Category: 2023

 14:45, 6 March 2023

YEREVAN, MARCH 6, ARMENPRESS. The ‘patient zero' in the ongoing measles outbreak is someone who’s arrived in Armenia from abroad, the healthcare minister revealed on Monday without elaborating.

20 people tested positive for measles as of Monday. Minister of Healthcare Anahit Avanesyan said that 15 of them are children and 5 are adults. All patients are either citizens of Armenia or residency card holders.

Avanesyan called on the public to seek medical attention immediately after displaying any of the measles symptoms.

“Our research showed that the first case of measles [in this outbreak] infiltrated from abroad. The patient is a child, and others have been infected since then,” Avanesyan said.

“Early detection, identification of direct contacts, preventative vaccination within 72 hours and their isolation is highly important while dealing with measles,” she added.

Healthcare authorities recommend children get two doses of the measles vaccine, starting with the first dose at 12 through 15 months of age, and the second dose at 4 through 6 years of age. The Armenian healthcare ministry advised parents to get their children vaccinated if they’ve missed the immunization schedule.

At the same time, unvaccinated direct contacts of confirmed cases should also get vaccinated, healthcare authorities said.

Measles is one of the world’s most contagious diseases. It is spread by coughing and sneezing, close personal contact or direct contact with infected nasal or throat secretions.

The virus remains active and contagious in the air or on infected surfaces for up to 2 hours. It can be transmitted by an infected person from 4 days prior to the onset of the rash to 4 days after the rash erupts, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). 

Unvaccinated young children are at highest risk of measles and its complications. Unvaccinated pregnant women are also at risk. Any non-immune person (who has not been vaccinated or was vaccinated but did not develop immunity) can become infected.

The first sign of measles is usually a high fever, which begins about 10 to 12 days after exposure to the virus, and lasts 4 to 7 days. A runny nose, a cough, red and watery eyes, and small white spots inside the cheeks can develop in the initial stage. After several days, a rash erupts, usually on the face and upper neck. Over about 3 days, the rash spreads, eventually reaching the hands and feet. 

Meanwhile, Member of Parliament Arsen Torosyan, a former healthcare minister, issued a statement on the outbreak and said that he has information indicating that the imported case was locally spread from within the hospital. Furthermore, he blamed an unvaccinated health worker. “We had imported cases [before] that remained local and did not spread. But now we are factually having local spreads and I have information that it spread from within the hospital, from the sick child to others. There is also another information indicating that an unvaccinated health worker had a role in the circle of spread, which in itself is regrettable,” Torosyan said.

He lambasted doctors who believe in conspiracy theories rejecting vaccines, and are furthermore calling on others to do so.  He nevertheless acknowledged the high vaccination rate in the country (90-95%), but still called on all unvaccinated persons to get the shot.

“You have a duty to save lives, not to endanger these lives,” Torosyan said, addressing health workers.

 16:04, 6 March 2023

YEREVAN, MARCH 6, ARMENPRESS. The United States Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations Louis Bono has said that the United States stands ready to provide further assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan in signing a peace treaty.

The peace treaty must be enduring and come from the two parties, rather than the United States or other countries, Bono said after his meeting with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev in Baku on Monday, according to Interfax.

According to him, it is important to Washington that Armenia and Azerbaijan interact irrespective of the mediation format. The final goal of the United States is peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Bono said. He noted that both sides would profit from peace, as they reaffirmed the aspiration for peace at a meeting in Munich on February 18, 2023.

Bono said he would go to Armenia on March 7 to encourage the sides to maintain dialogue and to meet again.

 16:25, 6 March 2023

YEREVAN, MARCH 6, ARMENPRESS. Tickets for the Armenia vs. Turkey UEFA 2024 European qualifier scheduled to take place on March 25 in Yerevan are now available online.

UEFA has banned away fans for the match.

 17:10, 6 March 2023

YEREVAN, 6 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 6 March, USD exchange rate up by 0.32 drams to 388.49 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 0.77 drams to 412.85 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.01 drams to 5.16 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 0.89 drams to 466.46 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 80.72 drams to 22996.41 drams. Silver price up by 3.84 drams to 263.42 drams. Platinum price stood at 16414.1 drams.

 17:37, 6 March 2023

YEREVAN, MARCH 6, ARMENPRESS. On March 6, President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan convened an extended meeting of the Security Council with the participation of the political forces of the National Assembly and heads of regional administrations, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the President’s Office.

Before starting the meeting, the attendees observed a moment of silence to honor the memory of the policemen of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Artsakh Republic who died as a result of the Azerbaijani sabotage on March 5, after which President Harutyunyan made a statement.

According to the Head of the State, the Artsakh side met with the Azerbaijani side on February 24 with the mediation and presence of the command staff of the Russian peacekeeping contingent deployed in Artsakh in order to discuss the humanitarian and infrastructural issues arising from the situation. An agreement was reached regarding the second meeting, which took place on March 1 under the leadership of Security Council Secretary Samvel Shahramanyan. Four issues were on the agenda of the meetings: unblocking of the Lachin Corridor, restoration of electricity supply from the Republic of Armenia to Artsakh, uninterrupted supply of natural gas, and re-exploitation of the Kashen mine.

"During the second meeting, the representative of Azerbaijan attempted to discuss political topics using the word "integration", but Mr. Shahramanyan prevented that, saying that if they should discuss political issues, it should be the topic of recognition of the independence of Artsakh by Azerbaijan. He added that they are not authorized to discuss political issues and cannot discuss such issues at this meeting," A. Harutyunyan noted.

According to the Head of the State, after that, the Azerbaijani side conveyed through its channels that either we accept the integration policy, or there will be no solution to the existing problems, on the contrary, there will be tougher and sharper steps.

"We did not accept, we do not accept and today I want to state again that it is not only a decision of the Security Council, but the overwhelming majority of our people accept that we will not deviate from our right to independence and self-determination. And that means that in the near future we will have various developments, situations that we have to face. We choose to either continue the struggle that we have embarked on, or if there are such moods in the public that we should accept the proposal presented by Azerbaijan, then they have the opportunity to speak up within the scope of their civil rights and say that the path we have chosen is wrong, try to shape those moods, and form a new government in the country. But since we have chosen the path of struggle, please first of all respect our decision and do not react to any such phenomena and do not attach any internal political implications," said the President.

Touching upon the tragic case of the killing of police officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Artsakh Republic as a result of an Azerbaijani sabotage on March 5, the President of the Republic noted that, unfortunately, such provocations are not excluded in the near future.

"We must realize the fact that we have to struggle for a long time and within the framework of that struggle there will be such situations, and we should take preventive measures. I have discussed our problems with the State Minister and today I want to instruct the Government by the decision of the Security Council to develop a program in the directions of food security and energy security, as we have to calculate all scenarios," said Arayik Harutyunyan.

At the meeting of the Security Council, Defense Minister Kamo Vardanyan delivered a report on the operational situation. Subsequently, there was an exchange of ideas, and a number of decisions were made as per the agenda.

 18:15, 6 March 2023

YEREVAN, MARCH 6, ARMENPRESS. Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, commented on the attack of the Azerbaijani subversive group on the police vehicle of Artsakh.

ARMENPRESS reports, the comment published on the official page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation states: "We express serious concern regarding the increase in tension in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. Over the past few days, multiple violations of the ceasefire have been reported. On March 5, an armed incident took place, as a result of which both the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides suffered casualties."

Zakharova called on the parties to show restraint and take steps to ease the tension. "We reaffirm the need to strictly observe the provisions of the November 9, 2020 statement by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia on the complete cessation of fire and all military operations in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone," the message states.

The spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized in the statement that any security-related issue in the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping troops should be resolved peacefully, through communication between the parties, under the auspices of the peacekeeping troops.

"The incident once again confirms the imperative for Baku and Yerevan to immediately return to the negotiations base don the implementation of the provisions of the trilateral statements of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia on November 9, 2020, January 11, and November 26, 2021, as well as October 31, 2022, as well as the unblocking of regional communications, delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and elaboration of the peace treaty”, reads the statement.

Three Nagorno Karabakh police officers were killed as a result of an ambush by a sabotage team of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces on March 5. The officers of the Passport and Visa Department of the Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Nagorno-Karabakh were attacked around 10:00 in the area called Khaypalu. They were in their service vehicle at the time of the ambush.

 19:01, 6 March 2023

YEREVAN, MARCH 6, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received the French Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Brice Roquefeuil, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister drew the attention of the French Co-chair to the fact of the sabotage attack carried out by the Azerbaijani armed forces in Nagorno Karabakh on March 5, as a result of which three officers of the passport and visa department of the Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Nagorno Karabakh were killed and one was injured.

Nikol Pashinyan emphasized that the actions of the Azerbaijani sabotage group cannot be described as anything other than terrorism and added that parallel to the blocking the Lachin Corridor and the actions aimed at provoking a humanitarian disaster in Nagorno-Karabakh for almost three months, Azerbaijan continues the actions of terrorizing the Armenian population of Artsakh with the ultimate goal of accomplishing ethnic cleansing.

Both sides emphasized the need for Azerbaijan to immediately implement the decision of the International Court of Justice on unblocking the Lachin Corridor.

At the same time, the Prime Minister added that, under the existing conditions, sending an international fact-finding team to the Lachin Corridor and Nagorno Karabakh becomes a vital necessity.

Issues related to the process of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the Nagorno Karabakh issue were also discussed.

At the same time, the importance of the activity of the EU civilian mission in Armenia was emphasized, which will contribute to regional stability and peace.

 19:29, 6 March 2023

YEREVAN, MARCH 6, ARMENPRESS. Peter Stano, Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union, referred to the attack of the Azerbaijani sabotage group on the policemen in Artsakh.

"The EU is sorry for the violence that broke out on the Karabakh contact line yesterday, which resulted in at least five victims. The circumstances of this fatal incident must be thoroughly investigated. We call on all interested parties to exercise restraint to prevent further actions that could further undermine regional stability and threaten the peace process," he said.

Three Nagorno Karabakh police officers were killed as a result of an ambush by a sabotage team of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces on March 5. The officers of the Passport and Visa Department of the Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Nagorno-Karabakh were attacked around 10:00 in the area called Khaypalu. They were in their service vehicle at the time of the ambush.

 19:53, 6 March 2023

YEREVAN, MARCH 6, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation referred to the firing at a police car in Artsakh by the Azerbaijani armed forces and the death of people, noting that the command of the Russian peacekeeping force is conducting an investigation with the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides.

ARMENPRESS reports, the message released by the ministry says: "The Russian peacekeeping contingent continues to carry out its tasks in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. In thirty observation posts, Russian peacekeepers monitor the situation around the clock and supervise the maintenance of the ceasefire regime. On March 5, 2023, at 10:00 a.m., the servicemen of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan shot at the car of the law enforcement officers of Nagorno Karabakh in the territory of Dukyanlar settlement. As a result of the clashes, three people were killed, and one was injured. There were also losses on the Azerbaijani side. two dead and one injured. The clash was stopped with the efforts of Russian peacekeepers. In connection with that fact, the command of the Russian peacekeeping military group is conducting an investigation with the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides."

Three Nagorno Karabakh police officers were killed as a result of an ambush by a sabotage team of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces on March 5. The officers of the Passport and Visa Department of the Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Nagorno-Karabakh were attacked around 10:00. They were in their service vehicle at the time of the ambush.

 14:07, 7 March 2023

YEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan on March 7 held a meeting with the French Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Special Envoy for South Caucasus Brice Roquefeuil.

Grigoryan and Roquefeuil discussed the situation around Lachin Corridor and the resulting grave humanitarian situation in Nagorno Karabakh, Grigoryan’s office said in a read-out. They underscored the necessity for implementing the binding ruling by the International Court of Justice regarding the opening of the Lachin Corridor.

Secretary Armen Grigoryan drew Roquefeuil’s attention to the March 5 terror attack by the Azerbaijani military in Nagorno Karabakh and emphasized the necessity for international presence in Nagorno Karabakh and Lachin Corridor.