The functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey is scheduled to be debated during the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) spring plenary part-session to be held in Strasbourg from 24 to 28 April 2017.

Other highlights on the agenda include debates on the situation of human rights in the North Caucasus, the increased income inequalities and the need for a citizenship income and the protection of refugee women from gender-based violence.

The President of Greece, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, will be addressing the Assembly. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Niels Muižnieks, will present his annual activity report 2016. Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, will answer questions from parliamentarians, and Ioannis Kasoulides, the Cypriot Foreign Minister, will be speaking in the context of the Cypriot Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers.

Other highlights of the session will be the debates on ‘25 years of the CPT, achievements and improvements needed', ‘Abusive use of the Interpol system: the need for more stringent legal safeguards' and ‘The protection of the rights of parents and children belonging to religious minorities'.

There have also been requests for an urgent debate on ‘Political consequences of the new Israeli Settlement Regulation Law' and for a current affairs debate on ‘European values under threat: addressing rising populism, xenophobia, antisemitism and Islamophobia in Europe'.

The Assembly will decide its final agenda on the opening day of the session.