Category: 2021

 17:41,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. The Civil Aviation Committee of Armenia has received only one application so far for a permission to operate Yerevan-Istanbul charter flights, spokesperson of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Sona Harutyunyan told ARMENBPRESS.

“On December 23, one application was received from FlyOne Armenia for 3 charter flights. The application is currently being studied by the Civil Aviation Committee and will make a decision within a reasonable time, which will be published in the near future”, Harutyunyan said, adding that the criteria for the application is set by the Government.

Speaking with Zarkerak.am, Lilit Aghajanyan, Assistant to the Chairman of the Civil Aviation Committee, said that there are no restrictions for flights, as the airspace of Armenia is open for any flight from any country, and the airspace of Turkey is actually open for Armenia.

Head of the Advisory Board of FLYONE ARMENIA Aram Ananyan had said earlier that the airline applied not only to Armenian but also Turkish authorities for organizing the flights.

 18:32,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. Georgian parliament speaker Kakha Kuchava has resigned, ARMENPRESS reports, citing TASS, Chairman of the Georgian Dream Party Georgian dream party Irakli Kobakhidze informed.

“The party held a meeting of the political council today, where several important personnel issues were discussed. First of all, I would like to inform you that the Speaker of the Parliament Kakha Kuchava has decided to resign”, Kobakhidze said.

He said that the ruling party will nominate Shalva Papuashvili, the party's public relations secretary, as the new Speaker.

 18:43,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. The greatest consumption against Covid-19 in Armenia has the Chinese “Sinopharm” vaccine, Deputy Director of the National Center for Disease Control of Armenia and Director of the National Immunization Programme Manager Gayane Sahakyan said during the conversation with the journalists, referring to the question of which vaccine is the most popular in Armenia.

The state imports the vaccines at small quantities related to the expiration date. Sahakyan mentioned that the ministry always monitors to understand which is consumed faster. At this point the Chinese ''Sinopharm'' vaccine is the fasted to be consumed.

''Sinopharm” has 3 to 4-fold greater consumption than other vaccines'' said Sahakyan.

PM Pashinyan participates in Rima Demirchyan's  requiem ceremony

 18:51,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan participated in the requiem service for Rima Demirchyan, the wife of the National Hero of Armenia, state and political figure Karen Demirchyan, at St. Hovhannes Church in Kond district of Yerevan, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

 18:54,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. The Criminal Court of Appeal declined the lawyer’s appeal against the detention of former Defense Minister of Armenia Davit Tonoyan, ARMENPRESS reports Davit Tonoyan will remain under arrest.

Tonoyan was arrested in September 2021 on charges of embezzlement and falsifications which he allegedly committed during his tenure as minister of defense. He denies wrongdoing. Davit Galstyan, the head of the company supplying weapons to Armenia, and Stepan Galstyan, the deputy chief of the General Staff, are also accused and are detained over the same case.

 20:19,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. Answering online questions from media and NGO representatives, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan provided details of the private conversation with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev in Brussels.

“During the private conversation, the same thing was discussed as before and after the private conversation. It's not so that Charles Michel left the room for about 20 minutes, and we said he is gone, now let's talk about what we should have talked but didn’t talk. The same conversation continued, we continued to discuss the issues on our agenda, our discussion. The dynamic and content of that conversation did not change in any way”, ARMENPRESS reports Pashinyan as saying.

Pashinyan assured that those 15 or 20 minutes or maybe half an hour of their private conversation did not differ in any way from the previous conversation.

The Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the President of the European Council Charles Michel had a trilateral meeting in Brussels on December 14. Charles Michel left the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan alone for some time.

 20:25,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian side will never agree to provide a road to Azerbaijan without customs duty or inspections, ARMENPRESS reports Prime MIniste rof Armenia NIkol Pashinyan said in an online press conference, answering the question why it was impossible to reach some agreement on unblocking the roads, or did Azerbaijan bring forward other demandsand which are the red lines for Armenia.

“Before the Brussels meeting, I had already outlined the red lines for the Armenian side on my Facebook page, according to which we do not accept any corridor-related proposal, and what we talked and agreed over the railway in Brussels, was the summery of the Sochi talks and what we recorded there is that customs and border control will operate from both sides, which is acceptable for us, is acceptable for Azerbaijan and we agreed to launch the construction of the railway”, Pashinyan said.  

The Armenian PM emphasized that the position of the Armenian side on the roads has remained unchanged.

“Both I and the Azerbaijani president tried to delve deeper into the issue, tried to understand what are our reasons for having such positions, because the publicly voiced positions are the tip of the iceberg, but there are other reasons and issues behind our positions. And when we delved into details, frankly speaking, I saw some opportunities for reaching agreements here as well, where our positions and the purely practical issues of Azerbaijan can find a solution. But we do not have any agreement on this, I just saw some opportunities after that meeting, we should try to use the opportunities to find a real compromise solution to this issue, which does not cross the red lines I have already mentioned over the roads”, Pashinyan concluded.

 20:44,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan will take part in the informal summit of the CIS countries in St. Petersburg, during which he will have interaction with the president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, ARMENPRESS reports Prime Minister of Armenia NIkol Pashinyan said in an online press conference, answering the question if there are opportunities for a meeting with Aliyev during that summit.

"That summit is scheduled on December 28, yes, I will participate. At the moment, there is no offer for an official bilateral meeting, but there will be interactions with the president of Azerbaijan. We have not received an offer of official negotiations at this moment. The summit is informal, therefore, the contacts are also informal”, Pashinyan said.

 20:49,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan emphasized that if the security of cargo transportation through the territory of Azerbaijan is not ensured, cargo transportation will not be carried out, ARMENPRESS reports PM Pashinyan said in an online press conference, answering the question how much will cost the construction of the Armenian section of the Azerbaijan-Nakhichevan railway and if the railway communication is restored for Armenia, will the cargo transportation be secured.

“If in those conditions, suppose the Armenian cargo does not pass through the territory of Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani cargo will not pass through the Armenian territory. Of course, when we discuss these issues, this issue is also included. Imagine how illogical it would be if we open a railway and it cannot be used. And here a question will arise: why were so many investments made? ” Pashinyan said.

As for the estimates on the cost of construction of the railway, the Prime Minister said that according to preliminary data, the cost of construction of the railway is $ 200 million.

"All these numbers are very approximate," the Prime MInister added.

 21:00,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenia is interested in concluding a peace treaty and launching negotiations on it, ARMENPRESS reports PM Pashinyan said in an online press conference, answering the question if it’s possible to conclude a peace treaty with Azerbaijan in the context of unblocking transport infrastructures and providing security guarantees.

“We are definitely interested in concluding a peace treaty and the launch of the talks on the treaty. Recently, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs proposed a negotiating agenda, one of the points of which was the issue of a peaceful and comprehensive settlement. And we are interested in that, we have not refused to talk about it, and we will not refuse," Pashinyan said.

According to him, in the context of the desire of the Armenian government to open an era of peaceful development for the country and the region, it would be illogical for the Armenian Government to say that they do not want to hear about the peace treaty. "Of course, one of our key goals is a comprehensive peace treaty, a comprehensive solution. By and large, all the negotiations, all that we are talking about, what are we talking about? We are talking about a peace treaty, as well as its possible provisions and content," Pashinyan said.

The Prime Minister emphasized that due to the propaganda chaos, constant attempts are made to create the impression that the Armenian authorities are against demarcation and delimitation. He assured that there is no such thing. "There is an impression that we are against the peace treaty and the comprehensive settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Of course, we are not against, of course, we are for, we are interested in it," he said.

Armenia also wants to open communications, and it will move forward in all those directions. Pashinyan considers it normal that during these talks Azerbaijan will try to make its interests more expressive, and Armenia will try to make its interests better expressed.

“But if we manage to formulate a model of peace that will be beneficial to both Armenia and Azerbaijan, then perhaps the negotiating table will be less of a field of conflict or opposition, but rather an opportunity of understanding the other side's point of view, come to some acceptable provisions from those points of view and to form some type of a new scheme“, the PM said, adding that there clearly were such preconditions in Sochi and Brussels.

According to Pashinyan, after Sochi, however, events took place that seriously called into question that conversation. Fortunately, no such events have taken place following the Brussels meeting.