Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 03.12.2019:

·       Shahen Harutyunyan, son of leader of Tseghakron Party Shant Harutyunyan, has posted on his Facebook page a photo showing a part of the statue of Russian writer Alexander Griboyedov painted red.

According to the activist, he painted a part of the statue of ambassador of the Russian Empire, writer, red in response to the pouring of paint on the plaque dedicated to Garegin Nzhdeh.

He was later at Yerevan police station to give an explanation on what happened.

Russian embassy, in its turn, commented on the incident: "We believe that the Armenian community's unanimous condemnation of this act testifies to the strength of fraternal, allied relations between Russia and Armenia, which have deep historical roots.”

·       Russia and Azerbaijan believe that there is an opportunity to find a compromise on the Karabakh settlement issue, said Russian FM Sergei Lavrov at a joint press conference with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.

According to him, Russia hopes that Azerbaijan, Armenia and co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Russia, US, France) will adopt a five-sided statement on Karabakh settlement issues at the meeting in Bratislava.

He also noted that the resumption of dialogue between the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Karabakh is important for resolving the conflict.

·       ARF Youth Union members, who are gathered outside the Education, Science, Culture and Sport Ministry building today in the hopes of meeting with Minister Arayik Harutyunyan, gave him on Tuesday half an hour to meet with them.

Later, the protesters declared that they were told there is a procedure for meeting with the minister. The young members broke through the wall formed by the police and tried to enter the ministry.

The police stated that this action of the youth was not in line with the law on freedom of assembly, demanded that the demonstrators vacate the entrance to the ministry, and gave them five minutes to do so.

The police forcibly tried to remove the youth sitting in front of the ministry.

·       Upon the decision of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, from December 4 to 7, another Armenian delegation will leave for Baku, becoming the second group of Armenians leaving for Azerbaijan over the past twenty days.

During those days, Baku will be hosting the 14th meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission of the Transport Corridor Europe Caucasus Asia (TRACECA) and the meeting dedicated to the 20th anniversary of TRACECA.

·       Condé Nast Traveler is a luxury and lifestyle travel magazine which has included Armenia in its 20 Best Places to Go in 2020 ranking

“Armenia is on its way to being one of next year’s most talked-about destinations, and there’s more to the tiny Caucasus nation than what makes the nightly news (or Kim Kardashian’s semi-regular visits). Ryanair will begin flying to Armenia in 2020, marking the first time a low-cost airline has serviced the country and ringing in a new era for travel there,” the authors noted.