Citing its sources in National Security Service Pastinfo reports that the NSS summoned judge of the Yerevan court of general jurisdiction in Avan administrative region Vahagn Melikyan.
In the NSS the officers showed him a personal video and demanded that he uphold the new motion of the State Revenue Committee to arrest former ambassador of Armenia to the Holy See Mikayel Minasyan, regardless of procedural violations.
Pastinfo tried to receive a commentary from Mikayel Minasyan’s attorney Mihran Poghosyan, but the latter stated that he didn’t know anything about the new motion regarding the arrest. Later it was impossible to contact him.
Armenia’s Criminal Court of Appeal had overturned the court’s decision on selecting arrest as a preventive measure against Mikayel Minasyan against which the Prosecutor General’s Office had filed an appeal.
13:30,
YEREVAN, JUNE 20, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani troops violated the ceasefire regime nearly 85 times on Artsakh-Azerbaijan contact line in the period of June 14-20, during which over 700 bullets were fired in the direction of Armenian border guards from different caliber weapons.
As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Defense Ministry of Artsakh, the front line units of the Defense Army stay committed to the ceasefire regime and keep control of the situation.
Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hold press briefing on June 5
YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Friday that despite the continuing rapid spread of coronavirus in Armenia his government still hopes to contain the epidemic without imposing a fresh nationwide lockdown.
Pashinyan insisted that while renewed lockdown restrictions are one of the options currently considered by the government they are not necessarily a panacea for ending the country’s deepening coronavirus crisis.
“Suppose that coronavirus indicators in Armenia are miraculously reduced to zero with the help of administrative levers,” he told a daily news briefing. “But … if there is no change in our individual behavior, as soon as we open up to the outside world potentially infected people will come to Armenia and we will have to do everything all over again.”
“So I’m thinking along these lines: we must together solve this problem with mass changes of our individual behavior,” he said. “In this regard, I believe in Armenia’s citizens and believe that solutions to this and other problems lie in our consciousness and we should follow the path of changing our consciousness and behavior.”
Accordingly, Pashinyan repeated his calls for the population to practice social distancing, wear masks in all public and enclosed spaces, frequently wash hands and stay away from large gatherings. Citizens should also alert help authorities fight against violations of these safety rules, he said.
Critics of the government are skeptical about the effectiveness of this strategy. They say that only a renewed lockdown can make a difference.
Pashinyan admitted earlier this week that the Armenian health authorities are also favoring such a drastic solution. He voiced misgivings, saying that it could cost the Armenian economy dearly. He also argued that the government had already issued stay-at-home orders, banned public transport and shut down most businesses in late March.
Critics counter that the authorities never properly enforced the lockdown and ended it too soon. They cite the example of many European countries and especially neighboring Georgia whose government only recently began easing serious curbs on people’s freedom of movements and reopening the domestic economy.
The Georgian authorities have so far reported 805 coronavirus cases and only 13 deaths caused by them, compared with 11,817 cases and at least 183 fatalities registered in Armenia.
On Thursday alone, the Armenian Ministry of Health recorded about 600 single-day COVID-19 infections. By contrast, only 4 people in Georgia tested positive for the virus.
Health Minister Arsen Torosyan warned on Thursday that Armenia’s healthcare system is now so overstretched that hospitals may soon be unable to admit all infected people in need of urgent treatment.
ArmInfo. The Ministry of Health of Montenegro has updated the list of countries citizens of which are allowed to enter and stay from June 1.
According to the source, the list includes the countries of the European Union, Africa and Latin America, as well as China, in all, more than 100 countries. From the neighbors of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan were on the list. Of the partners of Armenia in the EAEU, only Kyrgyzstan was on the list.
As the government of Montenegro informed the decision to mitigate the measures was taken based on the recommendations of the European Union. In particular, entry is allowed from countries where there is a significant slowdown in the spread of coronavirus, a decrease in the number of new cases, and also where the number of active patients is not more than 25 per 100 thousand of the population.
To recall, on May 24, Montenegro was the first European country to announce the absence of active cases of coronavirus on its territory. Initially, Montenegro planned to allow entry only from Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Albania and Greece. Earlier it was reported that Montenegro is preparing to resume the tourist season from July 1.
Azerbaijani military breached the ceasefire along the Artsakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact around 180 times in the past week. In the period from may 17 to 23, the adversary fired more than 3,000 shots towards the Armenian defense positions from firearms of different calibers, the Artsakh Defense Ministry reported.
Apart from the mentioned breaches, Azerbaijani armed forces attempted a subversive attack on one of the combat positions of a military base of the the Defense Army. As the press department at the Artsakh Defense Ministry reported, the frontline units of the Defense Army detected the advancement of the Azerbaijani special units and thwarted them, inflicting losses. During the shooting, the Defense Army suffered no losses, the source said.
“The frontline units of the Defense Army continue controlling the situation on the frontline and taking necessary measures for the reliable protection of combat positions,” the statement added.
13:24,
YEREVAN, MAY 20, ARMENPRESS. The Police of Armenia urge citizens not to go to the airport to welcome their relatives coming from abroad, the Police said in a statement.
“During the landing of planes arriving to Armenia from abroad some citizens rush to the airport to welcome their relatives. We remind that citizens of Armenia arriving from abroad are being transported to the isolation places via buses. In other words, there is no opportunity and necessity to welcome the relatives. We urge not to go to the airport to avoid crowds and also for health safety purposes”, the Police statement says.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 12
Trend:
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov took part in the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the CIS through videoconferencing on , the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend.
“First of all, I would like to congratulate you on the 75th anniversary of the victory over fascism in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945,” the foreign minister added. “The people of Azerbaijan also made an important contribution to this common victory.”
“The memory of everyone who contributed to the victory in the war, one of the most terrible wars in the history of mankind, will live forever,” Mammadyarov added. “At the same time, I would like to emphasize that we are particularly concerned about the heroization of the Nazi movement and those who cooperate with the Nazi movement in our region in any form, including the erection of monuments. We consider it important to eliminate such disturbing tendencies by joint efforts.”
“I would like to note that our today's meeting is taking place at a difficult time, amid coronavirus pandemic – COVID-19,” the foreign minister said. “A pandemic undoubtedly affects international activity. Due to the crisis, some meetings, visits, as well as international events were postponed. However, at the same time, we are witnessing the fact that many meetings are being held in a different format, as today – through video conferencing.”
“We are all witnessing that the pandemic has clearly demonstrated the need to increase the effectiveness of cooperation, mutual assistance, and coordination at the international level,” Mammadyarov said. “COVID-19 has become a kind of test of the world's preparedness for the global crisis.”
“Azerbaijan plays an active role in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic both in the country and in the world,” the foreign minister said. “Demonstrating global solidarity, Azerbaijan has provided voluntary financial assistance to the World Health Organization in the fight against coronavirus in the amount of $10 million. Azerbaijan also provides financial and in-kind assistance to individual countries.”
“I would also like to bring to your attention information on the operational and preventive steps taken by Azerbaijan to prevent the spread of coronavirus within the country,” Mammadyarov said. “In accordance with the prevailing conditions, restrictive measures have been taken. So, in February, an operational headquarters was created under the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan to prevent the importation and spread of new coronavirus infection on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan.”
“From the beginning of March, the educational process in all educational institutions was phased out in the country,” the foreign minister added. “All mass events planned in the country were postponed or cancelled. Since mid-March, a special regime was imposed, which included a series of measures of social isolation, and since the end of March, a special quarantine regime has been applied.”
“Today, the Government of Azerbaijan is taking all necessary measures to successfully overcome the unprecedented difficulties that have arisen,” Mammadyarov said. “All resources of the state are mobilized and effectively implemented in achieving the goals set.”
“The evacuation of our citizens, who found themselves abroad, to their homeland has become one of the most important tasks during the crisis,” the foreign minister said. “For the time being, in the current situation, all necessary measures have been taken for the return of our citizens from other countries. These measures are ongoing, and today, about 20,000 Azerbaijani citizens have been returned to their homeland.”
“The result of periodically toughened restrictive measures was positive, and for the past three weeks, there has been a positive trend in Azerbaijan,” Mammadyarov said. “I mean, there are more people who have recovered from the coronavirus than infected people. The relatively low mortality rate indicates that the work is carried out in a positive direction. Since May 4, Azerbaijan has proceeded to the second phase of the mitigation of restrictive measures.”
“I believe that the CIS is an important platform for discussing joint efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus infection, as well as for exchanging experience regarding the actions that we are taking at the national level, supporting each other at the right time and strengthening solidarity between our peoples,” the foreign minister said.
“Dear colleagues, the current agenda provides for the discussion of pressing issues in such areas of humanitarian cooperation as international youth cooperation, as well as the development of cooperation in the field of physical culture and sports,” Mammadyarov said. “Azerbaijan pays great attention to these areas. Traditional close ties in the humanitarian sphere and in the field of culture are fertile ground for strengthening cooperation between our countries.”
“In this regard, I would like to note the importance of signing at today's meeting the Decision on the draft Strategy for the Development of Cooperation between the CIS member States in the field of physical culture and sports for 2021-2030,” the foreign minister said. “I am sure that this Strategy will allow us to significantly strengthen our cooperation in the field of physical culture and sports, to achieve important results in attracting citizens to physical culture and sports.”
“As it is know, in a very short time, Azerbaijan has turned into a center of sports competitions, where events at the various international levels are held,” Mammadyarov said. “The support provided by the state to sports, the implementation of state programs are highly appreciated by international sports structures.”
“Over the past five years, international events such as the European Games, Islamic Solidarity Games, the World and European Championships, World Cups and Grand Prix competitions in many sports have been successfully held in our country,” the foreign minister said. “This year, we again started planning to hold prestigious sports competitions. Four matches of the European Football Championship, including one quarterfinal, are among them. However, in connection with the coronavirus pandemic, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has shifted the dates for the European Championship from 2020 to 2021.”
“I am confident that the decision 'On the draft Strategy for International Youth Cooperation of the CIS member States for 2021-2030' adopted today will allow us to significantly expand international youth cooperation within the CIS, to more actively involve young people in solving the problems of socio-economic development of our countries,” Mammadyarov said.
“The realities prevailing today in the world require effective interaction and coordination of efforts of all states in countering new challenges and threats to stability and security,” the foreign minister said.
“However, the unresolved conflicts existing in the Commonwealth space, in particular the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, do not allow to fully and effectively realize the integration potential within the Commonwealth and are the main obstacle to closer interaction of the CIS member states in countering new challenges and threats,” Mammadyarov said.
“Recent statements by the Armenian leadership show that the Armenian side is doing everything possibleto impede the activation of the process of peaceful settlement of the conflict, thereby creating new threats to regional stability and security,” the foreign minister said.
“Azerbaijan is committed to an early political settlement of the conflict,” Mammadyarov said. “At the same time, negotiations cannot last forever and should not serve for continuing and maintaining the situation that arose as a result of the use of force, occupation, and ethnic cleansing.”
“I would like to remind once again that Azerbaijan has every right to restore its territorial integrity by all means within its internationally recognized borders, as enshrined in the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, the Charter of Paris and the well-known UN Security Council resolutions,” the foreign minister said.
“The earliest settlement of conflicts based on the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and inviolability of the borders of states will undoubtedly contribute to strengthening regional and international security, social progress, and economic cooperation in the region,” Mammadyarov said.
ArmInfo.On May 9, the flags of 6 Armenian divisions were hoisted into the Yerevan sky as a sign of the triumphant spirit and strength of Armenia.
According to the Ministry of Defense, during the ceremony, the flags of 6 Armenian divisions were taken out of the "Mother Armenia" military museum by soldiers of the honor guard of the RA Armed Forces and handed over to World War II veterans. Then the honorary motorcade delivered the veterans to the military airport, where they handed over the flags to the pilots of the Armenian military aviation. Within minutes, combat aircraft of the RA Armed Forces sailed off into the Yerevan sky, symbolizing with this action the eternity of the triumphant spirit and strength of Armenia.
To note, on the occasion of Victory Day, a rich and multi-genre cultural program will be held tonight. In particular, the military academy of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, Arsen Grigoryan, jazzman Vahagn Hayrapetyan, rock band, artists of the State Theater of Song, famous opera singers will take part in it.