Angela Merkel
Baku/20.04.21/Turan: In 2018, a scandal erupted in the Council of Europe around the facts of bribery of a group of European deputies by Azerbaijan ("Azerbaijani Laundromat"). Among them were deputies from Germany. What did the German authorities do to clarify the circumstances of this case? This question asked on April 20 at the PACE session to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“The scandal connected with Azerbaijan was investigated in the Bundestag; this is a very unpleasant event and requires a detailed investigation. Deputies Shtenz and Linder were punished. We studied all the documents and all the public figures involved in the scandal were criticized,” she said, answering a question from an Icelandic MP, rapporteur on political prisoners in Azerbaijan Thorhildur Sunna ÆVARSDÓTTIR.
* In March 2019, the PACE Legal and Human Rights Committee published a new report with recommendations entitled "Laundromats: Responding to New Challenges in the International Fight against Organized Crime, Corruption and Money Laundering."
In January 2019, the leadership of the Bundestag punished MP Karin Strenz for violating parliamentary rules for declaring foreign income received from Azerbaijan. In January 2020, prosecutors in Frankfurt launched an investigation into Karin Strenz and former Christian Democratic Party member Eduard Lintner. Strenz was deprived of parliamentary immunity, and the police conducted a search in her house. -02В-
Politics
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On the eve of the closing of the COP29 climate conference in Baku, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has drawn attention to the criminal cases of journalists detained in Azerbaijan.
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Negotiations at the 29th session of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Baku have been extended until November 24, a source in the UNFCCC Secretariat told the Turan news agency. According to the source, participants aim to finalize and sign the concluding documents by that date.
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According to the Turkish newspaper Sabah, officials from the Istanbul Prosecutor's Office's Anti-Smuggling Unit have detained an Azerbaijani citizen with a large shipment of gold. The detention took place near the Vadi İstanbul shopping center in the Sarıyer district, where a taxi was stopped. During the search, 70 kg of gold was found. The Azerbaijani citizen in the vehicle claimed ownership of the cargo and also stated that he was a diplomat. The investigation by the prosecutor's office is ongoing, reports Sabah newspaper. The media outlet does not disclose the name of the "diplomat," only his initials – M.G.Ş. The Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs has declined to comment on the situation.
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On November 22, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan discussed negotiations with Azerbaijan regarding a peace treaty in an interview with Public TV. In particular, he emphasized that society should move away from certain stereotypes. “We are outraged when we hear the term ‘Western Azerbaijan.’ But we don’t think that when we say ‘Western Armenia,’ it also irritates anyone,” he stated.
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