The US State Department on Monday backed its Ambassador to Azerbaijan Richard Morningstar's recent speech on closing Free Thought University, calling on Ilham Aliyev goverment to respect its citizens' rights, TURAN's Washington DC correspondent reports.
"We urge the Government of Azerbaijan to uphold its international commitments and ensure its citizens universal freedom of assembly and expression without fear of arrest or detention... We did make those concerns clear from the Embassy, and I'm reiterating those here today as well," Patrick Ventrell, State Department's acting deputy spokesperson, said in a daily press briefing.
"Ambassador Morningstar made very clear our support for the organization and for civil society... As he said, respect for peaceful protests, independent and transparent courts, and government engagement with citizens, especially young citizens, to address their legitimate concerns are the best and most effective ways democratic governments can ensure their fundamental stability," he emphasized.
While answering a second question on Azerbaijan -- on a suggestion by two Iranian parliamentarians to annul the 19th century treaties and annex Azerbaijan, Mr. Ventrell said, "this is a legislative tit-for-tat that has taken on both sides and has been done in the past". So the State Department doesn't have a eaction "to the tit-for-tat". -25В-
Politics
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Armenia is not against the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group, but does not consider it appropriate to discuss this issue now. "In the context of peace, we consider it possible to make a decision on the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group. When peace is an established fact, the existence of such a format may raise questions," Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference today. "The whole question is about the timing, we need to understand how effectively and correctly to turn such topics into a subject of discussion right now," the Armenian Prime Minister added.
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He expressed his willingness to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the border between the two countries. "A meeting with Ilham Aliyev could take place at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. I am open to such a format," Pashinyan said at a press conference today. According to Pashinyan, Armenia recently presented another proposal for a peace treaty to Azerbaijan.
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On August 31, Azerbaijan observes a "day of silence" before the Sunday’s early parliamentary elections for the unicameral Milli Majlis. All electoral campaigning is prohibited 24 hours before the voting. The early elections were initiated by the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party. This decision was motivated by the overlap of the scheduled elections in November with the global UN forum - the COP20 climate conference taking place in Baku.
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On August 30, at approximately 22:55, the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant in Metsamor was disconnected from the country's power grid, as reported by the Armenian Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure. The shutdown was caused by a lightning strike, which triggered the plant's safety systems to switch the station to a safe shutdown mode. Currently, the plant's staff is working on restarting the facility.
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