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Two candidates nominated so far for Karabakh presidential race

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Karabakh presidential race Deadline for the nomination of candidates for the forthcoming presidential election in the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic/NKR) is this Wednesday.

Two candidates have been nominated thus far. They are incumbent President Bako Sahakyan, and NKR National Assembly (NA) “Movement 88” Faction MP Eduard Aghabekyan.

Three of the NA factions support Sahakyan’s candidacy. A total of 28 from the 33 MPs are ready to vote for his candidacy.

A total of 21 votes in parliament are enough to be elected transitional President of Artsakh.

On February 20, the NKR held a constitutional referendum, and 87 percent of the electorate voted for the proposed constitutional amendments.

Pursuant to these amendments, a transition will be made from a semi-presidential to a presidential system of government in Artsakh.

And, accordingly, the National Assembly will elect the President until 2020—for the transitional period.

Karabakh MFA: Peaceful population on both sides of border has long become a hostage to Azerbaijan’s policy

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Karabakh MFA, AzerbaijanSTEPANAKERT. – In the evening of July 4, 2017, the Azerbaijani side committed yet another provocation, firing at the territory of the Republic of Artsakh, Karabakh Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The statement reads as follows:

“For the first time since the April aggression in 2016, the armed forces of Azerbaijan employed TR-107 multiple rocket launcher system. The fire was launched from the positions located in close proximity to residential buildings in Alkhanlu village․

The Defense Army of Artsakh was forced to take counter-measures to suppress the fire activity of the Azerbaijani army. The incident provoked by the Azerbaijani side, unfortunately, led to casualties among the villagers.

Since the April aggression up to now, we have repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that the Azerbaijani side, in violation of all the norms of international humanitarian law, does not disdain to use its civilian population as a human shield for shelling the territory of Artsakh.

The peaceful population on both sides of the border has long become a hostage to the Azerbaijani authorities’ policy of constant escalation of tensions on the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Artsakh and Azerbaijan and sabotaging the efforts of the mediators to restore the negotiation process.

The incident once again confirms the importance of the agreements reached at the summits of May 16, 2016 in Vienna and of June 20, 2016 in St. Petersburg, aimed at the stabilization of the situation on the Line of Contact. The immediate implementation of these agreements, torpedoed by Azerbaijan, will allow to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future.”

Nagorno-Karabakh elections: Major parties endorse incumbent president

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The major political parties in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) have decided to back the incumbent president in the election scheduled later this month.  

Members of the ruling Free Fatherland party unanimously agreed at a recent board meeting to endorse Bako Sahakyan as their favored candidate. “We haven’t considered any other candidacy. The 77-member board voted in favor of proposing Bako Sahakyan’s candidacy as a president,” Atur Sahakyan, the leader of Fatherland faction in Nagorno-Karabakh’s National Assembly, told Tert.am.
The country’s top legislative body will be conducting a voting in three weeks to elect the president of the transitional period. Nagorno-Karabakh adopted the presidential model in the wake of the February 20 constitutional referendum. Under the new legislation, a president elected by the National Assembly will govern the country in the coming three years.

 

Sahakyan receives support also by the Artsakh Democratic Party and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaksutyun (ARF-D).

 

Asked why the political forces’ choice focused on the incumbent, Tovmasyan replied, “He is the best – politically and in all other respects.  We have practically no discontent when it comes to his personality. I would like recognized countries too, to have presidents like him.”

Under procedures enshrined in the country’s new Constitution, Sahakyan’s candidacy will be nominated at a National Assembly session which will later conduct a voting to approve the proposal. All the three political forces enjoy a majority of votes at in country’s chief lawmaking body.

Nagorno-Karabakh preparing for nationwide elections

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Karabakh electionElectoral processes are drawing near in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh).
The second Armenian republic will be electing a president and a National Assembly from 19 to 29 July.
“Although the new Constitution requires that the president be elected by the people, the National Assembly will for now be responsible for the procedure as we are in a transitional period until 2020,” David Babayan, a spokesperson for the country’s president, told Tert.am.

“Under the new Constitution, 2020 will be a year of nationwide elections, which will see voters ballot simultaneously for both the president and the National Assembly,”  he added.

The new cabinet thus formed will not be led by a prime minister; instead, there will be a state minister and ministers directly subordinated to the president, Babayan explained.

Speaking to Tert.am, Artur Tovmasyan, a deputy leader of the Free Fatherland party and the head of the Fatherland faction in the country’s National Assembly, said their team, as a majority political force, has numerously held debates with members of the Artsakh Democratic Party and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaksutyun (ARF-D).

“The Fatherland faction is the biggest [political force] in parliament in terms its representation. Hence, electing the president will be impossible without us. No parliamentary force ever decides against considering the positions voiced by the Free Fatherland party, especially the Fatherland faction. Everybody understands that one party alone cannot virtually elect a president; we are the ones securing the necessary number of parliament members,” he said.

Tovmasyan added that the party will be holding a congress early in July to elect a governing body but also authorize parliament members to back specific presidential contenders. Bit he refrained from naming their favorite.

 

“We will also elect our party’s chairperson at the Congress. Our decision is to back [incumbent Prime Minister] Arayik Harutyunyan. But he will not run for election. Arayik Harutyunyan has his favored candidate who is acceptable also for the lawmakers representing the party,” he said.

 

 

 

Hripsime Hovhannsyan

Armenian defense minister: At least 8 Azeri soldiers killed in Karabakh’s punitive action

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At least eight Azeri soldiers were killed during the 10 days that followed Azerbaijan’s provocations on the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh, Armenian defense minister Vigen Sargsyan told a press conference on Wednesday, June 28.

Sargsyan added that the number of unconfirmed losses is even bigger as the Armenian side is sometimes unable to obtain relevant evidence after successfully carrying out punitive steps.

“According to the information we have, none of those eight soldiers have been buried so far,” the minister said.

“Azerbaijani media haven’t been reporting on the matter, and this is all we need to know about our rival.”

As a result of Azerbaijan’s sabotage on the contact line on June 16-17, four servicemen of the Karabakh Defense Army were killed.

Also, the defense minister ruled out the resumption of a large-scale war as the Karabakh conflict would not be settled anyway.

report by PanARMENIAN.Net

Israel unveils tactical missile first used by Azerbaijan against Christian Karabakh

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israeli tactical missile AzerbaijanIsrael, azerbaijan Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems has unveiled new fifth-generation Spike missiles at the Paris Air Show, which are already used by Azerbaijan in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Jerusalem Online reports.

A video released in May showed the guided missile being launched and then partially destroying an Armenian military objective.

Following Azerbaijan’s provocations, the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group in a statement gave an assessment of the current situation on the Karabakh line of contact, addressed to Azerbaijan. The French, Russian and U.S. ambassadors cited “information collected from multiple reliable sources” which proved that Azerbaijan initiated the latest escalation on the contact line.

The new missile, called the Spike LR II or Spike 2, has a range of up to 5.5 kilometers when launched from the ground and a range of 10 kilometers when launched from a fighter jet. Successfully tested in Israel, the Spike LR II missiles are already being used in the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict.

The missile weighs only 12.7 kilograms and can be launched from any Spike system. It possesses advanced artificial intelligence capabilities, increased abilities to destroy buildings and armor and the ability to deal with reactive and active reinforcements on an armored fighting vehicle.

According to foreign reports, Hezbollah also possesses this type of anti-aircraft battery.

Related links:

Jerusalem Online. Watch: Advanced Israeli missile tested in Israel and then used in Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict

Expert: Israel uses Azerbaijan as a range

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Israel uses Azerbaijan as a range YEREVAN. – Israel is using Azerbaijan as a range for weapons, military expert Arkady Grigoryan believes.

His comment came in response to Armenian News – NEWS.am request to comment on the Azerbaijani and Israeli media reports.

“In fact, based on publications, it turns out that the Azeris used Spike earlier than its development was completed in Israel. On the other hand, it is very likely that Azerbaijanis are simply bluffing, giving out old versions for newer ones,” the expert said.

At the same time, he believes that the Israeli side will not point to Baku’s tricks, as Azerbaijan’s use of Israel-made weapons has a double advantage: Azerbaijan is both a testing ground and a means of advertising.

Artsakh President says Azerbaijani crimes would not remain unpunished

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azerbaijan must not go unpunished abakh,azerbaijan, Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan visited today a section on the republic’s east borderline, got acquainted with the course of the service and situation there.

The Information department at the President’s Office reported, during the consultation held with the command staff of one of the military units the President touched upon the latest cease-fire regime violations by Azerbaijan qualifying them as a terrorism and a gross violation of international law.

President Sahakyan stressed that such crimes would not remain unpunished.
Defense minister Levon Mnatsakanyan, other officials accompanied the President during the visit, the release said.

 

Source Panorama.am

Karabakh army retaliates to suppress adversary’s actions, three Armenian soldiers were killed

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Karabakh army retaliatesSTEPANAKERT. – Azerbaijani side violated ceasefire regime around 300 times from different caliber weapons along the line of contact from June 11 to 17.

At the different sections of the line of contact adversary used 60mm and 82 mm mortars and anti-tank grenade launchers.

“The Karabakh army vaneguard units retaliated to suppress the adversary’s offensive activity and continuing to confidently carry out their combat task,” the Karabakh army said in a statement.

As reported earlier, three Armenian soldiers were killed as a result of the firing by the Azerbaijani armed forces on Friday. Defense Army servicemen Arayik Matinyan (born in 1997), Vigen Petrosyan (born in 1997) and Vardan Sargsyan (born in 1997) were fatally wounded.

On Saturday morning Karabakh army said Azerbaijan resorted to a new provocation as a result of which 20-year-old soldier was killed in the morning.

Karabakh: Air fest to be held at the Stepanakert’s Airport

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karabakh air festAt the initiative of the Yell Extreme Park company, Artsakh Air Fest will be held in Artsakh on June 17, Artak Grigoryan, a tourism official of Artsakh’s economy ministry told “Artsakhpress”.

“The festival will be held in the territory of the light aviation airport of Artsakh. Paraplanes, a balloon and an airplane will fly over the airport of Stepanakert at the same time. The aim of the festival is to develop event tourism and to know more about light aviation,” Grigoryan noted, as quoted by the source.

Starting from 19:00, one of the most interesting parts of the event will start. The first guest will be the “Shushva band” group. Their performance will be followed by the concert of the famous rock band “Nemra”. After the concerts, DJs will provide a great mood during the day.