The 13th Plenary Session of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) concluded yesterday afternoon in Antalya, Turkey, with the participation of MP Mr.Nicos Tornaritis, head of the Cypriot delegation to the Assembly.
The work of the Assembly concluded with the adoption by the Plenary of resolutions of the four Standing Committees of the Assembly, namely the Political Affairs Committee, the Economic and Sustainable Development Committee, the Social and Cultural Affairs Committee and the Budget and Economic Planning Committee, as well as with the adoption of the Antalya Declaration. The Declaration underlines the importance of further strengthening multilateral cooperation between Asian Parliaments to address common challenges such as climate change, conflict, terrorism, cross-border crime and threats to public health and the environment.
During the discussion on the final text of the Antalya Declaration, Mr. Tornaritis stressed the need to respect international law, including the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the independence and sovereignty of each state, as the basic principles on which the development of relations and cooperation between states should be based. The Cypriot MP deplored the adoption by some countries of practices that fuel conflict and terrorism, thus undermining efforts to strengthen cooperation among the members of the AUHIP in order to achieve conditions of peace, security and prosperity for the peoples of the region. Also, at the suggestion of Mr. Tornaritis, a reference was included in the Declaration to the need to combat all forms of discrimination, including discrimination on the basis of race or gender. Tornaritis made strong representations to the Permanent Secretariat of the Assembly, preventing lobbying by the Turkish side for the participation in the work of the Assembly of a delegation of the Pseudo-state, led by the so-called "President" of the Pseudo-plurality.
Moreover, in the margins of the Session, Mr. Tornaritis had a series of contacts with members of the delegations of India, Bahrain and Oman, with whom he discussed ways to further develop cooperation between the House of Representatives and these parliaments, both within the framework of the AHLC and at the bilateral level.
(Text as sent by the House of Representatives)
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