Category: 2021

 17:12,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Alen Simonyan received today Member of House of Lords of the United Kingdom, Baroness Caroline Cox and her delegation, the Parliament told Armenpress.

Speaker Simonyan said it’s an honor for him to host the great friend of the Armenian people. He expressed gratitude to the Baroness for her long-term consistent support to Armenia and Artsakh.

The Parliament Speaker and the Baroness discussed the post-war situation, the return of Armenian prisoners of war and civilian captives from Azerbaijan.

Baroness Caroline Cox expressed concerns over Azerbaijan’s unconstructive statements made at different international platforms, but she expressed hope that the repatriation of the Armenian captives will be possible to solve with the practical support of the international community.

At the end of the meeting the sides reached an agreement over future cooperation.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 17:26,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. On 16 September, Armenia and Europol signed a strategic cooperation agreement to expand cooperation to combat cross-border criminal activities, Europol reports.

The agreement will enable both partners to work on some key areas such as migrant smuggling, cybercrime, drug trafficking, asset recovery, money laundering, organized property crime and trafficking in human beings.

The agreement allows for the exchange of general strategic intelligence as well as strategic and technical information and operational information with the exception of personal data, and will lead to the secondment of a Armenian Liaison Officer to Europol.

The signing of the Agreement on Strategic Cooperation concludes the successful negotiations between Armenia and Europol on how to effectively join forces to fight serious and organized crime. 

Europol is the European Union’s law enforcement agency.

 17:43,

YEREVAN, 16 SEPTEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 16 September, USD exchange rate down by 0.63 drams to 486.37 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 3.32 drams to 572.46 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.01 drams to 6.72 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 1.26 drams to 672.07 drams.

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

Gold price up by 29.36 drams to 28099.19 drams. Silver price up by 3.20 drams to 372.71 drams. Platinum price down by 175.64 drams to 14714.56 drams.

 18:05,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Following renovation, Gyumri’s Shirak airport is again open. ARMENPRESS reports no flight took place from the airport from July 15 to August 15 for some renovation works – complete renovation of the runway and construction of a new arrival hall.

Deputy Prime Minister Suren Papikyan, Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan, representatives of ‘’Armenia’’ international airports arrived in Gyumri on September 16 to get acquainted with the works done.

‘’I liked the works done. I have been at this airport in the past, and I can remember the old situation. I think Gyumri’s airport will become a key factor for the development of Gyumri’’, Suren Papikyan said. He added that the airport has all the opportunities to also serve European low-cost flights.

 18:21,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. President of the National Assembly of Armenia Alen Simonyan received Ambassador of the USA to Armenia Lynne Tracy, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the National Assembly of Armenia.

Welcoming the Ambassador, Alen Simonyan noted that since the establishment of democratic relations with the United States Armenia has developed partnership and friendly relations, which includes a large scope of cooperation. He highly appreciated the support shown for many years by the U.S. in strengthening democracy, economic development, reforms being implemented in different spheres. Alen Simonyan stated that the format of the inter-parliamentary cooperation plays an important role in the Armenian-American bilateral relations. He informed the Ambassador that the Armenia-USA Friendship Group will be formed in the National Assembly soon, which is an important link between the cooperation of the legislative bodies of the countries, as well as for the development of inter-state relations.

Regarding the post-war situation, Alen Simonyan emphasized that at this moment the issue of the urgent repatriation of Armenian prisoners of war and civilians being detained in Azerbaijan remains a priority. He underlined that the unconstructive rhetoric of Azerbaijan cannot result in the solution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The conflict should be settled exclusively through dialogue, under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship and based on the implementation of the principles developed by the mediatory mission.

Thanking the President of the National Assembly for the reception, the Ambassador noted that the U.S. Administration will continue the close cooperation with the Armenian authorities. During the talk, the collaboration with the legislative body, the development and the strengthening of democratic processes were highlighted. The Ambassador stressed the faithfulness of the U.S. Administration to the implementation of the activities within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Issues concerning the reforms to be implemented in a number of spheres of bilateral interest were also discussed.

 19:05,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan referred to the developments in the South Caucasus region at the narrow-format session of the CSTO Collective Security Council.

ARMENPRESS reports the PM said in his speech that along the perimeter of the CSTO collective responsibility zone, we are recording new manifestations of direct and indirect challenges and threats. ‘’Today, our region is at the threshold of very important transformations. In case of manifestation of political will and prudence, they can change the current picture and lead to the formation of conditions for true peace in the region. Our Government set a goal in its Action Plan to open a new era of peaceful development for our country and the region. And we, winning the early parliamentary elections in June this year, received a mandate to achieve this fundamental goal’’ Pashinyan said.

The Armenian PM presented to the CSTO Heads of State how he sees the achievement of a peaceful era of development. ‘’ Through dialogue, through gradual overcoming of the hostile atmosphere, which unfortunately exists in our region, and through opening of all the regional economic and transport communications. In this context, it’s very important to implement the agreements enshrined in the trilateral statements signed by the President of the Russian Federation, President of Azerbaijan and Prime Minister of Armenia on November 9, 2020 and January 11, 2021’’.

Nikol Pashinyan drew the attention of the Heads of State on a very important nuance. ‘’For the solution of economic and political issues, the atmosphere in which they are discussed is very important. Unfortunately, I have to inform that Azerbaijan has not yet returned all Armenian prisoners of war, captives or other detainees, despite the 8th point of the November 9, 2020 trilateral declaration, despite the efforts of our partners, including the Russian Federation and President Putin. This purely humanitarian issue must be resolved without delay. I expect your support in this matter.”

 19:18,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. The Iranian drivers arrested by the Azerbaijani police on the Goris-Kapan highway will most likely be released within 3 days, ARMENPRESS reports Deputy Prime Minister Suren Papikyan told the reporters on September 16. ‘’The Russian border guards are working in this direction and at the moment negotiations are underway, also the Islamic Republic of Iran is working through its diplomatic channels. In this sense, the problem is not in our field by and large’’, Suren Papikyan said, adding that the volume of cargo transportation has not decreased as a result of the problem.

‘’Cargo transportations from Iran to Armenia has not decreased. Now we have also alternative options for transporting all the goods to any part of Armenia, and also for observing Armenia a transit country for Iran’’, Deputy PM Suren Papikyan said.

 19:32,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. , Deputy Prime Minister Suren Papikyan told the reporters in Gyumri.

‘’Before that, the construction of the Kapan-Tatev ground road will be completed. If necessary, the trucks that want to travel in the direction of Kapan-Tatev will be accompanied by the police, as repairs are underway there, and without police escort problems may arise’’, ARMENPRESS reports the Deputy PM said, adding that now many drivers avoid that road, because the trucks are fully loaded and can face undesired situations as a result of a small stone on the road.

Medium-sized cars mainly drive on the Kapan-Tatev road. According to Papikyan, after asphalting, the permeability of the road will increase. The only problem, according to the Deputy Prime Minister, may arise in the part of Tatev called “Devil’s Bridge”. But the Government will also build an alternative in this direction, in the direction of Tat-Ltsen.

New roads are planned to be built in Syunik from Tatev to Bardzravan, Shurnukh, Chakaten and Vorotan villages.

Moscow reaffirms the need for demarcation between Armenia and Azerbaijan

 21:08,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. The situation on the problematic sections of the Kapan-Goris interstate road in Syunik, including the inspection of Iranian trucks by Azerbaijanis in areas under Azerbaijani control and the charging of money from their drivers, once again confirms the need to start delimitation and demarcation work between Armenia and Azerbaijan, ARMENPRESS reports official representative of the Russian MFA Maria Zakharova said during a weekly briefing․

According to Zakharova, Russia attentively follows the developments in concrete sections of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

‘’Russia’s proposals on this issue have been passed to both Baku and Yerevan. We look forward to hearing from the sides for organizing the future process. In parallel, we will continue our joint efforts with Azerbaijan and Armenia to unblock transport links in the region, in accordance with the trilateral agreements reached on November 9, 2020 and January 11, 2021 at the highest level’’, Zakharova said.

On September 12, the National Security Service of Armenia reported that the police of the Republic of Azerbaijan stopped and checked the cargo documents of truck drivers with Iranian license plates on of the interstate road near the Vorotan settlement that passed under Azerbaijani control after the war. In connection with the incident, the Iranian Embassy in Armenia stated that the elimination of roadblocks is an imperative for Iran. According to the statement, Iran is closely following the developments in the Caucasus region in recent months, will pursue various ways of facilitating trade with neighboring countries, including Armenia.