11 June at the ‘European Forum Cyprus’, a Council of Europe initiative, which is co-financed by the European Union and brings together young Cypriot leaders from all walks of life in the two communities on the island, PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu told participants that this initiative was essential to foster dialogue, mutual respect, confidence and co-operation between future generations of leaders of the island – a necessary condition for a peaceful and prosperous Cyprus.
16/06/2010 | President
During a press conference organised at the end of his official visit to Georgia from 13 to 15 June, PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu stressed that by coming to Georgia early in his Presidency he wanted to show the importance he attached to the country, its ongoing democratic reforms as well as its plight after the August 2008 war. He said his talks had focused on the consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia and the role that the Council of Europe, and especially PACE, could and should play in this respect as well as the ongoing democratic reforms and outstanding commitments of Georgia to the Council of Europe.
12/06/2010 | President
At a moment when European democracies are faced with a multitude of challenges, not least the impact of the economic crisis, globalisation and the need to react with swift decisions, the sense of responsibility by all political forces and the courage to support unpopular choices is extremely important, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Mevlüt Cavusoglu and the Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Cyprus, Marios Garoyian, said at the end of the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament in Limassol today.
11/06/2010 | President
In his opening speech at the European Conference of Speakers of Parliament, organised in Limassol from 10 to 11 June, PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu told the some 300 participants that increasing intolerance and discrimination were one of the biggest challenges of the era of globalization. “With the consequences of the economic crises, these problems have become even more acute,” he said underlining that the foundation of the common European home had to be built on an open society based on respect for diversity, not on exclusion, not on discrimination, not on fear and certainly not on hatred.
10/06/2010 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu will make an official visit to Georgia from 13 to 15 June 2010. During his visit, he is due to meet the President of the Republic Mikhail Saakashvili, the Chairman of the Parliament David Bakradze, the Vice-Prime Minister and State Minister for Reintegration Temur Yakobashvili, the Foreign Minister Gregory Vashadze and the State Minister of Refugees and Accommodation Koba Subeliani.
08/06/2010 | President
Addressing participants at the Third Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Istanbul today, PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu made a plea for soft security as a means of strengthening security and stability in a globalised world. “Peaceful co-existence of different cultures and religions, based on mutual respect, is for me one of the most important elements of this soft security and the strengthening of inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue is one of the priorities of my presidency,” he stressed.
07/06/2010 | President
“Freedom of movement of people in Europe is the absolute pre-condition for any further integration,” PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu said in his speech today at the 8th Conference of Speakers of Parliament from the countries of the South-East European Co-operation Process (SEECP) held in Antalya. He was satisfied, he said, that a visa-free regime had been introduced by several countries of the Western Balkans and that the EU Commission had recommended the abolition of visas for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania.