Strasbourg, 28 January 2010

We live in difficult times. The History challenges our minds every minute. It is true that the planet is threatened, the economic crises decimate the most vulnerable, and we have difficulty in responding to the violent events that affect us. At the same time, there are areas which can not accept flexibility. Regardless of convictions or beliefs that are ours.

Strasbourg, 25.01.2010 - The 318-member Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) today elected Mevlüt Çavusoglu (Turkey, EDG) as its new President at the opening of its plenary session in Strasbourg (25-29 January).

Mr Çavuşoglu succeeds Lluís Maria de Puig (Spain, SOC) as the Assembly’s 25th President. He is the first Turk to hold the office since Turkey’s accession to the Council of Europe in August 1949.

Our brothers and sisters in Haiti need our help

As everyone now knows, on Jan. 12 2010, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake - the strongest to hit Haiti and the Caribbean basin in more than 200 years - destroyed much of the capital - Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas, razing the concrete buildings of densely populated city, where 2 million people live. The devastation is made complex because of the lack of infrastructure to deliver aid, medicine and supplies.