The pilot of the plane that crashed in Lebanon was an Armenian by the name of George Shirigjian, Arevelk.am reported.
The small trainer aircraft crashed on Thursday near the city of Gost, which is located 10 km north from Beirut.
The pilot and two passengers — spouses — were on board, and they all died.
If any other party not linked to the defeat in the war won the elections [snap parliamentary elections in Armenia], I would consider the crisis resolved. This is what second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan said during the first general assembly of ‘Armenia’ bloc today.
“However, the results of the elections imply that we won’t receive answers to the questions about the 5,000 victims of the war [in Nagorno-Karabakh] and how we Armenians lost Hadrut and Shushi. The public will still have serious doubts about the $5,000,000,000 deal for Nagorno-Karabakh.
Due to the absence of answers to these questions, it will be impossible to talk about an atmosphere of confidence and solidarity. What problem did the recent elections solve? Snap elections are usually held to resolve crises. In Armenia’s case, the elections were called due to territorial losses and human casualties. Basically, the crisis following the elections remains unresolved since those who organized all this are still in power. ‘Armenia’ bloc will be the force that will fight to put an end to this crisis once and for all,” Kocharyan added.
This text available in Armenian:
“The parents of Armenian prisoners held in Baku and those missing in action want a commission to be set up comprising of representatives of the National Security Service (NSS), the government and defense ministry to properly deal with the issue of the prisoners’ return,” former deputy head of Artsakh’s State Emergency Service Boris Avagyan told reporters on Monday. Avagyan was present at the protest organised by parents of prisoners outside the government building in Yerevan.
In his words, the proposed commission will provide constant feedback and personalized approach to every case. “Most of the parents need legal services. They ask about the fate of their sons, whether they are on a trial in Baku and what are the prospects for their return. We tall them that the fabricated criminal cases and court hearings staged in Baku are just a show for the international community. We all understand that whatever testimony they want they can get from prisoners,” Avagyan said.
Speaking of the possibility to involve Armenian lawyers in the defense of the prisoners’ rights in Baku, Avagyan said: “I welcome the readiness of Armenian lawyers to travel to Baku, however their services and consultations to Armenian prisoners will be inefficient. I think we need to invite an international organisation to render professional legal services to our guys. International lawyers will not face the pressure the Armenian specialists may face in Baku. I do not believe the security of Armenian lawyers will be ensured in Baku either,” Avagyan said.
To note, The Baku Court of Grave Crimes started the trial of 14 Armenian POWs who Azerbaijan accuses of terrorism and subversion. The prisoners standing trial in Baku were captured by Azeri forces after the trilateral statement that ended the 44-day war in Artsakh from the areas of then Armenian-held Hin Tagher and Khtsaberd villages. The Baku court has recently sentenced Lebanese-Armenian captive Viken Euljekian to 20 years in prison.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract Party received 53.92% of the votes. With this percentage, the party gained a constitutional majority in the newly elected parliament, meaning that its leader, Nikol Pashinyan, will be reelected as prime minister.
The second political force in the parliament will be former President Robert Kocharyan’s Armenia Alliance with 21.04% of the votes, and the third – the I Have Honor Alliance – with 5.23% of the votes.
The parliament will consist of these three forces only. Previous parliamentary opposition groups, including Gagik Tsarukyan’s Prosperous Armenia and Edmon Marukyan’s Bright Armenia parties, did not receive enough votes to enter parliament.
Parliamentary seats
CivilNet’s preliminary calculations:
Civil Contract Party: 72 seats
Armenia Alliance: 28 seats
I Have Honor Alliance: 7 seats
Will Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan take the position of an opposition deputy in parliament? Or will he give up his seat to someone else on the Armenia Alliance list?
New Opposition
While the Armenia Alliance says as long as the “problematic issues have not received comprehensive explanations”, it will not accept the election results, but has not made clear whether it might reject the vote all together and not take their seats in parliament.
In a statement, the Armenia Alliance said it plans to appeal the results of the election in the country’s Constitutional Court. “We have serious grounds to consider these elections illegitimate, and declare that with these results, the National Assembly does not reflect the real balance of power,” the statement reads.
In comparison, despite voicing their disappointment in the results of the election, I Have Honor Alliance noted that, “The opposition must also own up to its mistakes.”
The World’s Response?
So far, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili is the only foreign leader to congratulate Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his party’s victory in Armenia’s parliamentary election.
“I extend warmest congratulations to [Armenian] PM Nikol Pashinyan on handling successful elections and victory of Civil Contract Party according to the preliminary results. I wish all success ahead. I look forward to working closely with new [Armenian] Government,” Garibashvili tweeted.
Georgia recently took credit for facilitating an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, through which Azerbaijan handed over 15 of hundreds of Armenian POWs, in exchange for a map detailing the location of landmines in Azerbaijan’s Aghdam region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said that the Kremlin sees Pashinyan’s party’s clear victory and congratulates the Armenian people on the election.
17:05, 21 June, 2021
YEREVAN, JUNE 21, ARMENPRESS. The Eurasian Economic Commission is working on the draft international treaty on creating the Union’s common gas market, Chairman of the EEC Board Mikhail Myasnikovich said during a briefing today, summing up the results of the meeting with the business community of Belarus.
“It’s not the first year that this topic is being discussed, and we have set a task before us to make this document ready this year and send it to the member states for conducting internal procedures. Common gas market means equal conditions for economic entities”, he said.
According to the EEC Board Chairman, the next issue within the EAEU relates to cargo transportation. “And for solving this issue, the Eurasian Economic Commission is currently drafting a very big and contemporary agreement on electronic-navigation seals which will accompany the cargo transported in the EAEU territory and will allow to facilitate several administrative issues during inspections”, he said.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
13:13, 23 June, 2021
YEREVAN, JUNE 23, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem Archbishop Nourhan Manougian has sent a congratulatory letter to Armenia’s caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the occasion of his Civil Contract party’s victory in the early parliamentary elections.
“We will pray that you contribute to the establishment of solidarity in the homeland and implement the expectations of our people, raising Armenia’s and Artsakh’s security, reforming the Armenian Army and contributing to the restoration of its combat preparedness, developing the economy and improving the social conditions of our homeland”, Archbishop Nourhan Manougian said in his letter, stating that he is looking forward to meeting with Pashinyan in the Holy Land.
Armenia held snap parliamentary elections on June 20.
21 political parties and 4 blocs were running for parliament.
Accordingly, the Civil Contract party led by caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received 53.92% of the votes, the “Armenia” bloc led by 2nd President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan – 21.04%, “I Have the Honor” bloc – 5.23%, CEC Chairman Tigran Mukuchyan said at the Committee’s extraordinary session.
1 million 282 thousand 411 citizens or 49.4% of the voters cast their ballot in the early elections.
4682 ballots were declared invalid.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Despite the humiliating defeatism of the Armenian side, Baku—from the position of the winner—is doing everything to direct the further development of events towards the final destruction of our statehood. Senor Hasratyan, former spokesperson of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Defense Army, wrote this on Facebook.
“It is hard to say to what extend the citizens who voted—in the last (…) [snap parliamentary] elections [in Armenia]—for the authorities who lost the [Artsakh] war [last] realize the seriousness of all this. But it is clear that the political force leading them and, in particular, the owner [i.e., acting PM Nikol Pashinyan] of the hammer endowed with “supernatural abilities” is contributing (…) to the implementation of this Armenian-destroying plan.
For many, the question may arise: And what is the way out of the dire situation? … The answer is very simple and straightforward. If you love your child, family, friend, neighbor, birthplace and, ultimately, the Homeland that completes it all, then reject—as soon as possible—the illusion of peace being wrapped around your neck at the cost of criminal defeatism and, listening to your own strength, go to save what is still possible to save. But this does not at all mean to war only (…), but, first of all, it assumes acting by thinking so as not to be deceived (…),” Hasratyan added, in particular.
11:20,
YEREVAN, JUNE 24, ARMENPRESS. 103 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Armenia in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 224,533, the ministry of healthcare reports.
3452 COVID-19 tests were conducted on June 23.
82 patients have recovered in one day. The total number of recoveries has reached 216,312.
The death toll has risen to 4505 (2 death cases have been registered in the past one day).
The number of people who have been infected with COVID-19, but died because of another disease has reached 1096.
The number of active cases is 2620.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
The finals of the EUBC U22 European Boxing Championships will take place in the Italian town of Roseto degli Abruzzi on Thursday, featuring two Armenian athletes.
Armenian boxers Artur Bazeyan (56 kg) and Hambardzum Hakobyan (81 kg) are set to compete for gold and the champion’s title in the finals, the Boxing Federation of Armenia reported.
The finals will start at 10pm Yerevan time. Bazeyan will face Adam Brian Hession from Ireland, while Hokobyan’s rival is Nikita Voronyov from Russia.
President of the Armenian Boxing Federation Hovhannes Hovsepyan has also left for the championships with the two Armenian boxers.
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