French leader to mediate Karabakh settlement at Yerevan, Baku visit?April 4, 2014 - 17:03 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - French President Francois Hollande’s official visit to Azerbaijan, scheduled for next month, is of great political importance, French envoy said, according to APA. As Pascal Meunier reminded at a news conference in Baku, visits to Armenia and Georgia are also on the French President's agenda. He recalled that President Hollande would visit Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. “One of main goals of President Hollande’s visit is to support a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The resolution of the Karabakh issue will open up great opportunities for the conflicting parties. The second aim is to show that as a sovereign entity, the region that can determine its future itself. We support peace and friendship among the regional countries,” the French ambassador to Azerbaijan concluded. As was reported earlier, initiation of the Genocide denial criminalization bill will be officially announced during Hollande's visit to Armenia. On January 23, 2012 the French Senate passed the bill making it a crime to deny the Armenian Genocide. The bill envisaged a 45,000 euro fine and a year in prison for anyone in France who denies this crime against humanity committed by the Ottoman Empire. However, the French Constitutional Council ruled the bill as anti-constitutional. In a statement the Council said the document represented an “unconstitutional breach of the practice of freedom of expression and communication Later, President Hollande pledged to redraft the law criminalizing the Armenian Genocide denial in France, stressing the need to ensure the legal framework to avoid censorship by the Constitutional Council. The Armenian Genocide The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million. Top stories Six total incidents have burned 19 old-growth trees. Friday night 8 trees were torched along the beautiful main entrance. The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says. Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer. A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says. Partner news | Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. Ex-Karabakh leader moved to solitary confinement cell in Baku, his son says David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. Freedom House concerned by mounting reports of police violence in Armenia Freedom House urged Armenian authorities to investigate this pattern of excessive force and inhumane treatment. CSTO recognizes Armenia’s sovereign right to withdraw Tasmagambetov has said that if Armenia decides to leave the organization, “it will be the sovereign right of Armenia.” |