French Hay Dat chief: Constitutional Council reps in business ties with TurkeyFebruary 28, 2012 - 21:40 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The head of Hay Dat French office cited Turkish pressure and underhand intrigues behind the French Constitutional Council’s ruling that the bill punishing Armenian Genocide denial is unconstitutional. As Hrach Varzhapetian told a PanARMENIAN.Net a number of Turkish and Azeri media reported that the bill was ruled as unconstitutional before the official announcement, which proves the decision was pre-planned. According to the politician, some French media outlets raised the issue, questioning the impartiality of some of the Council members. “Some of the members of the Council are known to have business and other ties with Turkish circles,” the politician said. Varzhapetian further pledged to raise the issue during the meetings with the Armenian community. “It’s time to call a spade a spade,” he said. The French Constitutional Council ruled that a bill recently adopted by the French Senate making it a crime to deny the Armenian Genocide was anti-constitutional. In a statement the Council said the bill adopted by parliament on January 23 represented an “unconstitutional breach of the practice of freedom of expression and communication.” Turkey reacted furiously when the Senate approved the law. Ankara halted political and military cooperation with France and was threatening to cut off economic and cultural ties if the law took effect. Top stories 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. London’s Armenian community has been left feeling “under attack” after the city’s Genocide monument was vandalised. Partner news | Russia clarifying reports on Baku’s alleged arms supply to Ukraine Russia says is carefully working to verify reports about alleged arms supplies from Azerbaijan to Ukraine Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. Armenia to sing in 2nd semi-final of Eurovision The organizers of Eurovision 2024 have revealed the running order of the countries in the two semi-finals. |