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APA's Tenth Plenary Meeting Kicks Off in Istanbul

APA News Desk
Istanbul, Turkey
21 November 2017

The opening ceremony of the tenth plenary meeting of the Asian parliamentary Assembly (APA) was held in Istanbul today with the participation of a number of speakers and MPs of various APA member parliaments and observer delegates. At the meeting, Hon. Burhan Kayaturk, head of APA delegation from the Turkish parliament, presented a brief report on APA's activities and plans ahead, and hoped that the Turkish presidency term could be considered as an effective step toward realizing the goals of this major Asian parliamentary organization. Afterwards, APA's Secretary General, H.E. Dr. Mohammad Reza Majidi, expressed gratitude to the Turkish government and parliament for accepting the periodic presidency of the APA hoping that the valuable experiences of the Turkish parliament would be effective in the development and evolution of this organization and that APA's plans and priorities found their way, and the given recommendations were materialized, with the support of member parliaments and their elites. The Secretary General also thanked the Cambodian Parliament and their colleagues during the Cambodian presidency over the APA and expressed hope that Cambodian cooperation would continue in the new term of APA's activities.

Then, Vice-President of the Cambodian Parliament went behind the podium as APA's periodic president and presented a report on his country's presidency, explaining the various programs that were implemented by the parliament and government of Cambodia in pursuit of APA's goals during the past two years. He described the Cambodian presidency as a great experience for his country in the field of international relations and the introduction of Cambodia on the global stage. Following him, Hon. Ismail Kahraman, speaker of the Turkish Parliament, was declared the new president of the APA. Behind the podium, he discussed the importance of parliamentary diplomacy and the work of parliaments on the road to achieving APA's major goals by considering the issue of development, peace and security. He also thanked the efforts of the Cambodian parliament during its presidency over the organization. He called on the participants to contribute to the growth and prosperity of this great parliamentary assembly with effective participation in its meetings. Participants also took collective memorial photos at the meeting.

• 26 November 2017
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• News ID: 3927
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