Mosques in Switzerland may have no minaretsNovember 27, 2009 - 19:28 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Swiss authorities have appointed a date for holding a nationwide referendum on constitutional amendments banning minaretsconstruction. Voting is due on November 29.A few years back, the issue was raised by Swiss People's Party (SPP) which held victory in 2007 parliamentary elections. The party called for ban on minarets fearing a creeping Islamicisation. In the summer of 2008, SPP collected almost 115,000 signatures for holding a referendum, BBC News reports. Islam is the second largest religion in Switzerland which has 400 thousand Muslims living on its territory (with the total population being 7.7 million). The country has 3 mosques with minarets. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | IDBank, Dalma team up for Caucasian Deer Reintroduction Program IDBank has joined Dalma Garden Mall’s Green Challenge to support the Caucasian red deer reintroduction project. Through Ucom’s support the 12th Sunchild Festival concludes On May 24-28, with the support of Ucom, the 12th international environmental festival Sunchild took place in Yerevan. U.S., Turkey emphasize importance of Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal Jake Sullivan and Akif Cagatay Kilic have discussed the normalization process between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia coach expects good football in Slovenia friendly The Armenian national team has left for Ljubljana a friendly match against Slovenia on June 4. |