540 citizens return to Artsakh in one day
11:03,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. The Russian peacekeeping mission continues to ensure the safe return of the displaced residents of Artsakh to their homes from Armenia, ARMENPRESS reports the official website of the Russian Defense Ministry said, noting that 540 citizens returned in the last one day.
''A total of 44.6 thousand refugees have returned to Nagorno Karabakh’', reads the statement.
Both opponents and supporters of Armenia’s Prime Minister rallied Saturday as the nation paid tribute to the thousands who died in fighting with Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Critics demanded that the leader resign and tried to pelt him with eggs.
The Azerbaijani army pushed deep into Nagorno-Karabakh in six weeks of hostilities that ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal on November 10 that saw Azerbaijan reclaim large parts of the separatist region and surrounding territories.
The loss of lands that had been controlled by ethnic Armenian forces for more than a quarter-century has traumatized Armenians, triggering weeks of protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
On Saturday, thousands of protesters rallied near the Yerablur military memorial cemetery on the outskirts of the Armenian capital of Yerevan as Pashinyan visited it to honor the soldiers killed in the latest fighting. The nation is observing a three-day mourning period for the dead.
The prime minister’s opponents, shouting “Nikol, you traitor!,” engaged in scuffles with his supporters and police. Police dispersed the protesters to clear the way for Pashinyan and his security guards covered him with shields and umbrellas as protesters attempted to hit him with eggs.
Later in the day, about 20,000 opposition supporters marched across Yerevan for a memorial church service for the victims of the conflict.
Also on Saturday, 14 retired military generals issued a statement calling for the resignation of the government over its handling of the latest fighting.
Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but was under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994. That war left Nagorno-Karabakh itself and substantial surrounding territory in Armenian hands.
In 44 days of fighting that began in late September and left more than 5,600 people killed on both sides, the Azerbaijani army fought its way deep into Nagorno-Karabakh, forcing Armenia to accept last month’s peace deal.
Russia has deployed nearly 2,000 peacekeepers for at least five years to monitor the peace agreement and facilitate the return of refugees.
YEREVAN. – Zhoghovurd newspaper of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: Yesterday, all day, the situation was tense in the RA Syunik Province. Since early in the morning, the residents of Syunik, the leaders of several communities had closed off the Yerevan-Kapan motorway, demanding an explanation of what security guarantees would be given to them, and what was expected in the near future when they would be instructed to hand over the adjacent heights to the enemy [Azerbaijan].
The situation became tenser when Kapan Mayor Gevorg Parsyan announced that today the heights of Kapan and 13 villages will be handed over to Azerbaijan, for which time is given until today, 17:00.
And what [military] positions are we talking about? Zhoghovurd daily has learned that on the day of the well-known non-pro-Armenian statement of November 9-10, before the signing of the document, the Armenian side has positioned on favorable terms. And today, when the demarcation work is to be carried out, it turns out that the Armenian forces are standing further ahead than needed, and that is why they are coming down from the positions.
We are talking about the parts of Kubatlu and Zangelan (…).
Today, citizens burned their homes and cattle farms remaining on the other side of the border before transferring all the posts of the city of Kapan of Armenia’s Syunik Province to the Azerbaijani side. Armenian News-NEWS.am’s correspondent reports that before 5 p.m. the citizens whose homes were located in the village of Kashatagh region bordering Kapan were removing their items from their homes. They were also burning their constructions passing along the border, and one of them, for example, is located next to the airport in Kapan.
Armenian News-NEWS.am’s correspondent reports that as of 5 p.m. Armenian border guards had already left the posts near Kapan. They had to retreat more than 10 km. The locals told Armenian News-NEWS.am that Kapan and, for example, Syunik village will completely be at the observation post of the adversary since the highest peaks of that territory will be transferred to the adversary.
December 13, 2020
President Armen Sarkissian
On December 12, Azerbaijani armed forces, in violation of the November 9 ceasefire agreement, have seized the village of Hin Tagher in Artsakh’s Hadrut region and have advanced to the Khdzabert village in the same area.
The relevant bodies of the Armenian government, to this moment have not provided a satisfactory explanation about the situation and the measures taken by the Armenian side.
Given the circumstance, the President of Armenia is calling on Armenia’s Defense and Foreign ministries to immediately present to the public the situation in Artsakh, as well as efforts being undertaken by Armenia to defend the area and the successfully maintaining the ceasefire.
At the same time, the President of Armenia is calling on the National Assembly to immediately call an emergency session of parliament, which will assess the reasons for the situation created in Hadrut and efforts for its resolution.
While highly appreciating the November 9 ceasefire agreement mediated by the Russian President, the President of Armenia also would like to recall the by a decision adopted on July 8, 1992 by the Supreme Council of Armenia, the Republic of Armenia must continuously defend the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and its residents’ rights.
16:57,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 12, ARMENPRESS. The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Stéphane Visconti of France, Andrew Schofer of the United States of America, and Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, met with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in Baku.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Co-Chairs’ regional visit.
The meeting was also attended by Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mikhail Bocharnikov.
The OSCE MG Co-Chairs and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office will also visit Armenia.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
19:38, 8 December, 2020
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. Russian and Turkish FMs Sergey Lavrov and Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu held another phone talk today, discussing the issue of Nagorno Karabakh, ARMENPRESS reports TASS informed.
The sides also referred to the situation in Ukraine and the incident with Russian reporters of NTV in Turkey.
Two Russian reporters were shooting videos near the factory of Bayraktar UAVs nearby Istanbul. The Turkish side insists that they were not accredited. The reporters were arrested on December 3, but today they have returned home.
16:44, 4 December, 2020
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. Two Armenian civilians who were held captive by Azerbaijan were returned at the mediation of the Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno Karabakh.
The Russian peacekeeping contingent said in a statement on social media that their commander Lt. General Rustam Muradov personally negotiated their return.
The two civilians – Hambardzumyan Ademnik and Khachaturyan Ramid – are residents of the village of Khramort of Askeran. They were reported missing on November 30.
“At the request of the Russian side the representatives of Azerbaijan had informed that the abovementioned persons were detained in territory controlled by the Azerbaijani armed forces and were transported to Baku. The commander of the Russian contingent held negotiations with the Azerbaijani side and it was possible to achieve the release of these citizens. Today, Hambardzumyan Ademnik and Khachaturyan Ramid were transported to Yerevan and handed over to the border guard service of Armenia,” the Russian peacekeeping mission said.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
17:22, 1 December, 2020
YEREVAN, 1 DECEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 1 December, USD exchange rate up by 0.58 drams to 506.98 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 0.59 drams to 607.41 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.01 drams to 6.66 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 2.24 drams to 676.92 drams.
The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.
Gold price down by 239.85 drams to 28729.18 drams. Silver price down by 15.62 drams to 361.04 drams. Platinum price up by 506.69 drams to 15957.49 drams.