Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 01.02.21:

  • Turkish-Azerbaijani drills kicked off Monday in Turkish Kars province.

The drills are scheduled until February 12.

According to the Turkish defense ministry, the drills are aimed at ensuring coordination of actions during joint operations, as well as to test new weapons and vehicles. It is also planned to test airstrikes, landing, issues of logistic and technical support.

Armenian experts noted that the drills are aimed at putting pressure on Armenia. They also noted that during the last drills in Nakhichevan, the Turkish arms have been kept there and later they were used during the Nagorno-Karabakh war in the fall of 2020. 

The Armenian authorities, in turn, noted that the drills pose no danger to Armenia.

The reports were confirmed by residents of all the villages, as well as local government bodies. The latter have submitted alarming complaints to the Human rights defender that the shooting is carried out regularly, both during the day and night.

The residents of the village noted that there are frequent cases when Azerbaijani soldiers shoot while being drunk.

Special reports will be sent to international organizations, including the OSCE, the UN, and the Council of Europe. Other reports will also be sent to special mechanisms of intergovernmental organizations.

They demanded the release of a group of people who were arrested in Armenia in recent days, including Vahan Badasyan, Chairman of the United Armenia party of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and Karabakh war veteran.

Meanwhile, Anna Hakobyan, the spouse of Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, arrived Monday at Los Angeles International Airport with her bodyguards with an unscheduled visit.

Facebook user American Armenian Robert Markarian shared the event live on his Facebook.

It is not known why Pashinyan's wife left for the US.

  • A number of Azerbaijani media outlets reported on the results of the US ambassador's meeting with the Azerbaijani Minister of Economy, Mikayil Jabbarov, during which the ambassador allegedly "congratulated on ensuring the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan."

In this regard, Armenian News-NEWS.am petitioned to the US Embassy in Yerevan, asking it to clarify whether these statements were accurate.

But the US embassy in Armenia only responded with a tweet of the US Embassy in Baku which reads that during the meeting Amb. Litzenberger noted that economic reconstruction and reconciliation in support of a peaceful negotiated settlement in NK will benefit all countries in the region.

"Turkey is our neighbor and a very important partner and a very close country for Azerbaijan; this factor cannot be ignored," he told Russian reporters.

According to him, the issue of Karabakh's status is not resolved, but it cannot be discussed now, it is better to move it to the future.

A total of 1,345 dead bodies have found as a result of the search operations between November 13, 2020, and January 31, 2021.

The teen went missing on Saturday.

Search operations have resumed since Saturday after the national crisis management center received a signal that a child had disappeared in the Hrazdan Gorge in Yerevan, near the restaurant.

They found out at Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan that they had taken the COVID-19 test at an organization that was not allowed to take such tests from Armenian citizens who are traveling to Russia.

According to them, they were not aware of the new procedure.

To note, the entry of Armenian nationals to Russia has resumed on Monday—and for a month.

Four flights are scheduled from Armenia to Moscow on Monday.

Residents are demanding to lift all the bans imposed amid the COVID-19 pandemic and open the Georgian-Armenian border.