Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 24.03.21:

  • The Armenian parliament on Wednesday lifted the martial law that was declared in Armenia on September 27, 2020.

The draft was proposed by the opposition Bright Armenia and Prosperous Armenia factions.

Earlier on Tuesday, parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan had called to vote for this draft.

Martial law and a general mobilization were declared in Armenia on September 27, 2020, the first day of Azerbaijan's military operations against Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).

  • Armenian President Armen Sarkissian has held a number of meetings amid the ongoing internal political crisis in Armenia and following the announcement on scheduling snap parliament elections in June.

The president met Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan on Tuesday.

The two attached importance to the implementation of necessary actions to organize free and fair elections, including improvement of the Constitution and the legislation.

Later, the president also met Wednesday the leader of the opposition Bright Armenia party Edmon Marukyan.

The parties also touched upon the holding of snap parliamentary elections.

Marukyan noted that his parliamentary faction attaches importance to the observance of the agreements that have already been reached in regard to the holding of the elections under the current legislation.

"For a long time now, the Homeland Salvation Movement has been fighting against the government that has led the country to disaster," the statement noted.

The movement has decided particularly to start a new wave of political actions engaging the population of the provinces.

A respective nationwide rally is called, on March 28 to present the further activities of the movement.

By the way, the movement has already opened the streets in downtown Yerevan that were closed while their demanding the PM's resignation.

The Turkish studies expert Ruben Safrastyan noted the US policy is changing considerably with Biden’s coming to power.

"We are becoming witnesses to a change in US strategy on a global scale," he added.

American political scientist Ian Bremmer has also recently tweeted that the US would officially recognize the Armenian Genocide.

According to the statement, 'the modern civilization understands and respects the enormous historical and spiritual value of monuments, through which a fruitful dialogue takes place with the historical past and the high conceptions of the human spirit, a necessary element for further thinking and deepening our common values.'

"In addition, appropriate respect for every religious monument and sacred place of worship contributes to mutual understanding and mutual respect between religious communities and ultimately contributes to peaceful coexistence," Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy noted.

As of Wednesday morning, 801 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of these cases has reached 185,020.

Also, 14 more deaths from COVID-19 were registered, making the death toll 3,398.

The number of people who have recovered is 169,485.