Author: Nahapetian Samvel

YEREVAN. – Zhoghovurd newspaper of Armenia writes: Yesterday, [third President and former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) chairman] Serzh Sargsyan was finally hosted by the members of the NA [National Assembly] inquiry committee investigating the circumstances of the April [2016] war.

Zhoghovurd daily has learned some details from that closed session.

 (…) at first, Serzh Sargsyan made an introductory speech (…). He noted that the time has come to speak, explain, voice, and he is ready to talk openly about everything, he has nothing to hide, to be constrained.

According to Zhoghovurd daily’s information, the meeting passed very calmly, (…) but that did not prevent the deputies from asking the most various questions (…).

Then, he told what actually interested the committee members (…).

According to our information, each of the deputies present at the sitting asked several questions (…).

Many of them were interested in how that well-known information to this society happened; that is, the Armenian side lost 800 hectares of land, now it is reported that it was 400 hectares. Serzh Sargsyan patiently explained in detail (…) noting that the Armenian side had only 400 hectares of land in the 800-hectare area, whereas the other 400 hectares were in the neutral zone, which went under the control of the Azerbaijani armed forces. And that means we lost only 400 hectares of land as a result of the four-day April war.

In general, he presented the four-day war in April as a victory, and he had answers to all the questions that seemed surprising. He said, “You all know from the media that we have had about 100 casualties, whereas the Azerbaijani armed forces have had about 1,000 casualties. Isn’t that a victory?” The RPA leader bewildered. He was also proud that the international community approached with complete understanding toward the actions of the Armenian side and did not criticize us in any domain.

When everything was presented so brightly, the deputies inquired about the shortcomings during that period (…). In response, Serzh Sargsyan recalled his April 26, 2016 decrees, according to which (…) [several officers] were relieved of their posts.

Serzh Sargsyan emphasized that maybe there were things on which he was not reported, or there are circumstances that he does not remember. But by and large, most of the deputies were quite surprised by the former president’s willingness to answer all the questions.

(…) the committee must prepare a final report, whose deadline is June 4.

The Ministry of High-Tech Industry of Armenia has issued a statement stating that it hasn’t given its consent to the Beeline-Ucom transaction.

The statement reads as follows:

“During the state of emergency, the Ministry of High-Tech Industry urges the communication and telecommunication operators of Armenia, as well as their employees to show responsibility and be guided by the obligations reserved to them by the Law of the Republic of Armenia on the Legal Regime of State of Emergency and the decisions of the Commandant, placing the uninterrupted operation of the communication and telecommunication services in the Republic of Armenia at a high level.

In response to the news about Ucom CJSC acquiring the stocks of Veon Armenia CJSC, the Ministry of High-Tech Industry informs that it has not given consent to the procedure and that the issue is under consideration.

The Ministry of High-Tech Industry calls on the mass media to not speculate the situation for no reason, taking into consideration the importance of uninterrupted work of communication and telecommunication services during the state of emergency.”

As reported earlier, yesterday the presses reported that the administration of Ucom, that is, the chief specialists for technical maintenance, under the leadership of the directors, have submitted letters for resignation, and among them are brothers Alexander and Hayk Yesayan, who are among the founders of Ucom.

It is stated that the reason is that the owners of Ucom want to appoint head of Beeline Andrey Pyatakhin director of Ucom.

YEREVAN. – The elections in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) are of great importance from three points of view: human rights, regional security, and the peace process. . Anna Naghdalyan, Spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia wrote about this on Facebook, which also reads as follows:

“With the elections in Artsakh, the human rights of the people of Artsakh are exercised to govern public life. The elected authorities in Artsakh will continue to ensure the comprehensive security of the people of Artsakh.

Naturally, Armenia has been and remains the guarantor of Artsakh’s security. And, ultimately, the elected authorities of Artsakh must receive, have the mandate of the people of Artsakh to represent them in the negotiation process.

In this sense, the elections are even more important. The Artsakh authorities have made their decision, calculating all possible risks. (…) it is a pity that the observers’ mission was disrupted due to the coronavirus; but, ultimately, the people of Artsakh are conducting the elections for themselves and not for the observers. The Artsakh authorities have made that decision, and we respect that decision.”