SPEECH BY MR MEVLÜT ÇAVUŞOĞLU, PRESIDENT OF THE

PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE

AT THE MEETING OF THE

COMMITTEE ON EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN AND MEN

(Paris, 9 September 2011)

Dear Friends,

It is a great pleasure for me to participate today in your meeting. The Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men is one of the most active Assembly committees and also one that often deals with very sensitive, and even controversial issues, but issues which need to be addressed. The fast-approaching Assembly part-session in October is further evidence of this, with the reports that you have submitted for debate on prenatal sex selection and violent pornography.

Amongst your numerous achievements, I wish to praise in particular your role in the Council of Europe campaign "Stop Domestic Violence against Women", which became one of the strongest and most visible campaigns of the Council of Europe ever, even outside Europe! The network of contact parliamentarians that you created in all member states is not only very efficient on its own, but is also an excellent example of the synergy that should exist between the work of our Assembly and the national parliaments. Thanks to the activism of Mr Mendes Bota and many other PACE members, not forgetting your very active and competent staff, the Assembly has become a key player in the field of combating gender-based violence and gender equality.

Therefore, I am most pleased that today I can personally express my gratitude to all of you for your continued efforts and commitment.

I am also very pleased with the new and expanded role given to your Committee in Resolution 1822 on the Reform of the Parliamentary Assembly, which we adopted last June. According to this Resolution, your Committee will become the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination. The precise terms of reference of this, and all other Assembly committees, will be debated and adopted during our forthcoming October session. But I can already state that the issues related to the rights of minorities and to discrimination are amongst the most important issues in our modern societies.

I take this opportunity to convey my deep personal attachment to the issue of non-discrimination, which has been one of the priorities of my presidency. I am thinking in particular about the rise of extremism, intolerance, xenophobia, racism, anti-semitism and islamophobia in Europe. This summer’s tragic events in Norway show how fragile our European society can be in the face of new challenges to multiculturalism.

After showing some signs of relief during the past year, the economic and financial crisis is deepening again in Europe. It has posed difficult questions about economic and financial governance in Europe or about fiscal and budgetary discipline, to which European leaders are struggling to give a satisfactory answer. But first and above all, the crisis affects the ordinary citizens and especially the weakest groups of the population. Austerity plans are being adopted everywhere in Europe, while people are taking massively to the streets to express their discontent about the price that they have to pay for mistakes committed by others.

We all know too well from tragic past experience that when the cake becomes smaller and smaller and there is not enough for everybody, it becomes increasingly difficult to ensure that the rules of the game are the same for everybody. Discrimination is therefore a real threat to our societies. So I am sure that you will have a lot of work on your plate!

As the Assembly has repeatedly stated, one of the most efficient tools to combat extremism and intolerance is inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue. Your committee has contributed enormously to this issue, by promoting dialogue between women from different origins and backgrounds, and I am particularly happy to be present here today at this hearing with Muslim women.

Dear Friends, the Arab uprisings are continuing with unabating energy. However, the biggest challenge in the region, is to make sure that the slogans of freedom, dignity and democracy are translated into concrete actions: the holding of free and fair elections, provision of real guarantees for basic rights and freedoms, establishment of well-functioning democratic institutions and independent judiciary, fight against corruption, support for free media and civil society...

Our Partnership for Democracy status is a powerful tool to engage with our neighbours who share our values and subscribe to our standards. Following our Assembly’s decision to grant this status to the Parliament of Morocco, the Political Affairs Committee has just given its unanimous approval to the request submitted by the Palestinian National Council. This request comes as a logical development, as the Assembly has been co-operating closely with Palestinian representatives for a number of years. I am glad that your Committee is also taking an active role in the process, by submitting an opinion to the report which will be debated in the plenary this October.

Moreover, during my recent visits to Kazakhstan and Kirghizstan, I actively promoted the Partnership status with our neighbours from Central Asia. And I can tell you that my arguments were positively received. In particular, after my official meetings with the Kirghiz authorities, I welcomed the encouraging democratic changes in this country, which is the only country in the region to have chosen a parliamentary system of government. Kirghizstan has also abolished the death penalty and has a real multi-party parliament. Furthermore, we have been invited to observe the Presidential elections on 30 October.

For my part, I would like to inform you that I wrote a letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, inquiring about the possibility of visiting the country with my colleagues from the Presidential Committee, in order to explore possibilities for co-operation. In his reply, the Minister welcomed our proposal but suggested that the visit take place after the elections. I am following this closely and will keep you informed of developments.

I am sure that as our cooperation with this region develops, your committee will be asked to play an ever increasing role in it.

Dear colleagues,

The impact of the Lisbon Treaty on the Council of Europe is also on your agenda. It is a key issue, not only for the Council of Europe, but also for the future of our European continent as a whole. For us, as representatives of the “Wider Europe of 47”, it is essential to make sure that the reform of the European Union’s institutions respect fully the Pan-European standards of democracy, rule of law and human rights. Soon, we will make another huge step towards fulfilling this objective: with the forthcoming accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights, we will be able to build a unique, truly Pan-European system of protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. As you know, negotiations are ongoing and our Assembly is making a valuable contribution to this process by devising, together with our colleagues from the European Parliament, the modalities of participation of the EP in the election of judges to the Court.

Dear Friends,

And now, I would like to thank you very much for your attention and wish you a very fruitful and successful meeting. As I am going to stay in your meeting a while longer, I will of course be happy to answer any questions you may have.