Terrorism remains the greatest threat to the universal values of human rights. It must be considered a crime against humanity, the PACE President Mevlut Cavusoglu said today in his opening speech of the PACE October session in Strasbourg, recalling the massacre at Utoeya island youth camp, the bombing in Oslo and a recent bomb explosion in Ankara.

“Tomorrow we will decide on the request by the Palestinian National Council to become a Partner for Democracy. This request comes as a logical development, as the Assembly has been co-operating closely with Palestinian representatives for years. I am confident that granting Partner for Democracy status to the Palestinian National Council will not only strengthen co-operation between the Palestinians and the Council of Europe but also help implementation of democratic reforms in the Palestinian territories. In this connection, the address of Mr. Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday will be a very important moment for our Assembly,” the President stressed.