NEWS.am breaking news in a video: 8.02.2019

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ARMENIA TO HAVE 12 MINISTRIES

The Armenian government summed up the discussion of the draft for the government's new structure, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wrote on Facebook.

“Armenia will have 12 ministries. A commissioner on Diaspora affairs at the Prime Minister's staff will be PM’s representative in the relations with the Diaspora and will coordinate government's work with the Diaspora on behalf of the prime minister,” Pashinyan said after the Cabinet session.

During the Friday’s special Cabinet session, the government approved its program and sent it to the National Assembly (NA) for approval. PM Pashinyan will present the program in the parliament on February 12.

ARMENIAN EXPERTS ARRIVE IN SYRIA

A group of 83 Armenian specialists has arrived in Syria's Aleppo for a humanitarian mission.

Armenian experts – deminers, doctors and their security personnel – will carry out humanitarian activities related to mine clearance, providing medical services in Aleppo, exclusively in the areas where there are no military operations.

Russian defense minister Sergey Shoigu thanked his Armenian counterpart Davit Tonoyan for providing humanitarian aid in Syria.

FIRST PRESIDENT INTERROGATED

Armenia’s first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan has been questioned as a witness in connection with the March 1 criminal case, his spokesperson Arman Musinyan confirmed said.

He said the questioning at Special Investigation Service lasted 1.5 hours.

According to earlier media reports, ex-president Serzh Sargsyan was also interrogated as a witness in connection with the same criminal case. However, the investigators did not comment on the reports in both cases.

Some media websites said Armenia’s third president Serzh Sargsyan gave testimonies against second president Robert Kocharyan. However, Sargsyan’s attorney labeled the reports as “slander”.

FRANCE REACTS TO TURKEY’S CRITICISM

In establishing this day of Armenian Genocide commemoration, President Macron is fulfilling his well-known pledge to honor French citizens of Armenian descent, French Foreign Ministry’s official said during a daily briefing.

Asked whether Turkey had responded to the decision, the MFA representative said: “We have had several opportunities to exchange views with the Turkish authorities on this issue. They have been informed of our positions just as we have been informed of theirs.”

ARMENIAN SIDE BEWILDERED OVER BELARUS OFFICIALS’ REMARKS

Armenia’s leadership is not responding to requests for a meeting with Stanislav Zas – Belarus’ candidate for the position of CSTO Secretary General, Zas himself told reporters in Minsk.

Vladimir Karapetyan, Spokesperson of the Prime Minister of Armenia, in turn, has expressed his bewilderment over the comment by Stanislav Zas.

There was no specific arrangement regarding a possible meeting between Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Zas, he told NEWS.am.

He added that the matter of election of the new CSTO chief cannot be resolved without consensus.

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