Day: July 15, 2025

After nearly five decades of armed insurgency, the PKK has officially ended its armed struggle—a turning point not only for Türkiye, but for the entire region. The symbolic arms-laying ceremony held in Sulaymaniyah under the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq, where 30 PKK members—15 women and 15 men—burned their weapons, including Kalashnikovs, RPGs, and other military hardware, signals the beginning of a long-awaited and potentially transformative era. Among them was Besê Hozat, a senior figure and co-chair of the KCK Executive Council.

For the first time, Azertexnolayn LLC, a resident of the Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park managed by the Economic Zones Development Agency (EZDA) under the Ministry of Economy, has successfully exported dual-head irrigation hydrants to Greece, Azernews reports.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found that Georgia violated the rights to fair trial and freedom of assembly in the case of two Shame Movement activists detained during the post-election protests in 2020.

Two activists, Giorgi Mzhavanadze and Nodar Rukhadze, were arrested on November 9, 2020, before the start of a COVID-19 curfew, on administrative charges of petty hooliganism and disobedience to the lawful order of police. One of them reportedly tried to supply firewood to protesters near the Parliament to help them stay warm. Mzhavanadze was sent to a 3-day administrative detention, while Rukhadze was fined GEL 1,500 (about USD 550).

The ECtHR found a violation of the right to a fair trial in Rukhadze’s case only and a violation of the right to freedom of assembly in both cases. The applicants argued, among other things, that domestic courts gave undue weight to police officers’ statements, effectively placing the burden of proof on them. They also claimed that their arrest and subsequent administrative penalties amounted to interference with their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.

The ECtHR further ordered Georgia to pay Rukhadze EUR 529 for pecuniary damage and EUR 1,600 for non-pecuniary damage, and EUR 1,200 to the first applicant in respect of non-pecuniary damage.

“Maybe one day, these Strasbourg judgements will help build better police, courts, stronger human rights standards – and a better Georgia,” lawyer Eduard Marikashvili, who represented the applicants’ interests before the court, wrote on social media.

Also Read:

• 09/11/2020 – 19 Detained As Police Used Water Cannons Against Election Rally in Tbilisi
  

Spielfilm: “Was sehen wir, wenn wir zum Himmel schauen?” Buch und Regie: Alexandre Koberidze https://t.co/nR8XNRXpkF via @DasErste

— Notes from Georgia/South Caucasus (Hälbig, Ralph) (@SouthCaucasus) July 15, 2025