Author: Adrine Hakobian

 16:54, 7 May, 2022

YEREVAN, MAY 7, ARMENPRESS. A miner working in the Sotk gold mine in Armenia’s Gegharkunik Province was shot and wounded by Azerbaijani military shooting on May 7, the mine’s operator GeoProMining told ARMENPRESS.

GeoProMining representative Ruzanna Grigoryan told ARMENPRESS that the shootings began in the evening of May 6 but intensified midday May 7. “The victim is the driller. He is hospitalized and is in a stable condition. The man was wounded in his left arm, in the direction of the heart, but fortunately he didn’t suffer internal organ injuries,” Grigoryan said.

The mine’s operations are now suspended and all employees were evacuated.

As of 17:00 the shootings had stopped, Grigoryan said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense of Armenia told ARMENPRESS that it would soon issue a on the incident.

UPDATES:

17:17 – Ministry of Defense issues 

 17:30, 6 May, 2022

YEREVAN, MAY 6, ARMENPRESS. The Ombudsman of Artsakh Gegham Stepanyan says all facts show that the Azerbaijani military convoy deliberately rammed into a taxi cab carrying two passengers, which then crashed into a valley.

“On May 5, around 13:00, a cargo vehicle traveling as part of an Azerbaijani convoy at the 24^th kilometer of the Martakert-Drmbon road, entered the opposite lane and hit with its trailer a Renault Logan which is registered in Artsakh as a taxi cab, as a result of which the taxi cab crashed 12 meters into the right-side gorge.

There were two passengers in the taxi in addition to the driver. As a result of preliminary examination the passengers did not suffer bodily injuries. Material damages were inflicted upon the taxi service.

Based on the facts collected by the staff of the ombudsman’s office, we can note the following:

Upon seeing the possible collision the Azerbaijani truck could have stopped and avoided the collision, which caused the taxi to crash into the gorge;

After the collision, upon seeing that the taxi has crashed into the gorge, the Azerbaijani convoy did not stop and continued its course;

According to the passengers, as well as the driver himself, the driver of the taxi did everything possible to avoid the collision, but he didn’t have any chance to do so,” Stepanyan said in a statement.

He added that the law enforcement agencies of Artsakh have launched a probe, but at this moment the circumstances suggest that the Azerbaijani convoy deliberately rammed into the taxi cab with apparent intent to inflict harm.

 20:05, 5 May, 2022

YEREVAN, MAY 5, ARMENPRESS. Today, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited the Compulsory Enforcement Service to attend a solemn event organized on the occasion of the Day of the Compulsory Enforcement Officer. Minister of Justice Karen Andreasyan, the Chief Compulsory Enforcement Officer Sergey Meghryan and other officials were also present.

Prime Minister Pashinyan congratulated those present on the occasion of the Day of the Compulsory Enforcement Officer, emphasizing that the service in our reality either did not exist in the past or existed very weakly. “There are many important civilizational nuances here. Due to this circumstance, if you remember, initially there was a lot of negativity about the Compulsory Enforcement Service, because it was perceived that a service was created that takes away, or cuts forcibly something from the people? This is a very important fact. But the reality or mission of the Compulsory Enforcement Service is a little different. Here we should keep in mind that the main mission, which is very important for the state and the public, is that, after all, the Compulsory Enforcement Service is the executive body of justice. And when he takes it, he does it to restore justice; in essence, he gives it to those who have been wrongfully deprived. And when it takes away something, it does it to restore justice; in essence, it gives it to those who have been wrongfully deprived. And secondly, it is very important to have such a civilizational subtlety, which, with great difficulty, nevertheless is fulfilled by your service. That civilizational subtlety is the following. Each of us must understand and record that our actions, behavior, lifestyle bring with them certain consequences. And it is when we find out our relationship with these consequences that we have to formulate the public relations that we are all striving for. In this regard, I will consider the rightful work of the Compulsory Enforcement Service not only purely legal, but there are many important civilizational nuances here. Because, yes, sometimes it is very unpleasant when there are traffic jams or various fines. Because, yes, sometimes it is very unpleasant when one receives traffic or other fines. But our message from this must be that as a result of all this, as a result of this relationship, we must be able to adjust our daily life, our customs, our discipline in such a way that we find the right balance between the public and personal interests. In this respect, the Compulsory Enforcement Service is extremely important. It is very important that this point of view is realized by both the service and the public,” Nikol Pashinyan said.

According to the Prime Minister, due to objective and subjective circumstances, the image of the Compulsory Enforcement Service is obviously improving, because it is this perception that people are beginning to understand that this is a very important tool for protecting the legitimate interests of the state, law, individuals, organizations. “I must say that in many cases the negative attitude that exists and will still exist towards the Compulsory Enforcement Service, unfortunately, does not depend on the service itself, because it is already conditioned by to what extent the judicial acts made by the courts are credible for the public. Of course, the problems in our judicial system, the negatives that come from them, unfortunately, often fall on you. Here, too, it is very important that we do our best to make the judicial acts in the Republic of Armenia as credible as possible, so that the atmosphere around the Compulsory Enforcement Service becomes more and more positive”, the Prime Minister said.

Nikol Pashinyan noted that when assessing, planning the activities of state institutions, developing their strategies, one should not consider only the mechanical side of the issue, because they ensure the rule of law, have important civilizational significance, important significance in correctly balancing the individual-society, individual-law, individual-individual relations. “I hope that we will continue to follow this path, because I know that this perception becomes more and more present in our government every day. I must emphasize one more circumstance. We attach great importance to another dimension of the Compulsory Enforcement Service, because in the 2021 report on the activities of the Government, we emphasized that in the previous year, as a result of the activities of the service, the state budget received 600 million AMD. And we have set a goal to increase the revenues that are used to meet public needs.

Having said all this, I want to thank all of you for the work and service, I want to thank you for the willingness to face the shortcomings, to be ready to correct those shortcomings, to wear the shoulder board with honor. I would like to express my conviction that as a result of the work carried out within the framework of this ideology, the reputation of that uniform, shoulder board, service will continue to rise, and finally we will come to the public conclusion that the Compulsory Enforcement Service  acts not against, but for the sake of the citizen, right, law and justice,” said the Prime Minister.

The solemn swearing-in ceremony of the newly appointed Compulsory Enforcement Officers took place, after which the Prime Minister handed over medals and letters of gratitude to a group of employees of the Compulsory Enforcement Service on the occasion of their professional holiday.

 11:55, 26 April, 2022

YEREVAN, APRIL 26, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Member of Parliament Vladimir Vardanyan (Civil Contract Party) and delegate to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) delivered a speech at PACE condemning Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu’s Grey Wolves salute in Uruguay directed at an Armenian demonstration demanding recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

In his speech, Vardanyan said that the Gray Wolves radical terrorist organization is responsible for a series of terroristic attacks and other crimes committed against Armenians, Kurds, other minorities, an organization which is allegedly connected to the assassination attempt of Pope John Paul II.

“April 24 Armenians all over the World were commemorating the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide organized and perpetrated by the Ottoman authorities in such cruel and inhuman manner that the international community was obliged to invent a new term for qualification of such international outrages – crimes against humanity. Despite the fact that the consequences of the Armenian genocide are still echoing within all the Armenian community and despite the fact that even today 107 years later this issue is still quite sensitive for all of us, the Republic of Armenia from the very beginning of its independence has declared its policy of normalization of relations with Turkey without any precondition. We are consecutively following this path and reiterating our willingness to normalize bilateral relations. But are our counterparts as sincere in this process as we are? I would like to show you something. This is a sign of Bozkurt, so called Grey Wolves, a radical terrorist organization responsible for a series of terroristic attacks and other crimes committed against Armenians, Kurds, other minorities, an organization which is allegedly connected to the assassination attempt of John Paul II, the Pope and so on. You may ask why I am showing you this sign and what is the interrelation between my speech and progress report. No dear colleagues, I am not deviating from the discussion. We are discussing the progress of our Organization, progress of fulfillment of obligations, progress in protecting our values. I am showing this to you because just two days ago Mr. Mavlut Chavusoglu, the incumbent Turkish Foreign Minister has shown this to the participants of the peaceful demonstration in Uruguay demanding the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. It is strange that a high level European diplomat and politician promotes such a sign. It becomes even more unacceptable when it is done by a former President of the Parliamentary Assembly, a person who here in this hemicycle spoke about democracy, human rights and rule of law. The person whom all of us gave support and right to represent us all and disseminate ideas of the Council of Europe and protect the European values allows himself to promote such a radical symbol.

It’s also worth mentioning that this kind of actions endanger the possible confidence building process among the two societies.

Here I would like to once again state clearly that we in Armenia are very devoted to the European values and we are continuing to do our best to normalize Turkish-Armenian relations expressing hope that our Turkish counterparts will have enough will to open the mutual border and establish normal relations with Armenia and contribute to the de-escalation and building of sustainable peace in our region,” Vardanyan said.

During a visit to Uruguay on April 23, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu mocked demonstrators in Montevideo who gathered to demand recognition of the Armenian Genocide on the eve of the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.

In a video posted on Twitter Cavusoglu is seen smiling and making the gesture of the ultranationalist Turkish Grey Wolves organization, taunting the demonstrators.

Cavusoglu’s move was condemned by the President and Foreign Minister of Uruguay.

 19:45, 29 April, 2022

YEREVAN, 29 APRIL, ARMENPRESS. The meeting of Heads of State and governments of NATO member states will last three days instead of previously traditional two days, ARMENPRESS reports reads the message issued by the NATO.

“Spain will host the summit of NATO on June 28, 29, 30 of 2022”, the message says.