Author: Paul Hambardsumian

 10:01,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Several French lawmakers are calling on President Emmanuel Macron to demand an apology from Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for the latter’s threats against Valérie Pécresse, the President of the Regional Council of France’s Île-de-France and a candidate for the French presidency who visited Armenia and Artsakh in December 2021.

Particularly, the Azeri leader said at a news conference on January 12: “If we’d known about Valérie Pécresse’s illegal visit to [Nagorno Karabakh], we would not have allowed her to leave.”

President of The Republicans group (LR) in the French Senate Bruno Retailleau, LR MP of the National Assembly Damien Abad and Member of the European Parliament Francois Xavier Bellamy and 242 other politicians and public figures addressed an open letter to President Macron published in the January 15 Sunday edition of the Le Journal du Dimanche weekly, calling on the French president to demand an apology from Aliyev for his threatening remarks against Pécresse, who is the LR’s candidate for the French presidency in the upcoming election.

“These scandalous remarks cannot remain unanswered from France,” the lawmakers said in the open letter. “For a simple reason: these remarks not only constitute hate speech against a French politician, the President of the region of Île-de-France and a candidate for the French presidency, but are also an overt threat against the French people, the French government and its representatives, taking into account our country’s relations with Armenia. Honorable Mr. President, can you tolerate the government of any other state prohibiting the representatives elected by the French people from traveling to a territory – which, doesn’t belong to the given state – and to threaten to encroach against their liberties, up to their physical safety? As unpleasant as it may be for President Aliyev, the people of France are free, and France is a sovereign state. France cannot find any threat to be acceptable, it should not give in to any terror. And moreover when this is done by a dictator who calls Armenians ‘dogs’, who deployed prohibited munitions and jihadist mercenaries during the conflict with Armenia and who has always been a low example of human dignity. Thus, Mr. President, we are asking you, to demand on behalf of France that Azerbaijan issues a formal apology, and if this isn’t done in the shortest timeframes we demand to recall the French ambassador from Azerbaijan. This is a matter of France’s honor as much it is of France’s values. This is also a matter of support towards the Armenian people which we are obliged to provide at times when the Armenian people, despite Azerbaijani military aggressions, provocations and humiliations, stand tall and with dignity in these trials. France’s attitude must be worthy for the example of Armenia which is going through suffering, which causes admiration” reads the letter to Macron.

Earlier on January 13, the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations in France (CCAF – Conseil de coordination des Organisations Arméniennes de France) issued a  calling on Macron to take action.

https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1073125.html?fbclid=IwAR1e2xhZePRhebRbDPcxNu_1986BWMqVPQ7oxFi_BxT1UOzbI5Xjje6g4bE

 16:35,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 14, ARMENPRESS. A 69-year-old resident of the town of Berdzor of Artsakh accidentally crossed into Azerbaijani-controlled territory around 15:00, January 14, the Artsakh authorities said.

Andranik Aleksanyan of Berdzor (born 1953) got lost near Berdzor and was arrested by the Azerbaijani military after accidentally crossing into territory under their control.

“The Russian peacekeepers were immediately notified on the incident and validated that our citizen is safe. Negotiations are underway to return the citizen of Artsakh,” the Artsakh National Security Service said.

 12:49, 7 January, 2022

YEREVAN, JANUARY 7, ARMENPRESS. Kazakhstan’s President Kassim-Jomart Tokayev announced that he has issued an order to law enforcement agencies to “open fire at terrorists without warning.”

In a televised address to the nation, President Tokayev said that the “gangs” continue to damage state property and harm citizens.

Tehran supports the sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia over all the roads passing through it – Ebrahim Rai

 20:10, 3 January, 2022

YEREVAN, JANUARY 3, ARMENPRESS. During the telephone conversation on January 3 between the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ebrahim Raisi on January 3, reference was made to the processes taking place in the region. ARMENPRESS reports according to the statement issued by the Iranian President’s Office Ebrahim Raisi called on to continue the dialogue between the two countries at different level.

“The sensitivity of the situation in the Caucasus region requires that the countries of the region regularly discuss regional and bilateral issues. One of the key directions of the policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the countries. In this sense, Tehran supports Armenia's sovereignty over all roads passing through that country," he said.

It is noted that Tehran welcomes the progress in the negotiation process between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Iranian President expressed hope that the problems between the two countries will be resolved peacefully on the basis of international principles. "We support the unblocking of roads," Raisi said.

 11:08, 4 January, 2022

YEREVAN, JANUARY 4, ARMENPRESS. 90 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in the last 24 hours, bringing the cumulative total number of confirmed cases to 345,126, the Armenian National Center for Disease Control and Prevention said.

4036 tests were administered (total 2,581,573).

203 people recovered from COVID-19, raising the number of recoveries to 332,201.

3 people died, bringing the death toll to 7986.

As of January 4, the number of active cases stood at 3429.