Author: David Nargizian

 15:05,

STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The Defense Army of Artsakh is denying media reports claiming that the Azeri forces have ambushed the Uryan heights and that 200 Defense Army servicemen are surrounded at Ghushchyullar.

The Defense Army said these reports are “total disinformation.”

“As we reported earlier today, the ceasefire regime is maintained. We urge you to follow exclusively official news,” the Artsakh military said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 12:18,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 15, ARMENPRESS. Armenian defense ministry’s spokesperson Shushan Stepanyan called the reports spread on the internet about arms sale as a “brazen lie”.

The spokesperson said such reports aims at discrediting the defense ministry.

“It’s a brazen lie and manipulation aimed at discrediting the defense ministry. The circulating documents based on which the thesis is being formed, are mostly fake. Any investigative journalist can send inquires to both the respective structures of Armenia and the indicated states and be convinced that everything is a fabrication. Official clarification will be provided soon”, she said.

Information is being spread on the internet according to which Armenia’s defense minister Davit Tonoyan has been involved in arms sale deals with other officials.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 22:14, 13 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 13, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan emphasizes that the declaration on ending the war in Nagorno Karabakh is not a political document of the settlement of the conflict. According to the PM, there are formulations and sentences in that document that must be interpreted and get political content, ARMENPRESS reports the PM said in an interview with Public TV.

”In fact, discussions must still start and it will be diplomatic discussion. And I think those discussions will last for a long period. I want to pay the attention of everyone on the fact that this is a document on stopping the military operations. The discussions will be possible and they will take place’’, Pashinyan said.

Referring to the question that the opposition says there is still time to cancel the declaration, but the PM does not listen to them, Pashinyan answered, ”Personally I never heard how it can be cancelled. I can say something else, we can take that paper, tear it and throw away. But we should also understand the consequences of such an act. It means we will return to the situation when that paper was signed. And what does it mean? It means that we say that let our 30 thousands soldiers be blockaded’’.

The PM said that the circumstances when that document was signed should be considered. ‘’As I have already said, I made that decision based on the analysis of the military situation on the ground. I told in my yesterday’s speech that the key factor that resulted in my signing of the document is that in fact, Stepanakert city had no defense following the fall of Shushi. And if we could not stop the war very quickly, within hours, Stepanakert would have fallen, Askeran and Martakert would fall automatically. This means that 20-30 thousands of our soldiers, depending on the scenario, would find themselves in a blockade. It’s also very important that those soldiers that would have appeared in a blockade would be unable to have any impact on the situation. Why? Because they were standing on the front line, but the blockade that could have happened would be from the rear. And this was no the case when an all-around-defense could be possible, since the front line would collapse and we would have such a situation’’, PM Pashinyan said.

Referring to the question why the issue was not discussed at the National Assembly with the opposition, Nikol Pashinyan said that it was in the logic of the operative management of the military operations. ‘’Because it’s nearly the same as, for example, when one of our units retreated from one place or decided to attack in another place, why that issue was not discussed at the National Assembly, was not discussed with the opposition?’’, he said.

PM Pashinyan added that at that time military operations were going on, and those were extremely critical operations. ‘’I again want to say that now it’s often discussed the issue what we surrendered with that signature. But the reality is that this document is not or at least is not only about what we surrendered, but what we managed to preserve’’, Pashinyan said, adding that the lives of nearly 30 thousands soldiers were under risk when the document was signed.

 13:39, 8 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. The Office of the Prosecutor General of Armenia is applying to foreign embassies, international organizations specialized in fight against international terrorism operating in Armenia, expressing readiness to ensure contacts with the arrested two citizens of Syria who have been charged with international terrorism, based on a respective application.

“The Office of the Prosecutor General has already informed that two citizens of Syria with Arab origins Mihirab Muhammad Al Shayir and Yusuf Alaabet al-Hajji have been detained on the sidelines of the criminal cases filed on launching an aggressive war by Azerbaijan against Artsakh and Armenia, using banned methods on waging war, and causing human and property losses with coordinated and deliberate means.

Mihirab Muhammad Al Shayir has been detained by the Defense Army of Artsakh on October 29, 2020, and Yusuf Alaabet al-Hajji on November 1, amid the ongoing military operations unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh. They have been charged with international terrorism, gross violations of international humanitarian law norm during armed conflicts (murder, attacking civilians, indiscriminate attacks), and participation in a military conflict as a mercenary.

According to the data received, these people have been transported from Syria to Azerbaijan by Turkey in September-October 2020 and have been directly engaged in the ongoing Azerbaijani military crimes against Artsakh.

On the sidelines of the cooperation in fighting international terrorism, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Armenia applies to foreign diplomatic representations, international concerned organizations specialized in the fight against international terrorism, stating that in case of wishing to be convinced in the presence of the aforementioned facts, we are ready to ensure contacts based on a respective application with these arrested persons and provide other necessary information about the aforementioned”.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 11:06, 9 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 9, ARMENPRESS. 1042 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 107,466, Minister of Healthcare Arsen Torosyan said at the joint session of the parliamentary standing committees.

“Today we have 1042 new cases out of 2358 tests conducted in the past one day. The total number of confirmed cases has reached 107,466, which, of course, is very high. We have 21 new death cases, the death toll has reached 1580”, the minister said.

Reporting by Norayr Shoghikyan; Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 12:05, 7 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. 43-year-old rapper Kanye West (Birthday Party) received 60,000 votes in the US presidential election, reports BBC.

In this first presidential attempt, West appeared on the ballot in 12 states, missing the filing deadline in most others. He gathered the most votes – 10,188 – in Tennessee, a state that typically favours Republican candidates.

But West’s political career may not be over yet. He tweeted “Kanye 2024” this week, signalling another bid to come.

 13:46, 5 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s foreign ministry is in constant touch with the EU partners over the matters relating to the recognition of the independence of Artsakh, the right of the Artsakh people to self-determination, Deputy Foreign Minister Avet Adonts said during the joint session of the parliamentary standing committees on November 5.

“We are in daily touch with our European partners and are working in several directions, starting from the recognition of the independence of Artsakh or the Artsakh people’s right to self-determination. The remaining points relate to sanctions and the humanitarian aid which must be very targeted and concerns our displaced compatriots whose number is quite high”, he said.

The deputy FM said these days there are many European cities that recognize the independence of Artskah, which, according to him, is a very important step for ensuring the future developments in this context.

“The independence of Artsakh is recognized in states at the local self-government level. We consider this a very important step to ensure the future developments. There are preliminary agreements, quite serious discussions for conducting qualitatively higher acts”, the deputy FM added.

Reporting by Norayr Shoghikyan; Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 22:28, 3 November, 2020

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 3, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani armed forces, reinforced with mercenaries, launched attacks in almost all directions of the front line, but suffering great losses of military equipment and manpower, retreated, ARMENPRESS reports representative of the MoD Armenia Artsrun Hovhannisyan said in a press conference.

He added that Azerbaijan continued subversive penetration attempts in the direction of different villages, but with no success.

”Early in the morning, south of Martuni city the Azerbaijani armed forces tried to attack with the assistance of armored vehicles, air force, and artillery, but losing armored vehicles and a significant number of manpower, retreated to their initial positions. During the entire day our armed forces continued the elimination of hostile forces particularly with artillery fire.

In the northern direction, near Karvachar, the adversary attempted a subversive penetration attempt under smoke cover under the pretext of taking out the bodies of their victims, but they were detected and eliminated by long-range fire”, Hovhannisyan said.

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1033816.html?fbclid=IwAR0BCAfNplNnhiFM8gl6rZd3BWX-cE9oElfcPpN6kACjOYqhomD2joDTFvo

 17:30, 3 November, 2020

YEREVAN, 3 NOVEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 3 November, USD exchange rate down by 0.10 drams to 493.66 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 2.55 drams to 577.34 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.05 drams to 6.20 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 3.82 drams to 641.31 drams.

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

Gold price up by 121.72 drams to 29995.62 drams. Silver price up by 5.48 drams to 380.52 drams. Platinum price up by 44.87 drams to 13570.16 drams.