Turkish court acquits 3 who danced atop Armenian church gateMarch 10, 2022 - 14:07 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A Turkish court has acquitted three people who in July danced on the gate of an Armenian church in Istanbul, according to the Duvar news website. The incident, which took place at the Surp Takavor Church in Kadikoy, sparked outrage at the time among Turkey’s Armenian community and Armenian activists. An Istanbul prosecutor in an indictment demanded a sentence of up to one year for them, but the court ruling said the three people did not act with criminal intent, the Stockholm Center for Freedom said on Wednesday, March 9. Three people were temporarily detained on July 12 after videos circulating on social media showed them dancing on the church’s gate. The Istanbul Governor’s Office in a statement condemned the incident, saying an investigation had been launched. The incident was also slammed by members of the Armenian and Christian communities in Turkey. In July Peoples’ Democratic Party’s (HDP) lawmaker Garo Paylan, who is of Armenian origin, had called on the Interior Ministry to take action. “I condemn the people who acted irreverently at our church in Kadıköy and those who allowed this to happen. The Interior Ministry must immediately launch an investigation into the police officers who were stationed there,” Paylan tweeted. 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. |