ANKARA (Bloomberg)–Turkey’s parliament Wednesday altered a law to ease curbs on freedom of speech, a step designed to advance the nation’s bid for European Union membership. The assembly in Ankara approved the changes to article 301 of the penal code today by 250-65, Deputy Speaker Meral Aksener told lawmakers after the vote in a televised [...]

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)–Armenia’s newly formed government received a vote of confidence in parliament on Wednesday as lawmakers overwhelmingly endorsed its five-year policy program. The program, which incorporates elemen’s of initiatives from the four political parties in the governing coalition, was voted on Wednesday after two days of deliberation in the National Assembly. It was approved [...]

YEREVAN (Armenpress)–It is not enough for Armenia to constantly expresses its readiness to engage in peace negotiations, Azerbaijan must also be willingto negotiate for a settlement, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said Wednesday at a National Assembly-Government Question and Answer session. According to Nalbandian, Armenia finds it imperative that negotiations continue within the framework of [...]

YEREVAN (Armenpress)–The United States has a lot of work to do in order to help strengthen democracy in the South Caucasus, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday during a meeting with the leadership of the US Peace Corps. "We have a lot to do in Azerbaijan and to some extent in Armenia’so that [...]

YEREVAN (ArmRadio)–Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian met on Wednesday with heads of foreign diplomatic missions in Armenia to discuss Armenia’s foreign policy priorities and its position on contemporary issues in international relations. Minister Nalbandian said Armenia will continue making steps in the direction of developing relations with its partner states. "Armenia will continue deepening [...]

YEREVAN (Armenpress)-Armenia’s tourist industry is recovering from a setback it suffered in the aftermath of the March 1-2 unrest in Yerevan, when the number of foreigners wishing to visit Armenia declined drastically, head of the Armenian Economy Ministry’s Tourism Department Mekhak Apresian told Armenpress. Apresian cited "approximate" calculations and data from travel agencies to [...]

TEL AVIV–The man who commanded the clandestine operations that brought in four ships carrying some 24,000 illegal immigran’s between 1945 and 1948, Yossi Harel, died Sunday in Tel Aviv at the age of 90. The writer Yoram Kaniuk, a friend of Harel, told Haaretz that when the ships he commanded sailed past the coast of [...]

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)–The Armenian parliament called on the government Tuesday to pursue a more proactive policy on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which it said would boost prospects for international recognition of the Karabakh Republic. The resolution tasking the new government with pursuing a more vigorous Karabakh policy, was overwhelmingly adopted by the National Assembly on Tuesday [...]

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–Military authorities in Baku and Yerevan have made conflicting statemen’s about the circumstances in which four Armenia’s crossed into Azerbaijan and were taken prisoner there earlier this month. News of their capture was first reported by Azerbaijani media on Monday and confirmed by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry the next day. A ministry spokesman, [...]

YEREVAN (Armenpress)–A draft law on public assembly, which is set to reverse restrictions placed on protests and rallies that were enacted following a declaration of emergency rule in the wake of post-election unrest has been sent to international experts for examination, National Assembly Speaker Tigran Torosian told reporters on Tuesday. According to Torosian, discussions in [...]

BAKU (Trend)-Azerbaijan has issued a formal protest to the US State Department in connection to the Los Angeles Wilshire Ebell Theatre’s May 2 hosting of a 20th Anniversary celebration of the Karabakh Movement, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov told journalists in Baku on Tuesday. According to Azimov, official Baku also registered its objection to [...]

YEREVAN (Armenpress)–The government of Armenia must work quickly to find solutions to the country’s pressing challenges if it truly wants to become a government of national unity, ARF Parliamentary faction member Ara Nranian told a news conference Tuesday. He said the government’s long-term goals may seem hard to implement by a small country like Armenia. [...]

ANKARA–The Turkish media Tuesday expressed anger and disappointment at Rep. Caroline Maloney (D-NY), a long-time supporter of the Armenian Genocide Resolution and Armenian issues in Congress, for speaking at a Genocide Commemoration event in New York Sunday. Maloney is also one of the founders of the Greek-American Friendship Group and has advocated for the Turkish [...]