Author: Ara Felekian

In a meeting in Tehran with Armenia’s Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hailed the expanding relations between Tehran and Yerevan, hoping that the ties would contribute to regional peace and stability.

The parties attached importance to the expansion of cooperation between the two countries in the field of security. Issues related to the reinforcement of bilateral cooperation, the deepening of friendly ties between the two peoples were discussed. Reference was made to regional issues, as well.

“In today’s world where extremist tendencies are growing in the name of different religions, the ties between Iran and Armenia can be exemplary,” Zarif said.  “We are witnessing the growth of relations in different fields,” he added.

Sargsyan, for his part, said Armenia attaches great significance to its ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran. He also referred to a recent visit to Yerevan by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, saying there have been new developments in the bilateral ties since the trip.

The interlocutors praised the cooperation in different spheres and attached importance to the deepening of relations. They also emphasized the impotance of regional peace and security as a prerequisite for the consistent development of the countries in the region.

Vigen Sargsyan briefed Javad Zarif on the situation at the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and the OSCE Minsk Group efforts towards the settlement of the conflict. The parties stressed the need to solve the issue in a peaceful way through negotiations and reiterated their commitment to contribute to the establishment of peace and stability.

Serbia will initiate the procedure of abolishing visas for ordinary passport holders in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, also as for diplomatic and official passport holders in a group of countries, reports.

The visa policy of the Republic of Serbia was discussed in a meeting held in Belgrade on Tuesday, the Serbian government announced.

The meeting was attended by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Nebojsa Stefanovic and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the holders of Serbian passports can currently travel without a visa to 64 countries.

An agreement was reached to continue the policy of liberalization of the visa regime with as many countries as possible in order to improve bilateral political relations, attract foreign investment and intensify economic and tourist cooperation.

The delegation headed by Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan has arrived in Georgia for an official visit.

The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Georgia Vigen Sargsyan and Levan Izoria had a face-to-face meeting in Tbilisi today, after which they were joined by the delegations of the two countries.

The Armenian-Georgian military cooperation and the future programs were discussed. The parties referred to issues of regional security, as well.

The parties signed the 2017 program of cooperation between the Defense Ministries of Armenia and Georgia.

The results of the negotiations were summed up at a joint press conference.

An Afghan boy who became an online hit after wearing a homemade shirt bearing Lionel Messi’s famous number 10 has met his hero, the BBC reports.

A photograph of six-year-old Murtaza Ahmadi wearing the shirt made from a striped blue plastic bag went viral in January and ended with the boy receiving a signed shirt from the Barcelona striker.

But now the pair have come face to face in Doha, according to Qatar’s 2022 World Cup organising committee.

Barcelona are in Qatar to play a friendly against Al Ahli on Tuesday and Ahmadi will walk out on to the pitch with Messi.

“The image the world wanted to see,” tweeted the Supreme Committee on Tuesday. “The six-year-old boy who dreamed of meeting his hero, #Messi, finally comes true.”

Ahmadi, who comes from the Jaghori District, in the eastern Ghazni province of Afghanistan, was forced to flee the country to Pakistan in May.

Murtaza was finally identified as the boy in the picture after his uncle, Azim Ahmadi, an Afghan living in Australia, put BBC Trending in touch with his brother, Arif – the young devoted Messi fan’s father.

Photo: Wikipedia/ Hanna Zelenko

The Belarusian Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Wednesday said it decided to propose a constitutional amendment referendum on extending the country’s presidential term from five to seven years, reports.

The party seeks to extend the presidential term by two years as well as increasing the parliamentary and local council terms and shifting to a mixed proportional and majoritarian election system from the current majoritarian one.

“Using our representation in the Council of the Republic and the House of Representatives of the Belarusian National Assembly, a decision to initiate a referendum on constitutional amendments in 2018 alongside local council elections has been taken,” the LDP press service said in a statement. “These changes will strengthen the political system of Belarus and will lead to further democratization and the development of civil society,” the party said.

Country’s current President Alexander Lukashenko was elected for his fifth term in office in 2015 with over 80 percent support. LDP candidate Sergei Gaidukevich came third with 3.3 percent. Parliamentary elections were held in September, in which the vast majority of seats were won by independent candidates.

The last parliamentary election was the first to be based on a first-past-the-post system after the previous two-round system was abolished in 2013. A majority vote is now only required for single candidates.

Lionel Messi has revealed that Argentina’s players will boycott media duties following accusations made against attacker Ezequiel Lavezzi, reports.

Lavezzi is taking legal action after a journalist suggested he was left out of the squad because he had been smoking cannabis.

Messi inspired Argentina to their 3-0 World Cup qualifying win over Colombia on Tuesday with a stunning free kick and two assists.

Afterwards, the captain announced the players would no longer be speaking to the press.

“We have made the decision to not speak to the media anymore – obviously you know why,” Messi said.

“We’ve had a lot of accusations, a lack of respect and we haven’t said anything but I believe that this overtakes everything.

“The accusation against Pocho [Lavezzi] is very serious because if it is made and we don’t say anything, the people believe it.

“So, because a lot of the people believe everything that is said, we prefer to cut it off. We are very sorry that it has to be this way but there is no other option.”

The victory, which ended a four-match winless run, saw Argentina jump into fifth in Conmebol qualifying.

Germany‘s ruling coalition has backed Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier as the country’s next president, party sources said Monday, paving the way for a sharp critic of Donald Trump to become head of state, AFP reports.

Party leaders have been wrangling for months over whom to nominate as a potential successor to President Joachim Gauck, a 76-year-old former pastor from the ex-communist East Germany who is stepping down due to his advanced age.

On Monday, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) agreed on Germany‘s most popular politician, Steinmeier, whose name had been put forward by his Social Democratic Party (SPD).

The third party in the coalition — the CDU’s Bavarian allies CSU — backed the decision soon after.

“Now it’s official,” a CSU party source told AFP.

The new president — a figure who is meant to transcend party politics and serve as a moral standard bearer for the nation — will be elected on February 12 by a special assembly of MPs, delegates from Germany‘s 16 federal states and other notables.

By Harut Sassounian
The California Courier

Both Houses of the French Legislature have once again adopted a law that penalizes the denial of genocides recognized by French or international courts, or the denial, minimization or extreme trivialization of other genocides or Crimes Against Humanity, if accompanied by incitement to violence or hatred. The French Senate approved the new law by a vote of 156 to 146 on October 14, following the Parliament’s approval by a vote of 305-157 on July 6. The law will go into effect after President François Hollande signs it, which he is committed to do.

The question now is whether the Constitutional Council of France will approve the proposed law or find it unconstitutional, as it did back in 2012, arguing that it violated freedom of speech. Here is the background of this tortuous saga:

The French Parliament first recognized the Armenian Genocide on May 29, 1998, followed by the Senate on Nov. 7, 2000. However, due to intervening elections between the two votes, the Parliament had to approve it a second time, which it did on January 18, 2001, declaring that “France publicly recognizes the Armenian Genocide of 1915.” Prime Minister Lionel Jospin and President Jacques Chirac signed the legislature’s recognition into law on January 29, 2001. In response, the Turkish government withdrew its Ambassador from Paris.

Given the fact that several members of the French media and some Turks in France and their cohorts continued to deny the Armenian Genocide, the French-Armenian community sought to penalize the denialists, as was the case with the Jewish Holocaust. French-Armenians demanded equal protection under the law, rightfully contending that there should be no discrimination among genocide victims!

After 10 years of lobbying, French Armenians and their supporters finally succeeded in having the Parliament adopt a proposed law on December 22, 2011 which set a penalty of a year in prison and $50,000 fine for anyone denying the Armenian Genocide. The Senate followed suit on January 23, 2012, prompting Turkey once again to withdraw its Ambassador from Paris!

The French Constitutional Council decided on Feb. 28, 2012, that the proposed law was unconstitutional as it violated freedom of speech. The Council’s decision was highly scandalous. Several of its 11 members had serious conflicts of interest because their families had business ties to Turkey or had opposed this bill during their years in the legislature! Most amazingly, one of Council members was on the Board of the Bosphorus Institute, a Turkish Think Tank that was lobbying against this law! After a French newspaper exposed these unethical affiliations, two members of the Council recused themselves from the case.

The current Constitutional Council is now composed of 10 members — three are leftovers from the 2012 Council that rejected a similar law. Fortunately, several of the new members are more favorably disposed toward the proposed legislation.

More importantly, the newly adopted law, called “Equality and Citizenship,” is considerably different from the 2012 version. President Hollande along with the legislature and the French-Armenian community went to great lengths to ensure that the new language complies with the right to free speech.

Although the freedom of expression is a cherished right in all democracies, there are several important factors that must be kept in mind:

1. Freedom of speech is more of an absolute right in the United States than in Europe where there are many laws that restrict it. Even in the U.S., there are some limitations on one’s ability to say or write whatever one pleases, such as libel and defamation laws.
2. In countries where denial of the Jewish Holocaust is banned, so should denial of all other genocides, including the Armenian Genocide. No double standard among Genocide victims!
3. Since France has a law that recognizes the Armenian Genocide, there should be a penalty for violating it, as is the case with all laws!
4. Anti-denial laws would prevent Turkey from exporting its denialist policies to other countries.
5. In democratic France, it is now against the law to lie about the Armenian Genocide, while in despotic Turkey it is against the law to tell the truth!