“Hraparak” newspaper writes:

“The ink of the elections has not yet dried, the government is preparing for the municipal elections expected in the fall. The search for candidates has begun. some are already campaigning, regional headquarters will be activated in the coming weeks.

Elections will be held in 3 large communities of Syunik: Goris, which will be joined by Tegh and Tatev communities, Kapan, Meghri. The candidate seems to be well-known in Meghri, a former teammate of Samvel Babayan, an expatriate working community leader of KP This is Khachatur Andreasyan, which is running a campaign on the page of the municipality. All posts begin with “at the initiative of Mayor Khachik Andreasyan”.

Although they do not rule out that if a good candidate is found, the KP will reject him, because Andreasyan, they say, has a warm relationship with the former mayor, who was once in the opposition. Mkhitar Zakaryan with which, according to news, did not support CP in these elections, the family worked for Karapetyan.

There is no final decision regarding Goris either. although they are not against Arush, they want to nominate a candidate to supervise him, a pure CP member. He has ambitions to be the head of the local community Davit Ghulunts.

There is still uncertainty in Kapan. It is possible to hold primaries in all communities like Gyumri, as if the society decides the CP candidates.”

—

RA Ambassador to the USA Narek Mkrtchyan had a meeting with the head of the Foreign Agricultural Service, Daniel Whitley, at the US Department of Agriculture, the RA Embassy in the USA reports.

During the meeting, the possibilities of expanding cooperation in the field of agriculture between Armenia and the United States were discussed.

The possibilities of exporting Armenian agricultural products to the US market were considered, referring to market entry procedures, existing regulations, as well as prerequisites for export promotion.

The prospects of establishing business ties and developing mutually beneficial cooperation between private sector companies of the two countries were also discussed.

—

The delegation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, led by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Arpine Sargsyan, visited the workshop of the “IN Groupe” company operating in Haarlem, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, where the multi-component production processes of the new generation identity documents of Armenia are carried out.

This is reported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

During the visit, the technical and artistic solutions of passports and identification cards were finalized, adjustments were also made to ensure full compliance of the new documents with international security standards, as well as the expectations of all stakeholder groups.

Minister Arpine Sargsyan announced the start of large-scale printing of passports with a symbolic push of a button.

New passports undergo multi-level quality checks and an international certification process as documents with high protection and meeting the leading security standards.

The first batch of identification cards is already in Armenia, and in the near future the process of transferring new passports will also start.

In line with the promise made to the public, the Ministry of the Interior, together with a private partner, will start issuing a new generation of passports and ID cards this fall. Citizens will be able to receive the new documents in new offices opening in Yerevan and in different marzes of the republic.

—

On July 15, a mysterious and tragic event took place in Yerevan. Around 10:20 p.m., operational information was received at the Erebuni Department of the Community Police Department of the RA Ministry of Internal Affairs that there was a body in the yard of one of the buildings on the 35th street of Nor Aresh.

According to Shamshyan.com, it was found on the spot that the information is reliable, and the body of 27-year-old Misak V., a resident of the same building, was found in the yard of the mentioned building.

According to the fact of the incident, criminal proceedings were initiated in the investigative department.

According to the photojournalist, the deceased was under house arrest and accidentally fell from the window of the 6th or 8th floor.

—

Meteorologists predict the easing of heat in the entire territory of Armenia. According to the Hydrometeorology and Monitoring Center, the air temperature will drop by 3-4 degrees from July 16.

Short rains and thunder are expected in most regions, hail is possible in some places.

Forecast by regions for July 16.

24°C to 26°C is expected in Shirak and Lori,
Գեղարքունիքում՝ 24°C,
Տավուշում՝ 30°C,
Կոտայքում՝ 31°C,
Արագածոտնում՝ 32°C,
Սյունիքում՝ 33°C,
The temperature will reach 35°C in Ararat, Armavir and Vayots Dzor.

Short rains and thunder are also predicted in Yerevan from July 16 to 18.

The daytime temperature in the capital will be around 34°C.

—

Ilham Aliyev, at the Armenian Shushi Global Media Forum, decided to give “advice” to Ukraine, saying that the Ukrainian people should never put up with the occupation. That means he called for continued war against Russia and publicly encouraged further military action.

If Aliyev calls the change of the geopolitical “master” and the renunciation of his own historical memory freedom and not coming to terms with the occupation, then either he has learned the stolen and rewritten Azerbaijani “history” from others, or he has not studied the history of the South Caucasus and Eastern Europe at all.

I told the Russian MPs on different occasions that your unjustified trusting relations with Azerbaijan will work against you. Israeli officials have been told the same thing many times. Today, Azerbaijan is already encouraging the state of Israel to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

Aliyev also complained about the USSR (where his father was deputy prime minister), saying that Azerbaijan had the status of a colony and all its oil resources were being exploited. On the other hand, the existence of today’s Azerbaijan, as an oil and gas exporting country, was based on the huge investments of the USSR. It was the USSR that gave the Armenian Artsakh and Nakhichevan to Azerbaijan without justification. And Aliyev today complains about the USSR and longs for freedom from the Russians.

Let’s not forget that at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, Baku’s oil industry was developing thanks to the Russian and Armenian capital and the unified market. Thanks to this, Baku turned into an industrial center, and oil became an important part of the economy.

If we go beyond the scope of slogans, the general picture of the post-Soviet area is worrying. Mutual understanding has reached a minimum, and there is no question of unity.

After the collapse of the USSR, both Azerbaijan and Armenia were friendly countries of Russia, especially Armenia with its pronounced alliance attitude.

The Artsakh war, the interconnectedness of the economy, security issues and the negotiation process of a peaceful settlement pushed Armenia to have even closer relations with the Russian Federation.

In response, Moscow tried to “not offend anyone” and did not support any of the parties in the Artsakh conflict until the end. The result is obvious. Artsakh was surrendered to Azerbaijan, the Armenian society feels abandoned, Azerbaijan talks to Russia with a hard edge and a condescending tone, a war of encirclement and weakening is waged against Iran, Turkey invades the South Caucasus, striving towards Central Asia…

As a result, instead of two allies in the region, Moscow today has two dissatisfied “partners”. In return for congratulating Azerbaijan on the Artsakh issue, Russia had to withdraw its peacekeeping forces, and now it is in danger of being pushed out of the Caucasus, in which Azerbaijan will play a major role. Iran won a war that is not yet clear how it will end. Today, Israel also feels “stalked” by Azerbaijan. The EU will also be in such a state tomorrow.

In a short time, life showed that Armenian Artsakh was beneficial to everyone, except Turkey and Azerbaijan.

As for Europe, if it seems to them that by encouraging the process of depopulating Artsakh and handing it over to Azerbaijan, they will get something tangible from the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem, then it will be a combination of three fingers. The part of Aliyev’s speech in Shushi was also clearly visible when he spoke about his relations with the Council of Europe.

Today, Aliyev allows himself to publicly advise Ukraine and talk about the “occupation” while taking advantage of Russian resources and current economic ties. This is not an isolated episode, but a symptom. In Russia, they continue to repeat the mantra about “fraternal peoples” and at the same time wonder why these “brothers” so easily go over to the side of their opponents.

The question is also who and when will Moscow finally admit that the problem is not only with “unthankful allies”, but also with those who have built relationships for years, ignoring and turning a blind eye to the current political realities.

Former RA Deputy Defense Minister Artak Zakaryan

—

The rescue service informs that the roads in the territory of RA are passable.

According to the information received from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia and the Crisis Management Center of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs of North Ossetia, the Stepantsminda-Lars highway is open for all types of vehicles.

—

According to the preliminary investigation conducted by the RA Anti-corruption Committee in criminal proceedings initiated on the basis of the report received from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it was found that the director of Stepanavan forestry of “Hayantar” SNOC, using official or official powers, committed fraud and embezzlement of entrusted property.

In particular, during the preliminary investigation, it was found that the said official, having hired the citizen in different months of 2023 and 2024, kept the latter’s bank card with him, then gave him part of the received salary in cash, and stole the rest.

In addition, the person holding the position of Forestry Director of Stepanavan of “Hayantar” SNOC submitted false information about the latter’s work attendance in the absence of work by another citizen, as a result of which he kept most of the salary transferred to the said employee.

During the investigation, a case of embezzlement of AMD 493,000 from 7 citizens accepted as seasonal workers by the senior forester of the same branch was also revealed.

The Stepanavan forestry director of “Hayantar” SNOC was charged under Article 256, Part 2, Clause 2, Article 255, Part 2, Clause 2 of the RA Criminal Code, and the employee was charged with Article 445, Part 1 of the RA Criminal Code. The senior forester of the forestry department was charged with the 2nd clause of the 2nd part of the Article 255 of the RA Criminal Code.

The preliminary investigation in the criminal proceedings has been completed, and the materials of the proceedings have been sent to the RA Anti-Corruption Court with an indictment.

Notice: the person accused of a crime is considered innocent until his guilt is proven in accordance with the procedure established by the RA Criminal Procedure Code by a legally binding court verdict.

—