6.10.2011 - revised

WELCOME BY MR MEVLÜT ÇAVUŞOĞLU,

PRESIDENT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY,

TO MR MAHMOUD ABBAS, CHAIRMAN OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION,

PRESIDENT OF THE PALESTINIAN NATIONAL AUTHORITY

STRASBOURG, Thursday 6 October 2011, noon

Dear President,

It is an honour to welcome you to this Chamber.

It gives me immense pleasure to greet a courageous man, a skillful politician, a diplomat and a statesman. Although, on this latter issue, I acknowledge that it is even more difficult to be a statesman without a real state.

Your presence in this Chamber today is fraught with symbols. It is symbolic that almost immediately after making an historic move 2 weeks ago at the General Assembly of the United Nations, you come to address this house. A house which is considered to be the temple of democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Europe.

It is equally symbolic that you are addressing this Assembly immediately after the Palestinian National Council obtained the status of partner for democracy with our Assembly. This status which commits both the Palestinians and the Assembly. For the Assembly, to serve as a fertile soil for dialogue, to be a listening ear, a watchful eye and a helping hand. And for the PNC, to fully embrace these same principles in words and in deeds. In this context, we highly praise the achievements of the Palestinian National Authority under your leadership and your efforts to bring reconciliation amongst Palestinians on the basis of universally recognised values.

It is also symbolic that your visit to Strasbourg is happening against the background of the Arab spring. The Assembly has always firmly believed that the only way to establish peace and stability in the region is through democracy, respect for all human rights and the rule of law. As you said last month in New York, the time is now for the Palestinian Spring, the time for independence.

Dear President, I was referring to symbols, but beyond the symbolic, there is the reality. A hard and unacceptable reality of a Palestinian people which lives dispersed around the world and who cannot build its own common home. This situation cannot last any longer. Palestinians should have their own state – and here I am referring to the numerous Assembly resolutions – a Palestinian state side by side with that of Israel, within secure and recognised borders, on the basis of international agreements and through negotiation taking into account the legitimate aspirations of the two people.

In this context, I would like to recall that at the end of this week’s debate on co-operation between the Council of Europe and the emerging democracies in the Arab world, the Assembly invited members of the UN Security Council, in particular those which are member states of the Council of Europe – to support the Palestinian request to join the United Nations as a full member state. We believe that the stability of the Arab world, especially in the context of the Arab spring, democracy would be facilitated by finding a solution to the main conflicts which remain in the region.

It is high time that whenever we referr to the Middle East, it is no longer immediately associated with the word “conflict”. We believe it can become associated with the ideas of democracy and human rights. We know that this is why you are with us today. Once again - Welcome. You have the floor.