Author: Nyrie Kalashian

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group have addressed the OSCE Permanent Council on Nagorno Karabakh conflict, US Co-Chair James Warlick tweeted.

On Wednesday the Co-Chairs held consultations with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier connected with the forthcoming German presidency of the OSCE.

Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, whose flogging sentence caused an outcry, has been awarded the European Parliament’s Sakharov human rights prize, the BBC reports.

Parliament President Martin Schulz urged Saudi King Salman “to free him, so he can accept the prize”.

Mr Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in jail and 1,000 lashes in Saudi Arabia for “insulting Islam”.

Earlier this month he also won the Pen Pinter Prize for championing free speech.

The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought has been awarded by the European Parliament since 1988 to individuals or organisations for their contribution to the fight for human rights and democracy.

The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) gives an additional motivation for the development of economies of its member states, Armenian Foreign Minister Edvard Nalbandyan said on Friday, TASS reports.

“We assume that four freedoms underlying the EEU — movement of goods, services, capitals and workforce — offer an additional impetus for the development of the economies of its member states,” the foreign minister told an international forum of graduates from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) University.

“Economic integration processes are in the focus of close attention of the international community,” he added, saying there were some 20 economic unions in the world at the moment.

By Hannah Hess

From Ankara to Istanbul, Capitol Hill lawmakers and staff took 159 privately sponsored trips to Turkey during the 113th Congress, putting the nation second only to Israel in popularity as a foreign destination.

But a recent report suggests hidden sources, never vetted by the House Ethics Committee, footed the bill for five-star hotels and dining during some members’ all-expenses-paid jaunts.

Rep. Yvette D. Clarke, D-N.Y., accepted an $8,700 nine-day trip, paid for by the Council of Turkic American Associations, according to documents filed with the Ethics Committee. She flew business class in May 2013 and stayed at Istanbul’s Crowne Plaza & Hagia Sophia and the Rixos Grand Ankara.

Clarke’s itinerary included a three-day conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, which later attracted the attention of ethics investigators and became the focus of a probe into alleged state-funded travel.

The New York-based nonprofit also paid for Rep. Leonard Lance, R-N.J., to travel in Turkey before attending the conference. He stayed at the Ciragan Palace Kempinski, a former palace converted into a luxury hotel with suites that promise “the exclusive ambiance that was once enjoyed by the majestic Sultans of the Ottoman Empire.”

Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M., and her fiance accepted a similar package, paid for by the Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians. In addition to hotel stays, the nonprofit spent $1,500 on meals and taxis for the couple and the congresswoman’s plane ticket. The TCAE did not cooperate with ethics investigators.

The Office of Congressional Ethics talked to the CTAA’s president, Furkan Kosar, and three other nonprofit group leaders, who admitted they used the Bosphorus Atlantic Cultural Association of Friendship and Cooperation (BAKIAD) to arrange and finance domestic expenses for the side-trips some members and staffers took to Turkey.

“The sponsors believed that BAKIAD’s funding comes from donations from Turkish nationals,” stated the report released by the OCE on Oct. 7. “One sponsor thought BAKIAD might receive commissions from hotels and restaurants for using their services.”

BAKIAD handled transportation to and from the airport, currency exchange, hotel reservations, guides and sightseeing, without asking for repayment from the nonprofits. But BAKIAD’s involvement was not disclosed in pre- and post-travel documents submitted to the House Ethics Committee for vetting.

“Some red flags were missed,” said Public Citizen’s Craig Holman, alleging the committee did not ask enough questions of the nonprofits.

After an interview with OCE, Kosar disclosed the Istanbul-based BAKIAD’s involvement. He later wire-transferred $2,280 to repay BAKIAD for the amount listed on the disclosure forms.

House Ethics Committee staffers appear to have done their due diligence, under the rules and laws Congress has created to vet privately sponsored travel. The committee’s own report on Azerbaijan shows staffers emailed reported travel sponsors to confirm statements and itineraries on pre-travel forms.

“The committee’s report was very clear that they appear to have been lied to, and they’ve referred it to [the Justice Department] for criminal prosecution,” said Dan Schwager, former chief counsel of the House Ethics Committee. “I don’t know how much more seriously you can take it.”

“Do they want the committee to polygraph sponsors?” Schwager chided, in response to watchdogs’ concerns. He said auditing the books of any group who wanted to sponsor a trip is not a “reasonable exercise” under current rules.

According to its biennial report, the House Ethics Committee received 4,593 travel requests during the 113th Congress.

BAKIAD was established in 2006 to oversee and coordinate trips and events related to North America. According to the OCE, the group may have funded and coordinated the privately sponsored congressional travel within Turkey dating back several years.

Groups that admitted coordinating with BAKIAD have paid for at least $136,000 in travel and 38 trips for members and staff, according to a travel disclosure database maintained by LegiStorm.

A 2007 overhaul of congressional travel rules, prompted by the scandal that sent lobbyist Jack Abramoff to prison, put stricter rules in place to prevent special interests from footing flying lawmakers around the world. But the rewrite left one “loophole” in place, said Campaign Legal Center’s Meredith McGehee.

While lobbyists, lobbying firms and foreign principals are prohibited from arranging or financing trips, members can accept free travel paid by nonprofits, who are not required to disclose their contributions.

But the Azerbaijan case “is like drawing a roadmap about how to evade the limits in the law for who can pay for travel,” McGehee said in an interview.

Holman suggested Congress needs to carefully review how nonprofit sponsors plan to pay for overseas journeys, like the heavily scrutinized trip to Azerbaijan.

“Members and staff who go on these trips are going to suffer the political consequences,” Holman said.

The Vatican denied on Wednesday an Italian media report that Pope Francis has a benign brain tumor, Reuters reports.

“The circulation of entirely unfounded news regarding the health of the Holy Father by an Italian newspaper is gravely irresponsible and unworthy of attention,” chief Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said in a statement.

“Furthermore, as is clearly evident, the pope is carrying out his very intense activity in a totally normal way,” he said.

Francis later held his weekly general audience before tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square and was due to return to a three-week gathering of Roman Catholic bishops from around the world, which he has been attending daily.

The newspaper Quotidiano Nazionale, a national paper based in central Italy, reported on its front page on Wednesday that the 78-year-old pope had secretly flown by helicopter to a small Tuscan town “some time ago” to see a Japanese doctor.

The paper reported that the Argentine pontiff was diagnosed with “a small dark spot on the brain”, but that it was curable.

The pope has appeared to be in good health in recent months apart from some leg pain due to the fact that he suffers from sciatica, for which he undergoes regular physical therapy in the Vatican.

Terror and Organized Crimes Prosecutor Gökalp Kökçü submitted on Tuesday an indictment over the Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink’s murder case to Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office requesting the arrests of 25 alleged suspects, for forming an organization to commit crimes, deliberate killing, and forgery on documents, reports.

Suspects include the former Chief of Istanbul Police Department, Celalettin Cerrah and former head of Istanbul Police Intelligence Department, Engin Dinç.

Dink, then editor-in-chief of the Armenian Agos newspaper, was shot dead by a teenager on Jan. 19, 2007 outside his office in Istanbul. Dink drew the ire of hardline Turkish nationalists in his lifetime, as he was one of the most outspoken voices calling for a debate to start on the controversial Armenian genocide issue. He received numerous death threats before his murder and faced several lawsuits for “denigrating Turkishness,” an act punishable with prison terms, for his articles and editorials on Armenian Genocide.

The role of police officers and public officials in the plot to kill the Dink had come to light as a new investigation focused on an alleged cover-up of the murder by officials linked to the Gülen Movement, which is accused of attempts to overthrow the government

A Thai court has issued an arrest warrant for a Turkish man who is the husband of a Thai suspect already being sought in connection with Bangkok’s deadly bombing, the Associated Press reports.

National police chief Prawut Thavornsiri identied the man as Emrah Davutoglu. He is facing charges of conspiracy to possess unauthorized war materials.

Wednesday’s arrest warrant is the eight issued by Thai authorities in connection with the Aug. 17 bombing of a central Bangkok shrine, which left 20 people dead and more than 120 wounded.

Prawut says that Davutoglu is believed to have been “part of a network that provided accommodation” to those connected with the bombing.

Earlier this week, police issued an arrest warrant for his wife, Thai national Wanna Suansan, whose name was on the lease of an apartment that police raided over the weekend and discovered bomb-making materials.

On August 28th, U.S. Ambassador Richard M. Mills, Jr. and Armenian Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan attended the graduation ceremony for 12 trainers of military medics of the Armenian Army who are the first graduates of an innovative medical training course taught by members of the U.S. military.

For the past three months, six U.S. Army personnel have led classes for the Armenian military medics, who will now serve as instructors for the Armenian military paramedic school. The course is a collaboration between the U.S. Embassy’s Office of Defense Cooperation and the Armenian Ministry of Defense, designed to improve the medical treatment of Armenian military wounded.

“You will save lives. Thanks to you, more of your brothers and sisters in arms will return home from places that others fear to tread, dangerous places where you agree to go in the name of peace,” Ambassador Mills told the graduates.

The U.S. military’s training team of highly skilled and experienced U.S. Army sergeants and an officer led the Armenian military medics through an extensive course of the latest techniques, based on the same curriculum used to teach American military medics. Thousands of pages of material were translated into Armenian, marking the first time the course has been offered in a language other than English. As a result of this successful partnership, other nations are requesting the U.S. military conduct similar courses in their native languages.

“The strong American-Armenian partnership is once again demonstrating what we can achieve when we work together,” Ambassador Mills said. “Today’s graduation is, indeed, just the latest illustration of a bilateral relationship that continues to strengthen and grow. This training is one more example of our nations’ mutual progress, our joint friendship, and our strong trust and belief in one another. I know our partnership will strengthen as we continue to face international challenges to security and stability that cannot be solved by any one country alone. The challenges of today’s world require strong international cooperation between like-minded countries and this ceremony is evidence that U.S.-Armenian cooperation is alive and well.”

The partnership between the American military and the Armenian Peacekeeping Brigade is a long and important one. A platoon of the Armenian Peacekeeping Brigade deployed in 2004 as part of a NATO force to maintain stability and peace in Kosovo. Since that time, Armenian soldiers have actively supported NATO peacekeeping operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Last November, Armenia troops went to Lebanon as part of a UN International Peacekeeping Force.

 

Borussia Dortmund emphatically sealed its UEFA Europa League group stage place with a 7-2 win over Odd, taking the tie 11-5 on aggregate, avvording to Goal.com.

Marco Reus led a rampant Borussia Dortmund into the UEFA Europa League group stage with a comprehensive 7-2 victory over Odd on Thursday.

The Germany international struck a hat trick for Thomas Tuchel’s men as they raced through the playoff round with an 11-5 aggregate triumph over the Norwegian side.

Having opened up a 3-0 lead in last week’s first leg, only to lose 4-3, Odd again momentarily stunned its illustrious opponents as Ole Halvorsen leveled the tie with the game’s opening goal, but it only served to stir Dortmund — which was ahead 4-1 by halftime.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s eighth goal of the season got BVB level, before two from Reus and a fourth from Shinji Kagawa put Dortmund in complete control.

The goals continued to come after the restart as Ilkay Gundogan opened his account for the season, before Reus was on hand to score his third after 57 minutes.

Oliver Berg grabbed a consolation for Odd just after the hour, but it was Dortmund celebrating at the final whistle — after Kagawa had scored again — as the German side booked its place in Friday’s group-stage draw.