In his respective post on Instagram, Mkhitaryan said he thanked everyone who supported him, this award was thanks to all his teammates at Roma and the Armenian national team, and they were playing as one.
Political scientist Stepan Danielyan believes that holding snap elections under the current circumstances in Armenia poses great risks for the country. "Armenian media outlets based in the US or Europe should contact the parliamentarians of the ruling force, take interviews and explain them that organizing snap elections in the current situation is a treason. Later, when they decide to flee the country and settle in America, Europe, Russia, they would have no calm life," Danielyan wrote on Facebook. In the words of the political scientist, most of the ruling force's representatives are set to flee Armenia, however, they will be rejected everywhere.
"Going to snap elections now could lead the country to chaos, completely fail the protection of the borders and create grounds for a civil war. That is why those gutless people must be held accountable," Danielyan added.
To note, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced on Friday an intention to hold snap parliamentary elections in 2021 and invited all parliamentary and interested extra-parliamentary forces for consultations.
Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia has joined number of non-governmental organizations and institutions to demand the resignation of PM Nikol Pashinyan and his cabinet. The respective statement was disseminated on Friday on the Facebook of the Confederation.
"The political, social, economic situation established in the Republic of Armenia proves that the foundations for a sovereign, democratic, social state governed by the rule of law envisaged but he Constitution has been disrupted in the Republic," the statement said in part. It notes that the trilateral statement secretly signed on November 9 has established a deep crisis in the Republic, and the resignation of Pashinyan and his government is a solution to overcome it.
"Azerbaijan is increasing its military expenditures in 2021, since it sees an opportunity to completely bring Armenia and Artsakh down," the head of 'Henaket' analytical center Tigran Abrahamyan wrote on Facebook, adding: " Those, believing Turkey and Azerbaijan will be satisfied with what has already been achieved, are bitterly mistaken They will attempt to take the maximum,"
"Until today, the authorities have been giving up whatever was demanded. It is fearsome to even imagine what other 'surprises' are ahead," added Abrahamyan.
The political assessment of the current developments is that Pashinyan is both traitor and incompetent. In fact, he has failed to exercise his powers which resulted in treacherous agreements concluded with the enemy side," Head of the Department of Iranian Studies at YSU Vardan Voskanyan told an interview with Panorama.am.
Voskanyan pointed to the fact that as a result of the agreement reached between Pashinyan and Azerbaijan, not only Armenia lost part of Artsakh, but also pushed the NK conflict settlement to uncertainty and indefinite future, since the ongoing problems the country face may not allow to think of the Artsakh issue.
"One conclusion we can give is that Pashinyan is incompetent and traitor and should resign as soon as possible," the YSU professor said.
Voskanyan reminded that the idea of holding snap elections was put forward by intellectuals long before Pashinyan came up with the idea, however one precondition for that was Pashinyan's resignation and his removal from office.
"Authorities are the symbol of the defeat and in the face of their leader they are not capable of organizing an electoral process given also the lack of trust in the public. If Pashinyan considers himself the guarantor of the free will of the people, it is obvious that during his ruling, especially in the war and post-war period, he has failed to act as a guarantor," Voskanyan said. In his words, no-one may claim that people's will is in any way expressed in the shameful statement signed on November 9 or in the land concessions being made daily to the enemy in border areas of Syunik and Gegharkunik provinces of Armenia.
"Furthermore, those developments have direct negative consequences on the life and the vitality of the local communities, likewise the future viability of Armenia in a broad sense. The Syunik example, where Pashinyan was not able to guarantee even the preservation of the 4km-long road section, comes to prove this. That road was crucial both in terms of ensuring inter-Armenian transport communication as well as relations with Iran which are of vital importance for Armenia. In fact, the person, who occupies now the office of the prime minister, not only failed to ensure the will and wish of Syunik residents but also the security of Armenia, considering the strategically important land corridor with Iran," said the expert in Iranian studies.
Voskanyan admitted with pain that Armenia has never had a lower security level than today, and the people never felt unsafe like these days.
"It is obvious, that Pashinyan cannot organize free, fair and transparent elections. In order to organize such elections, one should be impartial and entrusted with arbitration functions. One person capable to show impartiality has been nominated by the opposition. That is Armenia's first prime minister Vazgen Manukyan, who'll exercise arbitration functions while assuming the post and not participating in the elections himself. He may act an arbitrator and that could be acceptable for any reasonable person," concluded Voskanyan.
Despite unfavorable weather conditions, the sit-down strike organised by the Homeland Salvation Movement demanding Nikol Pashinyan's resignation continues at Republic Square in Yerevan.
"The square was active both at night and during the day," the Facebook page of the Movement posted, sharing images from the scene.
Within the framework of combat training sessions with personnel of the peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno Karabakh, medical training sessions were held on the basis of a special purpose medical unit, Russian Defense Ministry reported.
About 30 sanitary instructors of observation posts have practiced methods of stopping various bleeding, applying bandages, tourniquets and splints for injuries and fractures, as well as the procedure for providing emergency resuscitation care.
During the training, the servicemen were shown the actions of loading and unloading the wounded using improvised means and overhead systems to evacuate victims from military equipment and hard-to-reach areas, the source said.
Combat training sessions with the peacekeeping contingent are held regularly and are aimed at constantly improving the level of professional training of military personnel, improving the acquired skills, as well as maintaining the established requirements for the combat capability of units.
Turkish military has left for Azerbaijan to serve at the joint center with Russia for monitoring the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh, TASS news agency reported, siting NTV ness channel. The two countries concluded an agreement to set up joint center for Nagorno-Karabakh on December 1.
The Turkish parliament later voted to deploy a mission to "establish a joint center with Russia and to carry out the center's activities." The deployment is set to last a year and its size will be determined by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
327,735 tourists visited Armenia during January-September of 2020, the National Statistic Service of Armenia reported, adding compared with the number of visitors in 2019, the number has dropped by 77.5%. To remind, in January-September of 2019, 1,459.152 tourists visited Armenia.
According to the statistics, 19.9% of tourists on a visit to Armenia stayed at hotels, while 81,1% rented apartments or stayed with family members or relatives.
286,227 people left Armenia for tourism purpose in January-September 2020. The number of tourists leaving Armenia dropped by 78.2% to compare with the data of 2019.