Author: Liana Toganian

 10:22,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. Government officials are expressing condolences and sympathy over the death of Yervand Manaryan, the renowned actor and filmmaker who passed away February 20 at the age of 96.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan shared on social media a 2018 photo of himself with Manaryan and wrote “May God rest your soul, dear maestro”. The photo was made in October 2018, when Pashinyan was caretaker prime minister and visited Manaryan in his apartment.

Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan also offered condolences, saying “Yervand Manaryan the artist, the scholar, the citizen will always be in our hearts and minds”.

Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Arayik Harutyunyan said Manaryan was “an example of a free mind and unconstrained scholar…” “…..literally a people’s artist”.  “A luminous presence left us”, he said.

Speaker of Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan had also earlier offered condolences and sympathies over Manaryan’s passing.

Manaryan was born in 1924 in Arak, Iran. He immigrated to Armenia in 1946 and enrolled in the Yerevan Theatrical Art Institute, graduating the filmmaking faculty in 1952. Besides acting, he was also directing and scriptwriting.

In 2003, he was awarded the title of Merited Artist.

In October 2018, PM Pashinyan awarded Manaryan the title of People’s Artist of Armenia. A year later Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan awarded the artist the title of Honorary Citizen of Yerevan.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

 22:01, 29 January, 2020

YEREVAN, JANUARY 29, ARMENPRESS. The Geneva meeting between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and  Elmar Mammadyarov is over, the spokesperson of the MFA Armenia Anna Naghdalyan told ARMENPRESS, adding that it will continue on January 30.

"A press release will be issued based on the resultsof the meeting. We have already mentioned that a broad scope of issues referring to the peaceful settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict is on the agenda of the meeting", she said.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

Russia prosecution finds Khachaturyan high-profile patricide case is self-defense

 10:16, 31 January, 2020

YEREVAN, JANUARY 31, ARMENPRESS. The Russian General Prosecution has refused to submit to court the case of the three Russian-Armenian teen sisters who killed their father on grounds of having suffered severe physical and sexual abuse. The General Prosecution ruled that their actions constitute self-defense, Interfax reported.

“The prosecution is noting that they have acted in a state of necessary defense,” one of the lawyers of the young women said.

The lawyer, Alexey Liptser, further argued that now the criminal proceedings against his clients must be dropped.

Maria, Angelina, and Kristina Khachaturyan bludgeoned and stabbed their 57-year-old father, Mikhail to death in 2018, and claimed they’ve done so in an attempt to escape from abuse.

They were 17, 18 and 19 years old at the time of the killing.

 The sisters reported the attack to police and admitted carrying it out. They claimed their lives were in danger if they didn’t take the action. Detectives determined that the Khachaturyan sisters were beaten almost daily by their father, and also suffered sexual abuse.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

 20:10,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 23, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan met on January 23 with Foreign Minister of the Netherlands Stef Blok, who is in Armenia on an official visit. At the beginning of the meeting Stef Blok delivered to Zohrab Mnatsakanyan the official request on opening the Embassy of the Netherlands in Yerevan. Zohrab Mnatsakanyan thanked the House of Representatives of the Netherlands for their decision to establish a representation in Armenia, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia.

Greeting his counterpart, Zohrab Mnatsakayan noted that noted that this is the 1^st visit of the Foreign Minister of the Netherlands to Armenia. “We see positive dynamics in our bilateral relations. We have very good bilateral agenda that includes different spheres. We have recorded good results in trade and economy, political dialogue. This visit is aimed at activation of our dialogue and we expect continuation of high level visits”, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said.

The Armenian FM emphasized that the Government is committed to continuing the reform process, noting that they receive also international assistance for that.

“Your visit takes place in a period when we witness interesting developments in the region and the world, which will be part of our today’s agenda. I warmly greet you and expect productive discussion”, FM Mnatsakanyan said.

Thanking for the warm reception, the Foreign Minister of the Netherlands said, “It’s a great honor for me and I am happy to be the 1^st Foreign Minister of the Netherlands to visit Armenia. We are very interested in the developments taking place here and highlight the progress that we saw during these years”.

The two FMs expressed satisfaction over the high level political dialogue between Armenia and the Netherlands at different levels, emphasizing the importance of strengthening it further.

During the meeting the sides referred to international and regional issues. Zohrab Mnatsakanyan presented to Stef Blok the recent developments over Nagorno Karabakh issue and the position and approaches of the Armenian side for the exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict.

At the end of the meeting the foreign ministers gave a joint press conference.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

Լուսանկարում Գագիկ Խաչատրյանն է