[ 15 October, 2009 | 17:50 ] politicsYesterday, The European Union called on Turkey to shield Nobel Prize-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk from court cases undermining freedom of expression.
A week before the European Commission released its annual progress report on Turkey, a Turkish Appeals Court ruled that any plaintiff could seek compensation from Pamuk for remarks he made about the mass killing of Armenians and Kurds in Turkey’s history. So far, there already have been six separate cases by Turkish individuals. »»»»»
[ 15 October, 2009 | 16:26 ] societyToday RoA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan made a number of modifications to a government decision recently enacted regarding the transfer of 24 hectares from the Jrvezh Forest Park to a local community. The decision enraged a number of environmental and civic groups, who petitioned the government to review its decision.
It appears that the government, after reviewing the matter, has decided not to transfer the 24 hectares in question after all. PM Sargsyan noted that he had also received an urgent appeal from the RoA Academy of Sciences to have the property in question returned to the jurisdiction of the 400 hectare park.
[ 15 October, 2009 | 13:53 ] sport
Despite a ban on Azerbaijani flags during yesterday’s World Cup match between Armenia and Turkey, the accompanying photo shows that such flags indeed were waved during the match.
An APA news clip reports that some visiting Armenian journalists left the stadium after Turkish Football Federation officials asked them to lower an Armenian flag that they had been waving and which caused uproar among local Bursa fans. Members of the Bursaspor fan club “Texas” chanted “Armenians inside, Bursa outside” in a protest against non-allowance of some Bursa football fans to enter the stadium.
[ 15 October, 2009 | 12:42 ] politics
The seven Heritage Party MP’s today presented a bill to parliament speaker Hovik Abrahamyan calling on the RoA to officially recognize the Republic of Mountainous Karabakh (NKR).
Heritage Party faction representative Stepan Safaryan was hopeful that a majority in the legislature wouldn’t kill the bill in its tracks, as it did with a similar bill in April, 2007, and that it would adopt it after taking into account recent political developments regarding Artsakh. He added that the Heritage Party would welcome other MP’s to sign on to the bill as co-sponsors.
[ 15 October, 2009 | 02:29 ] sport
When reporters asked Armenian Football Federation President Rouben Hayrapetyan how he felt after the 2-0 loss to Turkey, he replied “bad”.Mr. Hayrapetyan, responding to a question posed by “Hetq”, said that, “There must be an infusion of good players for the Armenian national squad to compete effectively in the future. We must see to it that new, young players come up from the ranks.” »»»»»
[ 15 October, 2009 | 01:29 ] sport
In a one-sided football match of little World Cup significance, the Turkish national team sailed to a 2-0 victory over an Armenian side that lacked cohesion and a game plan, despite fighting for every loose ball. Both teams have failed to advance towards the next round of 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
The game had its share of yellow cards and a Turkish defender was ejected in the middle of the first half for repeated rough tackling. A polite President Sargsyan could be seen congratulating Turkish President Gul after each Turkish goal was scored. Turkey won by the same score in September 2008 in Yerevan for the opening match.
