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German MP removed from PACE amid “Azerbaijani laundromat” revelation

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German MP Karin Strenz from Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU)

who was accused of doing paid lobbying work for the Azerbaijani dictatorship, was removed from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, according to the decision by German officials.

A consortium of public broadcasters NDR, WDR and daily Süddeutsche Zeitung reported earlier that a district chapter of Angela Merkel’s CDU received €28,000 ($33,114) from the state-run Azerbaijani oil and gas company Socar in contravention of German rules on party donations.

That reports revealed several German lawmakers involved money laundering and slush fund scheme dubbed the “Azerbaijani Laundromat.” A consortium of European newspapers and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) published reports about the scheme, which allegedly funneled 2.5 billion euros from four UK-based shell companies through an Estonian branch of a Danish bank to buy luxury goods and pay European politicians and Azerbaijani elites.

The OCCRP report noted that the origin of the money is unclear, but there is “ample evidence of its connection to the family of President Aliyev.”

The parliamentarian Karin Strenz, who according to the paper did not disclose her work for an Azerbaijan-financed lobbying firm within three months as asked. The company is owned by former CSU politician Eduard Lintner, who has been doing lobbying work for Azerbaijan since 2009. In another possible indication of her sympathies with the authoritarian country, in June 2015 Strenz voted against a resolution by the Council of Europe to call on Azerbaijan to release its political prisoners — the only German MP to do so, according to an earlier report in the paper.

Along with Karin Strenz, the Head of German delegation at PACE Axel Fischer who until recently served as the chairman of the Group of the European People’s Party (EPP) was removed from the German parliamentary group.

 

Source Panorama.am

President Sargsyan receives pro-Armenian German MP

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pro-Armenian German MPYEREVAN. – President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on Friday received member of German Social-Democratic Chairmanship, Deputy Chairman of Budgetary Committee on Affairs of Bundestag, Deitmar Nitan.

The President welcomed the guest and lauded his activities aimed at the enhancement of the Armenian-German bilateral relations. Sargsyan also thanked him for his consistent efforts towards the recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide.

“Dear Mr Nitan, Armenia is well aware of your activity, especially in respect to your efforts towards the restoration of historical justice and calling а spade a spade. In your case it is more than valuable, since being a supporter of the German-Turkish relations, you, nevertheless, raised your voice very clearly and struggled for the recognition of the fact of the Armenian Genocide by Germany, thus making your contribution to the universal struggle against the prevention of genocides and crimes against humanity,” the President noted.

At the meeting, Serzh Sargsyan awarded MP of the German Bundestag with Mkhitar Gosh medal for his contribution to the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Dietmar Nitan, for his part, cited the words of genocide scholar Elie Wiesel: “To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.”  According to him, everyone should seek to contribute to the world peace, mutual understanding, as well as establishment of reconciliation and restoration of peace. Furthermore, the MP assured that he will do his best for his efforts not to stay halfway and for the Genocide committed against the Armenian people to never be forgotten.

Sargsyan wished success to Dietman Nitan, expressing hope that through his active work he will continue to enhance the existing friendly relations between Armenia and Germany.