Category: 2020

 10:22,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Another 18 Il-76 planes and two An-124 Ruslan aircraft of the military transport aviation of the Russian Aerospace Force with equipment and staff of the 15th peacekeeping brigade sent to Armenia to participate in a peacekeeping operation in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone have landed at Yerevan’s airfields, the Russian defense ministry said, reports TASS.

The aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Force have delivered to Armenia 58 units of equipment: armored personnel carriers, off-road cargo trucks, tanker trucks, excavators, and other technical equipment.

On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno Karabakh starting from November 10. The Russian leader said the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides would maintain the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to the region. Besides, Baku and Yerevan must exchange prisoners and the bodies of those killed. It is planned that in all, 1,960 servicemen with the military equipment will be deployed. The peacekeeping command center was set up in Stepanakert.

 10:29,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian has issued a statement, calling on to be sober, to maintain restraint and vigilance, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

“These days we all feel pain and concern, some – loudly, some – silent, some – inside their souls.

The pain of all of us is the same – Homeland.

I call on to be sober, to maintain restraint and vigilance.

Today in the evening I will address a message”, the statement says.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 10:40,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Armenians in New York held a protest outside the consulate of Turkey against the recent Turkey-backed Azerbaijani aggression on Artsakh.

The protesters were holding the Armenian and Artsakh flags and were stating: “Artsakh is Armenia”, “Turks are deniers, Azerbaijanis are liars”, “Shame on Turkey, shame on Erdogan”, “Shushi is Armenian, Getashen is Armenian”, “Turkey finances genocide”, “No more genocide”, “Recognize Artsakh”.

They were also holding posters “Peace to Artsakh”, “Armenians demand justice”, etc.

 11:09,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan says the manipulations around his latest statement on November 15 are “absolutely inappropriate”.

“Understandably we are all rather tense now,” he said at an online press conference on November 16.”Regarding my yesterday’s statement I can say that a number of reactions showed how manipulative mechanisms are put to action especially during this period of tension.  What did I say in that statement, I said ‘I am waiting for you in Yerevan’”, the PM said, referring to his statement addressed to servicemen at the frontline. “This sentence gave grounds to many to say that allegedly it contains calls for civil war and clashes. If our dearest countrymen pay attention, after the well-known events one can see even on the internet that many of these servicemen are being demobilized and are returning to their families, and many of these people, groups and detachments are addressing messages to me, saying they want to meet me, and I found it necessary to publicly respond to them, saying that I will organize a meeting with them and we will discuss issues with them,” the PM said.

Speaking about the last sentence of his statement, he said that it contains a rather harsh terming, but that this terming was used yesterday also by official bodies.

“I wrote – ‘to finally solve the issues of those whining under walls’. Sure, this is a rather harsh terming, but taking into account that even official bodies use this phrase in their statements, I used it. This means that after the return of the frontline troops and during the conversation with them I will finally close the talks which are actively being generated, which allege that the Armenian military-political leadership has been involved in some kind of a conspiracy and so on. Who else if not the frontline troops know the answer to this question? It is very important for me to talk with these men, to hear their assessments,” Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan stressed that none of the troops is returning with their weapons, and that he has had a discussion with the Military Police Chief in order to rule out such cases.

“In this situation I find the manipulations regarding my yesterday’s statement to be absolutely inappropriate. I believe that the demobilized troops, the soldiers who are returning from the frontline are also entitled to have their opinion, and I don’t believe there is anything condemnable that they want to meet with me. They are the ones who bear the truth about the events, and if it turns out that a conspiracy has happened, then let those guilty be punished,” the PM said.

He said that in no way can the country’s leader call for civil war or clashes, and stressed that the law enforcement agencies have all opportunities to prevent potential clashes.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 11:16,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. For the Armenian side the issue of the status of Nagorno Karabakh should be put on the basis of the negotiation process with new intensity and significance, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said during an online press conference today, asked what is his own point in the negotiations.

“We should analyze and form the agenda which we have today over the current situation, and we should serve that agenda, mainly focusing on the issue of the status of Nagorno Karabakh. The most important is that the people of Nagorno Karabakh should live in Nagorno Karabakh, and the issue of the status of Nagorno Karabakh for us should be put on the basis of the negotiation process with new intensity and new importance”, the PM said, adding also the humanitarian, communication, transport and other issues.

Reporting by Anna Grigoryan; Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 11:18,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. 549 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have been confirmed in Armenia in the past one day, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 117,886, the ministry of healthcare said today.

881 more patients have recovered in one day. The total number of recoveries has reached 75,865.

1550 tests were conducted in the past one day.

25 more patients have died, raising the death toll to 1788.

The number of active cases is 39,779.

The number of patients who had a coronavirus but died from other disease has reached 454 (4 new such cases).

Reporting by Anna Grigoryan; Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 11:26,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. During an online press conference today Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the number of soldiers missing in action during the recent war in Nagorno Karabakh is known, however, the PM didn’t mention a concrete number.

“Yes, the number is known, I will not announce a concrete number now, but we have the number. Unfortunately, the talk is about several hundred missing soldiers. And we hope we will not come to the same conclusion in all cases. We hope we will find some of them alive. For instance, yesterday I was informed that a wounded soldier, who was previously considered missing, has been found”, he said.

As for the timeframes of exchange of prisoners of war, the PM said the exchange will take place after the exchange of bodies of those killed. “This issue is being discussed a lot and is very important, there are also proposals to declare a day of mourning. I think it will be right to make that decision after the completion of finding the bodies, and we will have an opportunity to pay a tribute also within the decisions made at the state level”, Pashinyan stated.

He considers important to ensure the social guarantees envisaged for the families of fallen and disabled soldiers. “The government is taking measures and has confidence that all that will be done properly. Of course, I consider highly important the communication with the families of fallen soldiers. Of course, this communication should exist and should be continuous between the government and the families of those killed. I also attach importance to the communication with our disabled soldiers because the organization of their future life is one of the most important tasks, and here the government must play a key role. Soldier must see that the state stands by him and does everything possible. It’s clear that the solution of healthcare problems is even not a matter of discussion. There is nothing to discuss here. There are also some social guarantees by the legislation, and again here there is nothing to discuss. But it’s also important for the government to assist our disabled soldiers who have a problem of professional training for organizing their future life, and this must become one of the key directions of our activity”, Nikol Pashinyan stated.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 11:29,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan says he sees the need for interpretations of numerous of the provisions of the statement he signed with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on ending the war in Nagorno Karabakh.

Asked at a news conference on November 16 why there is no dialogue with political forces who are claiming that there are chances to change some provisions of the armistice to more favorable ones, Pashinyan said he hasn’t received any proposals from these forces.

“To tell you the truth I haven’t received any proposal from any political force who’d say they know how to make it better. Essentially, changing the document’s provisions in retrospect would mean changing the military developments, which I believe isn’t realistic today. Regarding the future negotiations process, there are numerous provisions in this documents which still require interpretations. During these interpretations all the ideas and recommendations will be summed up and we will attempt to bring to life the best proposals,” Pashinyan said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 11:39,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan reiterated that he personally bears entire responsibility for the latest developments in Artsakh, but at the same time he highlighted the need to explain all circumstances to the society.

“There is no doubt that I am the number one official who bears responsibility for what happened. I realize that due to this fact – perhaps this will sound harsh – I will stand before our people’s trial, but in this case the people must be able to make conclusions, they must know all circumstances of the case. Hearing out the very troops, the opposition and the government is an inseparable part of this process. I find it important that the developments that took place should be understandable,” Pashinyan said during an online news conference.

The PM also elaborated on the past negotiations process. He said that as of May 2018, the NK negotiations process had crossed the point of no-return when the issue had entered the “territories in exchange for nothing” logic. Pashinyan reminded that during those days, many Republicans where voicing their predictions, claiming that difficulties and surrender of territories will happen in Artsakh.

“There are three options in this case: Either these people are prophets, or the government and I are conspirators, or they knew back then on what point the negotiations process on Karabakh had stopped and where it had reached. My policy in this context was the following – to try and not agree to this all and to attempt to change the logic. And essentially, we can say that unfortunately we didn’t succeed, because we were facing a situation when there was an international consensus that the territories must be returned to Azerbaijan without preconditions. And we, indeed, we were unable to change this logic, and perhaps we didn’t accurately assess the possibilities for changing them. On the other hand, if we didn’t accurately assess it, then what should we had done? Adapt with that reality? I couldn’t adapt with that and I tried to increase Armenia’s resistibility regarding this issue. I tried to do everything in order to increase the level of capabilities of the Armenian military,” he said.

Pashinyan said the accusations in his address are contradicting one another. He said on one hand there are accusations for signing a document on surrendering territories, and on the other hand there are accusations on why it wasn’t done earlier.

“Our army, our military fought and resisted for as long as it had a concrete strategic and tactical purpose and meaning. On the other hand we are again accused in contradicting things. We are accused for the victims of war, we are accused that we took that step in order to avoid victims and not allow the blockade of 20-35 thousand people. I bear entire responsibility for this all, but to bear it fully I find it necessary for all circumstances to be explained to the public,” Pashinyan said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 12:11,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan highlights operation of the parliament, the president and all the remaining institutes in the current situation, stating that their activities should be concretely directed for ensuring security and stability in the country.

During an online press conference today, he was asked if the MPs, the Cabinet members, the President were not aware of the main discussion of the statement adopted on the NK conflict and the decision made by the Prime Minister, does it mean that these institutes are not operating at all and are in crisis?

The PM reminded that during the war at least two sessions of the Security Council were held which were attended by the President of the Republic, also by His Holiness Garegin II and representatives of parliamentary factions. “We also had meetings, discussions with the representatives of political forces. In general, they have been informed about the tendencies. Yes, there have been many nuances with concreteness, which were not considered possible to discuss because there was such situation when it was necessary to make a decision in hours, in quite a limited time. And that decisions were made in that limited time, by consulting with the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the political leadership of Artsakh”, he said, adding that concrete developments were taking place, which required very concrete response.

As for the existence and operation of the aforementioned institutions, Pashinyan said these institutions operate and will continue to operate. He highlighted to fully guarantee stability and public security in Armenia at this moment. According to him, that institutions are capable to act and have a mandate and power to act.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan