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Cyprus Considers Sheltering Some Armenian Refugees if Needed

An aerial view of the tent camp for Ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh arriving to Armenia in Goris, in Syunik region, Armenia, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. Armenian officials say more than 70% of Nagorno-Karabakh's original population have fled the region for Armenia. (AP Photo)
An aerial view of the tent camp for Ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh arriving to Armenia in Goris, in Syunik region, Armenia, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. Armenian officials say more than 70% of Nagorno-Karabakh's original population have fled the region for Armenia. (AP Photo)
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Cyprus Considers Sheltering Some Armenian Refugees if Needed

An aerial view of the tent camp for Ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh arriving to Armenia in Goris, in Syunik region, Armenia, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. Armenian officials say more than 70% of Nagorno-Karabakh's original population have fled the region for Armenia. (AP Photo)
An aerial view of the tent camp for Ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh arriving to Armenia in Goris, in Syunik region, Armenia, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. Armenian officials say more than 70% of Nagorno-Karabakh's original population have fled the region for Armenia. (AP Photo)

European Union member Cyprus on Friday said it was considering ways to host, if needed, displaced ethnic Armenians who had fled Azerbaijan's war-ravaged breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

More than three-quarters of the Armenian population of 120,000 had fled by Friday after a lightning defeat by Azerbaijani forces. The enclave had broken away in the 1990s, Reuters reported.

Cyprus traditionally has close ties with Armenia, and has a minority Armenian Christian population represented in parliament.

"The Cypriot government maintains an open corridor for the Armenian people and in that framework is ready to offer immediate humanitarian aid," the Cypriot Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"Cyprus is considering, among other things, ways to host a number of displaced Armenians in our country should that be deemed necessary."

There have been Armenians in Cyprus for centuries. Many trace their roots back to Armenian people or orphans forced to flee mass killings under the Ottoman Empire in 1915, which some governments today consider genocide.

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Pro-Palestinian NGOs Sue Dutch Gov't over Israel Support

A Palestinian flag is removed from a building by Israeli authorities after being put up by an advocacy group that promotes coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Wednesday, June 1, 2022. (AP)
A Palestinian flag is removed from a building by Israeli authorities after being put up by an advocacy group that promotes coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Wednesday, June 1, 2022. (AP)
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Pro-Palestinian NGOs Sue Dutch Gov't over Israel Support

A Palestinian flag is removed from a building by Israeli authorities after being put up by an advocacy group that promotes coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Wednesday, June 1, 2022. (AP)
A Palestinian flag is removed from a building by Israeli authorities after being put up by an advocacy group that promotes coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Wednesday, June 1, 2022. (AP)

Pro-Palestinian groups took the Dutch state to court Friday, urging a halt to arms exports to Israel and accusing the government of failing to prevent what they termed a genocide in Gaza.

The NGOs argued that Israel is breaking international law in Gaza and the West Bank, invoking, amongst others, the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention set up in the wake of the Holocaust.

"Israel is guilty of genocide and apartheid" and "is using Dutch weapons to wage war", said Wout Albers, a lawyer representing the NGOs.

"Dutch weapons are killing children, every day, in Palestine, including my family," said Ahmed Abofoul, a legal advisor to Al Haq, one of the groups involved in the suit, AFP reported.

Israel furiously denies accusations of genocide as it presses on with the offensive in Gaza it began after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.

Opening the case at the court in The Hague, judge Sonja Hoekstra noted: "It is important to underline that the gravity of the situation in Gaza is not contested by the Dutch State, nor is the status of the West Bank."

"Today is about finding out what is legally in play and what can be expected of the State, if the State can be expected to do more, or act differently than it is currently acting," she added.

She acknowledged this was a "sensitive case", saying: "It's a whole legal debate."

The lawyer for the Dutch State, Reimer Veldhuis, said the Netherlands has been applying European laws in force for arms exports.

Veldhuis argued the case should be tossed out.

"It is unlikely that the minister responsible will grant an arms export licence to Israel that would contribute to the Israeli army's activities in Gaza or the West Bank," said Veldhuis.