11/04/2011 Session
“The current revolutions in the Arab world are a powerful proof that the values which the Council of Europe defends and promotes – human dignity, human rights, democracy and the rule of law – are universal. These values can empower even the weakest and most oppressed people and can defeat even the strongest dictatorships,” PACE President Mevlüt Cavusoglu said today in his opening speech of the PACE spring session in Strasbourg.
“These developments also underscore the urgent need for increasing dialogue and mutual understanding, both with our neighbours and within our societies. The Assembly has taken a leading role and our debate this week on the inter-religious dimension of inter-cultural dialogue will be another important contribution to this process,” he added. The President expressed his deep satisfaction that the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, had accepted to address PACE on Wednesday. “Together with the Spanish Prime Minister, Mr. Zapatero, Mr. Ergodan co-sponsored the Alliance of Civilisation Initiative aiming at promoting international action against extremism through intercultural and inter-religious dialogue and cooperation. This initiative places particular emphasis on defusing tensions between the Western and Islamic worlds,” he concluded.