PACE President Mevlut Cavusoglu said on April 11 that the current revolutions in the Arab world are a powerful proof that the values which the Council of Europe defends and promotes – human dignity, human rights, democracy and the rule of law – are universal.

“These values can empower even the weakest and most oppressed people and can defeat even the strongest dictatorships,” Cavusoglu said in his opening speech of the PACE spring session in Strasbourg.

“These developments also underscore the urgent need for increasing dialogue and mutual understanding, both with our neighbors and within our societies. The Assembly has taken a leading role and our debate this week on the inter-religious dimension of inter-cultural dialogue will be another important contribution to this process,” he added.

PACE said on its official website that the President expressed his deep satisfaction that the Prime Minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, had accepted to address PACE.

“Together with the Spanish Prime Minister, Mr. Zapatero, Mr. Ergodan co-sponsored the Alliance of Civilization Initiative aiming at promoting international action against extremism through intercultural and inter-religious dialogue and cooperation. This initiative places particular emphasis on defusing tensions between the Western and Islamic worlds,” he concluded.

No discussions related to Armenia are planned as part of the PACE spring session. Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg's annual report will be submitted during the session. The situation in Belarus will be discussed by PACE on April 12. The agenda also includes a discussion on Georgia’s fulfillment of its obligations to the Council of Europe.