European Parliament condemns Turkey’s crackdown on Afrin critics

February 9, 2018 By administrator

European Parliament condemns Turkey’s

The European Parliament has passed a resolution denouncing the arrests of people who criticized Turkey’s military intervention in Afrin. One MEP told DW that there’s “no respect for human rights” in Turkey.

Turkey’s detention of hundreds of journalists, doctors and regular citizens who have been critical of Ankara’s operation in Syria’s Kurdish-controlled region of Afrin, was condemned by the European Parliament on Thursday.

The European Parliament described the arrests as “an attempt to censor criticism” in their resolution.

“We want to show our solidarity with Turkey’s population that is going through a difficult period, and at the same time remind EU leaders that human rights must remain on the top of EU-Turkey relations,” Kati Piri, a Dutch MEP and the European Parliament’s rapporteur on Turkey, told DW.

Rebecca Harms, a German MEP with the Green party, told DW that the human rights situation is of great concern for Brussels and that EU funds to Turkey must be contingent upon change.

“The rule of law in Turkey, as we knew it, doesn’t actually exist anymore,” Harms said. “The level of violence has been raised and there is no more respect for human rights.”

She added that if the EU’s customs union is to be expanded, “it must be made clear that this can only happen if Turkey returns to the rule of law.”

Thursday’s resolution states that the EU’s aid funds to Turkey “should be conditional on improving its record on human rights.” The resolution also urged Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government to lift the state of emergency that enables authorities to crack down on critics.

Warning about Afrin

The European Parliament also criticized Turkey’s actions in Afrin, saying Ankara’s military intervention raises serious humanitarian concerns.

“[MEPs] are seriously concerned about the humanitarian consequences of the Turkish assault and warn against continuing with these disproportionate actions,” the parliament’s statement said.

With regards to Turkey’s military operations in Afrin, Piri said the EU parliament “recognizes Turkey’s right to protect its borders,” but warned of the consequences of military action in the region.

The Turkish army has been fighting against the Kurdish militia YPG in its “Olive Branch” offensive since January 20.

France: The Armenian Association of Creteil CCAF “We strongly condemns acts of violence perpetrated” on Thursday.

July 1, 2017 By administrator

The CCAF learned with amazement that an imbalance, which the dispatches call Armenian, was guilty of a serious aggression against faithful of the Mosque of Creteil.

The CCAF condemns this act, as well as all manifestations of violence or hatred, a fortiori when they are based on religious intolerance, racism, rejection of the other.

While welcoming the fact that this action did not provoke any victims, he expressed his solidarity and fraternal feelings towards the members of this mosque and in general to the Muslim community in France with which the Armenian structures maintained the best relationships.

The CCAF also urges justice to quickly clarify this matter and dispel any misunderstandings.

CCAF National Office

Créteil, June 30, 2017 (AFP) – Police custody of the man who attempted to drive into the car on Thursday by worshipers of the Créteil mosque was lifted because he suffers from schizophrenia and must be hospitalized ex officio, The prosecutor said on Friday.

His psychiatric expertise “concluded that the state of health was incompatible with police custody and the necessity of” compulsory hospitalization “in psychiatry, said the prosecutor’s office of Créteil (Val-de-Marne) at AFP. The medical certificate mentions “delirious and incoherent remarks”, he added.

This 43-year-old Armenian “was hospitalized twice in 2006 and 2007 for schizophrenia,” according to the prosecution. “Currently he is on medication”.

Without a job and holder of a disability card, he has lived in France for twelve years. He lives in concubinage and has a daughter aged twelve. The public prosecutor’s office will open a judicial investigation. He will also ask the investigating judge to take a warrant against him. What could enable the judicial police of the Val-de-Marne, in charge of the investigation, to hear the defendant after his stay in the hospital.

The man, who lives in Creteil, crashed into the barriers and crossed the grating protected the mosque with his 4×4, before stamping cars of faithful after the prayer, without causing any injuries. He was arrested Thursday night at his home.

His motives remain for the moment unclear. Witnesses to the scene are currently being heard, the prosecution added.

According to a source close to the file, the man held “confused remarks in reference to the” jihadist attacks that have killed 239 in France since 2015.

A witness also assured AFP that the man was seen Wednesday by a faithful near the mosque. He was laying flowers on the plaque of the “Garden of Armenia”, installed by the city of Creteil in tribute to the Armenian people, in the large park adjacent to the place of worship.

Ten days after the London antimusulman attack, perpetrated by a man who fell on the faithful of the mosque of Finsbury Park and made eleven wounded, the French Muslim community also feels targeted. Some of its officials denounced an “attack attempt” and asked the authorities to “strengthen the protection of places of worship”.

The prefect of police, Michel Delpuech, addressed a letter to the president of the French Muslim Council (CFCM), Anouar Kbibech, in which he condemns the act that took place on Thursday and reiterates his vigilance to the security forces protecting the Places of worship Muslims.

The Armenian Association of Creteil announced that it “strongly condemns acts of violence perpetrated” on Thursday.

Saturday, July 1, 2017,
Ara © armenews.com

Armenian FM Nalbandian strongly condemns attacks in Iran

June 7, 2017 By administrator

Armenian,fm,conemnsArmenian FM Edward Nalbandian strongly condemns attacks on Iranian parliament and the Mausoleum of late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini.

As the message posted on the Foreign Ministry’s Twitter account read, Nalbandian expresses solidarity with people of Iran.

As Press TV reported, Iran’s Parliament (Majlis) and the Mausoleum of the late founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini in the capital Tehran came under terrorist attack in the early morning of June 7.
At least four gunmen reportedly intruded into the premises of the Majlis, opening fire on the security guards there. The assailants were all killed by security forces following the attack. According to Tasnim news agency, at least eight people have been injured in the shooting attack on Wednesday. Two people are said to have lost their lives in the firefight.

Mayor of Washington condemns the violence of Erdogan’s guards

May 18, 2017 By administrator

Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, condemned the attacks of security personnel of Turkish President Recep Erdogan against peaceful demonstrators near the Turkish embassy on May 16 in Washington. According to Mr. Bowser this violence exercised by the Turkish president’s bodyguards “is an injury to the values of Washington and Americans.” Washington police chief Peter Newchem said that all the light will be made on the violence, which is “the expression of violations of the rights of citizens”. Aram Hamparian, the executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), thanked the mayor and police chief of Washington for their quick reaction after the incident. “President Erdogan can order this violence and attacks in Turkey, but we can not allow such actions in Washington the capital of the United States,” said Aram Hamparian. Recall that Erdogan’s men, aided by some Turkish nationalist demonstrators, attacked a group of Greeks, Armenians and Kurds who came to denounce peacefully President Erdogan’s presence in Washington. Several protesters were wounded in these attacks.

Krikor Amirzayan

Armenian MP of Turkey condemns custody of his party leaders, members

November 4, 2016 By administrator

garo-on-kurdish-arrest Garo Paylan, Istanbul-Armenian MP of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) of Turkey, reacted to the custody of the co-chairs and several members of his party.

“The year we are living in is 1915, the day is April 24! We will not allow these fascists to burn our country, our youth again! Neither inside nor outside! We will never surrender!” Paylan tweeted.

HDP co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ as well as nine other Kurdish members of the Turkish parliament were detained on Thursday night.

Basque country parliament condemns Azerbaijan’s aggression

April 15, 2016 By administrator

default200 Basque Country Parliament adopted resolution condemning Azerbaijan’s aggression, Karabakh Foreign Ministry said.

The resolution also supported Karabakh’s participation in negotiations.

Leading Jewish Scholar Condemns Israel’s Sale of Murderous Weapons to Azerbaijan

April 13, 2016 By administrator

harut-sassounian-small2 BY HARUT SASSOUNIAN

In last week’s large-scale attack on Artsakh (Karabakh), the Azeri military killed and injured dozens of Armenian soldiers and civilians, using the sophisticated weapons purchased from Israel and Russia for billions of dollars.

The Armenian government and Armenians worldwide accused both Israel and Russia of responsibility for the innocent Armenian lives lost in the recent Azeri invasion.

Prof. Israel Charny, a righteous Jew and a staunch defender of human rights, could not remain silent knowing that his country — Israel — had a bloody role in the Armenian killings. As Executive Director of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem, Dr. Charny sent a scathing commentary to the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, under the provocative title: “Would Israel Sell a Used Drone to a Hitler?” Here is what he wrote:

“If the Nazis were not at all murdering Jews but ‘only’ were murdering say hated Slavs, Gypsies, and Jehovah’s Witnesses; and if our beloved State of Israel were in existence; would you agree to our selling arms to the Nazis?

“Israel is reported to have sold billions of dollars of arms including to governments that are killing or threatening to attack victim peoples. Last week, there came reports that an Israeli drone in the hands of Azerbaijan — a huge arms customer of ours — was responsible for the deaths of six Armenians in the Armenian enclave Nagorno Karabakh.

“I am ashamed!

“The Armenians were the victims of a major genocide 100 years ago that has even been called the ‘Armenian Shoah’ by some Israeli scholars, including from Bar Ilan University. A great deal of their national and cultural concern continues to focus passionately on the memory of that genocide (does that sound familiar to us Jews?). For many years now, we Israelis — whether led by Labor or Likud — have insulted and hurt the Armenian people by failing to recognize their genocide officially and formally. Would we ourselves tolerate another government — say the U.S. or England — failing to recognize the Holocaust because of their realpolitik interest with the perpetrator government?

“One senior Armenian official has written several of us in Israel to express his deep pain as well as indignation now not only at our cowardly and self-serving denials of the Armenian Genocide, but also at our thick military trade alliance with Azerbaijan. I am reminded of the prophet Nathan crying out to King David for an earlier though more delectable murderous act of self-interest: It’s bad enough that you killed him, are you also taking a profit from the sordid affair? The Azeris are a Turkic people who adhere to Turkey’s bizarre and fascist tradition of rewriting history and denying the Armenian Genocide.

“In general, how much do we Israelis want to strengthen our economy by lucrative arms sales? Of course, ‘everyone’ in the world is doing it, but do we have to also? Have we given up the image/dream of Israel as a moral leader of peoples on this planet? Is this idea tiresome, naïve, and childlike in a madly destructive and self-destroying world?

“An alternative concept could be that along with our building arms first and foremost for the defense of Israel, that we sell — or contribute — arms only to underdog peoples who are facing mass destruction, and/or to allies like the U.S., who are essentially committed to shared democratic values and peace. Of course, we will still be making some mistakes, but at least our conscience will be more clear that we have not delivered used arms to the ‘Nazis.’

“To my Armenian colleagues and friends, I can only say that as a Jew and as an Israeli, I am mortified — and angry.”

Prof. Charny’s harsh words are fully justified as both Israeli and Russian officials have shamefully pledged to continue shipping more weapons to Azerbaijan!

Dr. Charny has never shied away from expressing his critical views on Israel’s immoral policies on Armenian issues. In a scathing letter in 2001, he told Israel’s Foreign Minister Shimon Peres: “You have gone beyond a moral boundary that no Jew should allow himself to trespass…. As a Jew and an Israeli, I am ashamed of the extent to which you have now entered into the range of actual denial of the Armenian Genocide, comparable to denials of the Holocaust.”

Prof. Charny should be highly commended for his bold and righteous stand, taking to task the callous leaders of his own country!

Australian Parliamentarian Condemns Sumgait Massacre of Armenians by Azerbaijan VIDEO

March 17, 2016 By administrator

Australian parliamentarian John Alexander

CANBERRA — On Wednesday, 16 March, the Federal Member for Bennelong, John Alexander, spoke in the Federation Chamber of Australia’s Parliament to commemorate the 28^th anniversary of the Sumgait Pogroms that took place in February 1988.

During his address, Alexander spoke of the oppressive history of the region towards Armenians, stemming from the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923 by the former Ottoman Empire, to the anti-Armenian Sumgait Pogroms, and how Azerbaijan’s poor human rights record has continued today.

Alexander talked about the history of the Sumgait Pogroms and how peaceful demonstrations held by the Armenian people living in Azerbaijan and in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh to re-unite with Armenia, turned sour as violence broke out “as an act of collective punishment.” He then went on to mention the manner of which destruction was brought about by Azerbaijani mobs, through systematic attacks and assaults on the Armenians of Sumgait, as well as brutal murders, tortures, burning, and rape of women and young girls.

Alexander stressed that the crimes committed in Sumgait “were never adequately prosecuted by the then Soviet or Azerbaijani authorities” and led to his explanation of Azerbaijan’s poor human rights record, and specifically mentioning the case of Ramil Safarov.

“This year the world will celebrate the 25^th Anniversary of Independence of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, and next month we will commemorate 101 years since the start of the Armenian Genocide,” stated Alexander.

In the conclusion of his speech, Alexander mentioned the lack of attention these cases have had in the media, in Parliament and in the history classes of schools. He then commented on how Armenians have been able to “flourish” and have been able to “proudly celebrate their cultural traditions”.

ANC Australia’s Executive Administrator, Arin Markarian said: “We thank Mr. Alexander for the heartfelt speech he made, remembering the innocent Armenian victims of the Sumgait Pogroms, while highlighting the chain effect that has occurred as a result of not condemning human rights violations and anti-Armenian behavior by the Azerbaijani government.”

Here is the video to Alexander’s speech:

IRAQ-TURKEY The highest Shiite authority condemns the deployment of Turkish troops

December 11, 2015 By administrator

Baghdad, December 11, 2015 (AFP) – The highest Shiite authority in Iraq, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, on Friday condemned the deployment of Turkish troops in the north of the country without the Baghdad agreement, which poisons a folder from a week relations between the two states.

No country should “send his soldiers on the territory of another State under the pretext of help against terrorism without reaching an agreement (…) between the governments of both countries”, said, on behalf of Ayatollah Sistani, one of his representatives during Friday prayers. Turkey has made it a week ago several hundred soldiers and tanks to a camp in Bachiqa, near Mosul city controlled since June 2014 by the Islamic State Group (EI).

Turkish military will train for several months of the troops of the regional government of Iraqi Kurdistan (peshmerga) and Iraqi volunteers eager to fight the IE. Baghdad has demanded the withdrawal of these new troops and now seeks a condemnation from the United Nations Security Council but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that withdrawal was “out of question”.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu defended this deployment as “an act of solidarity,” adding: “When the threats (of training camp) increase, we send troops to protect the camp.” “What they (the Turkish troops) are to Bachiqa and this camp is just training,” assured Erdogan Thursday evening news conference. “The number of our troops will be increased or reduced depending on the number of peshmerga + + they cause.”

Senior Iraqi officials reiterated their request for withdrawal Thursday during talks with a Turkish delegation, according to official statements. On Friday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has promised to “address the concerns of the Baghdad government” on this issue.

Erdogan for his part stated that the subject would be the subject of a meeting on December 21 between Turkey, the US and the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Arab League condemns Turkish ‘intervention’ in N. Iraq

December 6, 2015 By administrator

The Arab League has condemned deployment of Turkish troops in northern Iraq, saying it amounts to “an intervention.” Iraq demands that Ankara withdraws its troops, saying it will go to the UN Security Council if they remain.

Nabil Elaraby, Secretary-General of the Arab league has condemned the deployment of Turkish troops in Northern Iraq calling it a “blatant intervention,” Al Youm El Sabea reports.

He said, however, that the Arab League members can do nothing but make a joint statement condemning the action.

Earlier this week, Turkey deployed over 100 troops equipped with tanks and artillery in the town of Bashiqa, 10 kilometers northeast of Mosul, which is a stronghold of the Islamic State terror group (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

The move is considered “a serious breach of sovereignty” by Iraqi authorities. Baghdad has been railing against the action and stepping up its rhetoric – on Sunday the country threatened to go to the UN Security Council unless Turkey withdraws its troop within 48 hours.

“Iraq has the right to use all available options, including resorting to the UN Security Council if these forces are not withdrawn within 48 hours,” Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a statement.

The same demand was made by Khaled al-Obeidi, the Iraqi defense minister, who said that Turkey had to coordinate its actions with Iraq irrespective of its purposes.

“No matter the size of the force entering Iraq, it is rejected. It was possible to undertake this sort of prior coordination without creating circumstances which contributed to a crisis between the two countries,” he said in a separate statement.

Iran has also criticized Turkey for the “intervention.” Deputy Foreign Minister Amir Abdallahaan said that it was a serious mistake on the part of the Turkish government to deploy Turkish troops in Iraq without the permission of its government, ISNA reports.

Responding to the criticism, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had first said that the military activity was just a routine troop rotation at a camp set up more than a year ago to train Kurdish militia.

However, on Sunday Davutoglu was reduced to saying that Turkey would cease further troop transfers to Bashiqa out of respect for Iraq’s sovereignty. It remains unclear whether the remaining Turkish “training” troops will be called back.