Author: nina hovnanian

LE MINISTRE LITUANIEN DES AFFAIRES ETRANERES EN VISITE OFFICIELLE EN ARMéNIE

DIPLOMATIE

Le ministre arménien des afaires étrangères Edouard Nalbandian
a recu vendredi 24 octobre a Erevan son homologue lithanien Linas
LinkeviÄ~Mius qui effectuait une visite officielle en Arménie. Dans
son allocution de bienvenue, E.Nalbandian s’est félicité de ce
que les “relations entre l’Arménie et la Lituanie se développent de
facon très dynamique”. E.Nalbandian n’a pas manqué de rappeler que la
Lituania figurait sur la liste des pays qui ont officiellement reconnu
le génocide des Arméniens. Il a souligné que la reconnaissance du
génocide des Arméniens par le Parlement de Lituanie, la Seimas, en
2005, confirmait l’attachement de la nation lituanienne aux valeurs
humaines et a la justice.

La Lituanie et l’Arménie doivent saisir les opportunités de
développer leurs relations commerciales, a déclaré de son côté le
ministre lituanien des affaires étrangères Linas Linkevicius lors de
la conférence de presse qu’il donnait aux côtés de M. Nalbandian
a l’issue de leur rencontre. Le chef de la diplomatie lituanienne
a souligné que la Lituanie et l’Union européenne dont elle est
membre depuis 2004 sont disposées a renforcer leurs relations avec
l’Arménie dans tous les domaines qu titre de partenaires, mais il
a toutefois nuancé son, propos, en rappelant que “le seul problème
est de savoir dans quelle mesure ce rapprochement serait compatible
avec les choix politiques de l’Arménie”.

E. Nalbandian a pour sa part indiqué aux journalistes qu’il avbait
évoqué avec son homologue lituanien différents sujets de politique
internationale, depuis la crise ukrainienne jusqu’a la situation au
Prochet-Orient, en passant bien sÔr part le processus de réglement
du conflit du Karabagh.

mardi 28 octobre 2014, Ara ©armenews.com

REACHING OUT TO THE ALEVI COMMUNITY

Sabah Daily, Turkey
Oct 27 2014

Dogan EÃ…~_kinat
27 October 2014, Monday

Last week, Turkish authorities rolled out their latest roadmap for
democratization that entails, among other things, the de-militarization
of the gendarmerie, which has jurisdiction over the country’s most
remote areas. Despite major improvements that the government has
made over the past decade, the gendarmerie had been a particularly
problematic component of the Armed Forces due to their long history
of human rights abuses throughout the 1990s. Meanwhile, there is
talk in the backrooms of the Turkish capital that the government
will also take additional steps to alleviate the pressing problems
of the Alevi community, which constitutes roughly 15 percent of the
country’s population, including the recognition of the cemevi as a
house of worship.

Daily Sabah readers have, of course, been aware of the Turkish
government’s plans for some time. Speaking to this newspaper ahead
of the March 30 local elections, then-Deputy Prime Minister BeÃ…~_ir
Atalay stated: “The state should embrace all its citizens and treat
them equally. … The key point is the status of Cem houses [and]
we are working on this matter.” Later, in April 2014, Ali Unal,
Daily Sabah’s chief correspondent in the Turkish capital, authored a
follow-up story about the details of the government’s reform agenda:
“Sources claim that … the key point in the reform package will be
the status of cemevis. Currently, the cemevi, which literally means
a house of gathering, is not officially acknowledged as a place of
worship despite persistent demands on the matter from the country’s
Alevi community.” Again in July, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
who was at the time campaigning for his current position, met with
the leaders of Alevi NGOs, which this newspaper identified as “a
sign that [he] will quickly pursue the Alevi opening … if he takes
the presidential seat.” Finally, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arınc
provided a timeline for the Alevi reforms during a live interview with
A Haber, a local news channel, and indicated that the government will
take concrete steps regarding the matter by year’s end.

At a time when certain groups have eagerly seized the opportunity
to declare the end of the Kurdish reconciliation process in Turkey,
to which the Turkish authorities and PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan,
who is currently serving a life sentence on İmralı Island, remain
committed, the government’s commitment to promote equal citizenship and
willingness to expand the reconciliation campaign beyond the Kurdish
community represents a crucial step toward a brighter future. It was
also noteworthy that the announcement came around the same time as
the appointment of Etyen Mahcupyan, a Turkish-Armenian journalist,
as chief advisor to Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

The greatest challenge ahead, of course, remains the threat of
reactionary groups and radicals within each community – something
that Ali Ä°hsan Å~^ahin, who serves as president of the Universal
Alevi-BektaÃ…~_i Association, warned against in May 2014: “Such people
[the radicals] put Alevi-BektaÃ…~_i designations in their organizational
names and exploit religious sentiments.” Fuat Mansuroglu, an activist
who leads the European Ahl-al-Bayt Alevi Federation, concurred:
“We won’t be deceived this time.” Unwilling to let a small group of
extremists put an end to a long period of reform and democratization,
the authorities must present the people with a healthy blend of
freedom and security. The moderate majority among the Kurds, the
Armenians and the Alevis, in turn, should have the courage to speak
up and engage the proposals in a constructive manner.

ARMENIAN-AMERICAN LOBBY IS POWERFUL, DESPITE OVERT SUPPORT OF IRAN, RUSSIA AND OPPOSITION TO ISRAEL, AZERBAIJAN

Times of Israel
Oct 24 2014

by Maayan Jaffe

We hear a lot of noise from the pro-Israel and Cuban-American
lobbies, vaunted on Capitol Hill and in the media. Rarely do we hear
about another highly influential force — the Armenian-American
lobby. Former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski once
referred to the Armenian-American lobby as one of the three most
influential foreign-ethnic lobbies in the U.S.

The lobby boasts impressive accomplishments. It brings in $90 million
of U.S. aid to Armenia on an annual basis, regularly blocks aid to
close U.S. and Israeli ally-Azerbaijan, stalls arms deals with U.S.

ally and NATO member-Turkey (a much larger and more important regional
power), and pushes each year – over the objections of Ankara –
a Congressional resolution recognizing Armenian genocide.

The Armenian Congressional Caucus claims 88 members of Congress,
which means that the Armenian-American lobby can count on these
elected officials not just for their votes, but to push for the
Armenian agenda on the House and Senate floors.

Like other significant lobbying forces, the Armenian-American lobby
is not made up of a single group, but of a network of organizations,
acting in concert. These groups include the Armenian American Political
Action Committee, the Armenian National Committee of America and
The Armenian Assembly of America. They are bolstered by a network of
local and state organizations, which are also heavily involved in the
political process — many times oddly in the realm of U.S. foreign
policy, a place in which they have no expertise or business.

Armenia’s interests are not in line with those of the U.S.

Disturbingly, the Armenian-American lobby has successfully provided
cover for Armenia’s strategic relationships with Iran and Russia,
countries that no one could mistake as allies of the United States.

In 2010, Wikileaks, the leaked archive of U.S. diplomatic traffic,
brought to light that Armenia had sold Iran rockets and machine
guns used to kill American military personnel in Iraq. Then Deputy
Secretary of State, John D. Negroponte, wrote a strongly worded letter
to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, expressing “deep concerns about
Armenia’s transfer of arms to Iran which resulted in the death and
injury of U.S. soldiers in Iraq.” The letter goes on to say that
“In 2007 some of these weapons were recovered from two Shia militant
attacks in which a U.S. soldier was killed and six others were injured
in Iraq.”

“Notwithstanding the close relationship between our countries,” the
letter states, “neither the Administration nor the U.S. Congress can
overlook this case.”

Yet Armenian friends in Congress seem to have done just that,
continuing to do Armenia’s bidding in Congress and providing the
country significant financial aid.

The established Armenian-American community seems to take Armenia’s
relationship with Iran as a given. A September 2014 story in Asbarez,
the Los Angeles-based Armenian-American newspaper of record,
cites anonymous sources as claiming Armenia’s foe, Azerbaijan,
allowed Israeli spy drones to fly into Iranian air space to conduct
a reconnaissance mission. The paper states disapprovingly that this
revelation implicates “Baku’s involvement in the spying mission. ”
The report goes on to call out the Azerbaijan’s government for its
“hostility against the Islamic Republic.”

One would think that an Armenian-American newspaper would applaud
efforts to undermine Iran’s nuclear program. Instead, the paper
condemns Azerbaijan for aiding an alleged espionage effort against
Tehran.

Armenia’s ties to the Islamic Republic go well beyond military sales.

ArmeniaNow, an Armenian online news agency published in English and
Armenian, quotes Armenia-Iran Trade Palace chair, Levon Aharonyan,
as saying his group is planning to open “an Iranian center in Armenia
which will serve as a trade passage zone where goods will be exported
to other countries from Armenia.”

Aharonyan reportedly said that, “It will be a center where goods
from Iran will arrive in Armenia ‘semi-fabricated’, here they will
be finalized and labeled as ‘made in Armenia’ and be exported. It is
essential for us to enter Russian and CIS market through Armenia.”

Clearly, Armenia is no ally of the U.S. in the effort to halt Iran’s
menacing nuclear program.

Supporters of Armenia in Congress have thus far gotten a free pass.

These Members of Congress have unabashedly accepted campaign
contributions from the lobby, and have looked the other way while
Armenia aids and abets Iran, and Armenia’s American friends provide
political support for Armenian-Iranian ties. It’s high time that
these Members of Congress are called out for it.

HAUT-KARABAKH : REPRISE D’UN DIALOGUE DIRECT A PARIS ENTRE PRESIDENTS AZERI ET ARMENIEN

Romandie, France
27 oct 2014

Paris – La rencontre entre les presidents de l’Azerbaïdjan et de
l’Armenie recus lundi a l’Elysee par le president francais Francois
Hollande a permis une reprise d’un dialogue direct entre les deux
dirigeants sur le Haut Karabakh, sans toutefois aboutir a un accord,
a indique la presidence dans un communique.

Le president azerbaïdjanais Ilham Aliev et son homologue armenien
Serge Sarkissian ont notamment decide de proceder a des echanges de
donnees sur les disparus du conflit, sous l’egide du CICR (Comite
international de la Croix Rouge), selon la presidence francaise.

Francois Hollande a par ailleurs aborde en tete a tete avec le
president Aliev le cas de la militante pour la defense des droits
de l’homme Leyla Yunus, arretee et emprisonnee fin juillet sur des
soupcons d’espionnage au profit de l’Armenie, a indique l’entourage
du president.

M. Aliev a pris des engagements, a-t-on simplement indique de meme
source, alors que cette militante de 57 ans, dont le mari Arif
a egalement ete arrete, a vu sa detention provisoire prolongee de
quatre mois vendredi dernier.

L’entourage de M. Hollande a souligne l’excellente atmosphère entre
les presidents azeri et armenien, a l’issue d’une journee de rencontres
qui s’est achevee par un diner.

Le president de la Republique a marque la necessite d’une baisse
effective de la tension entre les deux parties sur le terrain. Il leur
a propose de se retrouver en septembre 2015, en marge de l’Assemblee
generale des Nations unies a New-York.

Ce mini-sommet a Paris est intervenu après un deplacement la semaine
dernière du ministre allemand des Affaires etrangères Frank-Walter
Steinmeier dans les deux pays, au cours duquel il avait appele a
mettre fin au conflit larve qui menace, selon lui, la stabilite d’une
region charnière.

Les relations entre l’Armenie et l’Azerbaïdjan, deux petits pays
caucasiens de l’ex-URSS, sont empoisonnees depuis plus de 20 ans par
une dispute territoriale autour de la region du Nagorny-Karabakh,
passee sous l’autorite de separatistes armeniens soutenus par Erevan
dans les annees 1990 après une guerre qui a fait près de 30.000 morts,
et dont Bakou entend reprendre le contrôle.

Malgre des annees de negociations sous mediation internationale
depuis le cessez-le-feu de 1994, les deux camps n’ont toujours pas
signe un accord de paix definitif a propos de la region, a majorite
armenienne, mais qui est toujours reconnue a l’etranger comme faisant
partie de l’Azerbaïdjan.

Pays riche de ses exportations petrolières et dont les depenses
militaires depassent le budget d’Etat total de l’Armenie, l’Azerbaïdjan
a menace de reprendre par la force le territoire dispute si les
negociations n’aboutissaient pas.

L’Armenie, qui est armee par la Russie, assure toutefois etre capable
de repousser toute offensive.

En août, les violences au Nagorny-Karabakh et sur la frontière entre
les deux pays ont atteint un niveau sans precedent ces dernières
annees, provoquant la mort de plus de 20 soldats des deux camps.

Les tensions se sont egalement nourries de l’escalade entre la Russie
et l’Occident a propos de l’Ukraine, où les troupes gouvernementales
combattent les separatistes prorusses depuis plus de six mois.

LE CONFLIT DU HAUT-KARABAKH S’INVITE A L’ELYSEE

France 24
27 oct 2014

Les chefs d’Etat francais, armenien et azerbaïdjanais se retrouvent
lundi a Paris pour tenter de resoudre le conflit du Haut-Karabakh,
une enclave, situee en Azerbaïdjan, que Erevan et Bakou se disputent
depuis des decennies.

Francois Hollande a recu, lundi 27 octobre, au palais de l’Elysee, a
Paris, le president azerbaïdjanais Ilham Aliev ainsi que son homologue
armenien Serge Sarkissian. Les deux chefs d’Etat ont accepte de venir
discuter avec le president Hollande du Haut-Karabakh, a l’origine
d’un conflit territorial qui les oppose depuis des decennies.

Majoritairement peuple d’Armeniens, le Haut-Karabakh, aussi
appele Nagorny-Karabakh, fait partie de l’Azerbaïdjan. L’enclave
a autoproclame son independance en 1991, sans que celle-ci ne soit
reconnue par la communaute internationale. De 1991 a 1994, après la
dislocation de l’Union sovietique, ce territoire fut le theâtre d’un
conflit, entre l’Azerbaïdjan et l’Armenie, qui a fait entre 25 000
et 30 000 morts et quelque 800 000 deplaces.

>> À voir aussi sur France 24 : Le Haut-Karabakh, une poudrière aux
portes de l’Europe

Depuis la signature d’un cessez-le-feu en 1994, regulièrement viole,
Bakou et Erevan n’arrivent pas a se mettre d’accord sur le statut de
la region. Cette situation est source de tensions dans le Caucase du
sud, une zone strategique situee entre l’Iran, la Russie et la Turquie.

L’Azerbaïdjan, pays riche de ses exportations petrolières et dont les
depenses militaires depassent le budget d’Etat total de l’Armenie,
a menace de reprendre par la force le territoire dispute si les
negociations n’aboutissaient pas a des resultats concrets. L’Armenie,
qui est pour sa part armee par la Russie, assure toutefois qu’elle
est capable de repousser toute offensive.

Danger pour la stabilite de la region

La France est impliquee aux côtes de la Russie et des Etats-Unis
dans la resolution de ce contentieux. Elle co-preside avec ces deux
puissances le groupe de Minsk, une entite de l’OSCE (Organisation
pour la securite et la cooperation en Europe) dediee a la resolution
du conflit du Haut-Karabakh.

Le ministre allemand des Affaires etrangères, Frank-Walter Steinmmeier,
avait de son côte appele, jeudi 23 octobre, l’Azerbaïdjan et l’Armenie
a mettre fin aux tensions. La stabilite de cette region charnière
est en jeu.

En effet, le differend qui divise l’Ukraine depuis plusieurs mois,
entre pro-occidentaux et pro-russes, alimente le conflit sur le
Haut-Karabakh. Et L’Armenie tend a incarner le camp occidental auquel
Moscou s’oppose.

“Ce qui s’est passe en Ukraine a eu un impact direct” sur le conflit
au Nagorny-Karabakh, estime une source dans l’entourage du president
francais, ajoutant que le rattachement de la Crimee a la Russie en
mars dernier a “exacerbe le climat”.

Pour Shahin Abbasov, un expert azerbaïdjanais independant, Moscou
“detient les cles de la resolution du conflit” mais chercherait a
maintenir le statu quo pour conserver son influence sur l’Azerbaïdjan
et l’Armenie. Selon lui, en organisant les negociations a Paris, M.

Hollande “vise a priver le president russe Vladimir Poutine de son
rôle d’arbitre exclusif” dans le conflit.

Les violences, qui ont repris cet ete, ont cause la mort en août de
plus de vingt soldats des deux camps. Il s’agissait des accrochages
les plus meurtriers depuis les cessez-le-feu de 1994.

PRESIDENTS OF CIBJO AND LONDON DIAMOND BOURSE SEE GREAT PROSPECTS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF JEWELRY IN ARMENIA – VIDEO

18:22, 27 October, 2014

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 27, ARMENPRESS: The most important prerequisite for
development of jewelry in Armenia is the youth, who can change the
future with their capacities. CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri said
this in an interview with Armenperss. Gaetano Cavalieri is in Armenia
to participate in “Yerevan Show” jewelry expo and conference.

In his words, talented young people play an important role in Armenia.

“Young people are early interested in jewelry and diamond business. It
is a good motivation for Armenia to become one of the best states
dealing with production of gold and diamond. Armenian young people are
talented, they have good abilities. Those abilities are not possible
to teach, they come from the heart,” said the CIBJO President. He
noted that they are going to hold CIBJO annual congress in Armenia
in 2016. “This is a fine opportunity of cooperation for Armenia,”
he stressed.

Harry Levy, President of the London Diamond Bourse, also sees a great
potential for developing of jewelry in Armenia. He especially pointed
out Armenia’s potential in the diamond industry.

Armenian Jewelers Association – AJA, has been holding “Yerevan Show
2014” jewelry already for the 4rd time. This year, the expo has hosted
representatives of about 27 countries. “Yerevan Fashion Week: Golden
lace” is also conducted within this jewelry holiday.

AZERI RAIDER SHAHBAZ GULIYEV GIVES DETAILS OF MURDER OF ARMENIAN YOUTH

by Ashot Safaryan

ARMINFO
Monday, October 27, 22:23

During a court trial in Stepanakert on Monday Azeri raider Shahbaz
Guliyev gave some details of the murder of Armenian youth from
Nagorno-Karabakh’s Shahumyan district Smbat Tsakanyan.

Though speaking bad Russian, Guliyev gave a detailed picture of
their raid. He said that he and his comrades Dilham Askerov and Hasan
Hasanov walked the area, spending nights near rivers and eating fruit.

Tsakanyan was with them for three days (July 4-7).

One day Askerov said that the boy had to be killed. Guliyev did not
see how the boy was kidnapped nor did he see how he was killed. He
just heard a shot. When he turned, he saw that the boy was lying on
the road. He does not know who shot him down. Askerov and Hasanov
were quarreling about something.

When the three reached Karvachar, Askerov went there with a camera
but was noticed. Guliyev and Hasanov tried to cover up tracks. When
they came across a boy with a dog, they told him that they were from
Georgia. The boy’s father invited them to his house for a cup of tea.

They were inside the house when two men came in. One of them knocked
him out. According to Nagorno-Karabakh’s Police, on 29 June 2014,
Shahbaz Jalal oghli Guliyev, Dilham Gardashkhan oghli Askerov and
Hasan Hasanov illegally penetrated into the territory of NKR having
with then arms and ammunition and attempted a sabotage attack. They
were spying and even kidnapped minor Smbat Tsakanayn, a citizen of
NKR on 4 July, who was later found with deadly wounds to the head.

Afterwards, on 11 July, on the Vardenis-Karvachar road, Hasanov
murdered a resident of Yerevan Sargis Abrahamyan (born in 1971)
and wounded Karine Davtyan, a resident of Dzoraghbyur village on the
grounds of national hatred. He was rendered harmless after showing
armed resistance to the Armenian forces. The other two raiders were
arrested.

Shahbaz Guliyev, 46, and Dilham Askerov, 54, were charged under
the NKR Criminal Code’s Article 316 (spying), Article 350 part 2
(violation of the NKR’s border by an organized group), Article 245
part 3 (illegal carrying of arms and ammunition), Article 129 part 3
point 1 (kidnapping, actions against a minor with the use of arms),
Article 103 part 2 points 3,7,14 (murder combined with kidnapping by
an organized group out of ethnic hatred) and Articles 33 and 103 part
1 point 14 (attempted murder of two or more people by an organized
group out of ethnic hatred).

TRANSLATION OF CARDINAL GIANFRANCO RAVASI’S BOOK PRESENTED IN YEREVAN

15:59 27/10/2014 >> SOCIETY

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for
Culture (Vatican), visited Yerevan State University (YSU) on Monday,
as part of his visit to Armenia.

Also, the presentation of the Armenian and Russian translations
of Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi’s book “St. Gregory the Illuminator:
Common Christian Heritage” took place in Yerevan on Monday.

YSU Rector Aram Simonyan underscored the importance of the book for
the Armenian nation. “It proves that Gregory the Illuminator played an
invaluable role in the history of Christianity, and not only for the
Armenian people, but also for the entire Christian religion,” he said.

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi said, “We are proud of acquaintance with
you, the people that was the first to adopt Christianity as a state
religion in 301. St. Gregory the Illuminator is also part of the
western culture.

“This work is aimed at the preservation of the Armenian culture.”

Source: Panorama.am

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

`Armenians should remain faithfull to the four highest legacies of our
people: The Church, the Nation, the Culture and demanding justice to the
memories of the Genocide victims’

His Holiness Aram I

Antelias – 23 October 2014. The three day conference concluded with the
celebration of the 350th anniversary of the Holy Saviour Monastery, in
New Julfa, in the presence of His Holiness Aram I and the Prime Minister
of Armenia accompanied by seven Government Ministers.

The programme began with the welcome and historical presentation of Mr.
Noel Minassian, President of the Diocesan Council, followed by the
speech of Prime Minister Hovig Abrahamian, who thanked the Armenians of
New Julfa for having kept their language and culture over 400 years. The
Prelate, Bishop Papken Charian in his address assured the audience of
the commitment of the community to keep alive the historical heritage of
its ancestors.

In his closing message His Holiness Aram I said that nations are
enriched and sustained through their inherited legacies: the Church, the
Nation, the Culture and demanding justice to the memories of the
Genocide victims. He then elaborated on the theme of the Armenian
Genocide and said that irrespective of the circumstances and the time,
we shall continue to demand justice for our martyrs. He then added that
there were two different approaches, one that of the Armenia as
government and two the diaspora. While approaches differ, the goals
should remain the same because we owe justice to our martyrs.

On the same evening, His Holiness and the Prime Minister were the guest
for dinner of the Governor of Isfahan.

His Holiness Aram I Inaugurates the Conference Dedicated to the 400
Years of Armenian Presence in New Julfa (Iran)

Antelias – 21 October 2014. The conference dedicated to the 400 years
of Armenian presence in New Julfa began at the Ararat Community Hall, in
the presence of the Governor and Vice Governor of Isfahan, the Head of
Religious Affairs, the President of Isfahan University and Professors of
Yerevan University (Armenia).

In his opening message, His Holiness Aram I congratulated the organisers
for the timely event on the theme, ” New Julfa, the Symbol of
Conviviality among the Three Monotheistic Religions.”

Addressing the presence of Armenians in New Julfa, the Catholicos spoke
of the rich experience of Armenians, which he said has been well
documented in the literature. He added, however, that more scientific
research should be encouraged in order to highlight the mutually
enriching experience of the two people. Referring to the theme of the
conference, His Holiness added, “the historical experience of the three
Monotheistic religions should now move from coexisting together to
working together.”

The opening message of Catholicos Aram I was followed by the greetings
of the guests and thematic lectures. The morning session concluded with
a lunch at which the Prime Minister of Armenia Hovig Aprahamian joined
His Holiness and all the guests.

# #

NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT ON ELYSEE PALACE AGENDA – LE FIGARO

16:08 * 27.10.14

French President Francois Hollande will host today the Armenian and
Azerbaijani presidents in a fresh round of talks over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The French leader will first have a tete-a-tete with his Azerbaijani
counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, and then meet with the Armenian president,
Serzh Sargsyan; a joint dinner of the three countries’ leaders will
conclude the day, Le Figaro reports, citing a diplomatic source.

Presenting a historical overview of the land dispute and comparing the
conflicting countries’ economic potentials, the French publication
addresses the human rights situation in Azerbaijan, pointing out
to the detention of the about 50 civic activists, journalists and
opposition figures in the past two years and a half.

It particularly addresses Leyla Yunus, a prominent rights activist
who is being kept in prison despite her deteriorated health condition.

In a statement issued recently, Human Rights Watch called on Hollande
to urge the Azerbaijani leader at the upcoming meeting to free
political prisoners.

Hollande had earlier promised to unveil the meeting agenda and
future plans.

Thomas de Waal, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment
specializing primarily in the South Caucasus region. said recently that
France re-affirms its role as a peace mediator within the frameworks
of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Armenian News – Tert.am