Deputy PM Avinyan and Minister Papikyan to visit Syunik province

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 17:29,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan and Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Suren Papikyan will visit Syunik province to get acquainted with the problems which emerged after the recent war.

“Next week I, Mr. Papikyan and several deputy ministers will visit Syunik because there are issues connected with pastures, economic activity. Syunik will be under the special focus”, Avinyan said during a Q&A session in the Parliament.

He added that the government will adopt a new anti-crisis economic package probably next week, which will suppose new tools for restoring the post-war and the post-COVID-19 economy.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

You are getting worse’, opposition MP tells Armenian authorities

Panorama, Armenia
Jan 18 2021

Back on November 14, the opposition Bright Armenia Party presented a road map on how to get Armenia out of the crisis, but all problems outlined by the opposition party have remained unresolved, Edmon Marukyan, the head of the Bright Armenia parliamentary faction, said at the National Assembly on Monday.

The lawmaker reiterated the call for the country’s “defeated leader” to step down, adding Nikol Pashinyan cannot achieve pro-Armenian decisions during negotiations.

“Our claim was dismissed and condemned by the authorities, but on January 11 our assertion turned into a reality. The issues of internal solidarity, tolerance, social and economic problems … humanitarian crisis are not resolved. The political crisis also persists in the country,” the MP said.

According to Marukyan, the authorities do not want to use any opportunity to show the world that they do not agree with what is happening today, that “in the 21st century our brothers and sisters are being kept in Azerbaijani prisons. “Accepting and discussing our agenda was a chance for you to show that you are against the current situation,” he stated.

Marukyan says now the parliament has to discuss the points of the road map proposed by them, even if MPs vote down the bill in the end.

“You continue to silence the opposition, relieving an opposition MP of the post of a committee chairman. You are getting worse, instead of learning lessons and getting better. Let’s discuss the steps to take the country out of the crisis,” Marukyan noted. 

Expert: COVID-19 quarantine had to be extended so as not to overload Armenia security, healthcare system

News.am, Armenia
Jan 17 2021
14:45, 17.01.2021

The coronavirus-related quarantine had to be extended in Armenia for another six months in order not to overload the country’s security and healthcare system. Gayane Sahakyan, Deputy Director General of the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, stated about this in an interview with the government press service.

“Some [COVID-19] restrictions have been eased: Non-citizens of the Republic of Armenia can cross the border and enter Armenia also through land-border crossing points—if they have a negative PCR test. The limit on the number of participants in various public events, celebrations has been lifted. The requirements (…) for organizing indoor events have also been lifted,” Sahakyan added.

She noted that negotiations were in progress to acquire the coronavirus vaccine. According to her, after obtaining this vaccine, first of all the patients in the risk group will be vaccinated in Armenia because, as per Gayane Sahakyan, they cannot provide this vaccine for the whole country yet.

Turkish press: Turkish, Azerbaijani ministers discuss post-war developments

Dilan Pamuk   |14.01.2021
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Mevlut Cavusoglu (L) meets Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan ( Cem Özdel – Anadolu Agency )

ANKARA 

Turkey’s foreign minister held a one-on-one meeting late Wednesday with his Azerbaijani counterpart in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. 

Mevlut Cavusoglu and Jeyhun Bayramov met after a dinner hosted by Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi in honor of his Turkish and Azerbaijani counterparts.

Cavusoglu said on Twitter that the two discussed the latest developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan.

Posting with the “TekMilletIkıDevlet” [One Nation Two States] tag, Cavusoglu said Turkey will “continue to support our Azerbaijani brothers and sisters in building peace.”

Karabakh dispute

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognized as an Azerbaijani territory, and seven adjacent regions.

When new clashes erupted on Sept. 27, 2020, the Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and even violated humanitarian cease-fire agreements.

During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages, while at least 2,802 of its soldiers were martyred. There are differing claims about the number of casualties on the Armenian side, which sources and officials say could be up to 5,000.

The two countries signed a Russian-brokered agreement on Nov. 10 to end the fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.

A joint Turkish-Russian center is being established to monitor the truce. Russian peacekeeping troops have also been deployed in the region.

The cease-fire is seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia, whose armed forces have withdrawn in line with the agreement. Violations, however, have been reported in the past few weeks, with some Armenian soldiers said to have been hiding in the mountainous enclave.

Pashinyan: We failed to resolve the issue of prisoners of war

News.am, Armenia
Jan 11 2021
20:13, 11.01.2021
Region:Armenia, Karabakh, Azerbaijan, Russia
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said following a trilateral meeting in Moscow with the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan that the sides were unable to resolve the issue of prisoners of war.
 
“Today we failed to resolve the issue of prisoners of war, this is the most sensitive issue. We agreed that we will continue [talks] in this direction,” he said. “I hope we will be able to come to a concrete solution as soon as possible.”
 
“And of course we are ready to work constructively in this direction.  But as I said, unfortunately, it is impossible to resolve all issues in one meeting.”
 
According to him, the conflict in Karabakh has not yet been settled.
 
“Of course, we managed to ensure the overall ceasefire regime, but there are still many issues that must be resolved.”
  

Putin, Macron discuss upcoming Karabakh talks, Kremlin says

TASS, Russia
Jan 10 2021
 
 
 
French President supported Russia’s efforts in facilitating settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh
 
 
MOSCOW, January 10. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron have discussed in a phone conversation the upcoming trilateral meeting of leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia scheduled for January 11 in Moscow. According to the Kremlin press service, the French President supported Russia’s efforts in facilitating settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh.
 
“Within the framework of coordinating actions of co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone conversation with President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron discussing some issues related to the upcoming trilateral meeting of leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia on January 11 in Moscow. Taking into account the consistent implementation of the joint November 9, 2020 statement and the stabilization of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, it was noted that above all during this meeting it is planned to consider further steps on facilitating peaceful life in the region,” the statement said.
 
“The French President expressed support for Russia’s efforts in facilitating settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh. The importance of immediate humanitarian aid to residents affected by military clashes was emphasized, including along the lines of relevant international organizations,” the press service noted.
 
Putin and Macron wished each other happy holidays and agreed to continue contacts at various levels.
 
As the Kremlin press service reported earlier on Sunday, the trilateral talks of Vladimir Putin, Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan will be held on Monday, January 11, in Moscow at the initiative of the Russian head of state. The sides plan to review the implementation of the November 9, 2020 statement of the three leaders on Nagorno-Karabakh and discuss steps to resolve the regional issues.
 
On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. The Russian leader said the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides would maintain the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to the region.
 

Lawyer: Legal component not highlighted in settlement of Artsakh conflict

Panorama, Armenia

Jan 7 2021

The legal component was not highlighted in the settlement of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) conflict, with the Armenian authorities relying heavily on political solutions, lawyer Siranush Sahakyan, a co-founder of Path of Law NGO, told a news conference on “National Catastrophe and Revival: Legal Component” on Thursday.

Siranush Sahakyan noted that in recent years Azerbaijan had been making every effort to belittle the format of the OSCE Minsk Group dealing with the Karabakh settlement.

“In these conditions, when we did not seek and find the legal path, legal mechanisms as an alternative way of resolving the problem, the military solution to the conflict seemed to be legitimized,” Sahakyan said.

In 2020, according to the lawyer, such a solution was imposed. “How legitimate was the use of force by Azerbaijan? There are no answers to this question yet. Meanwhile, it is important for assessing the legality of the trilateral statement signed on November 9 by Yerevan, Moscow and Baku,” Sahakyan added.



With Peacekeeping Mission, Russia Finds a New Status Quo in Nagorno-Karabakh

Voice of Amercia
Dec 31 2020
09:48 AM
As the year winds down, Russia is taking on a new role in the decades-long fight between former Soviet republics Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed Nargorno-Karabakh enclave — namely, that of peacekeeper.  And as Charles Maynes reports from Moscow, that’s likely to ensure Russia remains a power broker in the south Caucuses region for the foreseeable future.

Camera: Ricardo Marquina, Agencies

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BHK’s Naira Zohrabyan removed as Chair of Human Rights Committee of Parliament

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 14:48,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. Parliament removed MP Naira Zohrabyan from her position as Chair of the Human Rights Committee of Parliament over her remarks made earlier in December addressed namely to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan which was deemed insulting and humiliating. 

The issue of removing Zohrabyan from the position was brought forward by the ruling My Step bloc.

78 lawmakers voted in favor and 4 voted against the motion in a secret vote.

The two opposition parties, the BHK – which Zohrabyan herself represents, as well as the LHK, boycotted the debate of the motion.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

COVID-19: Armenia reports 114 new cases, 562 recoveries in one day

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 11:12,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. 114 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 157,948, the ministry of healthcare said today.

562 more patients have recovered in one day. The total number of recoveries has reached 139,675.

1413 tests were conducted in the past one day.

7 more patients have died, raising the death toll to 2775.

The number of active cases is 14,824.

The number of patients who had coronavirus but died from other disease has reached 674 (1 new such case).

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan