Turkey accuses Luxembourg of supporting terrorismNovember 8, 2016 - 13:24 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, November 8 accused Luxembourg of supporting terrorism in response to its foreign minister's suggestion to sanction Ankara over its crackdown on opposition, Sputnik reports. In an interview published Monday, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said that Turkey’s economic dependence on the European Union could be used to turn up the pressure on Ankara to stop its "Nazi" practices of ostracizing tens of thousands of alleged opposition members and journalists. "We condemn the statement by the Jean Asselborn, the foreign minister of Luxembourg, which is one of the main European countries that support terrorism. In an interview with Deutschlandfunk, he made attacks against Turkey, which is a serious cause for concern. Statements by the foreign minister of a country whose contribution to the fight against global terrorism is questionable indicate that he is far from understanding the scale and nature of the threats posed to Turkey," the foreign ministry's press secretary Huseyin Muftuoglu said in a statement. He stressed that Turkey expects all countries to denounce the attempted coup which took place in Turkey on July 16. Following the coup attempt, thousands of people, mostly officials, legal and educational workers, were detained or dismissed over alleged ties to the putsch organizers. The European Union spoke out against what it perceived as multiple cases of human rights abuse by the Turkish government. Turkish authorities have also mounted a crackdown against pro-Kurdish politicians. Earlier in November, a number of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) members were arrested over alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkey considers terrorist. The move was made possible after the Turkish parliament voted to strip lawmakers of parliamentary immunity in May. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. Aram I supports Karekin II’s “patriotic position” Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I has expressed support for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. |