WELCOME BY MR MEVLÜT ÇAVUŞOĞLU,

PRESIDENT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY,

TO MR THOMAS HAMMARBERG,

COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE

(Strasbourg, Wednesday 13 April 2011, 15h00, Hemicycle)

Dear Commissioner,

In welcoming you to this Chamber, I wish to thank you not only for being with us today but also for being with us, in a way, every single day. Your office and our Assembly have been working in perfect synergy and this is the only way in which we could really be efficient and up to the numerous challenges that we are facing.

During the past year you have been constantly very active in visiting member countries; your reports and letters related to the human rights situation in member countries are a precious source of information for our Assembly and its own monitoring, as well as for my official visits. We also highly appreciate your involvement, the resolute stand that you have taken and your awareness-raising work with regard to a number of serious challenges to our societies such as the human rights of Roma, of migrants and asylum-seekers, of persons with disabilities, of children, as well as with regard to the issue of gender equality or media freedom.

Dear Commissioner, you are also carrying out remarkable work in strengthening national human rights structures. Your office has become a real moral authority in Europe. This is precisely the role that the Council of Europe as a whole should continue to play on a pan-European level and beyond. Thank you again for your valuable cooperation. We now look forward to hearing your report. You have the floor.