Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest of top news as of 17.02.2020:
· Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had held a private talk in Munich on Saturday. Later they participated in a discussion on Karabakh conflict within Munich Security Conference.
Starting the discussions, Aliyev noted that according to historical facts Karabakh is the original Azerbaijani territory. The PM, in turn, reminds him there was no country called Azerbaijan during the reign of the Armenian king Tigranes the Great in the South Caucasus.
Later, the PM noted that an Armenian soldier was wounded by an Azerbaijani sniper in the northeast direction of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. And, Aliyev, in his turn, said the Azerbaijani soldier was killed on the contact line.
According to Pashinyan, after he became the PM, he announced the solution to the Karabakh conflict “should be acceptable to the people of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Karabakh,” “I also tried to address Azerbaijani people directly,” he added. “However, Azerbaijani president is refusing to speak to the people of Karabakh.” “How is it possible to solve the Karabakh conflict without addressing the people of Karabakh?” The PM wondered.
· Meanwhile, Pashinyan presented six “Munich Principles” following his meeting with Azerbaijani president.
Thus, Munich principles are: Karabakh gained independence just like Azerbaijan did; it is not possible to solve the conflict without negotiation with Karabakh; Karabakh cannot compromise its security; the talks require “macro revolutions”, then “mini revolutions” and a breakthrough; any solution has to be acceptable to the people of Armenia, the people of Karabakh, the people of Azerbaijan; there is no military solution to the conflict.
· Artsakh Defense Army contract serviceman, Hayk Asryan, sustained a fatal gunshot wound Friday.
Meanwhile, protests were staged outside Armenia government building on Monday as there have already been 14 deaths in the army in times of peace since the beginning of this year.
The protesters made a statement, signed and handed it to the government’s department. They demanded a meeting with PM and the heads of law enforcement agencies immediately after the forthcoming session of the government.
· The campaign on constitutional amendments’ referendum kicked off Monday.
Earlier, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Armenia has approved the timetable of the main events for organizing and holding a referendum on April 5.
· Artsakh Central Electoral Commission has received 14 applications for participation in the presidential election scheduled for March 31. Applications were submitted by two blocs and 10 parties. They are being studied at the Artsakh CEC.
· Athena Manoukian will represent Armenia in Eurovision 2020 with the song Chains On You.
Eurovision 2020 will take place in Rotterdam on May 12, 14 and 16. Our representative will perform during the second semi-final of the show, which will take place on May 14.
They were in hospital for two weeks. None of the 89 people had an infection.
Meanwhile, the death toll from the new coronavirus has reached 1,776, with 106 new deaths recorded in the past day. The total number of infected is at least 71,334.