Author: Emil Lazarian

 11:45,

YEREVAN, MARCH 15, ARMENPRESS. A proposal to erect a statue of Charles Aznavour has been passed by the Yerevan City Council.

Charles Aznavour, the world-famous French-Armenian singer, died in 2018 at the age of 94. Aznavour sold more than 100 million records in 80 countries.

A square in central Yerevan was named after him in 2001. In 2004, Aznavour received the title of National Hero of Armenia – the country’s highest state award – in recognition of his support for his homeland. 

Deputy Mayor of Yerevan Tigran Avinyan told city councilors on March 15 that ahead of the legendary crooner’s 100th anniversary of birth the Aznavour Foundation proposed to install his statue in Yerevan. Avinyan said the central part of France Square in downtown Yerevan – where the Jules Bastien-Lepage statue by Auguste Rodin is currently standing – has been chosen as the location for the statue of Aznavour.  Avinyan said the location was selected given that city authorities already had plans to move the Jules Bastien-Lepage statue closer to the sidewalk for passersby to have a better view.

Avinyan said that by installing the Aznavour statue the city will “properly appreciate, value and promote the world famous Armenian artist, great humanitarian and public figure’s creative heritage and eternalize his memory.”

The motion was adopted by the city council unanimously.

 13:42,

YEREVAN, MARCH 15, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan revealed on Wednesday the types of armaments and equipment that the Armenian military recently acquired.

“The [arsenal] of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia was replenished with various types of unmanned aerial vehicles, anti-tank measures, air defense measures and modernized systems , tracked and wheeled engineering equipment, de-mining equipment, camouflage nets, communication equipment, optical devices, grenade launchers, various types of ammunition and other types of munitions and military equipment measures, which I will not disclose here publicly,” Papikyan told lawmakers at the Defense and Security Affairs Committee hearing on the Government Program’s 2022 performance report.

 17:11,

YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. Armenia is ready for a trilateral foreign ministerial meeting with Russia and Azerbaijan and soon the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs will visit Moscow to discuss the matter, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference when asked on the possibility of such meeting.

“Armenia is ready for that, I talked about it with the Russian President yesterday as well. The Foreign Minister’s visit to Moscow is expected soon, where it will be discussed…,” Pashinyan said.

He said that Armenia postponed the foreign ministerial meeting which was expected earlier not as a sign of boycott, but because of the acute crisis. “That situation required the minister to be in Yerevan. We’ve not rejected the meeting, that situation required the minister to be in Yerevan. We’ve said that the meeting hasn’t been cancelled, and we are ready for the meeting.”

 19:09,

YERERVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. International mechanisms should be created to guarantee the rights and security of the NK population, ARMENPRESS reports, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the former NATO Secretary General, the founding chairman of the international political consulting organization Rasmussen Global, told the journalists.

“We must do everything to reach a lasting and just peace treaty. A very important element in that agreement should be the guarantee of the rights and security of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh. And to guarantee these rights and security, we must have international mechanisms that will monitor, control and guarantee them,” he said.

Referring to Armenia-EU relations, Rasmussen mentioned that they would like to cooperate very closely with the Armenian government.

“It will be a broad cooperation that will touch on broad topics. Naturally, we are talking about political support from the EU. I think that it is very necessary now that we raise awareness that there is a humanitarian crisis in NK. And the international community should put maximum pressure on Azerbaijan to resolve this issue,” he said.

He emphasized that they want to support the Armenian government to raise the dialogue with the EU to an even higher level, which will also include a dialogue on security policy.

“The EU has a wide range of tools that can be useful to Armenia. I think that Armenia needs even more international partners than it has today,” he said, noting that military cooperation with Armenia was not discussed in detail.

In conclusion, Anders Fogh Rasmussen noted that the EU has a European peace system, which can also be a framework for cooperation between Armenia and the EU.

 20:38,

YERERVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan, based on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, released Tigran Parvanyan from the position of the commander of the United Group of Forces of the Armed Forces of Armenia and Russia, ARMENPRESS was informed from the President’s Office.

Major General (currently Lieutenant General) Tigran Parvanyan was appointed the commander of the United Group of Forces of the Armed Forces of Armenia and Russia in February 2018.

 13:46,

YEREVAN, MARCH 13, ARMENPRESS. Hrazdan Police Department officers fatally shot a robbery suspect who was armed with an ax, authorities said Monday.

In a statement, police said the officers responded to a robbery report early Monday morning in the Vanatur district, Hrazdan. Upon arrival, officers were confronted by the ax-wielding suspect and were forced to open fire to neutralize the threat, according to a statement released by police.

The suspect, a 45-year-old man from Hrazdan with a criminal record, died in the hospital.

An investigation is underway.