President Pere Joan Pons addresses the Inaugural Session, 17 Nov. 2025ISTANBUL, 17 November 2025 – The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s 23rd Autumn Meeting opened today in Istanbul with calls for increased engagement to tackle the OSCE region’s multifaceted challenges. Speakers urged a just peace in Ukraine, underling that any negotiation must include Kyiv at the table, as well as a path toward long-term peace in the Middle East based on the recognition of two states.

Some 200 lawmakers are participating in the Autumn Meeting, representing 53 OSCE participating States, as well as several parliamentarians from the Mediterranean Partners for Co-operation.

At the opening session today, speakers highlighted positive steps in the OSCE region toward co-operative security, welcoming recent progress toward peace and reconciliation between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and recalling that political dialogue remains the most powerful tool available have to resolve conflicts.

In his address, OSCE PA President Pere Joan Pons (Spain) lamented the erosion of the once-prevailing optimism across the OSCE region, while still voicing hope for the future.

“Europe once again looks into the abyss of war – we see it in Ukraine, and tragically, not far from here, in Gaza,” he said. “But this is not a time for melancholy or resignation. It is a time for courage, for responsible leadership, and for renewed faith in dialogue.”

In this regard, he noted that the Assembly will continue engagement in the South Caucasus, working with all political forces to help strengthen democracy and dialogue, and called for deepening parliamentary co-operation with all Central Asian countries. He also emphasized the importance of the economic and environmental dimension of security, highlighting in particular the PA’s work on the issue of climate change.

Selami Altinok addresses the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Istanbul, 17 Nov. 2025Selami Altinok, Head of the Delegation of Türkiye to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, welcomed colleagues to Istanbul, which he noted has long been a crossroads of different cultures, religions, and ideas. “It is particularly meaningful for us to raise, from this city, the call to reinvigorate dialogue and multilateralism in this special year marking the 50th anniversary of the OSCE,” he said.

“The OSCE has the inclusivity, the legitimacy, the experience and the historical memory – to show that dialogue and co-operation are still possible and are surely needed, even and especially in the darkest times,” OSCE Secretary General Feridun H. Sinirlioğlu said.

Numan Kurtulmuş, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, said: “Emboldened by the weakness and silence of the international system, as well as by the support of certain actors, the Netanyahu government continues its actions not only in Gaza but also in the West Bank, making life unbearable for innocent civilians. To prevent this, we must heed the voices of the millions — indeed, hundreds of millions — who are demonstrating across the world, calling with urgency for an end to the violence. We must reinforce the moral stance of humanity in international platforms.”

During the meeting, President Pere Joan Pons announced the Assembly’s decision to join the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children. He noted that the OSCE PA will work to build international co-operation to put an end to Russia’s unlawful abductions and deportations of Ukrainian children and help bring them home.

Carina Ödebrink presents proposal to join the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children in Istanbul, 17 Nov. 2025In recommending the initiative, Special Envoy on Russian Abductions and Deportations of Ukrainian Children Carina Ödebrink (Sweden) explained that the coalition’s objectives closely align with OSCE PA resolutions in its Birmingham, Vancouver, Bucharest, and Porto Declarations.

“This work – the return of the abducted Ukrainian children – must be carried out both in the short and in the long term,” she said. “In everything we do, we must be absolutely clear: every child must be brought home, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the best interests of the child must guide all our actions.”

Also today, the Assembly’s ad hoc committees on migration and counterterrorism met and a side event was held with the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media on “Anti-Media Discourse: The Role of Parliamentarians in Upholding Safety of Journalists.”

The Autumn Meeting continues with three thematic sessions of a Parliamentary Conference, followed by the Mediterranean Forum on Wednesday.

For more information and for videos of the meeting, please click here.

Photos of the meeting are available for public use at the OSCE PA’s Flickr page.