Day: December 8, 2023

The OSCE stands ready to help as a platform for continued dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan, OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani said in a post on X.

“Yesterday’s joint statement by Armenia and Azerbaijan is exactly the sort of positive step forward needed on the path to sustainable peace. The OSCE stands ready to help as a platform for continued dialogue & as an implementation partner for agreements,” the OSCE chair said.

In a joint statement the two countries reconfirmed their intention to normalize relations and to reach the peace treaty on the basis of respect for the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Driven by the values of humanism and as a gesture of goodwill, the Republic of Azerbaijan releases 32 Armenian military servicemen. In its turn, driven by the values of humanism and as a gesture of goodwill, the Republic of Armenia releases 2 Azerbaijani military servicemen.

France will continue its support for Armenia and the Armenian people following the November 30th vote in Parliament, providing €15 million in emergency aid for Armenia and refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, the French Foreign Ministry informs.

This additional aid will help support the efforts by NGOs, the ICRC, the Armenian Red Cross and UN agencies to welcome and look after the social, medical, educational and financial needs of these particularly vulnerable populations.

“This latest aid package brings our 2023 contribution to €27.5 million. Emergency medical supplies were also turned over to the Armenian authorities, and French hospitals are caring for several burn patients. This support is accompanied by fundraising efforts by civil society organizations and local governments to help the Armenian people,” the Foreign Ministry said.

Russian and Belarusian athletes who have qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics will be allowed to participate as neutrals, the International Olympic Committee has confirmed, the BBC reports.

The conditions of their inclusion include competing without flags, emblems or anthems of their country.

Athletes from those nations were banned after Russia waged war against Ukraine in February 2022.

Letting individuals take part was about “respecting human rights” the IOC said.

However, World Athletics said its position remains unchanged, with athletes, support personnel and officials from Russia and Belarus remaining excluded “from all World Athletics Series events”.

“You may well see some neutral athletes from Russia and Belarus in Paris, it just won’t be in athletics,” World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said on Friday.

Speaking at the World Athletics Council Meeting in Monaco, Coe added: “We have a fixed position. I think it is right that International Federations should make judgements that they feel is in the best interest of their sport. That is what our council has done.”

Ukraine had threatened to boycott the 2024 Games if the ban was not upheld but Ukraine’s sports minister Vadym Huttsait told Reuters in July it could drop that threat if Russian and Belarusian athletes were made to compete under a neutral flag.

On December 8, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan had a telephone conversation with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece George Gerapetritis.

The interlocutors touched upon the key issues of the Armenia-Greece bilateral agenda, as well as the Armenia-EU partnership. Both sides commended the steps and initiatives aimed at expanding cooperation on both bilateral and multilateral platforms, the deepening of the political dialogue.

The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Greece exchanged views on regional security and stability.

Minister Mirzoyan briefed his counterpart on the latest developments in the normalization process of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations and the positions of the Armenian side on the draft peace treaty. The importance of the joint statement made the day before by the office of the Prime Minister of Armenia and the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan and further efficient steps in that direction were mentioned.

Armenian, Greek FMs discuss issues of regional security and stability – Public Radio of Armenia  en.armradio.am

UN Secretary General welcomes statement on normalization of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations  Trend News Agency

Deputy Prime Ministers of Azerbaijan and Russia hold meeting  Trend News Agency

Azerbaijan discloses timeline for campaign in early presidential election  Trend News Agency

Deadline for submitting applications for observers in early presidential elections in Azerbaijan announced  Trend News Agency

Selcuk Bayraktar, CTO of Baykar Makina, announced the launch of a domestic artificial intelligence project at the International Startup Summit held in Istanbul, Azernews reports.