Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest of Armenia’s top news as of 12.11.2019.
- Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is on a working visit to France to attend the Paris Peace Forum and the 40th UNESCO General Conference.
Upon his arrival late on Monday Pashinyan attended an official reception hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in honor of the heads of state and government participating in the Forum.
On Tuesday, Pashinyan accompanied by his wife Anna Hakobyan attended the peace conference where he presented two books to the forum’s library.
Pashinyan also participated in the Q&A session during the forum and spoke about security environment and modern challenges that Armenia is facing. He pointed to “a strange position of Azerbaijan” to make Karabakh a part of their country at the same time “rejecting talks with the people of Karabakh.” “They want territory without people,” he said.
Prime Minister also met with Emmanuel Macron.
- Former official at the Armenian parliament Arsen Babayan was released on Tuesday after spending 22 days in custody on fraud charges.
Babayan, ex-deputy head of Armenian parliament's , was released on Tuesday morning after the court decided to commute the pretrial measure of custody and to apply personal guarantee of two Armenian MPs as a precautionary measure.
“I was unlawfully deprived of freedom for 22 days,” he said.
- Armenian deputy Rustam Bakoyan was robbed in Yerevan.
He informed the police that on November 8, an unknown person, or persons, had stolen a Rolex watch from his car that was parked near an intersection.
Bakoyan told the police officers who arrived at the scene that the watch had been lent to him. The value of this watch is also being ascertained, and it is reportedly worth several thousand dollars.
- Declassified report reveals Turkish president Erdogan's bodyguards sprayed an “unknown aerosol” on protesters during May 2017 attack in Washington, DC, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) reported.
An official responsible for the safety of Turkish President during his visit said “ Metropolitan Police Department officers stated that Turkish security officers used some sort of unknown aerosol on the protesters which they are investigating further.”
The ANCA has formally requested that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo release the findings of any investigation into the matter.
- Fr. Hovsep Bedoyan, pastor of the Armenian Catholic community of Qamishli, Syria, and his father, Fr. Apraham Bedoyan were killed while passing through the road under terrorists’ control.
Later in the day Rudaw agency said the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the killing via its propaganda channels on Telegram.