Category: News

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has met with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi in Tokyo as part of an official visit, according to the Azerbaijani news agency APA.

The ministers spoke highly of the development of bilateral ties since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992 and underlined the importance of maintaining active political dialogue.

Both sides noted that the visit creates new opportunities to further strengthen diplomatic and economic cooperation. 

Azerbaijan expressed gratitude for Japan’s development assistance, while the Japanese side underlined the importance of Azerbaijan’s stability and prosperity for ensuring peace in the South Caucasus.

Trade and economic cooperation, investment, energy security, transport connectivity, and green energy were among the key issues discussed during the meeting.

The two sides also highlighted the importance of developing the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route and cooperation in the oil and gas sector, particularly within the framework of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli fields and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

 The Japanese side welcomed Azerbaijan’s decision to introduce a unilateral visa-free regime for Japanese citizens for a period of one year.

 Both sides reaffirmed their readiness to continue efforts to facilitate mutual visits by citizens of the two countries.

The ministers also exchanged views on international and regional agenda items, and reaffirmed their commitment to cooperation and mutual support within international organisations.

Member of Armenia’s karate national team and 2025 World Championship bronze medalist Suren Harutyunyan will compete in the “Karate One Premier League – Rabat 2026” tournament.

The Armenian Karate Federation said in a press release that Harutyunyan has traveled to Rabat, the capital of Morocco, together with head coach Seryozha Makaryan, to compete in the tournament scheduled for June 12–14. Harutyunyan will compete in the 75 kg weight category.

The Armenia women’s national football team has concluded its campaign in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 qualifying stage.

The team lost 0–6 to Belarus in the fourth and final round of Group 6 in League C.

Earlier, they had played out a 1–1 draw against Kazakhstan.

In this qualifying stage, Armenia finished without a win in four matches, recording three defeats and one draw.

The text of the new proposed Constitution has not yet been finalized, as a number of partners involved in the process have not yet submitted their comments and proposals, according to Minister of Justice Srbuhi Galyan.

Galyan made the statement during a press briefing in parliament, adding that this is the reason there is currently no decision on the timeframe for publishing the final text.

“In the near future, after the Constitution’s text is completed, we expect to receive the opinions of some of our partners. We will need one or two weeks to collect and consolidate those opinions, and we will hold one or two more discussions. Only then will we decide whether we are ready to publish the text or not,” the minister said.

According to Galyan, amending the Constitution is a political commitment that the authorities assumed after the revolution and reaffirmed during the pre-election period.

Referring to the political feasibility of adopting a new Constitution, Galyan, a member of the ruling Civil Contract party, emphasized that the ruling party will no longer have a constitutional majority in the next parliament, but future steps will depend on how things develop.

“We will do our work, measure the level of public demand, and make an appropriate decision,” she added.

The Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Armenia will publish the final results of the parliamentary elections on June 14. At this stage, recounts are being carried out in a number of polling stations, CEC Chairman Vahagn Hovakimyan has said.

According to the CEC chairman, recounts are currently being conducted in numerous polling stations. He noted that there were few properly submitted requests for recounts, but territorial electoral commissions have initiated recounts on their own in polling stations where there was such a need.

“We have a situation in Yerevan where almost all polling stations in the capital will be recounted because a candidate from the ‘Wings of Unity’ party requested it,” Hovakimyan said.

He added that the CEC has received recount requests from three political forces: the “Prosperous Armenia” party, the “Strong Armenia” alliance, and the “Wings of Unity” party.

According to preliminary results of the parliamentary elections held in Armenia on June 7, three political forces are entering parliament: the Civil Contract party, the Strong Armenia alliance, and the Armenia alliance.

Preliminary data shows that the Civil Contract party received 727,827 votes, or 49.825%, which gives it a parliamentary majority and the ability to form a government.

The Strong Armenia alliance received 340,088 votes, or 23.281%, while the Armenia alliance received 145,113 votes, or 9.934%.

The Prosperous Armenia party is very close to the 4% electoral threshold, with 3.996% of the vote according to preliminary results.

The Prosperous Armenia party had previously announced that it would request recounts in several polling stations. Other political forces have also called for recounts.

The Anti-Corruption Committee announced on Wednesday that it will continue investigating alleged electoral crimes after the parliamentary elections held on June 7.

The law enforcement agency’s chairman, Artur Nahapetyan, told lawmakers at a joint committee hearing on the 2025 budget report that new investigative operations and arrests would take place soon.

He was asked by MP Gegham Nazaryan to provide details on efforts to address electoral violations and vote buying.

Nahapetyan assessed the agency’s work as effective but admitted that they had not ensured a 100% detection rate for electoral crimes.

“Of course, I cannot say that we have achieved a 100% detection rate in electoral crimes, but at the same time I can say that the Anti-Corruption Committee has worked effectively,” he said.

According to him, the committee currently has 72 investigator positions and 78 operational-intelligence officer positions filled, while the number of vacant positions is close to 60.

“With such human resources, the Anti-Corruption Committee has carried out more than 100 detections across the country and investigated around 115 criminal proceedings,” Nahapetyan noted.

The head of the committee said that after the completion of electoral processes, the work will not only continue but will enter a new phase.

“We already have cases identified by the operational unit that have not yet been made public, meaning they have not entered the open investigation stage, but in the near future we will proceed and carry out searches, detentions, and prosecutions,” he stated.

He recalled that in the past as well, high-profile revelations were recorded after elections.

“We have experience that, for example, after the elections in the Vagharshapat community, we had numerous exposures and around fifty defendants accused of bribery in elections. Those disclosures were made after the electoral processes,” he said.

He added that the committee is currently working across various regions of the country to gather and verify new data on electoral crimes.

“I assure you that we will have new revelations in this regard,” Nahapetyan emphasized.

The head of the Anti-Corruption Committee also noted that even information received years later will not be ignored.

“If years pass and we receive new information about electoral crimes or corruption-related electoral offenses, we will verify it using the full range of tools and proceed with criminal prosecution,” he concluded.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that a potential meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin will be decided only after the final results of the Armenian parliamentary elections are published.

RIA Novosti cited Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as suggesting that until the completion of the electoral process, the Armenian prime minister will be focused on domestic affairs. “And then, depending on the finalization of the post-election situation, we will make a decision at the bilateral level,” Peskov said in response to a question about possible plans for a Pashinyan–Putin meeting.

Putin has notably not congratulated Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan on his party’s re-election, despite many world leaders having extended their felicitations.

Days before the June 7 elections, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that during his latest phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, they agreed that he would travel to Moscow after the elections in Armenia to hold a meeting and discuss current affairs.

Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party secured 49.825% of the vote, winning a majority in the next parliament according to preliminary results.

Samvel Karapetyan’s Strong Armenia alliance received 23.281%, while Robert Kocharyan’s Armenia alliance gained 9.934%. Preliminary figures also show that the Prosperous Armenia party is just below the 4% threshold, with 3.996%. Prosperous Armenia has also said it will contest the results, and a recount is underway.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan spoke by phone on Wednesday with his Latvian counterpart Baiba Braže.

According to the Foreign Ministry’s readout, FM Braže congratulated Mirzoyan — a senior member of the Civil Contract party — on the party’s victory in the parliamentary elections and reaffirmed readiness to consistently develop the partnership between Armenia and Latvia.

The foreign ministers discussed Armenia–Latvia bilateral cooperation, emphasizing the importance of concrete steps aimed at expanding trade.

In this context, Foreign Minister Mirzoyan expressed gratitude for the support provided in the export of several shipments of flowers from Armenia to Latvia, noting that this will serve as a stimulus for further strengthening ties between the business communities of the two countries and developing new trade directions.

The ministers also addressed the Armenia–EU partnership agenda and upcoming engagements.

Ministry of Internal Affairs officials have dismissed concerns over large numbers of registered individuals at single addresses, calling claims of potential electoral fraud misleading and inaccurate.

Nelly Davtyan, Head of the Migration and Citizenship Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in an interview with Armenpress, said it is unacceptable to exaggerate the issue of citizen registration and present it as a source of electoral fraud, stressing that such statements are misleading and do not correspond to reality.

Davtyan responded to a statement by Gohar Meloyan, a candidate from the “Strong Armenia” party, who claimed that more than 20 people were registered at numerous addresses in the electoral lists during the parliamentary elections on June 7.

Meloyan said that on election day they received numerous calls from voters reporting that unknown individuals were registered at their addresses. She said that 846 addresses were identified where more than 20 people were registered, and also noted cases where more than 100 individuals were registered at a single address. She claimed that this could be considered electoral fraud.

Responding to these claims, Davtyan said that the registration system had been widely explained by her office throughout the entire electoral process.

“This issue often leads to misleading statements. Let me reiterate that neither being registered nor being removed from registration constitutes a violation of electoral rights. Let me explain what this is about. In Armenia, since 2005, a system has been in place under which registration can be carried out through two procedures: based on actual residence or with the owner’s permission. This means that registration based on actual residence, recorded by a police report, is never changed unless either the property owner or the registered person applies to us. In other words, even if a person lived in a rented property for one month and was registered there, that registration remains until either the resident informs us or the owner requests their removal,” Davtyan said.

She emphasized that these registrations serve as a technical tool for compiling voter lists. A person who is not registered in Armenia can apply and be included in their preferred polling station, while a person registered at a given address can also change their polling station upon personal request.

Regarding the claim that more than 100 people were registered at over 800 addresses, Davtyan said that these are mainly care centers and similar institutions. At the same time, she stressed that there are no restrictions on how many people a property owner can register at a given address.

“Therefore, exaggerating this issue and presenting it as a source of electoral fraud is completely misinformation and is confusing and misleading,” Davtyan added.

She also noted that the registration procedure is planned to be revised, adding that she welcomes the public’s strong interest in the issue and that all concerns will be addressed.

Member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) have agreed to consider applying a relevant provision of the organization’s charter to Armenia over its non-payment of membership fees for two years, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

TASS cited Lavrov as making the remarks following a CSTO foreign ministers’ meeting.

Armenia has not paid membership fees to the CSTO since freezing its participation in the bloc in 2024.

“On June 7 — on the very day of the elections in Armenia — my colleague Ararat Mirzoyan, referring to the CSTO issue, stated: ‘we are not paying membership fees because we are simply not participating’… what should be done in this situation? We discussed this today — Armenia’s more than two-year debt to the CSTO budget, a situation that is provided for by the CSTO charter. And today we agreed to consider activating the relevant article of the CSTO charter,” Lavrov said at a press briefing. 

Article 25 of the CSTO Charter outlines measures in cases where a member state fails to meet its financial obligations to the organization for two consecutive years.

It states that in such cases, the CSTO Council will suspend the right of citizens of that country to hold quota-based positions within the organization, as well as deprive them of voting rights in the organization’s bodies, until the debt is fully repaid.