“Zhoghovurd” daily writes: “The already former president of the National Assembly, Alen Simonyan, seems to be having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that he was removed from his position, as well as being gradually separated from the team.

CP sources of “Zhoghovurd” daily report that before leaving for vacation, Simonyan appealed to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and asked him to get a job in the government. Accordingly, he expressed his desire to be appointed deputy prime minister or Armenian ambassador to the United Kingdom, London. However, sources close to the government of “Zhoghovurd” daily report that Nikol Pashinyan sharply rejected those proposals and urged Alen Simonyan to go on vacation and relax.

Let’s remind that Alen Simonyan has been abroad since the middle of July and has not returned to Armenia until now. Perhaps Simonyan hopes that after returning to Armenia in mid-August, he will be able to receive an official proposal from the Prime Minister. However, our government sources claim that Nikol Pashinyan is very dissatisfied with Alen Simonyan’s recent behavior and a number of episodes related to him, as a result of which there is no question of appointing him to any position in the near future.”

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Progress towards peace with Armenia creates new opportunities for the entire region, including stability, connectivity and economic cooperation, Swiss Foreign Minister, OSCE Chairman-in-Office Ignazio Cassis stated in an interview with the state-owned Azertac during his visit to Azerbaijan. Azatutyun writes about this.

In the context of new opportunities, Cassis said: “Azerbaijan is an important partner for Switzerland in the South Caucasus and a key link between Europe and Asia. Its role as a regional hub is growing.”

When asked about the “Middle Corridor” project being developed with the support of Turkey, the minister noted that the geographical position of Azerbaijan makes the country an important link connecting the East and the West.

“Switzerland is interested in the development of the Middle Corridor, as reliable and diversified trade routes are essential for an open and resilient global economy. We see potential for cooperation in the fields of logistics, infrastructure and digitization,” he said.

The “Middle Corridor” was initiated in 2013 by Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Turkey. It connects China and Southeast Asia with Europe through Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

In the context of diversification, Cassis also spoke about Europe’s energy cooperation with Azerbaijan, emphasizing that Azerbaijan has become a reliable partner and plays an important role for Europe’s energy security. “Baku helps reduce dependence on a single supplier and supports a more sustainable and diversified energy supply.”

Referring to the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement process, Kassis welcomed the progress. He considered the restoration of trade, transport links and other measures aimed at strengthening trust to be encouraging.

“We hope that both sides, building on this progress, will move towards a lasting peace that will benefit the peoples of both countries.”

Kassis mentioned in his speech that he is going to visit Armenia in the near future.

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Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan introduced the newly appointed minister Davit Tadevosyan to the staff of the Ministry of High-Tech Industry։

The Prime Minister thanked Mkhitar Hayrapetyan for his activities as the Minister of High-tech Industry and noted that the technology sector has been developing in Armenia for a long time.

“But I must also say that the developments of the last year are particularly significant for Armenia, because we now have the opportunity to deal more and more fully with the newest technologies and artificial intelligence. Of course, a lot of work has been done, an infrastructure is already functioning in Armenia, which just a few years ago could have seemed difficult to implement,” said the Prime Minister.

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Arman Antonyan, adviser to the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, said that he has submitted an application for dismissal. He wrote about it on his Facebook page, noting that in the application he presented the reasons for the decision, as well as the systemic problems during his tenure.

“Today, I submitted an application regarding the dismissal from the position of adviser to the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of RA, in which I presented the reasons for that decision, as well as the systemic problems during my tenure, as a result of which it became practically impossible to fully exercise the powers arising from the position of the minister’s adviser.

In conditions of deliberate work isolation, it is impossible to effectively serve the goals for which I assumed this responsibility.

If anyone is interested in the real picture and the basis of my decision, they can familiarize themselves with my official application-report submitted to the minister.

I thank all the colleagues of the Ministry with whom I had the honor to work and communicate. The biggest achievement of my tenure is the people I got to know, with whom professional and human relations were formed, and with whom we were united by ideas and the desire to serve the state interest. Any position is temporary, but decent work and adherence to principles is permanent.

In the near future, I will address the issues that, in my opinion, need urgent resolution. If it was not possible to solve them officially, we will try to contribute to their solution on a public basis, for the benefit of the state, the development of the sector and all the beneficiaries,” wrote Arman Antonyan.

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Another 70,000 bottles of drinks imported from Armenia have been suspended in Russia.

This was announced by the press service of the Center for the Development of Prospective Technologies.

“Честный знак” has blocked the sale of batches of drinking water and carbonated drinks imported from Armenia due to violations of the mandatory requirements for the products by the producers.

Separate batches of “Bjni” mineral healing table water, “Prosto Azbuka” natural drinking water and “Mojito” non-alcoholic carbonated drink of the DARBAS brand have been blocked,” the message says.

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Observations regarding the fact that MP Konjoryan’s wife is the director of Haypost are mostly focused on the job offer she received. This is understandable, considering that it is practically not even a salary, people are engaged in their small or medium-sized business from morning to night, but they are not able to increase their monthly income to 10,000 dollars.

But, for example, the director of a company that is also withheld from these people’s taxes receives 10,000 dollars, and he actually manages the company inefficiently, because it works at a loss.

But, with all that, the fact that the deputy’s wife can be the executive director of a state company is key. This is an obvious conflict of interest. And it doesn’t matter how much salary the director receives. The fact that a wife can be a deputy and her husband a director of a state company, or vice versa, a wife can be a director and her husband a deputy, should be excluded.

It should be excluded at least at the level of political culture, if not at the legislative level. Either the parliamentary mandate or the opportunity to be a director should be kept.

Because it seems that if the salary is 1000 dollars instead of 10 thousand, there would be no problem or noise.

Analyst Hakob Badalyan

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In Lori Marz, in the first semester of 2026, the amount of the recovered amount of damage caused to the state, community, organizations with state and community participation by criminal proceedings, as well as by the use of prosecutorial intervention measures, amounted to 82 million 480 thousand drams.

RA General Prosecutor’s Office informs about this.

In particular, based on the petitions submitted by the Prosecutor’s Office of Lori Marz within the framework of the authority to protect state (community) interests, 9 plots of land with a cadastral value of 37 million 117 thousand drams, with an area of 3530.45 square meters, were returned to the ownership of the Vanadzor community of Lori Marz, and within the framework of criminal proceedings, based on the petition of the Prosecutor’s Office of Lori Marz, the property rights of the Gyulagarak community of Lori Marz were restored for 2 million 315 thousand drams with a cadastral value, for 3 plots with an area of 2.11588 ha.

In the 1st semester of 2026, the prosecutor’s office of Lori region handed over 26 criminal proceedings to the court with indictments for serious crimes, and 7 criminal proceedings for particularly serious crimes.

8 guilty verdicts for serious crimes and 4 guilty verdicts for particularly serious crimes entered into legal force.

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The main opposition forces of Armenia discussed the issues of consolidation. The leader of the “Strong Armenia” party, Samvel Karapetyan, who is under house arrest, said this in a conversation with journalists before the court session.

“Such discussions take place almost every week. We are discussing ways of political struggle,” he said.

Karapetyan clarified that there was a dialogue, in particular, with representatives of the “Prosperous Armenia” party led by Gagik Tsarukyan. At the same time, the politician emphasized that there were no negotiations with the second president, Robert Kocharyan.

“It’s not a person, it’s a mechanism. We have to destroy that mechanism in order to achieve the final victory. The mechanism was created by serious, unfriendly states, so it is difficult to destroy it, it takes time,” stated the leader of “Strong Armenia”.

He also expressed confidence that the actions of his team will not lead to upheaval in the country.

“We are doing everything that will help to legally remove the government,” Karapetyan assured, adding that he is ready to cooperate with all real opposition forces.

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The Armenian Dat Committee of Jerusalem strongly condemns the latest attack in the Armenian quarter of Jerusalem, during which six religious Israeli Jews spat on the Holy Entrance of the Mother Church from Srobots Hakobyan and threw stones at the houses of Armenian residents.

This serious incident joins the ongoing series of harassment, intimidation and violence against the Armenian community in Jerusalem. Repeated attacks like this deepen the concern that their authors operate in an atmosphere of impunity. While these acts do not represent Israeli society as a whole, the lack of consistent law enforcement and prosecution of those responsible contributes to the continuation of such attacks.

We call on the President of Israel, Mr. Yitzhak Herzog, to publicly condemn this attack and reaffirm the commitment of the State of Israel to protect the security, dignity and fundamental rights of Jerusalem and all religious and national communities in Israel.

At the same time, we also call on the Israeli government and law enforcement agencies to take immediate and decisive action, to conduct a comprehensive and impartial investigation, ensuring equal enforcement of the law, and to bring those responsible to justice so that they bear full responsibility for their actions.

We also appeal to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, “Betzelem”, the Israeli Civil Rights Union, foreign diplomatic missions and the international community to keep these developments in the spotlight, to publicly express their concern and take active steps in defense of the rights, security and historical presence of the Armenian community in Jerusalem.

Protecting the security, dignity and historical presence of the Armenian community in Jerusalem is not only a moral and legal obligation, but also a necessary condition to maintain the unique multi-religious, multicultural and historical face of Jerusalem as a holy city for three monotheistic religions.

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The Lemkin Institute for the Prevention of Genocide, operating in the United States, expressed its support for the initiative of Veronika Zonabend, the wife of former Minister of State of Artsakh, philanthropist Ruben Vardanyan, calling for the formation of a humanitarian delegation of women to visit the Armenians in prison in Baku.

“The Lemkin Institute appeals to the leaders of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the EU and the member states of that bloc, calling on them to guarantee the safety of Mrs. Zonabend and other women visiting Baku through their diplomatic presence in Azerbaijan,” the statement said.

“We call on human rights defenders, influential individuals, politicians and international organizations, particularly those structures that deal with the protection of human rights and the prevention of genocides, to join us in our efforts to support the women and family members of imprisoned Armenians, creating an opportunity for them to visit their relatives in Baku,” the Lemkin Institute said in a statement.

Former Minister of State of Artsakh Ruben Vardanyan was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Ruben Vardanyan, who has never held a military position, was found guilty by the Baku court of a number of crimes, including war against Azerbaijan, financing of terrorism, displacement of people.

Vardanyan called the incident not a trial, but a farce.

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