Thursday, October 14, 2010
The president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe said Thursday that Turkey and Russia, the two main non-EU actors in the European region, should cooperate to solve problems.
Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu made his remarks while addressing an international symposium in Moscow on “Education in Europe - Concerted Development of Students” along with Sergei Mironov, the chairman of the Federation Council of Russia, which co-organized the event with the Council of Europe.
“Mironov and I had the opportunity to meet on the sidelines of the symposium. As you know, there are two main actors in the European sphere that are not EU members. They are Turkey and Russia,” Çavuşoğlu said. “Turkey and Russia should cooperate for the solution of problems particularly in the Balkans, the Caucasus and many other regions.”
Çavuşoğlu told reporters that Turkey “successfully carries out tasks it has assumed in both regional and international bodies, such as the United Nations and NATO. Our profile in the international arena as well as in decision-making bodies is rising because we are doing the right thing in struggling for stability and world peace.”
Touching on his talks in Moscow, Çavuşoğlu said he met heads of the three major religious communities in the Russian city Wednesday, adding that the Russian government stood at equal distance to all religious groups.
“Russia is supporting the opening of new mosques and synagogues alongside churches. The overall environment in Russia for religious freedom is better than in many European countries,” the PACE president said.
Çavuşoğlu also said Turkey and Russia had good bilateral relations and a working cooperation, adding that Russia was Turkey’s top trade partner with an expected future volume of $100 billion annually.
The PACE president and an accompanying delegation departed Moscow after the symposium.
Turkey, Russia should cooperate, says PACE president
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