OPENING STATEMENT

OF MR MEVLÜT ÇAVUŞOĞLU

PRESIDENT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

APRIL 2010 PART-SESSION

(Strasbourg, Monday, 26 April 2010, 11h30 a.m.)

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear colleagues,

Before starting, I would like to pay a tribute to the late President of Poland, Mr Lech Kaczynski and all those who died in the crash of the Presidential plane in Smolensk on 10 April 2010. We were all deeply shocked by this terrible tragedy which claimed so many lives. Three former colleagues from our Assembly were among the 96 victims. Once again, from this tribune, I express our condolences to our Polish colleagues, the authorities and the people of their country. Poland has lost a great President, a man of profound values who served his country with conviction and determination in a time of change. These are days of grief not only for Poland but for the whole of Europe.

I will now ask you to stand for a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the Smolensk tragedy.

Dear colleagues,

I am very glad to see you in Strasbourg despite the near halt of air traffic caused by the volcanic eruption in Iceland. We have all been affected by the flight disruptions, but we must not forget that there were more direct consequences from the fall-out for many people in Iceland. Therefore, I would like to express our sympathy to our Icelandic colleagues.

We now clearly see how events, which none of us thought could happen, can suddenly become a serious threat to the normal functioning of our societies, bringing with it a lot of consequences. Such unforeseen situations can unfortunately arise in any other area of our lives - as a result of unpredictable natural or human-caused events - and even pose a challenge to the democratic functioning of our societies. That is why we need constantly to reinforce our democracies in order to stand fast in times of crisis.

The Council of Europe has a major role to play in making our democracies stronger and more resistant. That is also why we are in the Council of Europe and we are here today in this Hemicycle.

This week, we have important issues on the agenda and we will receive important guests. I am proud that the first address of the Ukrainian President, Mr Yanukovich, before an international body will take place in our hemicycle tomorrow. President Yanukovich and his Government have now urgent and important issues to deal with – which are crucial for the future of their country - that is why we must give our assistance and support to the Ukrainian authorities right now, at the very beginning of important reforms.

Furthermore, one of the most respected and experienced foreign ministers in Europe, Mr Lavrov, will address us on Thursday. Russia is the biggest CoE member state and has been our partner for a long time. And because Russia is a member of the CoE family, our Organisation is best placed to discuss with our Russian colleagues all issues, including those on which the views in this Assembly may radically differ. There is, however, one condition for this dialogue to bring results - it must be frank on both sides and without prejudices and double standards.

When mentioning Ukraine and Russia, I have to speak about Belarus as well. Belarus is the only country on our Continent with which the Assembly has no formal relations. The only country in Europe still executing people - two executions were carried out recently, provoking a very strong joint condemnation from all CoE bodies.

For nearly 15 years now, the regime in Belarus has not substantially changed, despite our advice, recommendations, requests and even sanctions. With no real results. We should ask ourselves a question - how can we influence a regime on which we have no leverage? In my opinion, we have a moral obligation towards the people of Belarus to be more present and engaged in the country. I will raise the question of the strategy of dealing with Belarus during my bilateral meetings this week, including those with President Yanukovich and Minister Lavrov. We may also discuss this situation in the Assembly this week.

As President, I consider that the Assembly, all of us, have done a great deal of work since the last part-session. Among other issues, we have been helping to solve critical constitutional issues in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Moldova, to encourage the opposition to return to the Parliament in Albania, to improve the human rights situation in the North Caucasus, and to contribute to the settlement of the conflict between Georgia and Russia. We also contributed to the Interlaken Conference on the Reform of the ECHR. Furthermore, we followed up the matter of appropriate responses to pandemics.

We have also pursued our strategy of bringing non-member states closer to the Council of Europe and to our standards. In this connection, I expect to receive soon official requests for the Partner for Democracy status from the Parliaments of Morocco and Kazakhstan.

This action has increased the impact and the respect for the Assembly as a leading political body inside our Organisation, but what is much more important, in the eye of the European public.

I thank you for your efforts and am ready, with all of you, to take them even further.

Thank you for your attention.