OPENING STATEMENT

OF MR MEVLÜT ÇAVUŞOĞLU

PRESIDENT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

JUNE 2010 PART-SESSION

(Strasbourg, Monday, 21 June 2010, 11h30 a.m.)

Dear colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to welcome you again to Strasbourg. Only two months have passed since our last part-session, but these two months have been rich in developments.

This week, we will receive among us three Heads of State and Government from the Western Balkans – the President of Croatia, the Prime Minister of Montenegro and the Macedonian President. For me, it is a symbol of the first half year of my mandate, that this Assembly has paid so much attention to this region – we have had debates on the situation in Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, we discussed the monitoring report on Montenegro, we will discuss the situation in Kosovo during this part-session. I have visited the region several times and held extremely interesting and enriching meetings with its leaders.

The most visible part of this “Balkan dimension of the Council of Europe” is, obviously, the current Macedonian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The Assembly held very successful meetings in Skopje last May. We congratulated the authorities on the programme of their Chairmanship and the importance which they attach to it. As regards the relations between the Assembly and the Committee of Ministers, I am confident that the very positive co-operation between the Committee of Ministers and the Assembly, developed during previous Chairmanships, will be further strengthened under the Chairmanship of my friend, Foreign Minister Miloshoski.

Allow me to take this occasion to say to our friends from the Balkan countries – we are proud of the progress that you have made in transforming your countries in conformity with the Council of Europe principles, we stand ready to assist you further in this process and we strongly support your efforts to accede to the European Union as soon as possible.

Dear friends,

As you know, I attach great importance to inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue. That is why I attended the meeting of the Alliance of Civilisations held in Rio de Janeiro in May. I am very pleased that the Council of Europe’s contribution to this process is very much appreciated at UN level and I consider that we should seize this opportunity and intensify our partnership with the Alliance of Civilisations. As I declared in Rio, I would like to use the unique forum offered by our Assembly to organise a debate with the Prime Ministers of Spain and Turkey, who are at the origin of this initiative, next year in Strasbourg with the participation of different religious leaders.

In this connection, I look forward to our discussion on the report “Islam, Islamism and Islamophobia in Europe” planned on Wednesday. It will not be an easy debate, but I am convinced that it will produce the right results.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We will hold this week our already traditional debate on the state of democracy in Europe. The timing of this debate could not have been better – in many European countries, after the first shock of the financial and economic crisis, we start to feel, and fear, the consequences that this crisis may have on the functioning of our democratic systems.

This consideration also marked the conclusions of our European Conference of Presidents of Parliament in Limassol just two weeks ago. This conference, which brought together some 300 participants, was for me personally one of the most successful ever held in this framework. I wish to thank the Cypriot Parliament and its Speaker for the excellent working conditions and hospitality.

The Conference focused on the rights and responsibilities of the opposition in a parliament and the role of national parliaments in implementing the principle of non-discrimination.

In our conclusions, Speaker Garoyian and I stressed that, at a moment when European democracies are facing a multitude of challenges - not least the impact of the economic crisis - the sense of responsibility by all political forces and the courage to support unpopular choices are extremely important.

We especially underlined the risk of an increasing vulnerability of some disadvantaged groups and the danger of rising intolerance and discrimination. These are the issues which are at the heart of our political systems – either we have democracy for all or we do not have real democracy.

Dear friends,

As you know, one of my main priorities as President is to promote the Council of Europe values in non-member states. If I say promote, it also means to defend, especially when the danger arises in countries having observer status.

In this connection, the Israeli raid on civilian ships bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza which resulted in the death of nine persons came as a shock to me. In my statement issued immediately after this tragic event, I condemned this action by Israeli forces and deplored the disproportionate use of force. Targeting people involved in humanitarian and peaceful activities can never be justifiable and goes against the values of the Council of Europe. The request for an urgent debate regarding the Middle East has been supported by the Bureau this morning and, therefore, we will most probably have an opportunity to adopt an Assembly’s position in this respect.

Secondly, you know how much I am attached to the principles of tolerance and non-discrimination. Therefore I feel obliged to join my voice to those who criticise the immigration law recently adopted in Arizona. By requiring police to check the immigration status of people who look suspicious, the law brings back horrible memories of “facial profiling”. I am very glad that many others, including President Obama, also criticized this law. I urge you to stand united against such measures, which may be formally legal, but are morally wrong. In some respect, Arizona may be closer to us than would seem on the map.

Finally, I have to mention the humanitarian crisis in Kyrgyzstan. We witness hundreds of victims and thousands of refugees and displaced persons as a result of ethnic tensions abused for political purposes. The Council of Europe is not equipped to deal with this kind of emergency situation, but should we not be more pro-active before they arise? Should we not use more generously our partner for democracy status, offer it to countries that may not yet be up to our standards, but where our involvement could make a real difference and save lives?

Once again, I am glad to see you all in our hemicycle, ready for action during this session week. I encourage you not to spare your efforts, the summer break, after all, is close and I take this opportunity to wish you happy and peaceful holidays.

Thank you for your attention.