Category: 2021

 15:59,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 26, ARMENPRESS. PACE’s co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Armenia, Boriana Aberg (Sweden, EPP/CD) and Kimmo Kiljunen (Finland, SOC) have expressed their concern over the ongoing developments in Armenia.

“We are extremely concerned by recent developments in Armenia. In particular, we found the statement issued yesterday by the office of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, calling for the resignation of a democratically-elected government, to be unacceptable.

We call upon all political forces and state actors to fully respect democratic principles and the Constitution of Armenia, and to take all necessary steps to immediately de-escalate the current situation,” the PACE co-rapporteurs said.

“Armenia is going through a very difficult phase in its recent history and – more than ever – needs calm, restraint, wisdom and unwavering support for democratic principles by all concerned in order to resolve the political crisis it is facing”, they added.

On February 25 the General Staff of the Armenian Forces of Armenia issued a statement, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his Cabinet.

In his turn Pashinyan commented on the statement, calling it as a “military coup attempt”. He invited all his supporters to the Republic Square to discuss the ongoing developments.

 15:54,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 26, ARMENPRESS. Russian President Vladimir Putin held a consultation with the permanent members of the Security Council to discuss the situation around Nagorno Karabakh, the Kremlin press service reported.

“Today we will discuss with you the situation around the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. I would like to listen to your assessments on the operation of our peacekeepers, the emergency situations ministry forces, the border troops and on how the cooperation with the international organizations, our foreign partners is going on in this direction”, the Russian leader said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 15:29,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 26, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan met with President of the Republic Armen Sarkissian, the Parliament told Armenpress.

The officials discussed the role of the Parliament and the President in easing the current domestic political situation.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 15:16,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 26, ARMENPRESS. Mane Gevorgyan, spokesperson of the Armenian prime minister, denies the reports on the dismissal of Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutyunyan.

“That information has nothing to do with the reality”, Gevorgyan told Armenpress, commenting on the media reports according to which the issue of dismissing Defense Minister Harutyunyan is being discussed.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 15:09,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 26, ARMENPRESS. The number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 in the world is twice as high as the global case count, TASS news agency calculated based on the data provided by governments, experts and the media.

Currently, about 227 million people have been vaccinated (about 2.9% of the global population), while 113.1 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19, according to TASS calculations.

About 75% of all those vaccinated are residents of eight states: the US, China, the UK, India, Turkey, Israel, Brazil and the UAE.

 14:55,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 26, ARMENPRESS. Developments in Armenia have so far not affected the implementation of the agreements on Nagorno Karabakh, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked whether Moscow saw the threat of the Nagorno Karabakh settlement process being derailed because of the situation in Yerevan, reports TASS.

“No, everything is being implemented so far”, he said. The Kremlin spokesman noted that, despite the developments in Armenia, it is important to follow the path of the implementation of the agreements on Nagorno Karabakh.

On February 25 the General Staff of the Armenian Forces of Armenia issued a statement, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his Cabinet.

In his turn Pashinyan commented on the statement, calling it as a “military coup attempt”. He invited all his supporters to the Republic Square to discuss the ongoing developments.

 14:47,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 26, ARMENPRESS. The Homeland Salvation Movement – an alliance of various political parties and individuals demanding the resignation of PM Nikol Pashinyan – says it has nothing to do with the military’s February 25 statement.

“They are trying to attribute it, as if there is a secret agreement with political forces. There is no such thing,” said Artsvik Minasyan, a high ranking member of the ARF, one of the political parties coordinating the movement. “Yesterday the army stood by the people’s demand and demanded the resignation of the government and the prime minister.”

Vazgen Manukyan, the movement’s candidate for caretaker prime minister, responded to Pashinyan’s accusations that the military’s statement amounted to an attempted coup. “A military coup means when the troops enter the capital and take over power or transfer the power to the opposition. No such thing happened in Armenia,” Manukyan said. He stressed that the General Staff’s statement doesn’t amount to a coup attempt.

Artur Vanetsyan, the President of the Homeland Party and a former Director of the National Security Service, also stressed that the General Staff’s statement shouldn’t anyhow be perceived as the military’s endorsement to their movement or any political force. “[The General Staff] spoke about Pashinyan no longer being able to ensure our country’s security,” Vanetsyan said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 14:43,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 26, ARMENPRESS. The third meeting of the Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani deputy prime ministers will take place tomorrow, February 27, in Moscow, the Armenian Deputy PM Mher Grigoryan’s office told ARMENPRESS.

The Armenia-Russia-Azerbaijan trilateral deputy prime ministerial task force was created for the implementation of the Karabakh armistice terms, specifically relating to the unblocking of economic and transportation communications in the region.

The most recent meeting in this format took place on February 12.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 13:56,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 26, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian signed a decree on appointing Hovhannes Virabyan Ambassador of Armenia to Argentina (residence in Buenos Aires), the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

According to another presidential decree, Estera Mkrtumyan has been relieved from the position of Armenia’s Ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Peru and Paraguay.

The President signed the respective decrees based on the Prime Minister’s proposal.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 13:24,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 26, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian will hold meetings today with the heads and representatives of the parliamentary factions, his Office told Armenpress.

The meetings aim at finding ways for mitigating the current tension and peacefully solving the situation in the country.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan