Council of Europe marks 70th anniversary

STRASBOURG

A commemorative ceremony for the 70th anniversary of the Council of Europe took place in Strasbourg, France on Oct. 1. 

The ceremony brought together many high-level figures from across Europe. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu was also among the attendees.

“Minister [Mevlüt] Çavuşoğlu will visit Strasbourg on Oct. 1, 2019 on the occasion of the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the Council of Europe, as the Honorary President of its Parliamentary Assembly,” the Turkish ministry said in a statement on Sept. 30.

It added that Çavuşoğlu will meet Council of Europe Secretary-General Marija Pejcinovic Buric, Parliamentary Assembly President Lilane Mauty Pasquier and former Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland during his visit.

Among the other high-level attendees of the ceremony were: French President Emmanuel Macron, European Court of Human Rights President Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, Felipe González, former prime minister of Spain, Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, and Roland Ries, mayor of Strasbourg.

Astronaut Luca Parmitano and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres also delivered messages on the occasion.

The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading human rights organization.

It includes 47 member states, 28 of which are members of the European Union – a separate group – according to its official website.

Some 830 million people living in the common legal space of the Council of Europe have the right to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

In Turkey, the Council of Europe is represented by a program office in the capital Ankara.