NEWS.am daily digest: 18.10.21

Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 18.10.21:

UN

Azerbaijan has made an incomprehensible claim against Armenia at the UN court.

In particular, Azerbaijan considers it necessary to apply immediate temporary measures against Armenia.

The “campaign of ethnic cleansing and incitement to violence against Azerbaijanis, is ongoing,” Elnur Mammadov told the International Court of Justice.

“There is no valid military or other reason for Armenia to continue to target and terrorize Azerbaijanis in this manner,” he added.

But the Azerbaijani representative does not say where, how, and under what circumstances the Armenians could have caused irreparable damage to the Azerbaijanis, as such a statement is nonsense in itself.

ARMY

The Azerbaijani armed forces that invaded Gegharkunik Province of Armenia have built large shelters, accumulated a large amount of firewood, and concreted the roads leading to their positions.

According to the Armenian ombudsman, Azerbaijani activities have recently increased sharply.

Moreover, they continue to build new roads and increase the number of servicemen and armaments in the positions. They continuously carry out active reinforcement and engineering works.

They are physically present on the very lands owned by Armenian citizens with rights confirmed by legal documents

These are the Azerbaijani positions from where the Azerbaijani servicemen commit terrorist crimes against the RA civilian population.

PUTIN

Welcoming the participants of the Eighth Armenian-Russian Interregional Forum, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that the relations between the two countries are based on the centuries-old traditions of friendship and mutual respect, and are allied relations. This is noted in a statement posted on the Kremlin website.

Putin noted that within the forum, Armenian and Russian officials, NGOs, scientific, expert, and business circles can exchange their experience, discuss issues on the bilateral agenda, and outline ways for further joint work.

LOCAL ELECTIONS

The preliminary results of Sunday’s local elections in Gyumri, Armenia, are known.

The counting of votes has been completed in all 82 polling stations of the city.

Accordingly, the Balasanyan bloc — of incumbent mayor Samvel Balasanyan — received 36.58 percent of the vote, while the ruling Civil Contract Party—29.56 percent.

The Civil Contract Party lost in Goris and Meghri cities as well.

The lowest voter turnout was recorded in Gyumri where ten political forces were vying for municipal council seats.

COVID-19

As of Monday morning, 1,192 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of these cases has reached 283,183 in the country.

Also, 27 more deaths from COVID-19 were registered, making the respective total 5,805 cases.

Armenia has already vaccinated over 400,000 people. As of Sunday, a total of 588,385 inoculations against COVID-19 have been administered in Armenia, of which the first dose was 403,431, and the second dose—184,954