Speech of Mr. Ramil Hasanov, secretary general of the parliamentary assembly of turkic-speaking countries OSCE-Thailand conference (Chiang Mai, 13-14 february 2012)
Dear Ambassador,
Dear participants,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Allow to express my sincere gratitude for inviting me to this important conference, where we have a good opportunity to address the issues of enhancing security through regional co-operation.
Firstly, with your permission, I would like to inform you very shortly on the history and activities of TURKPA.
The Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic-speaking countries (TURKPA) was established on 21 November 2008 upon the Istanbul Agreement signed by the chairmen of parliaments of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey.
Our goals include developing inter-parliamentary cooperation among its members, promoting political and economic dialogue between its members and creating favourable political climate for elaboration and implementation of various initiatives aimed at strengthening regional and global security. One of the main tasks of TURKPA is establishment of new relations and development of existing ones with parliaments and other international organizations of the countries in the region and all over the world.
Now I would like to point out several theses with regard to the role of our organization in enhancing regional security through confidence and security-building measures.
- It is worthy to emphasize that all our member countries are also OSCE participants, being geographically located both in Europe and Asia. Consequently, TURKPA member countries, through their active participation in the OSCE activities, play significant role in strengthening peace and security in the region spanning from Vancouver to Vladivostok.
- Cooperation of all international organizations and countries is a first prerequisite in promoting sustainability of security, combating terrorism and developing economic welfare. In this context, TURKPA attaches particular importance to cooperation with the OSCE and its institutions in various formats.
- Two of our member countries Azerbaijan and Turkey are heavily suffering from terrorism. In this regard, TURKPA member countries appeal to international community to follow principles of tolerance and norms of international law. Our Assembly firmly stands for tolerant co-existence of different nations and communities, peaceful and friendly co-existence of people with different religious faith and national identity, refrain from the threat or use of force to violate the existing international boundaries of another state, protection of basic human rights and freedoms, including freedom of expression, and strengthening democratic institutions. Observation of these aspects obviously contributes to regional and global security.
- Interaction between parliamentary and traditional diplomacy, enhancing cooperation between, figuratively speaking, elected and appointed diplomats would bring benefits across entire OSCE region. With this view, we would like to declare that our Assembly is ready to develop relations established with a number of inter-parliamentary and inter-governmental institutions, such as the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, OIC and PUIC, European Parliament, Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of CIS, GUAM Parliamentary Assembly and Baltic Assembly. In this direction, specific role of the OSCE is recognized and accepted by the world community.
-We are honoured to welcome any organization, institution or national parliament wishing to participate in our activities in capacity of guest or observer. Transparency and mutual confidence between all actors of multilateral cooperation will enhance security of our countries and safety of our peoples.
Respectful participants,
Let me express my appreciation to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Thailand and OSCE for organizing this significant event and great hospitality extended by our hosts.
It is my pleasure also to express gratitude to the OSCE for their cooperation.
Thank you very much for your kind attention.
