PACE president visits Moscow to discuss cooperation

STRASBOURG, July 1 (Itar-Tass) - PACE President Mevlut Cavusoglu
arrives on Thursday in Moscow for a two-day official visit. He is expected
to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as well as the
leadership of the Federal Assembly.
Ways to boost cooperation with the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe will be in the focus of attention at the talks, Mevlut
Cavusoglu told Tass ahead of the visit. Moscow moves in the correct
direction as concerns values of the Council of Europe, he stressed.
Results of PACE's summer session in Strasbourg testify to that.
The Russian delegation has managed to reach a lot, he said, adding
that PACE welcomed Russia's constructive work within the framework of the
recently approved report on human rights in the North Caucasus.
He said he intended to discuss with the Russian foreign minister
prospects to settle the conflict around mostly Armenian populated
Azerbaijani enclave of Nagorno Karabakh. PACE believes that Russia's
stance on the problem is decisive in many respects.
According to Cavusoglu, the situation in the region deserves close
attention of the international community. The problem must be solved as
soon as possible in order to reach stability in the whole region, he said.
Russian-Georgian dossier remains important for PACE, he stressed.
Cavusoglu said his efforts are aimed at expanding the parliamentary
dialogue between the Russian and Georgian delegations, which can have a
positive effect for normalizing the situation in the South Caucasus.
Unlike Georgia, Russia is fully ready for that, he stressed.
The PACE president expressed hope that the Russian leadership will
visit Strasbourg in foreseeable future and address parliamentarians at a
PACE session.
When in Moscow, the PACE president also intends to meet with
representatives of different political parties and nongovernmental
organisations.