13:34,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenia is preparing an amendment in its fourth interstate complaint filed against Azerbaijan in the European Court of Human Rights.

The amendment pertains to the issue of restoring the right to property of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, Hasmik Samvelyan, the spokesperson of the Office of the Representative of Armenia o n International Legal Matters told Armenpress.

Samvelyan said the complaint will be filed in the coming months.

 14:02,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. Huge reforms are underway in the Armenian military, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said.

The prime minister was asked at an online press conference by a citizen why Armenia wasn’t using the Swiss military model, or that of any other developed country, in its armed forces.

“Huge reforms are taking place in the Armenian Armed Forces,” Pashinyan replied. “The reforms are taking place by studying international experience, among others.”

He mentioned the certification procedure for servicemembers, which enables them to raise the salary of those passing the tests.

Pashinyan also mentioned the 24-day training program for military reservists, which in some sense is aimed at advancing towards the model of the Switzerland military.

“…We want the society to be sure that if the state has entrusted someone the country’s security, then those servicemembers are capable of bearing that responsibility.”

 14:04,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hopes that Armenia and Saudi Arabia will soon establish diplomatic relations.

“We’ve had contacts with Saudi Arabia in the past [few] years,” Pashinyan said at an online press conference when asked on relations with the country. “Our foreign ministers have met twice, phone calls have taken place, contacts have taken place during various multilateral working discussions. I think the process is advancing, and I hope that Armenia and Saudi Arabia will soon establish diplomatic relations, which would be a very important and significant event,” Pashinyan said.

 14:29,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. During the upcoming talks with Azerbaijan, Armenia will try to get clarifications whether Azerbaijan agrees to sign a peace treaty on the basis of the three principles that have been agreed upon at the mediation of the EU, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said.

Pashinyan said that it is still unclear whether Azerbaijan agrees, reiterates to sign the peace agreement with Armenia on the basis of the three principles which were agreed upon during the Armenia-Azerbaijan summit in Brussels at the mediation of the EU, and recorded in the  May 14 and July 15 statements by President of the European Council Charles Michel.

The three principles are:  reciprocal recognition of territorial integrity and sovereignty, based on the understanding that Armenia’s territory covers 29.800 km2 and Azerbaijan’s 86.600 km2; commitment to the 1991 Almaty Declaration as a political framework for the delimitation of border; unblocking of regional connections under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the countries through which they pass.

“Now, if we were to analyze the statements, it’s unclear, we can’t definitely say that Azerbaijan is refusing to sign a peace treaty on the basis of these three principles, but we can neither definitely say that Azerbaijan is affirming its commitment to these three principles. There’s a need for clarifying these issues and nuances during negotiations,” Pashinyan said.

A border delimitation commission meeting is to take place November 30 on the border.

Pashinyan said that despite Azerbaijan having announced that it recognizes the territorial integrity of Armenia, this requires specifics, on what exactly Baku means by saying ‘territorial integrity of Armenia’. “The clarification of these issues is the main issue of the upcoming negotiations processes that we must try to solve,” Pashinyan said.

 14:41,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has confirmed that Armenia paid Russia for arms supplies but the latter has failed to deliver the armaments.

The matter is being discussed, Pashinyan said.

“Of course, such problems exist. Discussions are taking place on what mechanisms to use to solve the issue. One of the options, for example, could be the reduction of Armenia’s debt to Russia in the size of the paid amount, this is one of the options, not the only option,” Pashinyan said.

 15:02,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. Azerbaijan is seemingly not interested in the Crossroads of Peace project proposed by Armenia because Baku is implementing the project on opening connections with Iran, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said in response to a question from the public.

He was asked whether there are guarantees that Armenia itself will carry out customs and border control on its territory in the event of the Crossroads of Peace project being realized.

Pashinyan stressed that one of the principles of the Crossroads of Peace project is that each country will carry out customs and border control on its territory through its institutions. 

“This is the proposal we are making to our international partners, including Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran, Georgia. And Azerbaijan’s first reaction is the following, that they, it seems, are no longer interested in this project, because they are carrying out that connectivity project with Iran. We are absolutely not against that. But that’s our proposal. In case of accepting our proposal the project will be realized,” the PM said.

The citizen asking the question pointed out that there are Russian border guards in Armenia’s Zvartnots airport. Pashinyan said this is another matter, which has a history. “But our policy is that the level of Armenia’s sovereignty must steadily increase also institutionally. And the Crossroads of Peace is one of those cases,” he said.

The Crossroads of Peace project is about creating new infrastructures or improving the scope and quality of the existing ones. Armenia is ready to establish five checkpoints on the Armenia-Azerbaijan borders for road infrastructures including in Kayan, Sotk, near Karahunj, near Angeghakot , and Yeraskh.

Also, to establish two checkpoints on the Armenia-Turkiye border in Akhurik and Margara for road infrastructures.

Armenia is prepared to ensure communications between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkiye, by restoring four railway sections in the territory of the Republic of Armenia. Armenia is ready to restore the Nrnadzor-Agarak railway section and to establish checkpoints near the borders, to restore the railway section from Yeraskh to the border of Nakhchivan and to establish a checkpoint in Yeraskh, to restore the depleted parts of the railway from Gyumri to the border of Turkiye and to establish a checkpoint in Akhurik. Also, Armenia is prepared to restore the depleted parts of railway from Hrazdan to Kayan and to establish a checkpoint in Kayan. This will create new links between all the countries of the region. The principles of the Crossroads of Peace are: all infrastructures including roads, railways, airways, pipelines, cables and power lines operate under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the countries through which they pass; each country, through its state institutions, in its territory ensures border control, customs control and security of the infrastructures, including the passage through its territory of vehicles, cargo and people; All infrastructures can be used for both international and domestic transportation; countries use all the infrastructures on the basis of reciprocity and equality, and in accordance with these principles border and customs controls can be facilitated through mutual consent and agreement. As missing sections of railways and roads are restored and infrastructures unlocked, it will become possible to establish a seamless connection between the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Mediterranean Sea via a consolidated, regional railway network and via the North-South and East-West roads. The Government of the Republic of Armenia reaffirms its commitment to contribute its share to the region’s peace and stability, and to make practical measures to build the Crossroads of Peace

 15:48,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. The issue of the return of Nagorno-Karabakh’s forcibly displaced population is currently under discussion in international platforms, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at an online Q&A with citizens.

“Having discussions regarding this topic and analyzing it, I understand that as of today that return is unrealistic. Why? Because after September 19 the situation was created which forced our brothers and sisters of Nagorno-Karabakh to leave Nagorno-Karabakh. The environment and policy of ethnic cleansing hasn’t changed. Therefore, if today in these conditions the return were to be realistic, they wouldn’t have left at all,” Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan reiterated his administration’s policy that the Armenian Government will do everything in order for the forcibly displaced persons of NK to stay in Armenia if they don’t have the opportunity to return home to NK.

“After the forced displacement from Nagorno-Karabakh we saw a major outflow of Nagorno-Karabakhis from Armenia. Of course we were concerned about this, but we assumed that they didn’t have the opportunity to travel for a long time and perhaps they were going to Russia, Europe or elsewhere to visit family members. And then we saw the return flow. Now I can say for the record that there is no significant outflow among our forcibly displaced brothers and sisters of Nagorno-Karabakh and I would like to express my satisfaction in this regard,” Pashinyan said.

 16:30,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has expressed regret that Azerbaijan is using the purely humanitarian issue concerning the prisoners for political goals. He said that Azerbaijan’s actions are illogical.

Pashinyan said that the government is focused on the issue of POWs.

“We’ve expressed readiness to display flexibility in this issue as well, and to work with Azerbaijan in order for our prisoners to return. Negotiations are one way, one direction. Furthermore, we have expressed readiness to even exchange the convicted Azerbaijanis in Armenia with our prisoners under the all for all principle, considering it a purely humanitarian issue,” the Prime Minister said.

“We’ve applied to the international human rights courts and other possible legal bodies in all cases. In several cases we have rulings on indicating urgent measures from these bodies, bringing international attention on the issue. But I have to say that obviously that work can’t be considered sufficient as long as our captive brothers haven’t returned to Armenia, and we will continue to make every effort in this direction,” Pashinyan said.

 16:55,

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. The CSTO’s actions do not address its obligations towards Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said.

Pashinyan was asked at an online Q&A with the public why Armenia isn’t withdrawing from the military bloc and whether there’s lack of political will.

Pashinyan said that Armenia has political will and a decision will be made based on necessity, which will stem from Armenia’s interests.

“Why aren’t we making a decision, or are we going to make a decision on withdrawing from the CSTO or suspending our membership in the CSTO? We will decide based on Armenia’s state interests. At this moment if we have or haven’t made any decision, our guideline for orientating has been the state interest of Armenia. Our records show that the CSTO’s de-facto actions or inactions do not address its obligations towards the Republic of Armenia. In this regard the CSTO’s actions do not meet Armenia’s interests. And we have been raising this issue in a transparent manner,” Pashinyan said.

He said that Armenia wants to do everything until the last chance to fully understand the CSTO and make its stance understandable for the CSTO.

 17:07,

YEREVAN, 24 NOVEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 24 November, USD exchange rate down by 0.07 drams to 402.18 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 0.44 drams to 438.74 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.04 drams to 4.52 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 0.60 drams to 505.34 drams.

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

Gold price down by 65.27 drams to 25768.32 drams. Silver price down by 2.38 drams to 305.87 drams.