Gagrule.net

Gagrule.net News, Views, Interviews worldwide

Paris police fire tear gas at ‘yellow vest’ protesters

By

Protests sweeping France have arrived in Paris, as demonstrators clashed with the police over a new fuel tax and called for President Emmanuel Macron to resign. In response, Macron slammed the violence on Twitter.

Police have fired water cannon and tear gas at protesters in Paris, as the “yellow vest” demonstrators continued a week of opposition to rising fuel costs and the economic policies of President Emmanuel Macron.

After staging roadblocks on highways across France for days, hundreds of demonstrators converged on the Champs-Elysees carrying signs that read “Macron, thief!” and “Macron, resign!”

According to police, around 8,000 protested in Paris, with nearly 100,000 more rallying in other parts of the country. Paris protesters reportedly set fire to a truck at the Champs-Elysees, damaged stores, streetlights and traffic signs. Masked protesters also erected barricades in the city and threw bricks and other items at the police.

Officials said 24 people have been injured, including five police officers. One of them suffered burns to his groin.

Still, the authorities noted fewer violent incidents than during the first “yellow vest” protests a week ago.

“We’re not here to beat up cops. We came because we want the government to hear us, to hear the people,” one protest spokeswoman, Laetitia Dewalle, told the Agence France-Presse news agency, adding that the largely spontaneous movement denounced “violence by pseudo-protesters” on the fringes.

Elsewhere, protesters took over toll booths to let vehicles pass for free.

Macron ‘president of the rich’

Wearing the fluorescent yellow vests donned by stranded motorists in France, the protesters are upset about new taxes on diesel and ordinary gasoline, designed to encourage people to favor more environmentally friendly transport. Along with these taxes, the government has offered financial incentives to buy more fuel-efficient or electric vehicles.

Since coming into office in May 2017, Macron has repeatedly faced criticism about being out of touch with France’s common people. He has been dubbed the “president of the rich” for cutting a wealth tax, and his approval rating currently stands at a dismal 20 percent.

“Shame on those who were violent toward other citizens and journalists. Shame on those who tried to intimidate officials,” he posted on Twitter.

“There is no place for violence in this republic,” he added.

Police fear protests infiltrated by extremists

Police have warned that they believe the far-left and far-right movements are infiltrating the protests in order to stir up violent unrest. The demonstrations have included burning barricades and convoys of slow-moving trucks. A massive campaign last Saturday saw 300,000 join the protests nationwide.

The Interior Ministry has confirmed that at least two people have been killed and 606 injured since protests started, with the protests now spreading to French overseas territories.

On Saturday, hundreds of police formed a barrier in front of the protesters to prevent them from reaching their goal, the Elysee Palace, Macron’s residence.

es,dj/cmk (AFP, Reuters)

Paris to dedicate alley to Armenian writer and activist Zabel Yesayan

By

Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, will inaugurate the Zabel Essayan alley on Thursday, March 8, on the occasion of the International Day of struggle for women’s rights, in the presence of His Excellency Mr. Viguen Tchitetchian, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia in La France.

Zabel Essayan was an Armenian woman writer and human rights activist. Paris will commemorate the memory of Zabel Essayan on Thursday by the inauguration of the “Zabel Essayan alley”, which will be located on the central boulevard of Ménilmontant, starting Avenue de la République and ending rue de Tlemcen and rue Spinoza, in Paris (11th and 20th).

Zabel Essayan (born Hovhannessian) was born on February 4, 1878 in Constantinople, in the Ottoman Empire. Emigrated to Paris, she enrolled at the Sorbonne. In his major work titled In the Ruins (1911), Zabel Essayan recounts the massacre of Armenians in 1909 in the city of Adana, during which Christian neighborhoods are destroyed. More than thirty thousand Armenians are massacred in Cilicia, a former Roman province nowadays in Turkey.

Zabel Essayan travels Europe to defend the cause of his people. It shows immense determination to support the education of young girls, but also the countless orphans who have survived the Armenian genocide. In 1933, she moved permanently to Yerevan, where she became holder of the chair of Western Literature at the State University.

Victim of the Stalinist purges, Zabel Essayan was arrested in 1937 and disappeared in 1943.

Thursday, March 8, 2018 at 3:15 pm, median, corner Spinoza (11th) and Tlemcen (20th)
In the presence of Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris; Patrick Klugman, Deputy Mayor of Paris, in charge of international relations and La Francophonie; His Excellency Mr. Viguen Tchitetchian, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to France; Frédérique Calandra, Mayor of the 20th arrondissement; François Vauglin, Mayor of the 11th arrondissement

Thursday, March 8, 2018,
Claire © armenews.com

Paris Macron welcomes Armenia president at Élysée Palace

By

PARIS. – President of France Emmanuel Macron welcomed his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan at the Elysee Palace on Tuesday.

The ceremony will be followed by a tête-à-tête meeting and a working dinner, Armenian News-NEWS.am correspondent reports from Paris. The presidents are also expected to meet the media.

President Serzh Sargsyan is on a three-day visit to Paris.

ARMENIA / FRANCE Serge Sarkissian at the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo announces the creation of a TUMO school

By

On Monday, 22 January, Armenian President Serge Sarkissian was received, accompanied by Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, at the Paris City Hall.

After a private meeting, Serge Sarkissian and Anne Hidalgo addressed a crowd of several hundred people. The two ambassadors, Viguen Tchitetchian and Jonathan Lacote, the representatives of Artsakh in France, Hovhannès Kevorkian, the co-presidents of CCAF Ara Toranian and Mourad Papazian, the elected representatives of Pauline Veron and Patrick Klugman, Levon Sayan, Robert were present. Kechichian, Claude Mutafian, Raymond Kevorkian, …

In particular, it was announced that a TUMO school, for the practice of digital, will open in Paris next September, on the model of that of Yerevan. Pauline Véron – assistant responsible for youth in particular – will visit this week in Armenia to refine the details of this unprecedented cooperation.

Monday, January 22, 2018,
Claire © armenews.com

LA FRANCE #Erdogan in Paris: A provocation and outrage (PCF) “murder of three Kurdish activists”

By

The announcement of Turkish President Erdogan’s visit to Paris on January 5, 2018, sounds like a provocation. It will take place the day before an event commemorating the murder of three Kurdish activists five years ago. French justice had however highlighted the involvement of the Turkish secret services in this crime.

The meeting between Emmanuel Macron and Recep Tayyip Erdogan constitutes a new outrage against the families of the victims and the Kurds who undergo a ruthless deadly war. The parliamentarians and mayors of the HDP have had their immunity lifted, been removed from office and now languish in jail after being convicted in unfair trials.

Erdogan’s Turkey is in a chaotic situation, in a permanent repressive flight.

The opposition is silenced while gigantic purges populate the prisons. Politics has become a field of revenge in which Islamist-fascist militias enjoy impunity to kill and lynch those still protesting.

In these circumstances, how can it be said that Turkey remains “an essential partner”? France’s duty is to stand alongside human rights defenders in Turkey.

The PCF condemns the visit of the dictator RT Erdogan and expresses his total solidarity with all the Democrats of Turkey. He calls to make the demonstration of January 6, 2018 in Paris a success for Truth and Justice to be returned to Leila, Sakine and Rojbin.

French Communist Party

Wednesday, January 3, 2018,
Stéphane © armenews.co

Lebanon’s Hariri says he will return to Beirut

By

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri has announced on a Paris visit that he will soon travel back to his country. Hariri’s recent resignation is seen as the latest fallout of the proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced on Saturday that he intended to return to Beirut for the country’s Independence Day celebrations on Wednesday.

Hariri sent shockwaves through regional politics two weeks ago when he announced his surprise resignation while abroad in Saudi Arabia.

“As you know I have resigned, and we will discuss that in Lebanon with President Michel Aoun,” Hariri said in Paris, having been invited by French President Emmanuel Macron in the wake of the crisis.

Lebanon has traditionally had very strong ties with its former colonial power, France. Paris has routinely provided Beirut with military and financial assistance, particularly in helping the nation rebuild after its civil war.

Hariri thanked Macron for his “generous hospitality,” while France has indicated its willingness to host an international meeting on the crisis should the need arise.

Political chaos ensnares Germany’s top diplomat

Prime Minister Hariri shocked the world when he declared that he was stepping down during a trip to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on November 4, and then declined to return to Lebanon. His prolonged stay in Saudi Arabia prompted many, including German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, to assert that Hariri was being held against his will.

“To say that I am being held up in Saudia Arabia and not allowed to leave the country is a lie. I am on the way to the airport Mr. Sigmar Gabriel,” the prime minister wrote in a rare personal tweet on Friday night.

Riyadh has recalled its ambassador to Berlin over Gabriel’s comments.

 

France: Car slams into soldiers in Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret, six injured

By

French police were hunting for a driver who slammed his car into a group of soldiers in a Paris suburb, injuring six. The authorities launched a terror probe into the “attempted killings.”

The vehicle, a dark BMW car, hit the soldiers at Place de Verdun in Levallois-Perret at the northwestern edge of Paris on Wednesday at about 8:00 a.m. local time (0600 UTC). Police say the driver is on the run.

The mayor of Levallois-Perret, Patrick Balkany, told French television network BFMTV that the act was “odious” and “without a doubt deliberate.” He also said that the car appeared to have waited in a nearby alleyway until the soldiers emerged from their barracks to start their patrol.

“The vehicle did not stop. It hurtled at them … it accelerated rapidly,” he told broadcaster BFM TV.

The attacker apparently targeted members of the Sentinelle security force, which was created after Islamist attacks in 2015. Six soldiers were injured in the hit-and-run, three of them seriously. French defense ministry said that their lives were not in danger.

The prosecutors launched a probe into “attempted killings… in relation to a terrorist undertaking.”

The incident comes four days after a teenager with psychiatric problems tried to attack security forces guarding the Eiffel Tower, shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest). Several other extremists also attacked security forces in Paris earlier this year.

ng/sms (AP, AFP, Reuters)

Paris, Los Angeles guaranteed to host 2024 or 2028 Olympic Games

By

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided it can pick both Los Angeles and Paris as Olympic host cities in September when the 2024 and 2028 Summer Games rights should be awarded at the same time.

France 24 reports, the IOC members voted unanimously Tuesday to seek a consensus three-way deal between the two bid cities and the IOC executive board. Talks will open with Paris widely seen as favorite for 2024.

If a deal falls through, only the 2024 hosting rights will be voted on when the IOC next meets Sept. 13 in Lima, Peru.

Agreement seemed assured by the reaction of the two mayors. Eric Garcetti of LA and Anne Hidalgo of Paris emerged on stage holding hands to acclaim the decision.

The mayors were joined by IOC President Thomas Bach who raised an arm of each in a shared gesture of triumph. A deal to make both cities winners would fulfil a strategy Bach set in motion last December to help safeguard a stable future for the signature Olympic event.

“With Los Angeles and Paris, there are two fantastic cities from countries with a profound Olympic history,” Bach said earlier.

The IOC approved the expected double award after hearing both cities present their 2024 hosting plan at a conference center in the Olympic capital city Lausanne.

Both cities used 45 minutes of videos and speeches, including French President Emmanuel Macron promoting the Paris cause, in a closed-door session with International Olympic Committee members to explain how they would host the 2024 Olympics.

Paris: Arc de Triomphe, ceremony of remembrance to Armenian veterans

By

Is part of the 102nd commemoration of the genocide of the Armenians, ANACRA, chaired by Antoine Bagdikian, Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to France, Viguen Tchitetchian, Representative of the Republic of Artsakh Hovannès Guevorguian, representatives of The Republic of Cyprus, the Assyro-Chaldeans and Kurds, and dozens of elected officials and representatives of municipalities, traveled up the Champs Elysees and deposited the sheaves of remembrance to the former Armenian combatants who died for France during the wars 1914-18 and 1939 -45. An event that was followed by the many Parisians and tourists present on the premises, massed around the Arc de Triomphe in the Place de l’Etoile Charles de Gaulle.

On this occasion the ambassador revived the flame of the Unknown Soldier, as well as the various personalities present, under the music of the Republican Guard and the Armenian and French hymns interpreted by Arnaud Khatcherian.

 

Cloths by Armenian designers conquer Paris – Mir 24

By

“The Textile enterprises of Armenia modernize and expand sales markets. The second phase of the program aimed improving the competitiveness of light industry began in the country,” the correspondent of Mir 24 Russian news agency has evaluated the quality of the cloths by Armenian designers.

The author note that the costumes at the textile factory are sewn by the order of Valentin Yudashkin, whose Fashion House is impressed by the clothing models of the Armenian designers. The clothing collection of the Armenians has already been displayed in France.

“In Paris, our costumes were chosen among 150 other cloths. It is based on the quality of our tailoring. We make costumes in line with the existing standards in every country,” Director of the textile production Lida Sargsyan said.

The Russian textile shop of the Armenian cloths is one of the most attractive ones. Italian standards, natural fabrics and impeccable quality of tailoring – these qualities attract new fans.

The source notes that over the past year five light industry enterprises were opened in the country. “Everyone needs quality specialists. Designers-technologists of the new generation are trained in the school at the model agency, which is unique in the country. The teachers of the school promise to teach all the textile subtleties in a year,” reads the article.

The report notes that until the end of the year, two more spinning and sewing factories will be opened in Armenia with the manufacturers promising to increase the production output for twice at least.

Armenian products will not be limited to the Russian market. There are plans to export the good to Europe, the report says.