Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 01.07.21:

In recent weeks, over 100,000 letters have already gone to U.S. Senate and House members to zero out military assistance to Azerbaijan through the ANCA’s online portal.

Meanwhile, at Thursday's Cabinet meeting, the interim government of Armenia approved the draft presidential decree approving Amendment No. 10 to the Development Objective Cooperation Agreement—between Armenia and the US.

Accordingly, the total amount of US assistance being provided to Armenia is increased by $12,940,000, bringing the total planned investment of USAID to $64,340,443 to continue the implementation of the programs under this agreement.

Also, the aforesaid amendment increases Armenia's respective contribution from $7,929,286 to $11,047,369.

  • New Jersey became the 10th U.S. State to recognize Artsakh today, the Armenian National Committee of America – Eastern Region (ANCA-ER) reported.

The New Jersey State Senate unanimously passed SCR. 71, spearheaded by State Senator Joseph Lagana.

Earlier in the day, ANCA National Board member Ani Tchaghlasian and ANC NJ advocate Joe Ariyan testified before the NJ State Senate Judiciary Committee in support of the measure.

In addition to recognizing Artsakh, SCR.71 condemns Turkey and Azerbaijan for their aggression against the peaceful populations of Artsakh and Armenia and reaffirms the state’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

  • The foreign ministers of Russia and Turkey have agreed to continue to closely coordinate efforts and provide support to Yerevan and Baku to solve the practical issues for settlement of relations, placing emphasis on confidence-building measures.

According to Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov, they are 'satisfied with how the Russian-Turkish monitoring center is operating in the Aghdam region of Azerbaijan.'

Asked how he would assess Turkey’s role in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and President Erdogan’s recent visit to the occupied Armenian city of Shushi, Lavrov said: "As far as Erdogan’s visit to Azerbaijan is concerned, it was in the context of the relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan."

According to him, additional work is being done in this regard.

"Work is also being done also to increase road safety; lighting is being installed, control is being tightened," he added.

The Artsakh official informed that the Azerbaijanis behave rudely, often insulting the Armenians. "There have been many reports in this regard, including from Russian peacekeepers. Our armed forces also carry out precautionary measures about which nothing is said; this is of important significance," Beglaryan added.

  • Former leader of the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs in Germany (DİTİB) Mustafa Keskin has been charged with ‘inciting hostility and hatred’ for offending Jews and Armenians, Ermenihaber reported.

Earlier, an inquest had been launched against the Turkish figure for posting offensive remarks against the Jews and Armenians on social networks, after which he resigned from the position of president of DİTİB in February 2021.

  • As of Thursday morning, 126 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of these cases has reached 225,221 in the country, the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Also, three more deaths from COVID-19 were registered, making the respective total 4,517 cases.

Meanwhile, six new cases of coronavirus have been reported in Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh], bringing the total number to 914.