11:37,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian government has proposed the Parliament to convene an extraordinary session.
The session will be convened on February 3, at 11:00.
The agenda of the session will include the package of bills on making changes and amendments to the Judicial Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and the Law on Justice Academy, as well as the Law on Social Assistance, etc.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
KIEV, Ukraine
Ukraine’s recent defense deals with Turkey are helping the country transition to modern NATO standards, experts have told Anadolu Agency.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry on Dec. 14, 2020 signed several agreements with Turkey on technology and the production of Turkish-made drones.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Mykhailo Samus, Deputy Director of International Relations at the Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies, said Ukraine is looking for its new place in the region and the world since conflict broke out with Russia in 2014, stressing the importance of Kiev’s cooperation with Turkey.
Samus said Ukraine wants to join NATO as soon as possible and added that defense cooperation with Turkey was important for the country’s transition from post-Soviet-era standards to modern NATO systems.
Adding that EU countries, except the Czech Republic and Poland, as well as Romania and the Baltic countries, did not favor cooperation, he said Ukraine was currently engaged in “mutually beneficial cooperation” with Turkey, which he said was “a reliable strategic partner” for Ukraine in the region.
Ukraine will continue developing Turkey’s ADA-class corvette warship technology, Samus said, adding that it would be important for Kiev to improve its military capabilities against security threats in the Black Sea.
Denys Moskalyk, coordinator for International Policy at Center for Political Studies “Doctrine”, said there are many factors at play in Ukraine-Turkey defense cooperation.
He said Ankara has progressed in digital technologies, while Ukraine has advanced production technologies. The two countries complement each other, he added.
Noting that Turkish drones had allowed Azerbaijan to advance quickly to liberate its Nagorno-Karabakh region from Armenian occupation, Moskalyk underlined that this conflict had highlighted the power of drones in modern warfare.
13:13, 12 January, 2021
YEREVAN, JANUARY 12, ARMENPRESS. No complications were registered among the volunteers in Armenia who have been vaccinated with the Russian Sputnik V against COVID-19, Deputy director general of the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Armenia Gayane Sahakyan said at a press conference in Armenpress, adding that she has also been vaccinated.
“We have received vaccine samples for 15 persons. In addition to the minister of healthcare, other persons, including me, have also been vaccinated. No complications were registered among anyone. Even the frequently spoken reaction – that redness may appear in the injection area, has not been noticed”, she said.
She said they have the work of clinical trials of Sputnik V according to which the efficiency after the first dose is 91.4%, but after the second dose it reaches 94%.
On November 21, 2020, Armenia received the Sputnik V samples against COVID-19, but the first batch of the vaccine will be delivered to the country either in the end of January or by mid-February.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
As a result of the November 9 statement, large-scale hostilities have been ceased and the Russian peacekeepers have been deployed in Artsakh. At the same time, the Azerbaijani side has violated and continues to violate a number of key provisions of the trilateral statement, Armenia’s MFA spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan told Interfax.
“Thus, according to the first provision of the trilateral statement, the parties must stand on their positions as of November 10 and cease the hostilities. Meanwhile, in more than a month after the ceasefire was established, the Azerbaijani side carried out military operations in direction of Old Tagher and Khtsaberd settlements, in the Hadrut region of Artsakh, resulting in casualties and capturing Armenian servicemen on the ground. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia referred to that gross violation of the statement in its statement made on December 13.
To date, the Azerbaijani side has not fully complied with the Article 8 of the trilateral statement, according to which, the prisoners of war, hostages and other captured civilians should be exchanged. As a result, Armenian prisoners of war and hostages are not being released. Moreover, the Azerbaijani side is prosecuting Armenian prisoners of war at the highest level, presenting them as terrorists, attempting to prevent the full implementation of the November 9 trilateral statement.
The cessation of violations of the statement of November 9 by Azerbaijan is necessary for the full implementation of the trilateral statement,” she said.
10:57, 22 December, 2020
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has commented on the ongoing domestic political situation in the country, stating that he will do everything for the people not to lose the chance of saying their word.
“The description of the current political situation in the country is the following: 1. The “elite” who was deprived of power in Armenia as a result of the 2018 revolution is trying to achieve revenge. Moreover, the talk is not about the political “elite” only, but all those who had privileges before 2018, but after that do not have that privileges. 2. The people, who have felt the factor of being a power after the 2018 revolution, do not want to lose that status, especially now, when some circles, by using the chance that the leadership is currently engaged in foreign security issues, have applied the following logic “you will be fired for not participating in a rally””, Pashinyan said on Facebook.
Pashinyan said the real contradiction is not between the government and the opposition, but the “elite”, who lost privileges in 2018, and the people.
“But in any case people will say the decisive word, because if the people have their say, “elites” can do nothing. I, of course, will do everything for the people not to lose the chance of saying their word. But at this moment the priority for us is to ensure the external security of Armenia and Artsakh, and the external security should not be questioned in any way in the aforementioned actions”, the PM said.
Opposition political parties are holding protests in Armenia, demanding the PM’s resignation.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Director of Russia’s FSB meets with Aliyev, discusses NK conflict settlement
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.