10/05/2010 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu will make a visit to Armenia on 12-13 May, during which he will meet the President of the Republic Serzh Sargsyan, the President of the National Assembly Hovik Abrahamyan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandyan, members of different political factions represented in the National Assembly, and the extra-parliamentary opposition.
10/05/2010 | President
“Culture is not a luxury, it is a compelling need,” said PACE President, Mevlüt Çavusoglu, opening a hearing in Istanbul into “the right of everyone to take part in cultural life” organised by PACE’s Committee on Culture, Science and Education. It was important to find practical ways to make culture accessible to the widest possible number of citizens, the President said, speaking in the city which currently holds the title of European Capital of Culture. “These are the issues which are crucial for the future of European societies,” he said.
07/05/2010 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu has expressed his appreciation for the achievements of Switzerland’s six-month Presidency of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, which is due to end on 11 May. Meeting Erika Forster-Vannini, the Speaker of Switzerland's Council of States – the upper house of the Swiss Parliament – and an accompanying delegation yesterday, the President praised in particular the Presidency’s work on the Interlaken Process, which aims to streamline the work of the European Court of Human Rights. Maximilian Reimann (Switzerland, ALDE) and Liliane Maury Pasquier (Switzerland, SOC) from the Swiss delegation to the Assembly were also present.
14/04/2010 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu has said that holding free and fair parliamentary elections in November would be “the best way” for Azerbaijan to celebrate its tenth anniversary as a member of the Council of Europe next year. The President, speaking mid-way through a four-day official visit to Azerbaijan (13-16 April), said the aim of his visit was to express support for the continuation of democratic reforms in the country.
10/04/2010 | President
“I was deeply shocked to learn of this morning’s crash, which is both a terrible personal tragedy and a national tragedy,” said PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu in a statement. “I want to extend my most heartfelt condolences to the families of those who died so suddenly in Smolensk, but also to the authorities and the people of Poland. Poland has lost a great President, a man of profound values who served his country with conviction and determination in a time of change.
08/04/2010 | President
"Roma are full citizens of Europe. Yet their situation within our society raises serious human rights issues," say Micheline Calmy-Rey, Chair of the Committee of Ministers, and PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu, in a statement to mark International Roma Day.
08/04/2010 | President
Common values such as democracy, human rights and the rule of law are a form of “soft security” that promote prosperity and peace, PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu has stressed at a joint parliamentary conference in St Petersburg on the future of European security. “Our countries increasingly look at common problems through the same prism, or from the same vantage point,” he pointed out, referring to the work of PACE and the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly. But there should be “no slackening” in joint efforts to deal with common threats such as terrorism or nuclear proliferation, he added.
07/04/2010 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu today recalled that the Council of Europe has twice led a process of post-war reconciliation – after the Second World War and the Cold War – and pledged that it will do so again. Addressing parliamentarians at a conference in St Petersburg to mark the 65th anniversary of the Second World War, the President said: "Today we should not only celebrate the anniversary of a great victory. There is one more reason to celebrate: the fact that we have achieved a reconciliation process and have a common language of human rights and democracy...".
01/04/2010 | President
PACE is to jointly organise, with the Interparliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), an international parliamentary conference on “The future of European security” in St Petersburg on 8 April 2010. PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu will join Sergey Mironov, Chair of the Council of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, to introduce the event, which will focus on the legal bases for future European security and the concept of “soft security”.
31/03/2010 | President
"The Council of Europe strongly condemns the explosions in Dagestan (Russian Federation), which come only two days after the terrorist attacks in Moscow," said the Chair of the Committee of Ministers Micheline Calmy-Rey, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly Mevlüt Çavusoglu and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland in a joint statement. "We reiterate our message of support for and solidarity with the Russian Federation at this very difficult moment."
29/03/2010 | President
"I wish to express my most sincere condolences to the families of those who lost their lives as a result of these horrendous attacks, and my solidarity with those injured. In our societies there is no place for those who use bombs to kill innocent people. Such acts will achieve nothing, but will sow only terror and grief. The Russian authorities can count on the full support of the Parliamentary Assembly in combating those who were behind this atrocity," declared Mevlüt Çavusoglu, following the two bomb attacks on the Moscow Metro this morning.
29/03/2010 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu will be attending the 122nd Assembly of the Interparliamentary Union, which will be looking at the role of parliaments in political reconciliation and good governance, interparliamentary co-operation in the global fight against organised crime and trafficking in human beings, and the participation of young people in the democratic process.