Category: News

 

 

 

The National Assembly of France voted today to send the bill on criminalization of the Armenian Genocide denial proposed by MP Valérie Boyer back to the Justice Commission, Hilda Tchoboian, Member of the French Rhône-Alpe Regional Parliament told .

The decision was made on grounds that more time was needed to make the text more precise.

Explaining the reasons behind the decision, Hilda Tchoboian said: “Valérie Boyer is an opposition MP in the National Assembly. The Socialist majority of the Parliament objected that the proposal was brought on the floor at an inappropriate time, and had to be completed in order not to be rejected by the Constitutional Council.”

She added that regional elections are expected in France next Sunday, and the Left and the Right are trying hard to prevent each other from realizing the expectations of the Armenian community to secure their votes.

The bill was discussed by the parliamentary Justice Commission on Nov. 25.

Turkey had suspended military, economic and political ties with France when the lower house of the French Parliament passed a similar bill in December 2011.

The French Senate then also passed the bill in January 2012, ignoring warnings from Turkey that passage of the legislation would lead to additional sanctions.

A month later, France’s Constitutional Council overturned the bill.

The City Council of Italy’s L’Aquila recognized the Armenian Genocide on November 26, Press Service of the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports.

In letters addressed to the Armenian Embassy in Italy and the Union of Armenians of Italy, L’Aquila Mayor Massimo Cialente informed that the City Council of Cialente recognizes the Armenian Genocide on its centennial and expresses its solidarity with the Armenian people as a confirmation of protection of historic truth and human rights.

The Heads of Delegation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair Countries have issued a joint statement:

We, the Heads of Delegation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries – Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov, Secretary of State of the United States John Kerry, State Secretary for European Affairs of France Harlem Desir – remain united in our commitment to mediating a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

We welcome the upcoming meeting between President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan under the auspices of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs. In light of the recent rise in tensions, we appeal to the sides to re-commit themselves to the peaceful resolution of the conflict and dispel any misperceptions that they are not serious about reaching a negotiated settlement. The sides should continue discussions from the Sochi, Wales, and Paris Summits of 2014 on elements of a comprehensive settlement, and should intensify their dialogue in 2016 on the basis of proposals currently under discussion.

With the significant escalation in violence along the Line of Contact and Armenia-Azerbaijan border this year, the status quo has become unsustainable. We especially condemn the use of mortars and other heavy weaponry, and regret deeply the civilian casualties these weapons have caused. There is no military solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and there is no justification for the death and injury of innocent civilians. We appeal to the sides in the strongest possible terms to reduce tensions and protect lives. The Co-Chairs have proposed risk-reduction measures that we encourage the sides to adopt, including an OSCE investigation mechanism.

We welcome the progress made by the sides in implementing the data exchange on missing persons under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). We encourage further cooperation with ICRC and must ensure that it has sufficient funding to fully implement this important humanitarian measure. Azerbaijani authorities’ decision to return an Armenian soldier who crossed the Line of Contact and an Armenian civilian who crossed the international border was a helpful humanitarian gesture and consistent with international humanitarian obligations. We urge the sides to return all remaining prisoners in the spirit of the Astrakhan Declaration of October 2010 issued by the Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Russian Federation. There must also be dialogue between Armenians and Azerbaijanis to build trust between neighboring peoples. We encourage the sides to work with the Co-Chairs to support programs that bring together people affected by the conflict.

Over the past year, we have witnessed increasingly vocal attacks on the Co-Chairs and the Minsk Group format. We emphasize that the Minsk Group remains the only accepted format by the sides and has the full confidence of all OSCE participating States. Any attempts to blame the Co-Chairs for setbacks in the negotiation process only mask the primary obstacle to peace – the lack of political will in Armenia and Azerbaijan to reach a negotiated settlement. The Co-Chairs will continue to brief international and regional organizations interested in supporting the Minsk Group process. We reaffirm our readiness to work closely with the sides on achieving our common objective of an enduring peace.

Armenia positively views the results of the first year of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) work, the country’s trade representative in the Russian Federation Karen Asoyan said at the opening ceremony of the Eurasian Economic Congress on Tuesday, TASS reports.

“In Armenia we’re thoroughly analyzing the results of our membership – both in the government and in business,” Asoyan said. “Our enterprises mainly speak about positive results. Many formalities concerning customs processing in particular, which are related to costs, are gone as the trade regime with the Union’s states, Armenia’s main partners, has become more open,” the trade representative said.

He added though that there are some issues still in place. “The mechanism of VAT recovery hasn’t been solved yet, which to some extend is restraining trade. This impacts trade (flows) from Russia to Armenia as well. Hopefully, the Eurasian Economic Commission will somehow solve the issue in the nearest future,” Asoyan said.

Among major trends he mentioned more joint ventures being created by Russian and Armenian enterprises after the country joined the bloc. “Russian tourist flow to Armenia has increased and developed,” he added.

The trade representative also noted the importance of participation of the Eurasian Economic Union in formation of the Silk Road economic belt. “It would be important to construct a railroad from Iran to Armenia and reconstruct the railroad between Armenia and Russia,” he said, adding that “this will allow creation of the shortest efficient way of supplying goods from the Persian Gulf countries to the EEU member-states.”.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian had a meeting with OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zanier on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial meeting in Belgrade.

The interlocutors exchanged views on issues on OSCE agenda, as well as urgent international and regional developments.

The parties referred to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and the negotiations on its settlement. Edward Nalbandian and Lamberto Zanier agreed that there was no alternative to the peaceful settlement.

Edward Nalbandian and Lamberto Zanier referred to the activity of the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the programs it implements.

Photo: Reuters 

 

Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has been found guilty of murder after a South African appeals court overturned an earlier manslaughter verdict, the BBC reports.

He killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in February 2013 after shooting her four times through a locked toilet door.

He is currently under house arrest after spending one year of his original five-year sentence in jail.

Pistorius will now have to return to court to be re-sentenced, for murder.

It was earlier incorrectly reported that the court had ruled the manslaughter verdict would remain.

South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the lower court did not correctly apply the rule of dolus eventualis – whether Pistorius knew that a death would be a likely result of his actions.

Reading the ruling reached by a panel of judges, Justice Lorimer Leach said that having armed himself with a high-calibre weapon, Pistorius must have foreseen that whoever was behind the door might die.

Pistorius’ lawyer argued that he believed that there was an intruder in the house but the judge said that the identity of the person behind the door was irrelevant.

The parliamentary system of governance envisages greater accountability and transparency, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan told representatives of Armenian TV Companies.

“Under the new Constitution the Prime Minister will be obliged to go to the National Assembly together with the government at least twice a month to publicly answer the questions,” he said.

“Today the President of the Republic does not bear direct political responsibility. When the President wins the elections, he’s not obliged to go to the Parliament, to contact with journalists or give public explanations. His responsibility is rather of moral character,” the President said, adding that “under the new Constitution the government and the Prime Minister will bear immediate political responsibility.”

President Sargsyan said “it’s naïve to think that Armenia will become a paradise a week after the Constitutional changes pass, to think that all economic issues will be solved, and we’ll feel happy. That’s not the case. But by accepting the Constitutional changes, we’ll eliminate the obstacles, and afterwards it will depend on our work how we’ll live and what kind of law-enforcement system we’ll have. It’s impossible to create good conditions without the participation of all members of our society, we all have to be ready to participate. Constitution is not meant to improve the living standards of the common citizen. Constitution is meant to provide the citizen with an opportunity to improve its living,” President Sargsyan noted.

OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs met with French Secretary of State for European Affairs Harlem Désir in Belgrade.

“Pleased to meet with France’s State Secretary Harlem Desir in Belgrade to discuss Nagorno Karabakh peace process,” US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs James Warlicksaid in a Twitter post.

“We will work together,” Warlick added.

Belgrade hosts the 22th meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council. Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian is expected to meet with Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

FIFA will debate a proposal to expand the World Cup from 32 teams to 40, the bBC reports.

The change can be approved by FIFA’s executive committee without consent from the 209 member associations, and could come into effect from 2026.

The proposal will be discussed later on Thursday in Zurich, where a meeting is taking place focused on reforms of world football’s governing body.

Earlier, two high-ranking FIFA officials were arrested in the Swiss city on suspicion of taking bribes.

The arrests came on the opening day of Fifa’s Exco meeting, at which the potential expansion of the World Cup for the first time since 1998 will be discussed.

France ’98 featured 32 teams, up from the 24 that had qualified for every World Cup since 1982.

An additional eight entrants would create an extra 32 matches, which could require the month-long tournament to be extended by a week.

The first round of the tournament, which sees teams split into eight groups of four, would also need to be adjusted.

The European Championship – to be held in France in June – will include 24 teams, a rise from the 16 to have taken part in every tournament since 1996.

In the evening of December 2, President Serzh Sargsyan gave a comprehensive interview to the representatives of the Armenian TV companies and answered multiple questions related to the Constitutional changes such as the necessity of initiating such changes and the objective behind it, significance of the changes for the state, arguments of those who speak against the changes in the Main Law, the validity of these arguments, etc.

The journalists asked also about the preliminary investigation of the criminal case filed by the Investigation Department of the RA National Security Service in connection with the special operation recently carried out by the law enforcement bodies in the capital.