Month: December 2020

Director of Russia’s FSB meets with Aliyev, discusses NK conflict settlement

Jirair Kafian

Director of Russia’s FSB meets with Aliyev, discusses NK conflict settlement

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 19:18,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Following the working visit to Yerevan, Director of Russia’s FSB Aleksandr Bortnikov visited Baku and met with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, ARMENPRESS reports Azerbaijani media informs.

During the meeting the sides discussed the situation in the region, the settlement of NK conflict and the implementation of the provisions of the declaration on ending the war signed between the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Armenian Defense Minister visits new military positions in south-eastern direction

Emil Lazarian

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 19:53,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. Defense Minister of Armenia Vagharshak Harutyunyan visited the south-eastern border on December 18. Harutyunyan followed the process of military duty in the new positions, talked to the commanders and servicemen.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Defense Ministry of Armenia, Minister Harutyunyan also visited the positions where the distance between Armenian and Azerbaijani border guards is just 100 meters.

The Defense Minister particularly focused on the social conditions in the positions being just constructed and equipped. The commander of the southern military Corps reported to the Minister that the works for equipping the new positions have already started, particularly, aimed at the full implementation of the combat duty during bad weather conditions.

During the meeting with the military personnel Defense Minister Harutyunyan thanked the servicemen who had participated in the war, awarded some of them. The Minister emphasized that the Defense Ministry will take all possible efforts for making the front line maximally safe for service and for creating all necessary social conditions.

COVID-19: Armenia reports 1174 new cases, 1296 recoveries in one day

Ara Felekian

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 11:02,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. 1174 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have been confirmed in Armenia in the past one day, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 151,392, the ministry of healthcare said today.

1296 more patients have recovered in one day. The total number of recoveries has reached 129,990.

3537 tests were conducted in the past one day.

25 more patients have died, raising the death toll to 2581.

The number of active cases is 18,179.

The number of patients who had coronavirus but died from other disease has reached 642 (5 new such cases).

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Russian peacekeepers ensure safe return of more than 40,000 refugees to Artsakh

Ara Felekian

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 11:32,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The Russian peacekeepers have ensured as of December 16 the safe return of more than 40,000 refugees of Artsakh who had fled their homes during the second Nagorno Karabakh war which began on 2020 September 27 with a massive Azeri onslaught. 

Russian sappers have cleared 195 hectares of territory and 60km of roads of mines. More than 6000 explosive items were discovered and disposed of. The Russian medics of the peacekeeping contingent treated nearly 600 locals in two field hospitals, one in Stepanakert and another in Martakert, the Russian Defense Ministry said. 

The Russian Defense Ministry added that the exchange of bodies between Armenia and Azerbaijan continues jointly with the ICRC. The search operations for those missing in action also continues.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Armenian defense minister visits Syunik province

Rose Khoyetsian

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 11:48,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. During today’s Cabinet meeting Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Avinyan said inter-positional communication exists in Artsakh’s Hin Shen village, however, he said, the problem is not completely solved yet. The deputy PM said Russian peacekeeping troops are deployed in this section.

“We expect that we will have a final solution. Defense Minister [of Armenia] Vagharshak Harutyunyan is in Syunik province. Our border troops are conducting deployment works along our borders”, the deputy PM said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Armenia’s borders are firm and under control of Armed Forces – minister

Hagop Kamalian

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 11:51,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. During today’s Cabinet meeting Minister of territorial administration and infrastructure Suren Papikyan said he is in constant touch with the Governor of Syunik province. He informed that the Governor is conducting works with the border service and the defense ministry representatives.

“At this moment the border troops and forces are being deployed along the borders of Armenia, and in order to avoid various comments and disinformation, I want to state that Armenia’s borders are firm and under the control of the Armed Forces”, the minister said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

San Francisco FBI Offering $50,000 Reward In Armenian Church Arson

Lara Chatinian
San Francisco CBS
Dec 17 2020
at 1:45 pm

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) offered a $50,000-reward for Thursday for information leading to the arrest of an arsonist who set fire to an Armenian church back in September.

The Sept. 17 fire at St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Apostolic Church, set by an unknown perpetrator, burned the church’s administration building where its offices, Sunday school and a library reside. No one was injured but the blaze basically gutted the building.

READ MORE: Fire Burns Armenian Church Building Overnight in San Francisco; Arson Suspected

While announcing the reward in a video recorded in front of the church, FBI San Francisco Special Agent in Charge Craig Fair said that the investigation was about protecting the congregation’s first amendment rights, which protect the freedom of religion.

“This act of violence was not just an attack on a building, but on a congregation,” Fair said. “This was an attack on a community.”

Around the time of the fire, church leaders told asbarez.com that they suspected the fire was harassment. The incident followed an act of vandalism back in July when someone spray-painted the Krouzian-Zekarian Vasbouragan Armenian School and the adjacent community center with anti-Armenian, pro-Azerbaijani graffiti.

Inside of St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Apostolic Church after fire. (FBI)

“For some context, in our history and around the globe, every time Armenians have been targeted, they come for our churches and our schools,” Alex Bastian, deputy chief of staff for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, tweeted at the time. “But you know what? It’s very hard to terrorize my community, no matter how hard people try. We are hardened by the millennia of hardship and the centuries of injustice. Most of us in the community are refugees, or the children of refugees, from war zones around the world.”

The FBI asked that anyone with information concerning the case contact the FBI’s San Francisco Field Office at (415) 553-7400, the San Francisco Police Department’s Anonymous Tip Line at (415) 575-4444, or Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD, which guarantees the callers’ anonymity. You may also contact your local FBI office, the nearest American Embassy or Consulate, or you can submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.

To see more photos of the damage from the fire, visit the FBI’s website.