Category: 2020

 09:13,

YEREVAN, JULY 22, ARMENPRESS. Additional reconnaissance is being carried out in the direction of Anvakh (Fearless) military position of the Armenian Armed Forces, located in the north-eastern section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, after a failed attack of the special units of the Azerbaijani armed forces on July 21, at around 22:30, Armenian defense minister’s spokesperson Shushan Stepanyan said on Facebook.

On July 21, at around 22:30, the Azerbaijani armed forces launched a new attack at the Anvakh (Fearless) Armenian military position. The Armenian Armed Forces repulsed the adversary’s attack, causing significant losses. According to the preliminary reports, in addition to losses, the Azerbaijani special forces also trapped servicemen. No losses have been reported from the Armenian side.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 10:20,

YEREVAN, JULY 22, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan signed the law, adopted by the Parliament on June 3, on making changes and amendments to the Law on the Constitutional Court.

“Now the Law must be published in the official bulletin and will enter into force from that moment”, the Speaker said.

On June 30 the Parliament adopted the bill submitted by the ruling My Step faction which sets a pension for the judges of the Constitutional Court whose powers have been suspended based on the recent changes. After the adoption of the bill President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian announced that he would not sign it.

On June 22 the Parliament adopted the bill on the Constitutional amendments submitted by a group of the ruling My Step faction MPs, which proposes to replace the Constitutional Court President and those judges of the Court which have served no less than 12 years. The Constitutional amendments have entered into force. Hrays Tovmasyan is no longer the President of the Constitutional Court, and the powers of three judges of the Court – Felix Tokhyan, Hrant Nazaryan and Alvina Gyulumyan have been suspended. The three new judges of the Court must be elected within two months.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 11:11,

YEREVAN, JULY 22, ARMENPRESS. 439 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have been registered in Armenia in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 35,693, the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention said today.

560 more patients have recovered. The total number of recoveries has reached 24,766.

16 people have died in one day, raising the death toll to 678.

The number of active cases stands at 10,032.

The number of people who had a coronavirus but died from other disease has reached 217 (2 new such cases).

So far, 149,898 people have passed COVID-19 testing.

Reporting by Lilit Demuryan; Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 11:16,

YEREVAN, JULY 22, ARMENPRESS. A medical worker has died from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Armenia, Armenian healthcare minister’s spokesperson Alina Nikoghosyan said on Facebook.

“59-year-old Siranush Harutyunyan has worked in the polyclinic of the St. Gregory the Illuminator hospital as a pediatrician, however, she has not been involved in the coronavirus treatment activities and has not been infected at the workplace”, she said.

439 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have been registered in Armenia in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 35,693, the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention said today.

560 more patients have recovered. The total number of recoveries has reached 24,766.

16 people have died in one day, raising the death toll to 678.

The number of active cases stands at 10,032.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 11:20,

STEPANAKERT, JULY 22, ARMENPRESS. 10 new cases of the novel coronavirus have been detected in the Republic of Artsakh, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 183, the ministry of healthcare said today.

The total number of recoveries stands at 144.

The number of active cases is 39.

Currently 80 people are quarantined.

No death cases have been registered in the Republic.

So far, 4043 COVID-19 tests have been conducted.

Reporting by Lilit Demuryan; Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 11:35,

YEREVAN, JULY 22, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s Ambassador to the Netherlands Tigran Balayan has published an article in the Daily Netherlands Dagblad, about the recent clashes on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border which resulted in casualties.

Armenpress presents the full text of the article:

“While the rest of the world is trying to address the coronavirus crisis and its consequences on July 12 the armed forces of Azerbaijan, after artillery shelling, attempted to conquer Armenian border posts. There was a lot of damage and sixteen lives lost on both sides. This was a clear violation of the trilateral truce concluded in 1994.

This ceasefire ended the war between Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh, which was supported by Armenia. Almost four year war had preceded, with 35,000 killed. Azerbaijan started that war in response to the intention of the people of Nagorno Karabakh to reunite with Armenia. In 1921 it was separated from Armenia and given to Azerbaijan by Soviet leader Stalin.

The artillery violence is also a violation of the international humanitarian law, because it targeted civilian infrastructure, including villages and homes have been shelled and directly endanger lives.

Armenia has made numerous attempts to draw the attention of other countries to the threat of large-scale violence and called for immediate action. Nevertheless, the mentioned provocation of the armed forces of Azerbaijan to destabilize the situation on the border came as a surprise for the international community The signs, however, were obvious. Azerbaijan faced a financial (licences of 4 banks were revoked) and political crisis, involving tough action against the opposition. Also sharply declining oil prices and the country suffered from the pandemic. Borders were closed, so Azeris sometimes were stuck a few meters away from the national border and denied access to their homeland. In this situation, the Azerbaijani authorities stepped up their rhetoric, even launching claims about the territory of Armenia. Also large scale military exercises were held (with more than 10,000 soldiers)  in the border area. All this to distract the attention of the public from the various crises and protest of the population on tackling COVID-19.

The neglect of human lives and absence of any responsibility of one’s action is vividly expressed in the statement of the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan: “Armenia should not forget that our rockets are directed to its Nuclear Power plant, and we can fire them causing a catastrophe for Armenia”. Azerbaijan has been saying for years that the nuclear power plant poses a threat to the surrounding area, but experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency consider the plant as safe.

Another worrying aspect is the provocative role of Turkey in which the highest political and military leaders openly encourage use of force and promise all possible support in an eventual war against Armenia. Erdogan says: “We will never leave our brother, Azerbaijan, alone. We will support Azerbaijan till the end”. 

Fighter planes and espionage drones have been flying in recent days above the unilaterally closed border between Turkey and Armenia. In support of Azerbaijan, Turkey closed its border with Armenia during the war in 1993. The supply of arms to Azerbaijan has also intensified: a dangerous behavior of a NATO member state that has not been condemned by its allies.

Further intensification of this conflict and its eventual expansion will only lead to a humanitarian disaster with deadly victims and refugee flows.

The message of Armenia is unequivocal: There is no alternative to a peaceful settlement. 

We remain committed to this and are working on de-escalation and on an environment, which promotes peace. The international community should support this narrative and urge all sides to strengthen the 1994 cease-fire regime, agree to the proposal on deployment of the OSCE monitors along the trenches, as well as establish an OSCE investigative mechanism into alleged ceasefire violations. Only in this way a lasting peace will be in the sight”.

 12:24,

YEREVAN, JULY 22, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, calls on all state officials, spiritual leaders, Diaspora’s political parties and organizations, individuals involved in the Fund’s Board of Trustees to direct their efforts to the Fund’s Empowering Remote Border Communities pan-Armenian fundraising campaign, the Fund told Armenpress.

All proceeds will go to addressing the most pressing needs of these communities.

“Dear compatriots,

The recent escalation in military operations by the Azerbaijani armed forces on the Armenia-Azerbaijani state border once again compels us to unite our efforts and resources to protect and strengthen our Homeland.

Despite being the target of aggressive actions for decades, the residents of Armenia’s border communities stand firm on their land and have become the guardians of our sovereign borders.

These border communities are unequivocally and strategically vital for the security of Armenia and Artsakh. Protecting them strategically, economically and socially is a national priority.

The Hayastan All Armenian Fund has launched the “Empowering Remote Border Communities” fundraising campaign. All proceeds from this global Armenian campaign will go to addressing the most pressing needs of these communities.

I hereby call on all state officials, spiritual leaders, Diaspora political parties, organizations and individuals involved in the Fund’s Board of Trustees to direct their efforts and resources to this campaign using the Fund’s channels and to make monetary contributions through the dedicated online fundraising platform on the Hayastan All Armenian Fund’s website www.himnadram.org, or through bank transfers, as well as contact the Fund’s worldwide affiliates in order to consolidate all donations to the Fund through these channels.

The Homeland starts at the border. For years, the Fund has supported these dedicated defenders of our borders through a wide variety of infrastructure development, innovative agricultural and social projects. Today, the brave residents of our border communities need us to stand together as one global Armenian family.

United We Strengthen Our Border Communities”, the Armenian President said in his address.

 14:13,

YEREVAN, JULY 22, ARMENPRESS. The Constitution of Armenia provides a two-month period to the Constitutional bodies for nominating candidates for the Constitutional Court judges, Justice Minister Rustam Badasyan told reporters at a briefing.

“This two-month period is already going on, which means that the Constitutional bodies will start presenting candidates in the nearest future”, he said.

On July 22 Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan signed the law, adopted by the Parliament on June 3, on making changes and amendments to the Law on the Constitutional Court.

“Now the Law must be published in the official bulletin and will enter into force from that moment”, the Speaker said.

On June 30 the Parliament adopted the bill submitted by the ruling My Step faction which sets a pension for the judges of the Constitutional Court whose powers have been suspended based on the recent changes. After the adoption of the bill President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian announced that he would not sign it.

On June 22 the Parliament adopted the bill on the Constitutional amendments submitted by a group of the ruling My Step faction MPs, which proposes to replace the Constitutional Court President and those judges of the Court which have served no less than 12 years. The Constitutional amendments have entered into force. Hrays Tovmasyan is no longer the President of the Constitutional Court, and the powers of three judges of the Court – Felix Tokhyan, Hrant Nazaryan and Alvina Gyulumyan have been suspended. The three new judges of the Court must be elected within two months.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan