Профильный комитет Сената США в среду поддержал проект закона о конфискации замороженных из-за санкций российских активов. Если проект будет принят, США смогут передать эти активы Украине для компенсации ущерба от российской военной агрессии. https://t.co/XeuBxi4z4Q
— Радио Свобода (@SvobodaRadio) January 24, 2024
Ankara — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he and Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi agreed at a meeting on Wednesday on the need to avoid steps that could further threaten Middle East stability three months into the Gaza war.
Turkey, which supports a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has harshly criticized Israel for its attacks on Gaza, called for an immediate cease-fire, and backed legal steps for Israel to be tried for genocide.
Unlike its Western allies and some Arab nations, NATO member Turkey does not consider the Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose October 7 attack on Israel led to the retaliatory Israeli military campaign on Gaza, a terrorist group.
Iran leads what it calls the Axis of Resistance, a loose coalition that includes Hamas and armed Shiite Muslim groups around the region that have militarily confronted Israel and its Western allies. It has voiced support for Hamas.
Speaking at a news conference after meeting Raisi in Ankara, Erdogan said the two leaders had discussed ending Israel’s “inhumane” attacks on Gaza and the need to take steps for a fair and lasting peace in the region.
“We agreed on the importance of refraining from steps that will further threaten the security and stability of our region,” he said, adding the two neighbors had also agreed to continue cooperation against cross-border militant threats.
In a sign of the conflict widening, U.S. and British strikes hit Iran-backed Houthi targets in Yemen this month, in response for attacks on Red Sea shipping. Erdogan slammed the strikes as a disproportionate use of force.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also said last week he had spoken to his Iranian and Pakistani counterparts after the neighbors traded cross-border fire and called for calm.
Despite its harsh rhetoric, Ankara has maintained commercial ties with Israel, prompting criticism at home and in Iran.
Raisi accused the United States of supporting what he called Israel’s crimes against Palestinians in Gaza and repeated Tehran’s appeal for Muslim countries to cut their economic and political relations with the “Zionist regime.”
“What is happening in Palestine and Gaza is a crime against humanity … and the United States and the West are supporting these crimes,” he said. “Cutting economic and political ties with this regime can certainly have an impact on the Zionist regime to end its crimes.”
Turkey and Iran have usually had complicated ties, standing at odds over a host of issues, primarily the Syrian civil war.
Ankara has backed rebels looking to oust President Bashar al-Assad and mounted several incursions into northern Syria against militants, while Tehran supports his government. Turkey has recently taken steps to improve ties with Damascus.
Raisi had twice postponed his visit, initially planned for November, over scheduling issues and attacks in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman.
On Wednesday, the two leaders chaired a meeting of a Turkish-Iranian business council and signed various agreements.
Ankara — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he and Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi agreed at a meeting on Wednesday on the need to avoid steps that could further threaten Middle East stability three months into the Gaza war.
Turkey, which supports a two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has harshly criticized Israel for its attacks on Gaza, called for an immediate cease-fire, and backed legal steps for Israel to be tried for genocide.
Unlike its Western allies and some Arab nations, NATO member Turkey does not consider the Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose October 7 attack on Israel led to the retaliatory Israeli military campaign on Gaza, a terrorist group.
Iran leads what it calls the Axis of Resistance, a loose coalition that includes Hamas and armed Shiite Muslim groups around the region that have militarily confronted Israel and its Western allies. It has voiced support for Hamas.
Speaking at a news conference after meeting Raisi in Ankara, Erdogan said the two leaders had discussed ending Israel’s “inhumane” attacks on Gaza and the need to take steps for a fair and lasting peace in the region.
“We agreed on the importance of refraining from steps that will further threaten the security and stability of our region,” he said, adding the two neighbors had also agreed to continue cooperation against cross-border militant threats.
In a sign of the conflict widening, U.S. and British strikes hit Iran-backed Houthi targets in Yemen this month, in response for attacks on Red Sea shipping. Erdogan slammed the strikes as a disproportionate use of force.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also said last week he had spoken to his Iranian and Pakistani counterparts after the neighbors traded cross-border fire and called for calm.
Despite its harsh rhetoric, Ankara has maintained commercial ties with Israel, prompting criticism at home and in Iran.
Raisi accused the United States of supporting what he called Israel’s crimes against Palestinians in Gaza and repeated Tehran’s appeal for Muslim countries to cut their economic and political relations with the “Zionist regime.”
“What is happening in Palestine and Gaza is a crime against humanity … and the United States and the West are supporting these crimes,” he said. “Cutting economic and political ties with this regime can certainly have an impact on the Zionist regime to end its crimes.”
Turkey and Iran have usually had complicated ties, standing at odds over a host of issues, primarily the Syrian civil war.
Ankara has backed rebels looking to oust President Bashar al-Assad and mounted several incursions into northern Syria against militants, while Tehran supports his government. Turkey has recently taken steps to improve ties with Damascus.
Raisi had twice postponed his visit, initially planned for November, over scheduling issues and attacks in the southeastern Iranian city of Kerman.
On Wednesday, the two leaders chaired a meeting of a Turkish-Iranian business council and signed various agreements.
Россию заполонили километровые очереди. На этот раз не за яйцами или курятиной, а чтобы отдать свою подпись за выдвижение на президентские выборы “антивоенного” кандидата – Бориса Надеждина. Полный текст новости+Відео
On the heels of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan calling for a new constitution in Armenia, to be aligned with the region’s geopolitical realities, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan confirmed on Wednesday that Azerbaijan has expressed concerns regarding Armenia’s Declaration of Independence.
In an interview with Azatutyun.am’s Armenian Service, Mirzoyan said that there have been concerns voiced by Baku about Armenia’s Declaration of Independence and thus Armenia’s Constitution, which makes reference to the independence document that clearly calls for the reunification of Armenia and Artsakh.
“Yes, they [Azerbaijan] have loudly raised an issue. They consider [the independence declaration] problematic and have presented legal attributes. Accordingly, we considered their wording to be problematic in the same way,” Mirzoyan said.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Mirzoyan spoke about outstanding legal issues with the constitutions of both countries. In his interview with Azatuyun.am on Wednesday he emphasized that there are no mentions of constitutional changes in the peace treaty drafts that have thus far been exchanged between Yerevan and Baku.
“Within the general peace discussions, there have been concerns voiced about legal matters by both sides and both sides have provided clarifications on the issues accordingly,” Mirzoyan added, emphasizing that discussions about constitutional reforms or drafting a new constitution in Armenia started years ago.
The foreign minister said that while the constitution codifies principles of domestic interrelations for the Republic of Armenia, it can have an impact on regional issues.
“I do not deny that influence and that relationship, but I want to say that there is no such demand or text, project, nothing in the peace agreement,” Mirzoyan said.
Yet Pashinyan did not shy away from criticizing Armenia’s Declaration of Independence on the anniversary of its adoption last August, saying that the wording contained in the document sowed conflict with regional neighbors, characterizing it as a vestige of the Soviet Union.
His announcement last week, that Armenia needed a new constitution that would make Armenia more compatible with new geopolitical realities in the region, has raised concerns among many, including opposition forces, who have accused Pashinyan of kowtowing to Aliyev in advancing the notion of a new constitution.
Pashinyan’s critics were quick to assert that he wants to get rid of a preamble to the current Armenian constitution enacted in 1995. The preamble makes an indirect reference to a 1989 declaration on Armenia’s unification with Nagorno-Karabakh and calls for international recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide.
Five lawmakers representing the main opposition Hayastan alliance last week issued a joint statement accusing Pashinyan of “preparing the ground for meeting another of the nonstop Turkish-Azerbaijani demands.”
One of those lawmakers, Gegham Manukyan, insisted on Tuesday that the main purpose of the planned constitutional change is to remove the preamble in question. Pashinyan’s initiative would thus “tear down the pillars of modern Armenian statehood,” Manukyan told Azatutyun’s Armenian Service.
Tatevik Hayrapetyan, an expert on Azerbaijan and a former parliamentarian critical of the Armenian government, echoed those claims on Wednesday. Hayrapetian pointed out that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev openly demanded constitutional changes from Yerevan in 2021. Baku, she said, now wants to make sure that “in the future Armenia will refrain from claiming its rights to Nagorno-Karabakh under any government.”