Author: Suren Karakhanian

President Serzh Sargsyan received today Christian Danielsson, Director General for Neighborhood & Enlargement Negotiations at the European Commission.

President Sargsyan hailed the intensiveness of Armenia-EU cooperation over the past two years.

The parties voiced hope that the negotiations on a new Framework Agreement would enter a final stage in the near future.

Christian Danielsson attached importance to President Sargsyan’s upcoming visit to Brussels, which, he said, will give new impetus to the development of cooperation.

Among the important achievements of Armenia-EU cooperation, President Sargsyan attached importance to the adoption of the mandate that will allow the Commission to start negotiations on a comprehensive air transport agreement with Armenia.

He pledged the willingness to further promote the cooperation in the fields of reform implementation, freedom of movement, good governance, democracy, human rights and other spheres of reciprocal interest.

The parties exchanged views on a number of regional issues and challenges.

The negotiations on a new Armenia-EU Framework Agreement are in a final stage, Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Switalski told a press conference in Yerevan. He hpes that the 2017 will bring the new Framework Agreement into reality.

“By the EU standards the pace of negotiations on a new Armenia-EU Framework Agreement has been very fast and very constructive. Normally, negotiations on bilateral  on similar bilateral agreements take more time,” Piotr Switalski said.

He said there are issues that are still open, but there is no doubt they will be settled within a reasonable period of time.

He said “the issues are related to the new circumstances that emerged after 2013, after the aborted agreement on Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), Artmenia’s membership in the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as other developments, even on the EU side.”

Asbarez – Garo Paylan, an Armenian member of the Turkish parliament representing the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) on Saturday was suspended from parliament on for three days after speaking about the Armenian Genocide during the legislature debate of a new Turkish constitution.

In his speech, which angered the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) members, Paylan said the from 1913 to 1923 the Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks and Jews registered in the country, were “exiled from these lands or subjected to tortures as a result of large massacres and genocide”.

“At one time we comprised 40% of the population,” Paylan said despite an uproar by AKP members.  “Today we are one among 1000. Something happened to us, and I call it genocide whatever you call it. The Armenian people know very well what happened to them. I know very well what happened to my father, grandfather. Let’s face [history] together,” he added.

According to Anadolu news agency, AKP member Metin Külünk demanded that Paylan  “correct  the word genocide.” The legislative session ended, with parliament members condemning Paylan’s statements.

Photo: Reuters

 

Tehran has shown interest in signing a temporary deal with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). While Iran has already established close relations with Russia and China, Tehran’s future membership in the EAEU will further strengthen the country’s alliance with the Eurasian major players, Iranian expert Hamidreza Azizi told .

Iran may sign a temporary agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) opening the door to the creation of a free trade zone, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan signaled Monday following Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s visit to Armenia.
“The president of Iran has shown interest in signing a temporary deal with the EAEU, leading to the creation of a free trade zone. Armenia is actively assisting the negotiations between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Commission, aiming to sign the agreement fast,” Sargsyan said at the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting in St. Petersburg.

Speaking to Sputnik Persian, Hamidreza Azizi, assistant professor of regional studies at Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, and expert in Eurasian affairs, underscored that one of Tehran’s foreign policy imperatives is to bolster economic ties with Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

HDP MP Garo Paylan tabled a parliamentary question about Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş’s “Giaour” statement, reports.

On December 3, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş said, “For us, independence means to stand against the giaours and to be able to call them giaours.” Garo Paylan tables a parliamentary question about this statement and requested answer from Kurtulmuş himself.

Paylan asked the following questions to Deputy Prime Minister Kurtulmuş:

1. According to Turkish Language Association (TDK), giaour means “(1) a nonbeliever person, (2) non-Muslim”. According to linguist Sevan Nişanyan, it means “(1) Zoroastrian, fire-worshiper, (2) non-Muslim, heretic.” Do you think that you insulted the Christians and non-Muslim peoples of Turkey by using the word of “giaour”, which is used in a pejorative way in many Turkish idioms and proverbs and which people often use to insult or defame certain groups or individuals?

2. Given that hate speech is defined as “speaking in an insulting or threatening manner on the basis of attributes such as gender, ethnic origin, religion, race, disability or sexual orientation”, do you think that your statement is a form of hate speech?
3. Regarding the fact that such statements often lead to hate crimes, do you think that your statement may cause hate crimes?

Photo: Reuters

 

Europol has warned that militants from so-called Islamic State (IS) will aim to step up attacks on European targets, as they face defeat in the Middle East, the BBC reports.

The European police force says more foreign fighters will try to come back to Europe, and “several dozen” capable of attacks could already be there.

Their tactics could include car bombs, kidnappings and extortion, it said.

But the report plays down the likelihood of attacks on critical infrastructure, such as nuclear sites.

It says that IS militants now prefer soft targets, and there is now a greater emphasis on “lone actors” such as the perpetrator of the lorry attack in Nice in July.

It warns that some Syrian refugees in Europe may be vulnerable to recruitment by extremists who infiltrate refugee camps.

Europe has been shaken by a series of attacks in recent years blamed on IS militants.

According to the minister counselor at the Armenian Embassy in the US, Armenia will continue economic cooperation with the US during the next US Administration.

Economic cooperation between Armenia and the United States will continue during the next US Administration, Minister Counselor at the Armenian Embassy in the United States Hrachia Tashchian told .

“We do not see any reason that could stop or halt the economic cooperation between Armenia and the United States,” Tashchian said on the sidelines of the third annual “Doing Business With Eurasian Economic Union” Conference in Washington. Tashchian stressed that the United States was a key economic partner for Armenia. “US-Armenia Intergovernmental Joint Task Force is among the main tools fostering cooperation and discussion of a wide range of issues – from energy security to the technical assistance in implementing civil aviation and tax administration reforms”, Tashchian said.

Trade and Investment Framework Agreement – another important tool of cooperation – signed last year and tailored to help the parties identify areas conducive to the development of mutual trade and investments.

Tashchian noted that over the last two years there have been two major US investments in the energy and mining sectors of the Armenian economy. The diplomat also mentioned the large presence of US IT companies in Armenia. Information Technology is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the Armenian economy, and the Government strongly supports its further growth, Tashchian concluded.

In its new report on Armenia published today, the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) noted positive developments in the treatment of life-sentenced prisoners, but pointed out remaining problems with ill-treatment in the police custody, understaffing and lack of meaningful activities for inmates. The response of the Armenian government was published together with the report.

While the decreased number of allegations of police ill-treatment in detention suggests an improvement in this area, there are indications that this problem has not been entirely eradicated. In this respect, the CPT identified a number of deficiencies in the procedure for recording injuries of detainees.

The CPT recommends that the Special Investigation Service be significantly reinforced in terms of operational staff, in order to no longer need to rely on local police officers. Legal safeguards against ill-treatment, although effectively operating, do not cover situations when persons are “invited” to come to the police for “informal talks”, but have to stay there for hours and even days before being formally declared a criminal suspect. The visit to the military detention facilities in Yerevan revealed an extremely poor offer of activities, which, coupled with the problems in providing adequate psychiatric and psychological assistance, made it clear that the isolator was not a suitable place for prolonged detention.

At the national level, there was no longer any overcrowding of prisons, but some establishments, (especially the Nubarashen Prison) were overcrowded. The CPT strongly encouraged the Armenian authorities to further pursue measures to combat overcrowding, to step up efforts to combat corruption in the prison system, and to take resolute steps to put an end to the practice of the management delegating authority to a select number of inmates (the so-called “watchers”).

The delegation noted positive developments in the treatment of prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment: they were no longer routinely handcuffed when outside their cells, and for the first time several of them had been transferred from closed to semi-closed regime.

In Nubarashen and Yerevan-Kentron prisons the CPT delegation observed serious overcrowding and very poor material conditions. The Committee remained seriously concerned by the almost total absence of any regime of activities in any of the prisons visited, and called on the authorities to develop such programmes.

Healthcare services in prisons remained understaffed and poorly equipped, serious shortage of medication was observed, and the medical screening on admission, especially recording of injuries, remained totally inadequate, with the police and prison stuff routinely present, in violation of the medical confidentiality principle.

The report is based on the visit of the CPT’s delegation to Armenia from 5 to 15 October 2015.

Photo: AFP

 

Russian and Syrian government forces have begun a 10-hour ceasefire in the city of Aleppo to allow rebels and civilians to leave besieged areas, the BBC reports.

Russia has said this pause will be the last chance for rebels to leave eastern districts in safety.

The rebels have rejected the offer and have been continuing a counter-offensive aimed at breaking the siege.

About 250,000 people remain trapped and are enduring food and medical shortages as well as intensive bombing.

Rebels can leave unharmed and with their weapons using two specially created corridors between 09:00 and 19:00 (06:00 and 16:00 GMT), the Russian defence ministry said. Six other routes were to be opened for civilians.

Russian and Syrian warplanes are expected to resume attacks on rebel areas when the truce ends.

Ukraine’s Supreme Rada has ruled to designate October 25, 2016 as the day of commemoration of the 70th anniversary of elimination of the Armenian Catholic Church of Western Ukraine, Interfax reports.

According to the source, the bill was backed by 240 national deputies at a parliamentary sitting today.

The Armenian Catholic Church of Ukraine – one of the Eastern Catholic Churches – was established as a result of the union of part of the Armenians with the Roman Apostolic See in 1742.  The Churches uses the Armenian Rite during liturgies.

In the first half of the 20th century there were approximately 5,500 Armenian Catholics in Galicia. They had 9 churches and 16 chapels. The archeparchy included three deaneries: Lviv (parishes in Lviv, Berzhany and Lutsk), Stanislaviv (parishes in Stanislaviv, Lysts and Tysmenytsia), and Kuty (parishes in Kuty, Horodenka and Sniatyn).

The deanery of Lviv existed until the end of World War II and was eliminated by the Soviet authorities.

Following Ukrainian independence, the Armenian Catholic Church has been gradually reviving, with the first community registering in 1991 in Lviv.