11:08, 4 January, 2022
YEREVAN, JANUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. 90 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in the last 24 hours, bringing the cumulative total number of confirmed cases to 345,126, the Armenian National Center for Disease Control and Prevention said.
4036 tests were administered (total 2,581,573).
203 people recovered from COVID-19, raising the number of recoveries to 332,201.
3 people died, bringing the death toll to 7986.
As of January 4, the number of active cases stood at 3429.
Two MPs of the faction “Civil Contract” submit letters of resignation
19:01, 4 January, 2022
YEREVAN, 4 JANUARY, ARMENPRESS. Members of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, members of ”Civil Contract” faction Sedrak Tevonyan and Sergey Movsisyan on January 4 submitted letters of resignation, ARMENPRESS was informed from the official website of the National Assembly.
According to the Armenian law, if after a week following the publication of the resignation the MPs take back their application, the President of the National Assembly makes a statement about that, if they don’t take back their application, then a protocol is made about the termination of their powers, which is signed and published by the President of the National Assembly. After the publication of the protocol, the resignation is considered approved.
Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın speaks at a meeting hosted by Turkey’s ambassador to the U.S. and its Chicago consul general in Chicago, U.S., Dec. 26, 2021. (AA Photo)
Azerbaijan’s liberation of Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenian occupation has opened a new page in history, Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın said Sunday.
Kalın was speaking at a meeting hosted by Turkey’s ambassador to the United States, Hasan Murat Mercan, and Chicago Consul General Engin Türesin.
In response to a question on the Armenian lobby’s activities in the U.S. against Turkey, Kalın said the developments underway in the Caucasus will soon dismantle the Armenian diaspora’s arguments.
“In other words, the Turkey-Armenia or Turkish-Armenian conflict, is coming to an end in the Caucasus. With the liberation of Karabakh, with its independence and joining Azerbaijani lands, a new page in history has opened there,” he said.
Kalın also highlighted the steps Turkey and Armenia have taken to normalize relations, noting that the process will make a great contribution to Armenia both politically and economically.
Relations between the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.
When new clashes erupted on Sept. 27, 2020, the Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces, and violated several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.
During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from the nearly three-decade occupation.
Turkey was a key backer of Azerbaijan during last year’s 44-day Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
On Nov. 10 last year, the two countries signed a Russian-brokered agreement to end the fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.
On Jan. 11, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a pact to develop economic ties and infrastructure to benefit the entire region. It included the establishment of a trilateral working group on Nagorno-Karabakh.
The cease-fire is seen as a victory for Azerbaijan and a defeat for Armenia, whose armed forces withdrew in line with the agreement.
Kalın also met with Turkish citizens living in the U.S. at the Turkish Consulate General in Chicago while he was in the city to attend the annual MAS-ICNA convention, one of the largest Islamic conferences in North America.
Relations between Turkey and the U.S. are critical enough to develop a strategic partnership perspective, Kalın said, adding: “But we have seen that approaches that ignore Turkey’s threat perception and the threats we face are also implemented by the American administrations.”
On the fight against terrorism, Kalın stated that Turkey expects the U.S. administrations to confront the issue at the appropriate level, scope and depth.
Kalın went on to say that the U.S.’ continued support of the PKK terrorist organization’s Syrian offshoot, the YPG, its sanctions against Turkey over its purchase of Russia’s S-400 air defense systems, Turkey’s removal from the F-35 program and its approach toward the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) are the main disagreements between the two countries.
However, he said that in addition to these controversial issues, there are also areas in which Turkey and the U.S. continue to work and agree.
The servicemen of the Russian peacekeeping contingent ensured the safety of around 100 pilgrims and local residents visiting the Amaras monastery complex on the line of contact of the parties in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).
Pilgrims, including students of Shushi university, arrived in the Martuni district for a church service in Amaras from the city of Stepanakert and the settlements close to the monastery, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday.
Peacemakers ensure the safety of pilgrims while traveling and visiting the Amaras monastery complex and during church services.
As a result of the agreements reached, the Amaras monastery was in close proximity to the line of contact of the parties in Nagorno-Karabakh. The servicemen of the Russian peacekeeping contingent regularly ensure the safety of pilgrims wishing to visit the shrine.
12:18,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced at the Cabinet meeting that he has received the booster shot against COVID-19 and advised everyone to do the same.
He warned that the next wave is will inevitably hit someday, and that the vaccination rates must continue at high levels.
“We don’t have to wait until it’s too late to start acting. It is very important that during this calm phase we consistently continue the vaccinations,” Pashinyan said.
In turn, health minister Anahit Avanesyan said that only around 500 people have received a booster shot in the country.
Speaking about the first and second dose statistics, she said: “1 million 591 thousand vaccinations were administered in total – 920,650 of which are first dose recipients and 670,710 are second dose recipients.”
She added that they haven’t detected the Omicron variant so far.
Avanesyan further noted that the coronavirus situation in Armenia is now “stable”, and if epidemiological safety guidelines will be maintained during the holidays the stability will be maintained.
Armenian weightlifter Simon Martirosyan on Thursday won a bronze medal at the 2021 World Weightlifting Championships being held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
The athlete finished third in the men’s 109 kg weightlifting category with a combined total of 416 kg.
In the snatch event, Martirosyan lifted 188 kg, winning a small silver medal.
In the clean and jerk, the Armenian athlete lifted 228 kg, but he could not lift 237 kg twice.
12:43, 17 December, 2021
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Citizens in Artsakh are experiencing disruptions of mobile connections.
The disruptions of the cellular communication are caused by frequency jamming from Azerbaijan, the Artsakh authorities said.
“We are taking measures to solve the issue through negotiations,” the Artsakh Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures said in a statement.
By Ayya Lmahamad
The U.S. hosts “the Summit for Democracy” on December 9-10, to which 109 countries have been invited.
By what criteria the list of invitees was made is still a topical issue. The list does not include, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and other Turkic-speaking countries, the vast majority of Muslim countries, as well as China and Russia.
The fact that the U.S. did not invite such countries is a clear example of double standards and is proof that Washington is using the democracy factor for its own political purposes.
U.S. dividing world into “friends” and “aliens”
Russian military expert Igor Korotchenko has told local media that the U.S. has clearly divided the world into “friends” and “aliens”.
“‘Friends’ are mostly henchmen, those who are ready to carry out any instruction of Washington. Of course, in the light of everything that is going on, Armenia’s behavior is surprising, because it is a member-state of the CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization] and has allied relations with Russia. Against this background, Armenia is taking part in an anti-Russia event,” he said.
The expert underlined that the fact that Russia, China, Azerbaijan, and several other countries were not invited to the summit, shows that those states are headed by strong, self-sufficient leaders who do not allow foreign interference in the affairs of the countries they lead.
Korotchenko noted that the Washington-hosted so-called democracy summit is an anti-Russian event that is held under the auspices of the U.S.
The expert stated that the post-Soviet countries invited there were states where the norms of democracy are not only not respected, but also suppressed.
“The invitation of Armenia is a good example. As for democracy in Armenia a year ago we saw that a crowd of people in Yerevan dragged [former] Armenian Parliament Speaker Ararat Mirzoyan out of a car and beat him. Apparently, these standards of democracy today contribute to inviting Armenia and allowing it to participate in this summit,” he said.
Korotchenko also recalled the constant clashes among Armenian MPs, in which it is common practice to throw mineral water glass bottles or kick each other. He stressed the question of how can a country, where the prime minister was hiding from the crowd of people in an underground bunker under the Defence Ministry building, be invited to such a summit.
“But they are invited since Yerevan has the largest U.S. embassy, non-profit organizations sponsored by the State Department and numerous American foundations operate in Yerevan. [Prime Minister Nikol] Pashinyan and his team are Soros’ representatives,” he said.
“Therefore, everything is obvious. This clearly demonstrates the cynicism of Washington, which diligently classifies a number of countries, while stubbornly ignoring the problems with democracy among its accomplices,” he added.
“Summit of Washington vassals”
Political scientist Anton Bredikhin said that the democracy summit is in fact a summit of vassals – Washington’s vassals, which are either within the U.S. sphere of influence or interested in it.
He noted that Armenia, invited to the summit, seeks to pursue a Western-oriented policy.
“And of course, after the U.S. invited Yerevan to attend the summit, Pashinyan, seeing in this platform another opportunity to review the results of the Karabakh war, the decisions adopted in Moscow and Sochi, will seek to convey his position in the meeting, because he needs the U.S. and France to join the process, and for further decisions to be made solely in Armenia’s interest,” he said.
Bredikhin stressed that the summit is not so much deliberative in nature. He considered it to be rather in the nature of the fulfillment of the U.S.wishes.
“The Americans will present a number of their requirements, which will have to be fulfilled by all the participants of the forum. Both the deadlines within which these requirements must be met and the areas in which they must be implemented by each of the parties will be presented,” he said.
The political scientist believes that Biden will make a number of statements that the new sanctions are needed against Russia and that each of the countries participating in this summit will be the party either proposing these sanctions or the party that will support these sanctions.
“So we are waiting for another batch of Western sanctions on Russia… Of course, at the end of the summit, Biden will announce that he can now rule the half-world. This half-world includes the invited countries, regardless of their regime or religious component, and now they will be obliged to fulfill all the wishes that will come from the White House,” he said.
No credibility
Former US ambassador Matthew Bryza said that it is difficult for the U.S. to have credibility in claiming to be a global leader on democracy when they themselves have faced a serious challenge to their own democratic system. He added that it is not a good time for the U.S., in terms of its reputation, to hold a democracy summit.
“Because to do so, the U.S. government needs to decide which democracies are good ones and which are bad ones that don’t deserve to be invited,” he said.
Bryza stressed that given the threats facing democracy in the U.S., most notably, the insurrections, riots against the U.S. Capitol on January 8, it is not a time when the U.S. has great credibility as a leader of democracy.
“In fact, we still have one of the two major political parties in the U.S. falsely claiming that the last election was stolen from Donald Trump when it is absolutely clear that it is not the case,” he said.
The selective choice of countries invited to the so-called democracy summit, clearly shows that it has been drawn up from the U.S. geopolitical interests and that America is fundamentally distorting the concept of democracy.
By Trend
The Summit for Democracy has kicked off in the US today.
Proceeding from the list of the countries invited and not invited to this summit, it is clear that this list was drawn up not in accordance with the criteria of democracy, but from the point of view of the US global, geopolitical interests.
Congo, Iraq and Armenia were invited to the summit. Turkey, Hungary and Azerbaijan did not participate in the event. In this case, the question arises. What criteria determine who has been invited?
US expert Peter Tase has commented on this issue.
“President Biden’s Summit for Democracy is doomed to fail, US expert Peter Tase told Trend.
Tase added that double standards are the main pillar in the Biden Foreign Policy.
“The Summit for Democracy is simply a show off, empty rhetoric and will not bolster human rights, it will further weaken institutional democracy globally,” the expert said.
According to the expert, President Biden has stated that “Democracy doesn’t happen by accident. We have to defend it, fight for it, strengthen it, renew it”.
“In the real world, the United States is defending the antithesis,” Tase said. “President Biden’s Summit for Democracy is doomed to fail and will not strengthen the democratic standards within the countries that were invited to participate in this marginal event that is characterized by double standards and attended by ruthless autocrats and criminals.”
Tase said that refusing to talk, unwilling to officially invite, and hold discussions with the Republic of Turkey, Republic of Azerbaijan, People’s Republic of Bangladesh, and other democratic governments; is a recipe to self isolationism that is definitely harmful to the United States national interests.
“I am disheartened and deeply disturbed by the list of statesmen invited by President Biden to attend this major event that favors autocracy over transparent governments, and will certainly result in a total failure,” the expert said.
In turn, Director of the Russian Institute for Political Studies, Russian analyst Sergei Markov also commented on this issue.
“The fact that Russia, Turkey, China, Hungary, Azerbaijan were not invited to the Summit for Democracy shows that these countries are sovereign and are ready to defend their interests, rather than obey Washington’s orders,” Markov said.
Markov added that the Summit for Democracy is an event in which the countries, recognizing that they are subordinate to the US and follow Washington’s instructions, are taking part, rather than democratic countries.
The director of the Russian Institute for Political Studies also stressed that it is important for Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to participate in this summit because he wants to pass from Russia to the US.
While speaking about the Summit for Democracy, the Russian political analyst stressed that there is an obvious substitution of the principle of democracy for the principles of subordination to Washington.
“When this substitution occurs, the calls for democracy are destroyed,” the analyst said. “Nobody will believe the calls for democracy that are heard from the forum in which Armenia participates.”
“We can observe the substitution of good standards for bad ones,” Markov added. “Democracy is a good standard, while the idea that everybody must obey Washington’s orders is a bad standard.”
The Summit for Democracy is a great irony as its goal is simply to oust other countries, divide the world into different camps. This is a kind of ‘divide and rule’ policy.
Amid the process of inviting Armenia to the summit, which supports terrorism at the state level, Hungary, Azerbaijan and Turkey, which are pursuing an unquestioning policy, have not been invited, which gives a clear idea of the criteria by which the participants were selected.
10:44, 7 December, 2021
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Russian peacekeepers have delivered more than 9 tons of humanitarian aid to the needy and large families of Nagorno Karabakh, the Russian defense ministry said.
The aid was collected by charitable organizations in Moscow and was delivered to Stepanakert.
The aid includes Christmas toys for kids, equipment for kindergartens, clothes, shoes, etc.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan