CEVAP:

Although there is no clear definition of parliamentary diplomacy, it can be considered as the sum of duties and actions of parliaments in foreign affairs. There are mainly two types of parliamentary diplomacy: Institutional and diplomatic. The first type of parliamentary diplomacy can be occurred in three particular contexts; 1) Legislative process in which ratification of international treaties and execution of laws take place; 2) Parliamentary monitoring of international affairs through committees; and 3) Political role of parliaments directly related to discussions of foreign affairs of the country and approval of budget of the ministry of foreign affairs. The second type of parliamentary diplomacy has four domains; 1) Bilateral diplomacy in
which parliaments aim to cooperate with other parliaments with a view to develop strong relations; 2) Multilateral diplomacy that takes place through parliamentary delegations, which could be in the form of parliamentary meetings of international organizations such as Council of Europe and NATO; 3) Different forms of associations of the parliamentarians around the world (e.g. InterParliamentary Union); and 4) Specific case of the European Union, where the members of the European Parliament are directly elected by the citizens of the member countries and it has specific institutionalized practices, procedures, and roles within the EU system.