On 25 January, the 318-member PACE elected Mevlüt Çavuşoglu as its new president at the opening of its plenary session in Strasbourg (25-29 January). Çavuşoglu is the first Turk to hold the office since Turkey's accession to the Council of Europe in August 1949.
In his statement, Çavuşoglu emphasised his ambition to fight discrimination, fear and hatred.
"I come from a country which has prided itself for two millennia on being a bridge between continents […] I want to bring that political understanding to a new level, to act as a bridge for the peoples of Europe, whether they are in the frozen Arctic or on the temperate beaches of Antalya," Çavuşoglu said.
He stressed that among the major challenges societies were facing was increasing intolerance and discrimination. "We must first break down the walls in our minds. Unless we do that, there is no real freedom […] We must eradicate racism, xenophobia, anti-semitism, Islamophobia and all kinds of similar phobias leading to discrimination and intolerance," he said.
Among his other priorities, Çavuşoglu referred to the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and the EU's expected accession to the European Convention on Human Rights, which is one of the priorities of the Spanish EU Presidency (EurActiv 14/01/10).
No matter how appeasing the statements, Çavuşoglu's election raised eyebrows, apparently due to his nationality.
Leaders of the main pro-Kurdish party DTP questioned Çavuşoglu's suitability for the job, saying the ruling AK Party of which he is a founding member has violated the constitutional rights of the DTP's successor, the Peace and Democracy Party, by blocking its membership of parliamentary commissions.
Also, Cypriot members of PACE signed a declaration expressing their strong concern over the election of Çavuşoglu.
"This position is not aimed at Mr. Cavusoglu personally, but his country, Turkey. A country which for over 35 years has militarily occupied the northern part of the Republic of Cyprus, and demonstrates utter contempt to international law and order and the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Cypriots," the MPs from Cyprus state.
As for Armenia, a country with which Turkey has a long-standing history of animosity stemming from the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during the First World War, the local press appears to have misquoted Cavusoglu, prompting MPs in Yerevan to ask for the suspension of Armenia's activities in PACE.
Apparently, the national agency APA cited an interview from Cavusoglu conveying the message that he had presented biased views on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict (see EurActiv 12/10/09), which opposes Armenia and Azebaijan, a traditional Muslim ally of Turkey.
Reportedly, an Armenian delegation held a meeting and obtained clarifications from Çavuşoglu. He assured the Armenian MPs that APA had distorted his words.
