{"id":16702,"date":"2010-02-05T01:10:26","date_gmt":"2010-02-05T01:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishforum.com.tr\/en\/content\/?p=16702"},"modified":"2014-01-05T17:55:23","modified_gmt":"2014-01-05T15:55:23","slug":"council-of-europe-secretary-general-says-turkey-is-a-global-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2010\/02\/05\/council-of-europe-secretary-general-says-turkey-is-a-global-player\/","title":{"rendered":"Council of Europe secretary-general says Turkey is a global player"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbj\u00f8rn Jagland says it would be of great help if Turkey adopted a new constitution in line with European norms.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbj\u00f8rn Jagland has said Turkey, along with Russia and the European Union, is a global player and has much to contribute in boosting the status of the 47-nation European institution.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In an exclusive interview with Sunday\u2019s Zaman, Jagland said the interests of the council are perfectly aligned with the interests of Turkey on a number of issues and expressed his hope that Turkey would be of great help in reforming the organization.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt was certainly a historic moment when the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe [PACE] elected its first Muslim president,\u201d he said, referring to the election of Turkish deputy Mevl\u00fct \u00c7avu\u015fo\u011flu last week in Strasbourg. \u201cThis has happened for the first time, the first in any European institution,\u201d he added. Jagland sees the election of \u00c7avu\u015fo\u011flu as a clear signal that Europe has become a multicultural and multi-religious continent. \u201cIt certainly gives us an opportunity to overcome new and old dividing lines in Europe, be it culturally or in terms of religion,\u201d he underlined.<\/div>\n
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The head of the human rights watchdog strongly believes that issues emanating from multiculturalism and multi-religiosity are high on the agenda in Europe. \u201cThe Council of Europe is an excellent forum for trying to bring people together and meeting this challenge,\u201d he said, adding that the timing was just right for a Turk to be elected as the head of the assembly. \u201cHe can bring new ideas to the table. It is a great opportunity to work together with him,\u201d Jagland said.<\/div>\n
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Reform needed<\/strong><\/div>\n
With his high expectations for reforming the institution, Secretary-General Jagland has fresh ideas in mind and believes he has found receptive ears in many capitals of Europe including Ankara. \u201cI am quite optimistic as the mood is very good now. Everybody realizes now that we have to adapt to new realities. Europe has changed. The Lisbon Treaty has come into force. Turkey is becoming more and more important. So is Russia. We need to modernize ourselves,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n
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Jagland has recently unveiled his plan to revitalize the Council of Europe as a political body and an innovative, flexible organization, in close cooperation with its staff and stakeholders, making it more visible and relevant for the citizens of Europe. He said the organization should concentrate on fewer projects, selected for the added value and comparative advantages they offer. His proposals were unanimously endorsed by the Committee of Ministers.<\/div>\n
He concedes that the overhaul will be a long process. \u201cI know it is not going to be easy. We have a history of 60 years, and it is not easy to reform an old institution. But the base support is very strong. I have been to many governments to talk about this. They have given clear signals in that regard,\u201d he underlined.<\/div>\n
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Asked what tops the list of reforms, the secretary-general said, \u201cThe first priority is to make the organization more focused on the issues where we have a comparative advantage and where we can have added value.\u201d Jagland is like an entrepreneur looking for a niche market to amplify the return on his investment. He disagrees with this analogy, however, and stresses: \u201cWe are not looking for a small niche here. Our aim is way higher. It is not a small niche market we are looking for.\u201d<\/div>\n
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In fact, he has taken on a very challenging task. Against the backdrop of its powers being encroached upon by other organizations, Jagland has to make the organization stand out from other European institutions such as the EU and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). One of the challenges he is facing is coordinating the Council of Europe\u2019s role with the EU and OSCE. \u201cWe need to look for an overall role vis-\u00e0-vis other European institutions,\u201d he underlined.<\/div>\n
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A single platform for law across Europe<\/strong><\/div>\n
It looks like Jagland has found the perfect platform for his campaign to achieve this: creating a single platform for law for all organizations in Europe under the stewardship of the Council of Europe\u2019s legal arm, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). \u201cThe first aim is to get the EU to accede to the ECtHR and the European Convention on Human Rights now that the Lisbon Treaty has come into force,\u201d he noted, stressing that it would be the basis for the mandate to create a culture of Europe. According to him, that would be achieved with the creation of one legal platform across the continent based on common standards, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.<\/div>\n
It certainly sounds ambitious but Jagland believes the Council of Europe is the only institution that is perfectly placed to embark on that journey. \u201cWe can reach out to all European countries and Turkey and Russia, which are not members of the EU. This is the priority for us,\u201d he noted. The Council of Europe\u2019s status was boosted two weeks ago when the Russian Parliament finally ratified the long-delayed Protocol 14 of the convention. \u201cThis would help reform the court in becoming an effective instrument across the entire continent,\u201d Jagland said. He is happy to see that the Russians are completely on board. \u201cThey have given a clear signal that they want to access to the court. The EU can do the same. Then we would have achieved a great deal. We in fact created this legal space for everybody. This is an unprecedented development, not only for Europe but also for the whole world,\u201d he remarked.<\/div>\n
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Turkey should do more<\/strong><\/div>\n
The secretary-general agrees with newly elected head of PACE, \u00c7avu\u015fo\u011flu, who called on Turkey to draft a new civil constitution. Though he cautions that his job does not allow him to interfere in domestic politics, he nevertheless thinks it would be a great help if the country adopts a new constitution in line with European norms. \u201cAs I understand it, many Turks are asking for this. It is the right time to draft a new one,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n
He also said that he is concerned with human rights violations in Turkey. The ECtHR found last week in its report that Turkey is by far the worst violator of human rights. Jagland acknowledges that there have been positive developments in Turkey with respect to protecting human rights. \u201cThe number of cases is still high, however,\u201d he said. \u201cIt could be the case that the court is more widely known and is very popular in Turkey and I welcome that,\u201d he added.<\/div>\n
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Nonetheless Jagland believes Turkey is a very important country in Europe and is on the way to becoming a global player. \u201cI have always attached great importance to the role Turkey plays in Europe, the Middle East and the Caucasus. It is very much needed,\u201d he emphasized. The secretary-general will be paying a three-day visit to Turkey next week starting on Sunday. He recalled that US President Barack Obama paid his first official visit to Turkey and argues that that by itself is a testament to the fact that the country is becoming a global player. \u201cWe should make a note of that in Europe,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n
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ABDULLAH BOZKURT \u00a0STRASBOURG<\/div>\n
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Source:\u00a0www.todayszaman.com,\u00a031 January 2010<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbj\u00f8rn Jagland has said Turkey, along with Russia and the European Union, is a global player and has much to contribute in boosting the status of the 47-nation European institution. In an exclusive interview with Sunday\u2019s Zaman, Jagland said the interests of the council are perfectly aligned with the interests of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":16703,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,835,61,89,922],"tags":[956,2610],"class_list":["post-16702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eu-members","category-europe","category-middle-east","category-turkey","category-world","tag-council-of-europe","tag-thorbjrn-jagland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}