Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 15.12.2020:
• The process of exchange of prisoners and hostages between Armenia and Azerbaijan kicked off Monday. The parties agreed to carry out the exchange on the 'all for all' principle.
A Russian plane landed Monday at the Erebuni military airport and delivered 44 Armenian prisoners.
The latter were met by their relatives, Deputy PM Tigran Avinyan, and Artsakh President Arayik Haroutyunyan.
Meanwhile, Karabakh Ombudsman noted that there are still many missing POWs and dozens of civilians.
"Now it is necessary to continue the efforts with a new impetus, as a certain number of Armenian captives are still being held in Azerbaijan," Artak Beglaryan said.
• 828 bodies of Armenian military personnel have been found since November 13.
Two servicemen - an Armenian and an Azerbaijani - have been found as well. They were hospitalized.
• Nor Shen and Hin Shen villages of Artsakh’s Shushi region continue to be under Azerbaijani blockade.
The Russian peacekeepers have arrived and talks have kicked off. The village is not subject to evacuation, and the people do not want to come out, the mayor of Hin Shen noted.
According to the mayor of Nor Shen, Davit Davtyan, if these villages also are handed over, Artsakh will no longer exist.
Meanwhile, the mayor of the Hin Tagher village, Eduard Ayvazyan, told NEWS.am that their community was also handed over to Azerbaijan.
Earlier on Friday, Azerbaijan violated the ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh and launched an attack on Hin Tagher, Khtsaberd, Mets Shen, and Hin Shen villages.
• Kapan Mayor Gevorg Parsyan confirmed the information about the shooting of Armenian and Azerbaijani forces in the Agarak region.
He told Canadian journalist Neil Hauer that 50 Azerbaijan soldiers were moving towards Armenian positions.
"Speaking to the mayor of Kapan in southern Armenia: he confirms that there was indeed a shootout between Arm and Az forces at Agarak on the border yesterday," Hauer tweeted adding that there were no casualties.
• The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs released the statement following their regional visit to Armenia and Azerbaijan.
French Co-Chair Stephane Visconti and US Co-Chair Andrew Schofer traveled to Baku on 12 and 13 December and Yerevan on 13 and 14 December.
The Co-Chairs urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to complete as soon as possible the exchange of all detainees and accelerate the identification and repatriation of remains in coordination with the ICRC.
The Co-Chairs and the sides stressed the importance of reducing inflammatory rhetoric to create a more positive environment.
• A rally demanding the resignation of Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan was being held Tuesday in front of the city hall building.
Meanwhile, a group of relatives of those who have gone missing in the Artsakh war was protesting in front of the defense ministry.
They wanted to meet with Onik Gasparyan, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia, to find out when our issue will be resolved.
The March of Dignity has also kicked off on Tuesday as people are still demanding the PM’s resignation.
• The American dollar’s (USD) exchange rate against the Armenian dram (AMD) comprised AMD 525.09/$1 in Armenia on Tuesday; this is up by AMD 2.63 from Monday, according to the official website of the Central Bank of Armenia.
According to Armenian Central Bank governor Martyn Galstyan, the current exchange rate was impacted by uncertainty about the future prospects of the private sector, leading to a shift in the balance sheet in favor of foreign exchange.
He also noted that 12-month inflation was 1.6%, low of the relative target of four percent.
