Co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Monitoring Committee Joseph Debono Grech and Pedro Agramunt attended the plenary meeting of the Azerbaijani Parliament on Wednesday. Speaker of the Parliament Ogtay Asadov said while being a member of the parliament during the past 10 years for the first time he witnessed that the PACE co-rapporteurs joined the parliament meeting in Azerbaijan. 

Head of the EURONEST Secretariat John Louis Beltran arrived in Azerbaijan. According to APA, the goal of his visit is to discuss the issues of the preparation for the EURONEST April session in Baku.  Beltran will meet the members of the parliament and government officials of Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani parliament has issued an appeal to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to hold the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Baku. The appeal has been made today at the first meeting of the parliament's spring session. The Azerbaijani parliament agreed to hold the Olympic Games and calls on the IOC to hold them in Baku. The IOC included Baku in the list of cities nominated for hosting the 2020 Olympic Games. As a result, Azerbaijan has set up an organising committee in connection with it.

The law envisaging the criminal penalty for the denial of the so-called "Armenian genocide" is directed against Turkey. It demonstrates hostility towards it, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted by TRT Haber TV channel as saying. Turkey will not remain silent in the face of Islamophobia. It urges Europe to take actions against this, Erdogan said. French Senators who do not agree with the adoption of the law envisaging the criminal punishment for the denial of "Armenian genocide" on Jan. 31 collected the required number of signatures demanding the cancellation of the law.

The spring session of the Azerbaijani Parliament started. APA reports that the first plenary meeting of the spring session, which started with playing of national anthem, is led by Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Ogtay Asadov. 4 issues were included to the agenda of the meeting. These are the reorganization of the Accounting and Disciplinary Commission of the Azerbaijani Parliament, the legislative working plan for the spring session of Azerbaijani Parliament in 2012 and the second reading of the bill on "State’s care of persons with multiple sclerosis" Asadov said that Azerbaijani Parliament is expected to work intensively and interestingly during the spring session of 2012.

Russia on Tuesday warned foreign countries against meddling in the internal affairs of Syria, saying that "the Syrian crisis can only be resolved with the Syrian-led political process", Xinhua reported. The statement came as Vitaly Churkin, the Russian permanent representative to the United Nations, was addressing an open meeting of the UN Security Council on the current situation of Syria.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Konstantin Grishenko will visit Uzbekistan on Feb.5-6, Uzbek media outlets report with reference to Ukrainian sources. During the negotiations with the Uzbek leadership Grishenko plans to discuss energy cooperation, as Uzbekistan has great volumes of energy resources. According to the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan, trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Ukraine amounted to $552.6 million in 2010, which enabled Ukraine to rank third among the CIS countries in terms of trade turnover. According to preliminary data, in 2011 the trade turnover between Ukraine and Uzbekistan amounted to about $900 million.

President of Turkey Abdullah Gul hopes that the French court will make a right decision, TRT Haber TV Channel reported on Tuesday. On Tuesday, Jan.31, the French Senators collected required number of signatures demanding repeal of the law criminalizing the denial of the so-called "Armenian genocide". President Gul said it is impossible to believe that the French people will put their country in an awkward position. The Senators collected 70 signatures instead of fixed 60 and, thus, today they will appeal to the Constitutional Council.

NATO and U.S. experts are scheduled to visit Baku on Feb.14. During the visit a review will be made on the NATO assistance in reforming Azerbaijani Armed Forces, including in military training, Azerbaijani Defense Ministry told Trend on Tuesday. The cooperation between Azerbaijan and NATO was laid in 1994, signing a framework document - Partnership for Peace.

The Azerbaijani parliamentary plan for the spring session has been approved. It is planned to discuss the bills on "Ensuring the rights and freedoms of persons in custody," "Status of servicemen", "Reports of municipalities", "Loans for education," eEcological Expertise", "Appraisal activity", "Agricultural cooperation", "Higher education", "Politics in science," "State care of people with MS", "Rights of patients," "Culture", as well as the codes of "Urban planning" and "Construction" and "Competition."