Council Of Europe Body Urges ‘Public Inquiry’ Into Armenia Unrest

A key Council of Europe watchdog on Friday called for a “public inquiry” into the 2008 post-election unrest in Yerevan and expressed concern about reported ill-treatment of dozens of opposition members arrested by the Armenian authorities at the time.

The report details the findings of a CPT team that visited Armenia in the aftermath of the March 2008 deadly clashes in Yerevan between security forces and opposition protesters. It is not clear why the Strasbourg-based body has taken two years to publish it.  Read more... (1100 words)

Azerbaijan Welcomes Adoption of The Madrid Principles by Armenia

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov welcomed adoption of the updated version of the Madrid principles for settlement of the Karabakh conflict by Yerevan.

The Madrid principles remain at the negotiating table, and we continue negotiating on them Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said March 18.

“This will create an opportunity to continue the negotiation process and begin work on a large agreement on the settlement of the conflict,” Elmar Mammadyraov told journalists at a news conference.

“We need to discuss further steps with the mediators,” Mammadyarov added, Trend News reports.

Source: ArmRadio - Original Article

Erdogan Goes Back on His Word About the “Illegal” Armenians

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday defended his statements about deporting undocumented Armenian workers and criticized the media for misinterpreting his remarks.

He said the media was wrong to compare Roma and Armenian citizens to illegal immigrants, saying his comments in London were distorted.

Erdogan said Tuesday in an interview with the BBC Turkish service that illegal immigrants from Armenia would be expelled, sparking outrage among the opposition and media.

Things are evaluated differently for citizens within the framework of the law, he said at the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, headquarters on Friday, adding that citizens are different than people who reside in the country illegally.  Read more... (270 words)

Vahan Hovannisian Urges Armenians To Leave Turkey

A leader of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) on Friday urged Armenian citizens living in Turkey to promptly return home, claiming that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s latest controversial statement has put their security at risk.

“As regards our fellow Armenians who have found themselves in Turkey for one or another economic reason, I am advising them to immediately leave that country because it’s obvious with whom we are dealing,” he told a news conference. “A threat voiced from such a high level can be deemed by some elements a signal for anti-Armenian actions.”  Read more... (496 words)

Armenian Parliament Speaker Had a Telephone Talk with European Parliament Chairman

On March 17 the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan had a telephone talk with the President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek on the initiative of the latter.

The sides discussed issues concerning the cooperation within the framework of Euronest, parliamentary format of the Eastern Partnership programme.

The President of RA National Assembly highlighted the necessity of political association and further economic integration between the European Union and Eastern partners, noting that the parliamentary can essentially boost those processes. Hovik Abrahamyan highly assessed the role of Euronest in the implementation of the goals of the Eastern Partnership programme.

Jerzy Buzek highly assessed the democratic processes in Armenia, noting that they support them.  Read more... (165 words)

Edward Nalbandian: Azerbaijan Accepts the Madrid Principles With Certain Reservations

The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Slovakia Edward Nalbandian and Miroslav Lajcak held a meeting in Yerevan today. The two Ministers signed an agreement on Air Communication and a Memorandum of Understanding in the field of European integration.

“Azerbaijan has not been recognizing the Madrid Principles for a long time and if at last Baku has decided to take the documents as a basis for negotiations we can only welcome this fact,” RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said at the joint press conference with his Slovak counterpart.

“However, Baku’s statements show that the Azerbaijani side accepts the Madrid Principles with certain reservations. There are more reservations than points acceptable to Baku, which mainly refer to the elimination of conflict consequences,” Minister Nalbandian added.  Read more... (305 words)

Turkey’s Turning Into Nazi Germany?

Turkish news source Hürriyet Daily News and Economic Review correspondent Yılmaz Özdil, referring to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent statements on deporting Armenians living in Turkey, said that Turkey mustn’t be allowed to become Nazi Germany.

We mustn’t allow the issue to get to the point where, in Turkey, they begin to say, “Our citizens are unemployed, why are you giving foreigners work?” That’s the most dangerous. If we say, “the Armenians came, they took our work from our hands,” we will turn into Nazi Germany, said Özdil in an interview with CNN Turk, while calling Erdoğan’s statements a joke”

“To prove that we’re not oppressing Armenians, we deport them. To prove that we haven’t initiated an eviction, we’re initiating a contemporary eviction. That’s simply mockery,” said the Turkish journalist.  Read more... (138 words)