Armenia boycotted a NATO summit in Chicago at the weekend in protest against what it described as the pro-Azerbaijani wording of a declaration adopted by the leaders of the alliance’s 28 member states.

The International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (the IPGA), coordinated by Article 19, has launched its Web site, AzerbaijanFreeXpression.org and Facebook and Twitter profiles ahead of this week’s Eurovision Song Competition, which will commence in Baku on Tuesday, announced Reporters Without Borders.

A bipartisan group of five U.S. senators has urged Azerbaijan to release political activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev immediately.

French Socialist candidate Francois Hollande beat incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy during Sunday’s elections.

On the eve of the Eurovision Song Contest, scrutiny of host Azerbaijan is increasing, particularly the country’s human rights record. A confidential German Foreign Ministry report, which SPIEGEL has seen, criticizes “state repression” in the country.

Publisher Ragip Zarakolu was released from prison today pending trial along with 14 other suspects. He was taken into custody on Oct. 28, 2011, during a large-scale manhunt in Istanbul against Kurdish and human rights activists.

A report published this week by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedoms that ranked Turkey as one of the worst oppressors of Christians has been deemed “null and void” by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, reported the Hurriyet Daily News on Friday.

The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) announced that its long-time president, Hilda Tchoboian, has been elected a member of the Regional Council of Rhone-Alpes in France. In order to assume her new responsibilities, Tchoboian has resigned from her duties as President of the EAFJD.

he director of the Central Intelligence Agency, General David Petraeus paid an unannounced two-day visit to Ankara to discuss deepening instability in Syria, the joint fight against terrorism and closer cooperation on pressing regional issues “in coming months.”

Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Iran said a $1.6 billion arms deal with Israel, which was announced Sunday, was made “to liberate occupied Azerbaijani land,” Iranian news agencies reported Tuesday.

Turkey is planning to purchase 100 multi-purpose F-35 fighter jets worth $16 billion, Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz said, reported the daily Milliyet.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has posted its annual report on press reppression around world, entitled “Attacks on the Press 2011.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited CyprusThursday to discuss energy cooperation, right after Cypriots launched a second licensing round for offshore exploratory drilling that received Turkey’s condemnation.

Iran on Sunday called on Azerbaijan to halt anti-Iran espionage operations by Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, on Azeri soil.