Category: News

Friday’s attacks by Islamist militants in Paris were planned and organised from Syria, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has said, the BBC reports.

He added that the authorities believed new terror attacks were being planned in France and other European countries.

Mr Valls also said 150 raids on suspected militants had been carried out across France early on Monday.

A total of 129 people died in the attacks on bars and restaurants, a concert hall and the Stade de France.

France is to hold a nationwide minute of silence at midday local time (11:00 GMT) out of respect for the victims.

A huge manhunt is under way for surviving members and accomplices of the Islamist group that carried out the attack.

Police have named Brussels-born Salah Abdeslam, 26, as a key suspect. He was reportedly stopped by officers in the wake of the attacks – but then let go.

Meanwhile, French aircraft have attacked Raqqa, the stronghold in Syria of the Islamic State group, which has said it carried out the attacks.

French fighter jets launched their biggest raids in Syria to date targeting the Islamic State’s stronghold in Raqqa just two days after the group claimed coordinated attacks in Paris that killed more than 130 people, the defense ministry said, Reuters reports.

“The raid … including 10 fighter jets, was launched simultaneously from the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. Twenty bombs were dropped,” the statement said, adding that the mission had taken place this evening.

The operation, carried out in coordination with U.S. forces, struck a command center, recruitment center for jihadists, a munitions depot and a training camp for fighters, it said.
Read more at Reutershttp://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/15/us-france-shooting-airstrikes-idUSKCN0T416F20151115#kyWt4ggzd8jFkPVT.99

A resolution on the Armenian Genocide has been adopted by a large majority at the 23rd European Green Party Council in Lyon. The text acknowledges that the Ottoman Empire perpetrated Genocide against the Armenian people. It also calls on Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide and work towards reconciliation with the Armenia and its people.

With this initiative the European Green Party calls upon all countries which have not yet done so to publicly recognize the Armenian Genocide. It underlines that doing so will positively impact the normalisation of the relations between Turkey and Armenia and help prevent further crimes against humanity.

The European Green Party is a pan-European political party which federates over 45 Green parties across Europe, present also in Eastern Partner countries. In the European Parliament their members sit in the Greens – European Free Alliance parliamentary group totalizing 50 seats.

The European Green Party mourns the destruction of the Armenian cultural heritage and calls upon the Turkish government to respect the Armenian cultural legacy and take strong measures to protect it. The resolution asks the Turkish government to re-evaluate historical and cultural narratives and open its archives to historians, researchers and academics in an effort to come to terms with the past. The logical continuation of this would be to immediately abolish Article 301 of the Turkish penal code, which censors political and public debate on the genocide.

The text emphasizes that everybody has the right to have their history recognized and their culture respected. By acknowledging the Armenian Genocide the European Green Party wants to pay due respect to its victims as a step towards reconciliation and historical reparation.

MEP Michèle Rivasi, who is vice-chair of the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament and member of the European Friends of Armenia Advisory Council, comments:

‘As the tragic events in Paris reminds us: the world is in trouble, more than ever. For many years hate speech has not been sufficiently condemned, and helped extremists in spreading their propaganda and raising the level of violence. We cannot continue like this, we have to reverse this vicious spiral with an even more opened democracy and also the duty to recognize the errors and crimes that led to the current situation.

The European Green Party resolution on the centenary of the Armenian genocide aims at reminding every country that they have a part to play for a more peaceful world.

This is one of the reasons why Turkey has to stop now its state policy of denial. Because denial is the fuel that feeds the engine of hate and prevents us from reaching peace. Turkey will only find advantages in finally recognising the Armenian Genocide and step into History. There will be no peace without recognition of the Armenian genocide.’

As 2015 marks the centenary of the Armenian Genocide many other European countries, Pan-European institutions and political parties have acknowledged or reaffirmed their recognition of the Armenian Genocide and have urged Turkey to so as well.

‘I am very pleased to see a growing number of European Political families recognizing the Armenian Genocide’ says Eduardo Lorenzo Ochoa, director of European Friends of Armenia. ‘The European Green Party resolution is especially important because not only pays tribute to the victims of the first Genocide of the 20th century, but also explains clearly the importance of doing so if we want to secure a common future and prevent further crimes against humanity’.

This week, the first meeting of the U.S.-Armenia Council on Trade and Investment will be held in Yerevan. Following that historic session, members of the U.S.-Armenia Joint Economic Task Force will also gather in Yerevan.

“The U.S.-Armenia Joint Economic Task Force (or USATF), was created in 1999 and it meets every year. The annual meetings are an opportunity for high-level delegations from both the Armenian and U.S. governments to meet and have an opportunity to discuss ways how we can deepen our economic ties, we can further market reforms in Armenia, and how we, as the U.S. government, can best use U.S. assistance to contribute to Armenia’s long-term economic growth, create more jobs, and promote trade between our two countries,” U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills, Jr. said. “Then in addition, this past May, our two countries signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (called a TIFA). And the TIFA establishes something called the Armenia-U.S. Council on Trade and Investment. It is this newly-established TIFA Council that will hold very detailed, very deep discussions that are specifically focused on our trade relationship and what are some of the barriers to Armenians trading and investing in the U.S. and to Americans trading and investing in Armenia.”

During the first meeting of the Armenia-U.S. Council on Trade and Investment, a day-long session which will take place on November 17, technical experts from both sides will discuss a wide range of issues, including intellectual property rights, customs clearances, technical barriers to trade, sanitary measures, investment promotion efforts, private sector engagement, government procurement, WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, and environmental and labor issues.

“There will be participants at this week’s TIFA Council meeting from the U.S. government and the Armenian government, and they will discuss a number of issues that, if left unaddressed, can hinder trade between our two countries,” Ambassador Mills said. “The idea is to identify and then have both countries commit to address these very technical trade issues; and in doing so, help to improve trade and business between the United States and Armenia. The goal of all of this, and particularly of the Council, is to get more American products available to Armenian consumers. That will increase Armenians’ choice and competition. And it means easier access to the U.S. market for Armenian businessmen and women, Armenian exporters. And that should create jobs here in Armenia that will help the Armenian economy and help the average Armenian.”

On November 19, the U.S.-Armenia Joint Economic Task Force will meet here in Yerevan to discuss economic issues of mutual interest to our countries.

“The newly-established Council on Trade and Investment (the TIFA Council) is a platform to discuss very specific, very technical trade issues, while the USATF Joint Economic Task Force brings together senior officials from the U.S. and Armenian government to focus on big-picture, larger economic issues that will affect our bilateral relationship now and in the future; issues such as, tax reform in Armenia, anti-corruption efforts, Armenia’s nuclear power strategy and broader energy strategy going into the future.  As I discussed last week during my speech at the American Chamber of Commerce, my top priority as U.S. ambassador is to intensify the business and the commercial relations between our two countries.  And I think TIFA and USATF have a very important role to play as the relationship between our two countries is beginning to shift from one that has primarily been based on assistance to one that is now grounded in very mutually beneficial trade and economic partnerships,” said Ambassador Mills.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will visit North Korea this week, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap, the BBC reports.

Yonhap cited a senior UN source for its claim, which the UN has declined to comment on.

If it goes ahead, it will be the first visit by a UN chief to the country in more than two decades.

In May, North Korea abruptly cancelled a visit by Mr Ban just one day before he was due to arrive.

North Korea faces heavy UN, EU and US sanctions for its nuclear tests.

The report said it was likely he would meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un during his trip. No exact date was given for the visit.

Mr Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, would be only the third secretary general to ever visit the North.

The United Nations fought on the side of the South during the Korean War, which lasted from 1950 until 1953 and led to the division of the peninsula.

The near-simultaneous attacks in Paris that killed at least 127 people and wounded more than 180 were an “act of war” carried out by Islamic State, says France’s President Francois Hollande, the BBC reports.

He said the attacks, carried out by eight gunmen and suicide bombers, were “organised and planned from outside”.

Busy bars and restaurants, a music concert and a high-profile football match were all targeted.

Mr Hollande has declared three days of national mourning.

An event was held today at the Mount Musa Memorial in Armavir Marz on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the Mount Musa Heroic Battle. During the event, President Serzh Sargsyan delivered a speech in which he touched upon the Paris attacks.

“Your Holiness,
Your Eminencies,
Honorable guests,
Dear compatriots,

Today we are here to celebrate the 100th jubilee of the Mount Musa self-defense. It was one of the heroic episodes of the 1915 Armenian Genocide to which our French brothers made an invaluable contribution. Hundred years has passed but our sense of gratitude has not weakened even a bit.

Dear compatriots,

Unfortunately, by the irony of fate we witnessed last night terrorist attacks, unprecedented terrorist acts by their scale, committed at the heart of France – Paris. All of us are deeply shocked by it.

I strongly condemn those terrific and ghastly actions which claimed multiple innocent lives.

In recent years, the growth of this kind of inhuman violence in different countries of the world gives rise to serious concerns. I am confident that each member of the civilized community will join the struggle against this evil facing of us. We must not allow violence, extremism and intolerance to prevail. We are obliged to make concerted efforts at revealing and eradicating all those factors which cause such horrible manifestations of extremism.

In this difficult time, Armenia stands beside the brotherly country of France and is ready to provide full support.

I express my deepest sympathy to French President Francois Hollande, the friendly people of France and to the victims’ relatives, wishing patience, strength and vigor to them and a speedy recovery to the injured.

Our prayers, hearts and souls are with the French people.”