ANKARA
Turkey's EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Mevlut Cavusoglu, the first Turkish politician to head the Parliamentary Assembly of Council Europe (PACE), has been unanimously chosen as the body’s honorary president.
A total of 47 national delegation chiefs, 19 PACE deputy presidents, eight PACE commission heads and five political group leaders were present at the vote in Paris on Friday.
Cavusoglu, a member of PACE’s Turkish delegation since 2003, became the head of the country’s delegation in 2007 and was elected president of the assembly in 2010. He handed over to French politician Jean Claude Mignon in 2012.
PACE is the statuary organ of 1949-established Council of Europe, of which Turkey is a founding member. Turkey is represented by a 24-member delegation, among a total 642 representatives from member countries. The Assembly was established following the Second World War to ease tensions in Europe and consolidate cooperation, the rule of law and human rights in the continent.
“I feel great honor for my country and am grateful to all countries and their representatives entitling me with such status,” Cavusoglu said.
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