Category: 2021

Armenian parliament speaker Alen Simonyan has filed a defamation lawsuit against MP Aregnaz Manukyan from the opposition Hayastan (Armenia) faction, he said at a parliament sitting on Thursday.

"Over the past three months, Mrs. Manukyan kept using 4 sentences in a text, changing them in places – asphalt, Greece, bookmaker's office…I don’t remember the last one,” Simonyan said.

He expressed confidence that the court will oblige her to apologize to him for “false accusations”.

Earlier, Manukyan accused Simonyan of self-enrichment at the expense of public funds through EuroAsphalt, a company run by the speaker's brother, that won state tenders for road construction.

The new realities are forcing Armenia and Artsakh to carry out sweeping changes at the frontline, MP Tigran Abrahamyan from the opposition With Honor faction told a briefing on Thursday.

According to him, the Armenian authorities, as well as some circles are intentionally attempting to present the establishment of necessary infrastructure and technical equipment at the frontline "at the household level", referring to the replacement of tents with booths or the installation of concrete barriers.

"Border infrastructure is quite multi-layered. It assumes roads, safe communication between positions for the movement of equipment and soldiers. It is related to the ability to conduct defensive, counteroffensive and offensive operations in any conditions. In the current situation, the Armenian authorities fail to resolve these problems in any way," Abrahamyan said.

He underlined that if the frontline positions had been completely equipped, in 1-2 days of fighting in November the Armenian side would not have had 6 casualties, 32 prisoners, wounded and the loss of combat positions.

"Unfortunately, this was yet another test, which revealed that the assurances given by the authorities in regard to the issues raised during the whole period had nothing to do with reality," the lawmaker said.

The Azerbaijani troops opened intense fire at Armenian combat positions in Gegharkunik Province on Thursday afternoon, the Defense Ministry of Armenia said in a statement.

“The Azerbaijani army units resorted to yet another provocation, intensively shelling Armenian combat positions deployed in the Gegharkunik border section starting from 4:25pm,” the ministry said, adding Azerbaijani forces used various caliber firearms.

The Armenian side took retaliatory measures, but the firefight continued as of 5pm.

The Defense Ministry promised to provide updates on the border situation.

Armenian President Armen Sarkissian has today signed a decree to dismiss Romanos Petrosyan as Minister of Environment.

The decision is based on the prime minister’s proposal and is in accordance with Article 131 of the Constitution, as well as Article 5 (Part 1) of the law “On the Structure and Activities of the Government”.

By another presidential decree, Petrosyan has been appointed head of the State Oversight Service.

The top court of Armenia on Thursday ordered the immediate release of imprisoned opposition lawmakers, according to MP Aram Vardevanyan from the opposition Hayastan (Armenia) faction.

“The Constitutional Court has just delivered a ruling on the immunity of MPs based on our appeal,” he wrote on Facebook.

"The Constitutional Court has literally declared that a person who does not have the status of a deputy and is deprived of liberty cannot remain under arrest from the moment of acquiring a legal status of an MP,” Vardevanyan said, stating his colleagues must be immediately released after being unlawfully arrested for several months.

Three Hayastan faction MPs, including doctor Armen Charchyan, Artur Sargsyan and Mkhitar Zakaryan, are currently under arrest.

Moscow awaits the formation of delegations from Baku and Yerevan as soon as possible to establish a commission on the border delimitation between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing on Thursday, TASS reported.

"As it was agreed in Sochi on November 26 this year, it is extremely important to work towards the creation of a bilateral commission on the delimitation of state boundaries between Azerbaijan and Armenia <…> We are also looking forward to forming national delegations from both countries as soon as possible," she said.

Zakharova stressed that the work on the unblocking of economic and transport links in the South Caucasus has been underway, adding that agreements achieved following the meeting of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia in Sochi confirmed the countries’ readiness to move towards normalizing the situation in the region.

"The high-level agreements in Sochi confirmed the readiness of the leadership of Azerbaijan and Armenia for further steps towards the normalization [of the situation]. We have been working on their consistent implementation in contacts with both Baku and Yerevan, including the settling of border disputes as well as unblocking transport links in the South Caucasus," the diplomat concluded.