Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 16.12.2019:

·       Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that in response to the US Senate's Armenian Genocide recognition, the Turkish Parliament may adopt a resolution on the genocide of Native Americans during American colonization.

“This is a shameful chapter of the US,” Erdogan said on A Haber TV.

He also threatened to shut down the U.S. Incirlik and Kurecik bases “if necessary”.

Pentagon, in turn, said they are doing their best to maintain relations with Turkey.

·       Starting from April 2020, Wizz Air will operate flights between Yerevan, Vienna, and Vilnius,  Andras Rado, Corporate Communications Manager of this budget airline told reporters on Monday. 

He said both flights will be operated twice a week, with airline ticket prices starting at €24.99, and booking online is now possible.

·       An Armenian police department has instituted a criminal case under the case of embezzlement connected with ex-President of the Football Federation of Armenia and ex-MP Ruben Hayrapetyan, and the Armenian Investigative Committee has received the case and accepted it for proceedings, said spokesperson Naira Harutyunyan.

A criminal case has been instituted on official negligence that carelessly caused grave consequences, embezzlement in large amounts, falsification of documents by a group of person and misuse of powers by commercial or other organizations.

·       Armenian President Armen Sarkissian, who arrived in Qatar Saturday at the invitation of the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, attended the opening of the prestigious Doha Forum.

Within his visit Qatar, Sarkissian also met with Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker.

President Sarkissian suggested discussing increasing the flights, as well as the possibility of viewing Armenia as a transit flight route. The Qatar Airways CEO expressed readiness to explore ways to expand cooperation with Armenia.

·       Russian Armenian athlete Manvel Mamoyan has posted a video on his Facebook in which he set another world record.

"Guinness record: Handstand pushups with a 40-pound weight in one minute," Mamoyan wrote regarding the respective video. “Last year there was no such record in the Guinness Book of Records.”

·       Armenia’s GDP grew by a strong 7.9 % year-on-year in the third quarter of 2019, World Bank says in its December update on Armenia.

Manufacturing grew by 9 percent, while output in mining rebounded by 18 percent year-on-year, as the sector continued to recover from the production disruptions in 2018. The average annual inflation rate in the year-to-November 2019 remained at 1.5 percent.

The Budget registered a 0.5 percent of annual GDP deficit in October.

·       Two people were found dead on Sunday in Armenia’s Tavush Province.

According to preliminary information, they died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The dead are husband and wife.