Category: 2021

 11:37, 1 February, 2021

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 1, ARMENPRESS. Lt. Colonel Artsrun Hovhannisyan, the spokesperson of the Armenian military during the 2020 Artsakh War, says he doesn’t rule out the possibility that he was given “false” information during the war, which he in turn conveyed to the public.

“During the war, I made around 170 posts saying we are going to win, and not that we are winning, and I’ve made equal posts saying the situation is very difficult, that this is a fight for existence and so on,” Hovhannisyan told reporters in parliament. “Because today we’ve lost, this is a very difficult emotional situation for us all, and after this we want to unconditionally find traitors, and I very much regret that they want to find traitors among the military.”

He said that the information he was conveying to the public was entirely obtained from the Miinstry of Defense, the General Staff and the Defense Army of Artsakh, at the same time he didn’t rule out the possibility that the information could’ve been false.

“I don’t rule it out, there were numerous contradictions during the war,” the Lt. Colonel said.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 11:48, 1 February, 2021

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 1, ARMENPRESS. The former spokesperson for the Armenian military who was in charge of conveying information to the public during the 2020 Artsakh War claims that the situation in Shushi during the last three days of the conflict sharply changed several times.

“Many things are unclear for me in Shushi,” Lt. Colonel Artsrun Hovhannisyan, who was the coordinator of the Unified InfoCenter told reporters in parliament referring to the town of Artsakh which was captured by Azeri forces.

“I was in Shushi on the 6th [of November 2020], on the 7th, 8th and 9th the situation completely and abruptly changed several times in Shushi, according to the Ministry of Defense information,” he said.

Hovhannisyan says he is now studying individual episodes of the war, and in his words there are many combat episodes which are “unclear” to him.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 12:08, 1 February, 2021

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 1, ARMENPRESS. Chairman of the State Property Management Committee of Armenia Narek Babayan has resigned.

“Dear compatriots, I would like to inform that today I have submitted my resignation letter. I want to thank the Prime Minister of Armenia for the trust and the given opportunity. I also want to thank my colleagues of the Cabinet and the Parliament for the productive cooperation this period”, he said on Facebook.

He also thanked the Committee staff, wishing success in future activities.

Narek Babayan has been serving as Chairman of the State Property Management Committee since June 12, 2018.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 13:12, 1 February, 2021

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 1, ARMENPRESS. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council Charles Michel condemned the military’s seizure of power in Myanmar and demanded the immediate release of all those it had detained in raids across the country, Reuters reports.

“I strongly condemn the coup in Myanmar,” Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter, and called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of all those detained.

Charles Michel also commented on the incident. “I strongly condemn the coup in Myanmar and call on the military to release all who have been unlawfully detained in raids across the country. The outcome of the elections has to be respected and democratic process needs to be restored”, he said on Twitter.

 14:04, 1 February, 2021

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 1, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Minister of Defense Vagharshak Harutyunyan and his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoygu held a phone call on February 1 to discuss the results of last week’s Armenian-Russian bilateral military cooperation staff talks, as well as the ongoing process of resolving Armenia’s security issues in the post-war period, the Armenian Ministry of Defense said in a news release.

The phone call took place at Russia’s initiative, it added.

Minister of Defense Vagharshak Harutyunyan spoke highly about the activities of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno Karabakh, underscoring that the best testimony to this is the virtually total preservation of the ceasefire, thanks to which there weren’t any serious emergency incidents in the preceding two months, with the exception of one incident when a Artsakh Defense Army soldier was wounded.

“Vagharshak Harutyunyan and Sergey Shoygu also discussed issues related to regional developments,” the Ministry of Defense added.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 14:11, 1 February, 2021

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 1, ARMENPRESS. Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev has stated that the issue of the status of Nagorno Karabakh is not resolved yet.

“It is completely obvious to everyone right now that the matter of its [Nagorno Karabakh’s] status has not been resolved, but we cannot discuss it right now, as any electrification of this field of discussion around its status leads to a very powerful charge”, he said in an interview with Russian media, reports TASS news agency.

Medvedev pointed out that the conflict sides have very different stances on the matter, “even within Armenia, discussions are underway”. He said “it would be better to move the discussion of its status for the future”.

Medvedev also highly appreciated the role of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the works on settling the NK conflict.

“It is very good that, thanks to the efforts of the Russian President – and this was precision work, I watched Vladimir Vladimirovich work once, he engaged in hours-long discussions with all participants of this conflict – without this work, this conflict could have continued right now”, Medvedev underscored. “It is a huge work that both Armenia and Azerbaijan should be very grateful for to the Russian President”, he added.

The Security Council Deputy Chairman reminded that, after the “hot phase” of the conflict ended in November 2020, “the situation has mostly settled, and this is the most important thing, people don’t die, and there are opportunities for development”, the official said.

 16:24, 1 February, 2021

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 1, ARMENPRESS. UN human rights experts called for the prompt release of prisoners of war and other captives from the recent Nagorno Karabakh conflict, and for the return of bodies to families for burial with due respect for cultural customs, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reports.

“Everyone deprived of their liberty for reasons related to the conflict should be returned to their homes, and relatives of those killed must be able to receive the mortal remains of their loved ones, in line with the ceasefire agreement signed on 9 November 2020,” the experts said.

“We are alarmed at allegations that prisoners of war and other protected persons have been subjected to extrajudicial killing, enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment,” the experts said.

“No exceptional circumstances whatsoever – whether a state of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency – may be invoked as a justification of torture and enforced disappearances,” they said. “Such acts, when perpetrated in armed conflict, may also constitute war crimes.”

“We are seriously alarmed at reported acts of ill-treatment and the desecration of bodies,” the experts said. “We note that both parties have commenced the return of prisoners of war and other captives, and we call on them to complete the all for all exchange, to clarify the fate and whereabouts of the disappeared, and to treat dead bodies with dignity”.

The experts called on the authorities of Armenia and Azerbaijan to carry out thorough, prompt, independent and impartial investigations into allegations of serious human rights violations committed during the conflict and its aftermath in order to hold perpetrators to account and provide redress to the victims. They added that they will continue to engage with the authorities of both countries and closely monitor the situation.

 17:19, 1 February, 2021

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 1, ARMENPRESS. Garik Sargsyan has been appointed Chairman of the State Property Management Committee of Armenia.

The respective decision has been signed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Earlier today Narek Babayan has been relieved from the position of Chairman of the State Property Management Committee.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 17:26, 1 February, 2021

YEREVAN, 1 FEBUARY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 1 February, USD exchange rate up by 0.61 drams to 518.88 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 0.35 drams to 627.48 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.07 drams to 6.87 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 4.11 drams to 712.27 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 204.85 drams to 31092.62 drams. Silver price up by 37.36 drams to 457.35 drams. Platinum price up by 355.03 drams to 18517.44 drams.