Month: May 2021

 14:53,

YEREVAN, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS. Caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the Kut border village in the Gegharkunik Province and talked to the local residents about the current situation. Pashinyan prioritized unity of the people in this situation.

“Every time Azerbaijan sees it has a chance to divide us it becomes more active and encouraged. We must clearly show that no matter what internal disagreement there may be, our first reaction to their actions will be unity. We haven’t paid enough attention to this issue during this time. The families of all our victims, the families of our captive compatriots, residents of all border villages, residents from downtown Yerevan to the village of Kut, we are all one family and one home and we must move forward with this logic, there shouldn’t be any trembling in this regard,” Pashinyan said.

“Clearly the situation is very nervous, very emotional, but we shouldn’t lose soberness, because if we lose soberness and balance it will prevent us from assessing the situation correctly and making correct decisions,” Pashinyan said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 15:02,

YEREVAN, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS. The Republic of Armenia has applied to the European Court of Human Rights with the purpose to ensure respect of the fundamental human rights of six Armenian servicemen who have been captured today in the morning by the Azerbaijani forces in the bordering area of Gegharkunik province, the Office of the Representative of Armenia before the ECtHR told Armenpress.

The Office of the Representative of Armenia before the ECtHR has submitted request to the European Court of Human Rights to indicate interim measures under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court against Azerbaijan in the name of the individuals taken as prisoners of war while carrying out engineering works in the bordering area of the Gegharkunik province early in the morning on May 27.

The submitted request aims to ensure respect of the captives’ rights to life and prohibition of torture envisaged by the European Convention on Human Rights.

 15:39,

YEREVAN, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS. It’s been about three years since Ucom company opened the doors of Ucom Digital Lab at Ayb School. Designed for the students from 1st to 9th grade, the project allows to learn the computer basics, while the middle school students get an opportunity to study artificial intelligence techniques, master programming and combine computer science and art.

“As an innovative company, we have always worked to create proper conditions and opportunities for the students of all Armenian schools to get high-quality modern education. Today, we clearly see the success of Ucom Digital Lab, which is the result of the activity carried out during the past several years,” said Ara Khachatryan, Director General at Ucom.

“Thanks to Ucom company, Ayb School got an opportunity to teach informatics in a room furnished with high-speed computers. In addition to standard programs (MS Word, MS Excel, Power Point), our students can come up with creative projects with the help of Paint, Scratch, Typing or similar programs, as well as study HTML, _javascript_ and other advanced technologies,” Ayb Primary School Director Sylvia Najarian added.

Ucom Lab also implements project-based learning, where the ‘informatics’ subject is integrated into other subjects, as result of which new educational materials are created to be passed over for the generations to come.

“The fact that the Ucom Lab serves not only as a computer room but also as a place where each subject teacher can make their lesson much more effective is exciting and inspiring,” Mrs. Najarian said.

The aim of the project is to ensure professional growth, test alternative education tools, promote new ideas and interesting communication formats. The project is educational and non-commercial.

 16:21,

YEREVAN, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian military prosecution opened a criminal case over the kidnapping of 6 Armenian troops by Azerbaijani soldiers from Armenian territory.

The Azerbaijani troops breached the Armenian border in the direction of the Kut village in Gegharkunik, surrounded the 6 Armenian servicemen who were carrying out engineering works and violently kidnapped them into Azerbaijan, where they are now held captive.

The criminal case is opened on articles of kidnapping and illegal border crossing.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 16:37,

YEREVAN, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS. During his telephone talk with Armenia’s caretaker foreign minister Ara Aivazian and during his meeting with Azerbaijani foreign minister Jeyhun Bayramov in Vienna, foreign minister of Austria Alexander Schallenberg has expressed concerns over the tension around Artsakh and called on the sides to refrain from actions that would lead to new escalation of the situation, the Austrian foreign ministry said, adding that the ministers discussed issues relating to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the bilateral relations, including the economic cooperation.

“It would be a dangerous delusion to believe that the conflict is solved only because the weapons are silent now. Internally the conflict continues to boil”, the Austrian FM said, expressing confidence that humanitarian measures and the readiness of the parties for the conflict’s political settlement are among the most important preconditions for stopping the conflict.

According to him, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs (US, France and Russia) must have a key investment on this with the support of the European Union.

“We need quick and pragmatic solutions to humanitarian issues such as the release of all prisoners of war, as well as the demining. A political will is necessary to again resume the dialogue process aimed at settling the conflict. In our opinion, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs must have a leading role in this process”, he said, noting that the 2020 November 9 ceasefire was only the first step aimed at the conflict settlement.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 16:38,

YEREVAN, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS. The operational tactical situation at the Armenian state border is relatively tense, the Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces Major-General Edvard Asryan told reporters on May 27.

“The Azerbaijani Armed Forces units are attempting to carry out their provocative-coercive actions in several directions. Meanwhile our armed forces, by taking countermeasures, are attempting to repel the adversary forces and means which have penetrated into the territory of the Republic of Armenia,” the major-general said.

He said that the situation was tense in the Lake Sev-Verishen direction of the Syunik province, and the situation in the direction of Kut village in Gegharkunik province escalated overnight May 26.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 16:43,

YEREVAN, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS. Up to 1000 Azerbaijani troops are currently illegally located inside the territory of Armenia, Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces Major-General Edvard Asryan said at a May 27 press briefing.

“These Azeri troops don’t have the possibility of carrying out any serious objectives in our territory. If we were to solve the issue militarily, these 1000 troops won’t leave our territory – we’d destroy them all without exception,” Asryan said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 17:08,

YEREVAN, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS. The political leadership has not issued any order on not firing at the Azeri incursion force currently inside Armenian territory, and decision-making in opening or not opening fire is vested in the military leadership, not political, the Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces Major-General Edvard Asryan said at a May 27 press briefing.

“Giving such orders isn’t up to the political leadership. The military leadership is the one who gives orders to shoot or not to shoot. The political leadership determines the directions of resolution, the terms. While the issue of shooting or not shooting is discussed and the decision is made by us,” Asryan said.

Asked in what case they could potentially issue the order to shoot, Asryan said if there will be relevant signs that the Azeri forces are seeking to dictate their terms, the Armenian side will definitely use military force and all adversary servicemen located inside the territory of Armenia will be destroyed.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 17:16,

YEREVAN, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian sides does everything, will take every action to return the 6 Armenian servicemen from the Azerbaijani captivity, Deputy defense minister Arman Sargsyan told reporters in the Parliament after the closed session with the parliamentary standing committees which was discussing the tense situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

The deputy minister urged everyone to unite around the state, the Army, adding that Azerbaijan is spreading lots of fake news these days.

“The defense ministry does and will do everything possible. The Army is conducting its actions based on necessary analysis. From our side all actions are being taken to solve the situation and also to prevent repetition of such incidents, and everything is being done for the quick return of our captured servicemen”, the deputy minister said.

He called on the citizens to be confident that the defense ministry, the Armed Forces control the situation. “We will take every step to return the captives, will take every action”, Arman Sargsyan said.

As for the situation in Syunik province, he said it has been normal as of the moment when he arrived in the Parliament, no such incidents have been registered.

On May 27 early morning, 6 servicemen of the Armenian Armed Forces, while conducting engineering works in the territory of an Armenian military base’ protection area in the border section of Armenia’s Gegharkunik province, have been surrounded and taken captive by the Azerbaijani troops.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 17:33,

YEREVAN, 27 MAY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 27 May, USD exchange rate up by 0.10 drams to 520.78 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 2.38 drams to 635.04 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.01 drams to 7.09 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 2.25 drams to 735.45 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 219.55 drams to 31808.4 drams. Silver price up by 9.55 drams to 470.83 drams. Platinum price up by 254.96 drams to 20108.9 drams.