Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 14.01.2020:

·       Armenian Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan confirmed Tuesday that there was a historically minimum number of deaths in the army in 2019.

As for the deaths caused by interpersonal relations in the army, minister noted they will reach goals by improving discipline and increasing the level of officers’ education.

·       Armenian Constitutional Court president, Hrayr Tovmasyan, accused of abusing official powers, was questioned Monday at the Special Investigation Service.

No comment was received from this state body, and Tovmasyan's legal defender Amram Makinyan said he did not comment on the information, citing the CC law which imposes a certain prohibition on providing information on investigative activities involving judges.

·       Armenian police ex-chief Vladimir Gasparyan was interviewed as a witness at the Special Investigation Service Tuesday, his attorney Tigran Atanesyan noted.

Atanesyan said that the interview had lasted ten minutes.

When asked under which case the ex-police chief was interviewed, the attorney didn’t wish to say which case and stated that he would talk about it later.

·       A Turkish court has announced the verdict over the murder of the Armenian serviceman Sevak Shahin Balikci at a military unit in Turkey on April 24, 2011.

As reported Istanbul’s Agos Armenian Weekly, the Turkish Civil Court has ruled to sentence accused-on-trial Kvanc Agaoglu to 16 years and 8 months of imprisonment.

After the murder, the gendarmerie declared that Agagolu had accidentally fired the shot while joking with Balikci, however, Sevak’s parents claim that their son was killed because he was Armenian.

·       Singer Yusif Eyvazov, spouse of soprano Anna Netrebko of Azerbaijani descent, has reportedly refused to perform with Armenian singer Ruzan Mantashyan at the opening ceremony of the annual Dresden Opera Ball on February 7.

According to Famous soprano Hasmik Papian’s Facebook post, Eyvazov said that Mantashyan is an Armenian, meaning he won’t be performing with her for political considerations.

·       Armenia Airways will resume its regular Yerevan-Tehran-Yerevan flights from January 14.

Following the recent statement made by the Armenian Civil Aviation Committee on the use of the Iranian airspace “our airline has requested from the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran and received guarantees for the safe operation of the aircraft in the airspace of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the company said in a statement.

·       The first Academy Awards nominees have been revealed on the official YouTube channel of the Oscars.

Screenwriter of The Irishman Steven Zaillian, Armenian by origin, has been nominated for the best adapted screenplay.

By the way, Zaillian has been nominated for Oscars three times.