Author: Jalatian Sonya

We are closely watching the unfolding situation in Armenia. Russian Foreign Ministry deputy director of department and press Ivan Nechaev said this when asked if Moscow thinks the Armenian authorities are persecuting pro-Russian activists in view of the situation around Mikayel Badalyan and the untimely death of producer Armen Grigoryan in the courtroom.

“We are sincerely interested in ensuring that our allied country develops in a stable and predictable manner in an atmosphere of peaceful and national harmony. All issues of inner-political life should be solved exclusively in the legal and constitutional framework within the framework of appropriate democratic procedures and, of course, without resorting to violence.

We welcome the call by a number of public and political figures in brotherly Armenia, among whom stands out Mika Badalyan, to develop and deepen our relations with Russia as a priority. We will continue to follow his case, as well as maintain close contacts with all responsible political forces in our friendly country. We are interested in the consolidation of the Armenian society, which would take into account the interests of all its groups. We attach great importance to further deepening of allied relations between Moscow and Yerevan, which is reflected in the joint statement adopted by the leaders of Russia and Armenia on April 19, 2022. At the request of Yerevan, Russia is ready to assist in solving problems facing the republic, including expert participation in the reforms of its system of state administration.

Recall that Mikayel Badalyan, head of the Azatagrum movement, was actively involved in the disobedience actions of the Resistance Movement. He was arrested on May 24 and charged with giving false information about terrorism. On July 18 his arrest was extended for another 20 days.

Last Friday,  Badalyan’s health condition rapidly deteriorated and he was taken to the Republican Hospital.

As previously reported, producer Armen Grigoryan died on July 15 during a court session. He had been kept under arrest since May 17 of this year, despite numerous signals that he had health problems which were incompatible with the conditions of his detention.

Armen Grigoryan was charged under Part 2 of Article 226 of the Criminal Code of Armenia for statements in an interview, where he called half of the residents of Shirak and the Ararat Valley “Turks”. We should also remind that international organizations have repeatedly criticized the criminalization of insult by the current Armenian authorities.

Fifty more remains of those Armenians fallen in the 44-day Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) war in the fall of 2020 were sent to the Netherlands for additional forensic medical examination. Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan stated about this during the press briefing after Thursday’s Cabinet meeting of the government of Armenia.

“Repeated and continued examinations are still being carried out in our forensic medical center. Unfortunately, we had had badly damaged remains from which the DNA could not be separated. We are collaborating with the Netherlands for a year now. In recent times, 50 more remains were sent [there] for additional examination. The remains that are subject to difficult examination have been sent, but there is an assessment that it is possible to work with them,” said the minister.

YEREVAN. – Past daily of Armenia writes: After the revolution of 2018, in July, the government made a political decision that internal police troops should be sent to the border.

Although “participating in the defense of the country” is also included in the list of issues under the “Internal Troops” law, the former authorities did not do this, on the contrary, they were used to suppress internal political issues and especially rallies.

Coming to power in 2018, Nikol Pashinyan announced that everything is changing, the police should not be a body that protects the authorities and solves internal political problems, but should serve the country and the society, and took a bold step: he personally attended the first shift of police officers with a solemn ceremony. Starting from 18 September, policemen guarded the border in 15-day shifts.

We were informed that months ago this decision was canceled; internal troops are no longer sent to the border, even soldiers are not sent from Armenia to Artsakh, but after the war, the same officers continued to perform service at the borders of Armenia from time to time. Now it’s finally stopped.”

More details in today’s issue of the newspaper

YEREVAN. – Hraparak daily of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: As it is known, the unblocking of all economic and transport links in the region is planned according to point 9 of the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020. (…).

Although the RA authorities are not in a hurry to inform about where the unblocked roads will pass from—that is, by which roads will be connected from Azerbaijan to Turkey and vice versa—, they say in Syunik [Province of Armenia] that 4-5 road options are being discussed whereby they will allow Azerbaijanis to move freely through the territory of Armenia. (…).

One [option] is the Kubatlu-Orotan-Khot road; the other—the Bichenek/Nakhchivan/Karvachar direction.

Third, from the intersection of Noravan village in Sisian, the interstate motorway is connected with Nakhchivan and Karvachar.

The fourth—from Kubatlu to Berdzor region [to] Lachin, which passes near Khndzoresk village.

There is talk also about the construction of a road stretching from Berdzor region to Karvachar, as well as the section stretching toward Karvachar from above Jermuk.