STRASBOURG - Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc attended on Monday the meeting of Athens Working Group which was formed by parliament speakers of European Union (EU) member and candidate countries.
The Working Group, which firstly met in Greek capital Athens between April 23 and 24, 2003, aims to improve cooperation and increase dialogue among parliaments of EU member and candidate countries.
Arinc will meet with Sergey Mironov, the Chairman of the Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation this evening and later attend reception hosted by Mironov in honor of parliament speakers of Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) countries.
Turkish Parliament Speaker Arinc will attend the European Conference of Presidents of Parliaments in which parliament speakers of Council of Europe (COE) member countries will participate on Tuesday.
The theme of the parliamentary summit is ''Europe of citizens: parliaments and participation of citizens''.
Three sittings on ''how democratic is our democracy?'', ''modern technology and democratic procedures'' and ''Co-operation for more democracy - National Parliaments and European Assemblies'' will be held during the three-day conference.
Arinc is expected to return to Turkey on Thursday.
(BRC) 17.05.2004