12:44,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Defense Ministry is denying the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry’s statement claiming that an Armenian SU-25 warplane was shot down.
“The announcement of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan that a Su-25 airplane belonging to the Armenian side was allegedly shot down on October 17 is another misinformation,” Armenian Defense Ministry spokesperson Shushan Stepanyan said on social media.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
13:11,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia has officially denied Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s statement alleging armament smuggling into Armenia on board civilian aircraft over the airspaces of different countries.
The NSS said this Azeri fake news is “the result of lies and sick imagination.” The Armenian intelligence agency added that the generation of such fake news has become the main component of the “Turkish-Azerbaijani-terrorist alliance’s military operations and aims at delivering a blow to the reputation of Armenia and its friendly relations with partner countries.”
In addition, the NSS said it has concrete intelligence data on Azerbaijan itself being engaged in covertly smuggling large amounts of armaments and mercenary-terrorists into its territory. The NSS cited data on the Azerbaijani Silk Way cargo airline’s two-way flights operated by a Boeing 747 and an IL-76 to military airbases of different countries: most recently on the Azeri cargo carrier carried out a flight from Baku to Afghanistan’s Bagram Airfield, then on October 17 from Bagram Airfield to Lashkar Gah airport and back to Baku, Azerbaijan. The same route is scheduled for October 18. Azerbaijan is also planning two-way flights from Baku via a transit airport to Kandahar. Moreover, such flights are scheduled in advance, even beyond October 19. Most of these flights are not recorded in international flight lists and some of the airports aren’t even internationally listed, the NSS said.
The NSS says the Azeri authorities are attempting to expand the geography of involving terrorist mercenaries and armaments and in order to conceal these illegal actions they are falsely accusing Armenia.
The Armenian NSS officially addressed international organizations to dismiss the Azeri fake news.
It also called on the international organizations to comprehensively study and validate the reliable information provided by them to explain the circumstances and goals of the military cargo and mercenaries’ transfer to Azerbaijan on board the abovementioned flights.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
15:15,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced that they condemn the ongoing violence and attacks against the civilian population of Artsakh and welcome the peaceful protests of Armenians in LA, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department shared the statement of the Sheriff on Facebook.
In the statement the LASD said it is monitoring the ongoing incidents in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone, “which, while, 7,200 miles away from Los Angeles, is of extreme and immediate importance to so many within the LA community”.
“We hear you and we understand. In fact, Los Angeles County is home to more people of Armenian descent than anywhere in the world outside of Armenia itself. We witness, denounce and condemn the violence and attacks occurring upon civilians in Artsakh. We welcome peaceful protests of solidarity here in Los Angeles and stand with you in our shared demand for peace”, the statement says.
14:46,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Alexander Harutyunyan has been awarded posthumously with the Hero of Artsakh highest title for the bravery and courage shown while defending the Homeland, Artsakh presidential spokesperson Vahram Poghosyan said on Facebook.
“According to the decision of President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan, war volunteer Alexander Harutyunyan has been awarded posthumously with the Hero of Artsakh highest title for his exclusive services to ensuring the defense and security of Artsakh”, Poghosyan said.
On September 27 Azerbaijan, with the support of Turkey, launched a massive attack against the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), by using all its ammunition, targeting also the civilian infrastructures both in Artsakh and Armenia. There are confirmed reports that there are mercenaries in the Azerbaijani army brought from Syria by Turkey for fighting against the Armenian side.
On October 10 an agreement has been reached in Moscow between the Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers on cessation of hostilities in the NK conflict zone for humanitarian purposes. However, minutes after the agreement entered into force Azerbaijan again launched attacks against Artsakh and till now continues violating the humanitarian truce.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
15:57,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Healthcare Arsen Torosyan met with Russian Ambassador to Armenia Sergei Kopyrkin, the ministry told Armenpress.
At the beginning of the meeting the minister thanked Russia for the multilateral support provided in the healthcare sector, in particular in the fight against COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS.
“One more mobile lab will be provided to Armenia soon by the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor)”, the minister said and once again thanked for the support.
Minister Torosyan presented the situation in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone and thanked Russia for all the efforts aimed at the settlement of the conflict.
“The situation now is that our healthcare system is operating in 3 directions: the 1st direction – planned actions, the 2nd direction – coronavirus pandemic, which is gradually growing, and the 3rd direction – given the overload of Artsakh’s healthcare system due to the Azerbaijani military operations, Armenia’s healthcare system is also providing a respective assistance to mitigate the overload. Of course, this creates some difficulties, but we are managing to overcome it”, he said.
The sides expressed mutual readiness to continue and strengthen the cooperation in the healthcare field.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
16:02,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Hundreds of Armenians held a protest outside BBC building in London, urging to present the truth about the ongoing military operations unleashed by Azerbaijan and Turkey against Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and Armenia.
“Stop spreading Azerbaijani and Turkish lies”, “BBC, tell the truth”, the protest participants said.
They were holding the flags of Armenia and Artsakh and stated that the British community deserves to know the truth.
Armenians worldwide are holding similar protests, urging leading media outlets to tell the truth to the international community.
On September 27 Azerbaijan, with the support of Turkey, launched a massive attack against the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), by using all its ammunition, targeting also the civilian infrastructures both in Artsakh and Armenia. There are confirmed reports that there are mercenaries in the Azerbaijani army brought from Syria by Turkey for fighting against the Armenian side.
On October 10 an agreement has been reached in Moscow between the Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers on cessation of hostilities in the NK conflict zone for humanitarian purposes. However, minutes after the agreement entered into force Azerbaijan again launched attacks against Artsakh and till now continues violating the humanitarian truce.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
16:08,
STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani armed forces fired heavy strikes at Artsakh’s towns and cities overnight October 16-17, with nine missiles hitting Stepanakert City.
The State Service of Emergency Situations of Artsakh told ARMENPRESS that the Azeri military used prohibited cluster munitions and other munitions in bombarding the Artsakh capital, causing significant damages to civilian infrastructure and leaving apartments in ruins in the city’s neighborhoods and suburbs.
“They hit Stepanakert, Shushi, Martakert, Shosh, and several other communities,” State Service of Emergency Situations spokesperson Hunan Tadevosyan told ARMENPRESS.
“Three civilians, including an elderly woman, were wounded in Shosh. They were immediately taken to a hospital. The night was rough in Stepanakert, the air raid sirens were on uninterruptedly for a long time,” he said.
In Stepanakert, the Azeri missiles hit central parts and suburbs, completely destroying private property of residents, apartments, shops and other civilian infrastructure. “A lot of time and huge resources will be needed to restore all of this. A residential home where a wounded elderly woman was living was completely destroyed,” Tadevosyan said.
He said the Azeri military used Grad and Smerch multiple rocket launchers, cluster munitions, missiles and loitering munitions in the attack on Stepanakert and other peaceful settlements. The total damages are still under assessment.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
16:28,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS. Turkey has violated the US legislation by using the American-made F-16 fighter jets in the territory of Azerbaijan during the war against Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), Expert on American studies Suren Sargsyan told Armenpress, adding that the F-16s could be deployed in Azerbaijan’s territory only by the permission of the US President, which, however, didn’t take place.
“The weapons and ammunition produced by the United States are always under the strong monitoring of the US government. The talk is about the types of arms sold to the partner states. The law says if the US weapon, which has been purchased by a partner state, should be used in the territory of another state, there should be the permit of the US President. In this case that consent didn’t exist”, he said.
The expert noted that the F-16s were not only deployed in the Ganja airport, but also participated in the military operations, moreover, one of them has shot down the military aircraft of Armenia’s Armed Forces. The expert, however, stated that this is not the first case Turkey is violating the US legislation.
“It’s not the first time Turkey is violating the US legislation and contract-based obligations because just several years ago Turkey started to use the US-made fighter jets in the territory of Syria, which created a big scandal because the US President has not given a respective permit”, Suren Sargsyan added.
He expressed confidence that the US side is conducting examinations over the case, but noted that this violation will not have a major consequence for Turkey.
“No statement has been made yet by the US side, because, I am sure, currently examination stage is underway. Here the problem is that there is a factory of F-16s in Turkey as well which is working with a US license, but in any case the US legislation bans the use of any kind of US-made weapon in the territory of another state without the President’s consent”, he said.
Turkish air force F-16s have been deployed against Armenia and shot down an Armenian military aircraft amid the Azeri attack on Artsakh on September 29, 2020.
Interview by Norayr Shoghikyan
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
17:23,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The positions of Moscow and Washington coincide on the fundamental issues of the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Russian Ambassador in Washington Anatoly Antonov said in an interview with Channel One, reports TASS.
“It was a pleasant surprise when a joint statement was issued by the three presidents [co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, the United States]. We have so few events where the American and Russian positions coincided, we called on the parties to restrain, to stop fire and to transfer everything into a diplomatic channel”, the ambassador said.
17:34,
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The State Revenue Committee of Armenia has released the list of 1000 major taxpayers.
In January-September 2020, the taxes paid by the 1000 major taxpayers comprised 721 billion 396 million drams.
The amount of payments made to the tax body comprised over 592 billion 608 million, and the amount of payments to the customs body comprised over 128 billion 788 million drams.
The list is topped by Grand Tobacco (over 36 billion 215 million drams), the 2nd is Gazprom Armenia (over 34 billion 866 million drams), the 3rd is Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine (over 31 billion 310 million drams), the 4th is Geopromining Gold (over 16 billion 264 million drams) and the 5th is SPC OIL (over 14 billion 360 million drams).
The full list of taxpayers is available at the following link.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan