18:39,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 21, ARMENPRESS. The court of general jurisdiction of Yerevan rejected the motion of the investigator of the National Security Service regarding the detention of the former commander of the 3rd Army Corps, Major General Grigori Khachaturov, ARMENPRESS reports, Khachaturov’s lawyer Hakob Yenokyan told the journalists.
", he was released from the courtroom," Yenokyan said.
Khachaturov is accused of money laundering.
19:16,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 21, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received Italian Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister noted that Armenia and Italy have intensive relations in the political and economic spheres and expressed confidence that they will be further strengthened by the development and expansion of cooperation in the cultural sphere. According to Nikol Pashinyan, the Armenian government is interested in Italy's experience in training specialists in the management of the cultural sector, restoration and preservation of cultural values, so as to develop these capacities in our country.
The Minister of Culture of Italy noted that bilateral historical ties are a good basis for giving a new impetus to cultural cooperation. According to Gennaro Sangiuliano, he discussed with the Armenian colleagues the further steps and plans aimed at making Armenian culture more recognizable in Italy. At the same time, he added that they are ready to support the training of specialists in the field of culture and organize educational courses for students.
20:03,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 21, ARMENPRESS. On February 21, the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia Anna Vardapetyan received the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Armenia Sergey Kopirkin.
As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Prosecutor General's Office, Anna Vardapetyan welcomed the Ambassador and reaffirmed the agreements reached during the meeting with the Russian Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov at the end of last year aimed at combating corruption, money laundering, and transnational crimes.
Ambassador Kopirkin thanked the Prosecutor General of Armenia for the reception and expressed the embassy's readiness to support the development of cooperation in the mentioned directions.
The Prosecutor General of Armenia Anna Vardapetyan, among other issues, referred to the processes taking place in Armenia in the fight against corruption and emphasized that justice will be served against the persons involved in corruption crimes, regardless of who they are.
During the meeting, the parties discussed a number of issues related to mutual legal assistance.
10:10,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. The Center for Integration of Repatriates is expected to open in the end of spring. The office of the new organization launched by the Office of the High Commissioner of Diaspora Affairs will be located at 37 Hanrapetutyan Street in downtown Yerevan.
“Our main partner, the Hrayr and Anna Hovnanian Foundation, financed the whole renovation. Overall, we can say that the work in this direction is completed. We still have things to do with furnishing, then we will move there and I think that we will be able to open our doors for repatriates in the end of spring,” the coordinator of the project Margarita Baghdasaryan told ARMENPRESS.
The purpose of the new center is to facilitate the integration process for repatriates by offering a one-window access to more services.
“Our goal is to foster the swift and easy integration of repatriates in Armenia. Our work is going to be helping those who are interested in repatriation, and those who’ve already moved to Armenia, providing support, consultation from one center, given the fact that some bureaucratic issues happen elsewhere. This center will support them,” Baghdasaryan said.
She added that the launch of the new center itself shows the significance that the government attaches to repatriation.
Today, the Office of the High Commissioner of Diaspora Affairs is rendering the above-mentioned services, but the new center will have an extended staff and broader range of services.
Among planned initiatives are comprehensive training courses of Armenian language, seminars on how to open a business in Armenia, the tax and customs conditions, trends in the job markets etc.
The Center for Integration of Repatriates will digitize the data of repatriates.
“Another goal of the center is to coordinate and digitize the entire repatriation process. Unfortunately, we don’t have that digitization system today, but it is under development. Repatriates will be able to create their personal accounts in the system, fill in their data and contact our staff. We’ll have the entire picture upon their arrival and will offer solutions and a response accordingly.”
In 2022, 25,000 ethnic Armenians applied for Armenian citizenship.
Most of those who moved to Armenia in the recent period are from Russia, Syria and Lebanon. Many from Australia and Argentina are also displaying interest towards moving to Armenia.
Anna Gziryan
10:21,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. A man suspected of being one of the assailants who severely battered Ararat Mirzoyan when he was Speaker of Parliament in 2020 has been taken into custody.
The arrest was made in an ongoing criminal investigation into the 10 November 2020 riots in Yerevan, when a crowd of demonstrators attacked then-Speaker of Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan, who is now the Foreign Minister, and breached into Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s official residence. The suspect is remanded in pre-trial detention.
The National Security Service said the suspect had joined the crowd of protesters in the Demirchyan-Proshyan intersection in Yerevan and noticed that Speaker of Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan’s vehicle was stuck in traffic. When the protesters had already taken Mirzoyan out of the car and he was on the ground, the suspect approached him and started kicking Mirzoyan together with other assailants in the head and other parts of the body. The suspect sought to murder Speaker Mirzoyan, the NSS said. Mirzoyan suffered multiple fractures of the skull, among other injuries.
Mirzoyan was saved by his bodyguards and taken to the Erebuni hospital.
11:00,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. A resolution related to Nagorno Karabakh and the Armenian prisoners of war was adopted at the EuroNest Parliamentary Assembly, Arman Yeghoyan, the Chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on European Integration said on social media.
MP Yeghoyan said that the document calls for an urgent and complete resolution of outstanding humanitarian issues, such as the release of all Armenian detainees, determining the fate of the missing persons and victims of forced disappearances and the launch of a UNESCO mission for preserving the cultural heritage in the region. The resolution welcomes the EU support for the humanitarian de-mining efforts and emphasizes that the rights and security issues of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh must be solved, ensuring lasting peace in the region.
MP Yeghoyan also posted a video of his speech during the debates.
[see video]
12:57,
STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani military violated the Nagorno Karabakh ceasefire on February 21 by opening small arms fire in the northern and eastern directions of the line of contact, the Ministry of Defense of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) said Wednesday.
The Russian peacekeeping forces command was notified on the incident, the ministry added.
The situation is since relatively stable.
Furthermore, Azerbaijan had again spread disinformation falsely accusing the Artsakh military in breaching the ceasefire. “The statement released by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense claiming that in between February 21, 20:45 and February 22, 01:20 the Defense Army units opened fire in the direction of the Azerbaijani positions deployed in the occupied territories of the Shushi, Martuni and Karvajar regions of the Republic of Artsakh is yet another disinformation,” the Artsakh military said in the statement.
13:02,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Defense of Armenia Suren Papikyan met with the Minister of State for Defense Affairs of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Mohammed Ahmed Al Bowardi in the UAE.
Minister of High Tech Industry of Armenia Robert Khachatryan also participated in the meeting, the defense ministry said in a press release.
“The current course and prospects of development of the military and military-technical cooperation between the Republic of Armenia and the United Arab Emirates were discussed. At the end of the meeting, Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan invited the UAE Minister of State for Defense Affairs to visit the Republic of Armenia,” reads the read-out.
13:35,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. During his official visit to Armenia, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg Jean Asselborn visited the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial in Yerevan on February 22 to commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
Foreign Minister Asselborn was accompanied by the Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in the memorial.
The Foreign Minister of Luxembourg placed a wreath at the memorial and laid flowers at the Eternal Flame.
14:03,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan held a meeting with the new United States Ambassador to Armenia Kristina Kvien.
Grigoryan congratulated Ambassador Kvien on assuming office and wished productive work for the benefit of the development of Armenian-American relations, Grigoryan's office said in a read-out.
Ambassador Kvien attached importance to strengthening bilateral relations in the economic sector.
Secretary Grigoryan and Ambassador Kvien exchanged views around the development of the Armenian-American bilateral agenda, attaching importance to democracy as a factor fostering cooperation in various directions.