12:57, 4 November, 2020
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. The Defense Army of Artsakh has destroyed three attacking tanks of the Azerbaijani army, Armenian defense ministry spokesperson Shushan Stepanyan said on Facebook.
“At around 10:30 three advancing enemy tanks were destroyed in the southern direction”, the spokesperson said.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
13:23, 4 November, 2020
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Government is considering all possible legal procedures regarding the involvement of foreign terrorist-mercenaries by Turkey and Azerbaijan in the ongoing war against Artsakh, the Armenian Justice Minister Rustam Badasyan said.
“The presence of mercenary-terrorists in the conflict zone could lead to various international consequences,” he said. “There are conventions which envisage certain procedures…”
“….Having such a group of obligations – to fight against terrorism funding, these countries themselves have armed and funded terrorists. The government is discussing in detail all possible legal consequences.”
Editing by Stepan Kocharyan
11:30, 4 November, 2020
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. The Islamic State terrorist organization has claimed responsibility for the November 2 Vienna shooting which left 4 people dead in the central part of the Austrian capital, France24 reported.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz had called the shooting “a terror attack”.
According to authorities the attack was carried out by 4 gunmen. One of the perpetrators was shot dead by police. A manhunt is underway to apprehend at least one other suspect.
Editing by Stepan Kocharyan
11:24, 4 November, 2020
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. Azeri President Ilham Aliyev has again brought forward preconditions for stopping the war against Artsakh, despite numerous calls from the international community on halting hostilities without any preconditions.
Speaking to the Italian La Repubblica newspaper, Aliyev again dictated his preconditions, and even speaking about a compromise solution to the issue he said it is Armenia that should be the first to make concession.
He factually once again admitted that Azerbaijan started the war, saying that Azerbaijan is ready to stop the war if Armenia makes concessions.
Earlier the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan reiterated that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict can only have a peaceful resolution and it requires mutual concessions.
Meanwhile, towns and cities in Artsakh have come under Azerbaijani bombardments.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
13:31, 4 November, 2020
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. The Office of the Human Rights Defender of Artsakh is clarifying the identity of the civilian Armenian person who was beheaded by the Azerbaijani soldiers in the village of Togh.
“One of the villagers of Togh told an international reporter that they are aware of the incident when one of their neighbors was beheaded by Azerbaijani soldiers, who also killed the 82 year old Misha Stepanyan. We have some information, but we haven’t yet revealed all circumstances and these incidents are not included in the statistics,” Human Rights Defender Artak Beglaryan said.
He said they have serious reasons to believe that the Azeri military have committed numerous crimes against civilians in all villages or towns they were able to invade.
“Armenophobia is so widespread in Azerbaijan that killing an Armenian in any possible way and mistreatment of bodies is welcomed by the wide society. This deserves the special attention of the international community. There is a great danger for genocide if the Azeri servicemen have this kind of hatred for Armenians,” he said.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
13:33, 4 November, 2020
STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani military death toll has reached 7155, the official Unified Infocenter of Armenia said on November 4.
In addition, the Azeri military lost 252 unmanned aerial vehicles, 16 helicopters, 25 warplanes, 697 armored equipment and 6 TOS launchers.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
11:16, 4 November, 2020
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. 2374 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 97,150, the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention said today.
1212 more patients have recovered in one day. The total number of recoveries has reached 58,811.
4565 tests were conducted in the past one day.
35 more patients have died, raising the death toll to 1448.
The number of active cases is 36,502.
The number of patients who had a coronavirus but died from other disease has reached 389 (6 new such cases).
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
13:37, 4 November, 2020
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. Around 180 investigators from the Committee of Investigations of Armenia have signed up for the military as volunteers and the Director of the Committee of Investigations Hayk Grigoryan has personnaly led the company to the frontline, his deputy Artur Melikyan told reporters.
“Grigoryan is personally leading the work of the committee’s volunteers on the ground,” Melikyan said.
He said that another company of volunteers from their agency will head to the frontline this week.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
13:44, 4 November, 2020
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian met with Armenian and foreign politicians and public figures, also representatives of authoritative international media from the Diaspora and various countries. They are in Armenia on the initiative of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), they will also visit Artsakh, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.
At the meeting, the President was asked in particular about the military aggression against Artsakh which was unleashed by Azerbaijan assisted by Turkey, the role of the international community in the settlement of this conflict, and the support of the Diaspora.
Answering the question of a European journalist about starting a war, President Sarkissian emphasized that Azerbaijan waged war. “Armenians did not start this war, they did not start shelling civilian settlements. And there is no need to prove this, as the Armenians have no reason to start a war. How can you build schools, hospitals, roads and churches and then start a war? This is not logical. It is obvious that Azerbaijan and Turkey started this war.”
The President stressed that Azerbaijan’s claims that they were liberating their territories has, in fact, another internationally accepted formulation and is called “ethnic cleansing,” as they seek to take over a territory by annihilating the ethnic Armenians who have lived there for thousands of years. “They are now destroying schools, hospitals, committing inhumane acts, taking away human lives: of the elderly, children and young people.”
Touching upon Turkey’s involvement, President Sarkissian noted that Turkey provides full military-political support to Azerbaijan, citing a number of factors, among them their ethnic brotherhood and the protection of international infrastructures. Whereas, in reality, Turkey’s goal is to establish itself in the region, and to rule over the same international infrastructures. “By getting so close to Turkey, Azerbaijan is losing some of its sovereignty.” There are more and more facts that decisions in Baku are taken on the advice of Turkey.”
At the same time, the President of Armenia stressed that the people of Turkey and the Turkish government should be separated. “In 2007, when this government was not so strong, and Turkey was a different country, the famous Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was killed in front of his editorial office in Istanbul. I remember very well how on the day of his funeral hundreds of thousands of Turks took to the streets and declared that they were Hrant Dink. “I am talking about the current Turkish government and its policies.”
President Sarkissian stressed the need to stop the war. “Now this is a war not only for our heritage, culture, survival, the people of Nagorno Karabakh, – said Armen Sarkissian, -In a sense, the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh are fighting for the security of Europeas well. If we do not stop Turkey’s ambitions in Azerbaijan today, if Turkey rules in Azerbaijan, we will have a situation when Europe suffers as well.
I think that if it were not for the factor of Turkey’s involvement, Armenia, Artsakh and Azerbaijan would have had a ceasefire. Each time the ceasefire was violated not by the Armenians, but by the enemy. “As President of the Republic, I think there is no military solution.”
Answering the question what gives him hope in these difficult days, President Sarkissian said: “When you talk about hope, it seems like you do not know what you do, you just have hope. I work hard every day, I know what I do, I am sure that in the end Artsakh will win, because in our case the victory is to defend our own home, values and heritage. Thirty years ago, during the first war, many of our international partners said that the Armenians of Artsakh should stop fighting because Azerbaijan is large and has a great support from Turkey. But in 1994, the same people told me that Armenia has the most powerful army in the Caucasus. Therefore, I do not live with hope, but I work hard for that victory. “
In response to the question about the role of the Diaspora and its support, President Sarkissian emphasized that the strength of Armenia is the whole Armenian people. “Years ago and today, I am asked the same question: what was it that brought the Armenians to victory in the early 1990s, what did they have?” They did not have a large amount of weapons and energy resources, but what did they have? My answer is the following: we had each other. And that’s the most powerful thing you can have. It is the human value that is always essential. You can have the biggest army, and a lot of money, but if you do not have people who believe in something together, you will never win. Thirty years ago we had each other, today it is so as well. “Now we have each other: the Armenians of Artsakh, the Armenians here, the Armenians of the Diaspora, and it doesn’t matter if they are 8, 10 or 12 million.”
President Sarkissian thanked all those who did their best in the Diaspora to support Armenia and Artsakh. “If you want to provide financial support to the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh for construction and not for war, do it through the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund. The potential of the Diaspora is much greater. We need organization, discipline and dedication, because all the other components are there. I hope that by winning this war, defending our homeland, and not allowing another genocide to be carried out, we will finally understand the power of the Diaspora, which includes the friends of Armenia and the Armenians as well. “We have the support of our true friends who are not Armenians, but share human values with us,- said the President of Armenia. – In our case, our victory in this war is not aggression, not occupying the land of others, it is the defence of our and your home.
Help us to defend our history, our culture, our faith and our heritage.”
14:05, 4 November, 2020
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. The National Academy of Sciences of Armenia has addressed the international academic community, calling on to condemn the large-scale war unleashed by Azerbaijan and Turkey against the people of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), urging to recognize the independence of Artsakh by their countries, the NAS told Armenpress.
“The terrorist war unleashed by Turkey and Azerbaijan against Artsakh and its peaceful civilians continues. Ignoring the calls for the ceasefire and openly stating that their final goal is to eliminate Armenians of Artsakh, the Turkish-Azerbaijani-terrorist mercenaries’ alliance continues the attack on Artsakh, using various banned munitions and armament, several thousand special divisions from Turkey and Pakistan, as well as mercenary-terrorists from Syria. Almost all villages in Artsakh have been hit with missiles. There are hundreds dead and wounded among the civilian population”, the NAS said in a message addressed to the international academic community.
The NAS stated that despite the signing of a document on ceasefire, Azerbaijan has never remained committed to its obligations.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan