EU foreign affairs ministers will discuss the bloc’s response to the sentencing of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny at their next meeting, the top EU diplomat announced on Wednesday.

In a declaration on behalf of the EU, Josep Borrell condemned the Moscow court’s decision, calling it “unacceptable as it is politically motivated and runs counter to Russia’s international human rights obligations.”

Referring to a 2017 decision of the European Court of Human Rights that found Navalny's conviction "arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable", the EU foreign policy chief called for the immediate and unconditional release of the opposition leader and those detained “for exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.”

The declaration also reminded Russia “to uphold their national and international obligations to respect and ensure human rights and equality before the law, including the right to a fair trial.”

EU foreign affairs ministers will discuss the Navalny case and “implications and possible further action” at their upcoming meeting on Feb. 22.

The top EU diplomat is expected to visit Russia this week.

Borrell is supposed to meet his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Friday morning, when he promised last week to raise "all the contentious issues with Russia," including Navalny and the crackdown on recent protests against his imprisonment.

A Moscow court on Tuesday sentenced Navalny to two years and eight months in prison for violating parole.

Navalny pleaded not guilty and demanded his immediate release. His lawyers said they would appeal the conviction.

In 2014, Navalny was convicted for fraud and embezzlement but his sentence was suspended and replaced with six years of probation. He was obliged to report to the police twice a month.

The opposition leader was arrested in the Russian capital upon his return on Jan. 17 from Germany where he had received treatment after alleged poisoning by Russian agents./aa

Canada added 13 groups to its list of terrorist organizations Wednesday, including white supremacist, neo-Nazi and anti-Muslim organizations.

Included are the Proud Boys, the Base, Atomwaffen and the Russian Imperial Movement. The Proud Boys have chapters in Canada and the United States.

The announcement was made by Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, who said these organization pose a “serious threat” to Canada.

If Canada’s security and intelligence agencies conduct an “extremely rigorous” investigation and find there are “reasonable grounds to believe that an entity has knowingly participated in or facilitated a terrorist activity,” they can be added to the list, the government said. The organizations are then banned in Canada.

Mustafa Farooq, chief executive officer of the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), said the designations are a great step forward.

“Today is a momentous day with the banning of some of the worst white supremacist groups – like The Base and the Atomwaffen – in Canada,” he said in a statement.

Farooq said NCCM personnel met with various government officials and pushed to have the groups added to the terrorist list.

The Proud Boys and the Base are neo-fascist organizations; the Atomwaffen calls for violence against various groups including religious and ethnic organizations. The Russian Imperial Movement is another neo-facist group with links worldwide.

The organizations are considered “ideologically motivated violent extremists” the government said.

Proud Boys were linked to the mob that stormed on Jan. 6 the American Capitol building that includes both House and Senate offices.

While being a member of these groups is not necessarily a crime, banks can freeze accounts of those identified as members of the groups, while police can lay charges against those who support the organizations through financial contributions or donations of other material./aa

Turkey and its four partners in a cross-national dialogue group on Wednesday expressed concern over the political situation in coup-hit Myanmar.

"We are concerned over the recent political situation in Myanmar and we call for the adherence to the rule of law, good governance, the principles of democracy and constitutional government,” read a joint statement by the foreign ministers of Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Australia, whose initials make up the group's acronym, MIKTA.

"Furthermore, we urge all parties in Myanmar to exercise self-restraint and put forth dialogue in finding solutions," the statement added.

Myanmar's military declared a state of emergency on Monday, hours after detaining ousted President Win Myint and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior members of the pre-coup ruling party National League for Democracy (NLD).

The coup took place hours before the first session of the country's new parliament was set to convene following elections last November in which Suu Kyi's NLD party made sweeping gains.

The military claimed the coup was staged due to "election fraud" in the polls, which it said resulted in the dominance of the NLD in the parliament.

Wednesday's 18th MIKTA Foreign Ministers' Meeting was held via videoconference and was chaired by South Korea's Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha.

Coronavirus

Reasserting MIKTA's commitment to multilateralism, the statement said: "We are pleased to acknowledge the successful delivery of the first-ever head-of-state-level statement made on behalf of MIKTA at the United Nations, which demonstrates MIKTA's solidarity and commitment to upholding multilateralism."

"We reiterate our continued support for the United Nations system and initiatives such as the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator and its COVAX Facility, amongst others, to ensure an effective response to our common challenges," it added.

The countries welcomed "the emphasis of the President of the UN General Assembly on multilateralism, which is fitting with MIKTA's priorities and are ready to work together in ensuring effective and efficient functioning of the UN General Assembly in the face of the challenges posed by COVID-19."

According to the statement, the group affirmed its commitment to "acting in full solidarity to overcome the pandemic while minimizing its economic and social impacts."

"MIKTA countries will continue to collaborate and exchange best practices, including to achieve extensive immunization against COVID-19," the statement added.

Calling for equitable access and distribution of safe, affordable and effective COVID-19 vaccines for all, it called on all stakeholders to further strengthen international cooperation in this regard.

The statement also stressed "the launch of dialogue channels among our health ministries, ministries in charge of women affairs, development cooperation agencies and academic experts."

MIKTA will be chaired by Australia in 2021.

All five countries in the group, which was established in 2013, are G20 members recognized as middle-power countries in international diplomacy./aa

Five more PKK terrorists have surrendered to Turkish security forces, the country's Interior Ministry announced Wednesday.

After fleeing from the separatist PKK terror organization, the terrorists were talked into laying down arms by the police and gendarmerie, the ministry said in a statement.

The family of one of the terrorists who surrendered, has been attending a sit-in in Diyarbakir for 520 days to retrieve their son from the clutches of the terror group, said Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu.

The terrorists had been active in Iraq and Syria, the statement added.

With the latest additions, the number of terrorists who have laid down their arms through persuasion efforts this year has reached 21.

The number of surrendered terrorists whose families were attending the sit-in has reached 23, according to the ministry.

The Diyarbakir protest began on Sept. 3, 2019 when three mothers said their children had been forcibly recruited by YPG/PKK terrorists.

The sit-in outside the office of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which the government accuses of having links to the YPG/PKK terror group, has been growing every day.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants./aa

The PKK terrorist organization allegedly promoted one of its members despite him having raped multiple underage girls, two of whom committed suicide following their horrific experience.

A former PKK member who surrendered after the persuasion efforts of Turkish authorities reportedly named a so-called senior member of the terror group who had raped four girls between the ages of 14-17.

According to the information obtained by security forces, Remzi Demiroglu -- codenamed Hogir Maras -- is now supposedly in charge of the Gever area. Two of the girls he raped after they were deceived into joining the terror group took their own lives, while the other two, pregnant, were forcibly sent to the Hakurk region of northern Iraq.

The terror group supposedly "suspended" Demiroglu for a short while after launching a for-show investigation. Soon after, he was promoted and the PKK obscured the rapes and suicides by spreading lies, claiming the girls were killed in an armed clash, according to the former terrorist, identified as B.T., who fled the PKK's camps in Syria and turned himself in to law enforcement last month.

Sexual harassment and rape of new, underage recruits are prevalent in the PKK, with many female members of the terror group looking seeking to flee at the first opportunity, B.T. reportedly recounted.

The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants, in an over 30-year terror campaign against Turkey. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot./aa

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced Tuesday that he will step down from his position at the mega retailer and cloud-computing company during the third quarter of 2021.

Bezos will transition to the role of executive chairman, and the head of Amazon Web Services, Andy Jassy, will be promoted to fill Bezos' role as CEO.

"In the Exec Chair role, I intend to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives," Bezos said in an email to employees. "Andy is well known inside the company and has been at Amazon almost as long as I have. He will be an outstanding leader, and he has my full confidence."

Bezos founded Amazon in 1994, transforming it from an online book retailer to its current sprawling business that encompasses every corner of retail, and has gone on to transform the company into a leader in cloud computing. Amazon Web Services now powers everything from video games to sports and at-home personal workout devices.

Bezos said that switching to his new role as Amazon's executive chairman will allow him to "have the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions."

"I’ve never had more energy, and this isn’t about retiring. I’m super passionate about the impact I think these organizations can have," he said.

Amazon reported last week a record year of growth, and while Bezos' announcement appeared to have set investors quickly running for the exit, the company's stock quickly recovered in after-hours trading to near its daily high./aa

Britain on Tuesday called for the "immediate and unconditional release" of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny after he was sentenced to over three years in jail.

"Today's perverse ruling, targeting the victim of a poisoning rather than those responsible, shows Russia is failing to meet the most basic commitments expected of any responsible member of the international community," Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement.

He also demanded to set free "all of the peaceful protesters and journalists arrested over the last two weeks."

A Moscow court has sentenced Navalny to two years and eight months in prison on charges of violating parole. His lawyers have announced they would appeal the verdict.

Navalny, 44, who received treatment in Germany after allegedly being poisoned last year, was arrested in the Russian capital upon his return on Jan. 17.

Russian authorities said he had violated probation terms of a suspended 2014 sentence for fraud and embezzlement.

His arrest sparked mass protests throughout Russia, and according to rights activists, over 5,000 people were detained on Jan. 31.

Less than 25 hours after his return, Moscow's Khimki Court ruled that Navalny would remain in custody on a 30-day pre-trial detention.

London-Moscow relations have been strained after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and, especially, since the March 2018 alleged poisoning and near death of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter on UK soil.

Following the poisoning, a worldwide expulsion saw more than 150 Russian diplomats sent home from Western states./aa