Day: September 18, 2023
YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party lost its majority in Yerevan’s municipal assembly as a result of Sunday’s local elections marked by record-low turnout.
Nevertheless, it may still manage to install the next mayor of the Armenian capital with the help of another party thought to be allied to Pashinyan.
Preliminary election results showed Civil Contract doing better than all other contenders and winning roughly 33 percent of the vote. But it fell well short of an absolute majority in the Council of Elders empowered to appoint the mayor.
A party represented by Hayk Marutyan, a former Yerevan mayor ousted by Civil Contract in 2021, came in second with about 19 percent, followed by a more radical opposition group, the Mayr Hayastan (Mother Armenia) bloc, which got 15.4 percent, according to the official vote tally.
In the biggest surprise of the day, a party led by Vartan Ghukasyan, a controversial video blogger based in the United States, garnered 9.7 percent and also won seats in the city council. Earlier this year, Armenian law-enforcement authorities issued an international arrest warrant for Ghukasian and arrested his associates in Armenia on extortion charges strongly denied by them.
Civil Contract could only have a very narrow lead over the three political forces critical of Pashinyan’s government if it teams up with the pro-Western Hanrapetutyun (Republic) party. The official results gave Hanrapetutyun 11.2 percent of the vote.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) also reported that only about 28.5 percent of Yerevan’s 824,250 eligible voters cast ballots on Sunday, the lowest figure ever recorded in the city. It appears to reflect in part a lack of interest in the mayoral race shown by Armenia’s two main opposition groups.
Azerbaijan’s Hirkan Forest has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Lıst, the first natural site of Azerbaijan to be on the list, according to Azerbaijan in Focus, reporting AzerTac, citing the statement by Chief of the Biodiversity Protection Service Firuddin Aliyev.
To this end, the Hirkan Forest bid has been presented to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in late 2022.
The extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia decided to approve Azerbaijan’s bid.
“Inclusion of Azerbaijan’s Hirkan Forest into the UNESCO World Heritage List is the manifestation of head of state Ilham Aliyev’s and first Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva’s attention to this field,” Firuddin Aliyev said.
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The passage of ICRC’s two cars and a truck carrying humanitarian assistance has been ensured from the Lachin State Border checkpoint to Khankendi, according to Azerbaijan in Focus, reporting AzerTac.
The passage took place in the morning hours. Two cars and one truck with humanitarian assistance proceeded to Khankendi after examination in accordance with the procedures.
Parallel use of the Lachin-Khankedi and Aghdam-Khankendi roads in coordination with Azerbaijan was proposed long ago by the Azerbaijani side and discussed thoroughly at different levels. Unfortunately, despite the agreements reached and calls of international partners Armenia and its puppet regime in the Karabagh region hampered such passage.
The ICRC earlier informed the Azerbaijani side about its consent to the parallel acceptance of cargo through the Aghdam-Khankendi and Lachin-Khankendi roads on September 18. Thus, in accordance with Azerbaijan’s proposal, the parallel use of the Aghdam-Khankendi and Lachin-Khankendi roads was organized as per the legislation of the country.
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The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday that armed Armenian groups illegally deployed in the Azerbaijani territories attempted to plant land mines across a location where Azerbaijani troops were stationed, according to Azerbaijan in Focus, reporting Daily Sabah. The incident is the latest in a string of what Azerbaijan calls “provocations” by Armenia following the Azerbaijani victory in Karabakh, retaken from Armenians.
The ministry said the attempt took place in an area where Russia also deployed a temporary force and Azerbaijani forces thwarted the attempt. The ministry also said Armenian armed groups opened fire in areas where soldiers are stationed in Shusha and “necessary measures” were taken.
Azerbaijani media reported on Sunday that the Armenian Army and “remnants of the criminal regime in the Azerbaijani territories” on the border and in Karabakh stepped up provocations. Twenty-eight instances of provocations were recorded in July and another 45 in August, the media outlets reported. They include harassment by drones and “fortifying work” near the Azerbaijani territory as well as acts of sabotage. Another 61 “provocations” were reported in the first half of September, the media outlets reported.
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