⚡ In an exclusive interview, CivilNet’s @molon_labe97 speaks with @KofmanMichael of the Carnegie Endowment about the Russia-Ukraine war, military adaptation, drone warfare, and the evolution of modern warfare. youtu.be/lisbcgNNNK4

In this episode of Insights, @molon_labe97 examines the recent diplomatic tour of Artsakh organized by Azerbaijan and the controversy surrounding its Armenian cultural heritage. youtu.be/j0kFaU-Z7dA

Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed the recent diplomatic scandal involving Azerbaijani officials and Armenian cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh as he spoke at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday. “[Something] that fuels pessimistic sentiments is the occasional use of confrontational rhetoric in certain circles of Armenia and Azerbaijan, sometimes at the official level. I think that we, I mean Armenia and Azerbaijan, have achieved more than sufficient results, which should be more valuable for us than the use of confrontational rhetoric, whether it is about history or cultural monuments or anything else,” the prime minister said. This remark is a reference to an incident earlier this month that involved Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev and foreign diplomats based in Azerbaijan. Hajiyev led a tour to Nagorno-Karabakh for the diplomats, during which the group visited medieval Armenian monasteries Dadivank and Gandzasar. During the tour, Hajiyev presented the monasteries as Caucasian Albanian heritage rather than Armenian, while also calling them by their Azerbaijani names rather than their original Armenian ones. Read more on civilnet.am/en

Legal expert Anna Melikyan says that, from a legal perspective, initiatives to replace the Catholicos should not come from the government. Otherwise, this would amount to state interference rather than a legitimate concern raised by the bishops.

In January–April 2026, Armenia imported $9.6 million worth of goods from Azerbaijan. One of the first shipments of Azerbaijani products arrived in Armenia in December 2025: a 22-wagon train carrying around 1,300 tons of gasoline from Azerbaijan’s SOCAR reached Armenia via Georgia.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s office published a report Thursday documenting what it describes as a crisis in the Armenian Apostolic Church and proposing ways to resolve it. The report, titled On the Crisis That Has Emerged in the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church as a Result of the Activities of the De Facto Head of the Church and a Number of Senior Clergy, and Ways to Resolve It, was prepared on Pashinyan’s instructions as part of the government’s 2026-2031 program. The prime minister’s office says the report is based on publicly available information and references the Armenian Church’s Book of Canons and other canonical documents, as well as Armenia’s legislation. The report says it does not challenge the Church’s theological foundations or canonical order. Instead, it claims to document violations of those principles. It also says that reform should be carried out by the Church itself. The report lists 16 findings that it says constitute the crisis. These include alleged violations of celibacy vows, breaches of integrity, arbitrary persecution and defrocking of clergy, financial opacity and misuse of Church property, as well as nepotism and foreign influence, among other issues. The report also proposes a five-step roadmap for resolving the crisis, which essentially calls for removing the current Catholicos, Karekin II, and electing a new head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Isabella Sargsyan, the Program Director at the Eurasia Partnership Foundation and an expert on freedom of religion or belief, told CivilNet that the government has no authority to interfere in the internal affairs of the Church or to produce reports of this nature. “This report is completely unacceptable by all international standards, whether viewed from the perspective of legality, ethics, or human dignity,” Sargsyan said. The publication comes amid a protracted confrontation between Pashinyan’s government and Catholicos Karekin II, who has led the Church since 1999. Tensions escalated sharply in May last year, after Pashinyan publicly urged the Catholicos’s removal, accusing him of violating his vow of celibacy and calling for the “cleansing of the Church.” Read more on civilnet.am/en

Armenia’s territorial integrity is non-negotiable for Iran in the context of regional developments in the South Caucasus, Tehran’s ambassador to Armenia said on Wednesday. “The leaders of Azerbaijan are still talking about the ‘Zangezur Corridor,’ very explicitly and very openly. And [Iran] is also explicit [in saying] that no geopolitical changes and no damage to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia [will be] tolerated,” Khalil Shirgholami said at an event organized by the Applied Policy Research Institute of Armenia think tank․ The ambassador also reiterated his remarks from last week regarding Iran’s position on the Trump Route project. Shirgholami said Tehran would accept the project if Armenia’s territorial integrity remains intact and if no US troops are deployed in Armenia. “No military presence of the United States in the surrounding region [will be] tolerated, [because] the hostility of the United States against the Iranian nation [has been] proven several times, [including] recently,” the diplomat said. He added that if these two conditions are met, Iran would have no reason to oppose the Trump Route project. Azerbaijan has sought a land connection through Armenia’s Syunik province to its Nakhichevan exclave for decades, referring to it as the “Zangezur Corridor.” Armenian officials have consistently rejected the term. The route was agreed upon with U.S. mediation and given the name Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity in August 2025. Under the agreement, Armenia will retain control over its borders and territory. Border and customs checks will have two layers: American employees will communicate directly with Azerbaijanis entering and exiting Armenia in what is described as the “front office,” while Armenian border officials will carry out the necessary document and security checks in the “back office.” Iran initially expressed mixed views on the project. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has described the proposed route as a threat to Iran’s security, while Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said Tehran’s concerns were addressed during discussions over the project.

Independence Day celebrations in Armenia

📍 Armenia celebrates Independence Day. Thirty-five years ago on September 21, the country held a referendum where 99.5% of voters supported leaving the Soviet Union. youtu.be/aa6XsiucSMA

Russia could be the most suitable partner to build Yerevan’s long-planned Ajapnyak metro station because Armenia no longer has the expertise needed to undertake such a project on its own, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said. Pashinyan made the remarks in an interview with BOON TV published on Saturday evening, renewing the possibility of Russian involvement in the first substantial expansion of the Yerevan Metro since the collapse of the Soviet Union. “We assess that the Russian Federation could be our best partner in building the Ajapnyak metro station,” Pashinyan said. He said the planned extension was being designed to technical specifications connected to those used for the existing Soviet-built system. “We need Russia’s support to build the Ajapnyak station and ensure its further continuation,” he said. “At least with Russia, we will be able to implement it with the fewest possible complications.” Pashinyan added that the project would be difficult regardless of the partner selected. “There is no doubt that we will face complications in implementing it,” he said. Armenia and Russia were already discussing possible Russian involvement in the project. Pashinyan said earlier in September that Moscow had extensive experience in metro construction and that Armenia would welcome its support. A team of Russian specialists had also visited Yerevan to study the project and its technical requirements. Russian engineering company Metrogiprotrans won a municipal tender in 2021 to prepare the design documentation. Its plans involve extending the existing line from Barekamutyun, crossing the Hrazdan Gorge on a new metro bridge and reaching the Ajapnyak district on the western side of the river. Pashinyan said Armenia had lost much of the engineering and construction capacity developed during the Soviet era. “Today, there is not a single company in Armenia where we could announce a tender, say ‘come and build the metro,’ and they would come and build it,” he said. The government approved the Ajapnyak project earlier this summer. Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan said in July that the construction plan and cost estimate had been completed and that the implementation model would be determined within one or two months. The estimated cost rose to $287 million this year, up from an initial projection of about $50 million in 2022. Much of the cost is linked to the bridge across the Hrazdan Gorge, associated tunnels and redevelopment around the planned route. The project is expected to be divided into three sections: a tunnel from Barekamutyun to the Hrazdan Gorge, the bridge and connecting tunnel on the western side, and the station itself. Read more on civilnet.am/en

Armenia’s public broadcaster aired no dedicated coverage of the third anniversary of the Nagorno-Karabakh offensive and mass displacement on September 19, focusing instead on official engagements, economic indicators and Independence Day celebrations, according to a review by Media.am. The omission came as families commemorated those killed and festivals and concerts took place across Armenia. It also reflected a widening divide over how the country remembers the loss of Karabakh, with senior government figures portraying the conflict as an obstacle to Armenian sovereignty. Azerbaijan launched its final offensive against Nagorno-Karabakh, known to Armenians as Artsakh, on September 19, 2023, following a nine-month blockade. The attack killed 223 people, including civilians and children. More than 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled their homes in the following days. Media.am’s review, published September 20 by journalist Lusine Voskanyan, found that Public Television’s news service carried neither retrospective reports nor coverage of anniversary events, including a march to Yerevan’s Yerablur military cemetery and statements by Karabakh Armenian figures. Other Armenian broadcasters and online outlets covered the anniversary, the review said. There was one passing reference to the displacement in Public Television’s 1 p.m. news bulletin. It appeared in a report about Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan receiving the Hessian Peace Prize, through remarks by German Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office Serap Güler. Güler recalled the departure of more than 100,000 Armenians, who left behind their communities, churches and relatives’ graves. She described the displacement as another trauma for Armenian society while praising Pashinyan for choosing political responsibility over exploiting that pain. The reference did not lead into a separate report on the anniversary or the displaced population. The broadcaster’s subsequent bulletins covered rising bank deposits, Armenia-U.S. defense consultations, government funding for local projects and President Donald Trump’s list of achievements, Media.am reported. The flagship 9 p.m. bulletin focused on preparations for Armenia’s 35th independence anniversary. It covered a concert already held in Vanadzor and upcoming celebrations in Gyumri and Yerevan, ending with Pashinyan’s attendance at the opening of FC Noah’s youth soccer center. Media.am’s article did not include an explanation from the broadcaster for its editorial choices. The contrast extended beyond television. In a CivilNet opinion article, journalist Anush Petrosyan described commemorations taking place alongside festivals and entertainment events across the country. Read more on civilnet.am/en

Armenia has not ruled out choosing Russia to build its new nuclear power plant and will select a partner based on price, quality and construction time, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said. Pashinyan made the remarks in an interview with BOON TV published on Saturday evening, as Armenia considers proposals from several countries to replace its aging Metsamor nuclear power plant. “We have never said that we rule out building the nuclear power plant with the Russian Federation,” Pashinyan said. “We are looking for the best offer — price, quality and timeframes,” he added. “Whoever gives us the best offer, we will work with them.” The government has set the end of 2027 as the deadline for selecting the technology for the new nuclear unit. It has not yet chosen the plant’s capacity, reactor type or supplier. Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom has proposed building a large- or medium-capacity plant with one or two units. Armenia has also considered potential cooperation with the United States, France, China and South Korea. Armenian officials said earlier this year that they were reviewing proposals from about a dozen companies. Armenian officials have indicated a preference for a relatively small plant better suited to the size of the country’s electricity system. Small modular reactors, or SMRs, are among the options, though the technology has yet to be widely deployed commercially. Russia has extensive experience with Armenia’s nuclear infrastructure and can offer construction, financing, staff training, maintenance and fuel supplies as part of a single package. But Armenia’s other potential options include technologies that are still under development or have not been widely deployed. Read more on civilnet.am/en

Armenia should develop electricity storage facilities and green hydrogen production as the next stage of its rapid expansion of solar power, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said. Pashinyan made the remarks in an interview with BOON TV published on Saturday evening. He said Armenia had created more than 1,200 megawatts of solar generation capacity since 2018, compared with the roughly 400-megawatt capacity of the Metsamor nuclear power plant. “Armenia can be an energy self-sufficient country because Armenia has enormous solar resources,” Pashinyan said. “What should we do at the next stage? We should work on storage facilities and green hydrogen production, and we should move in that direction,” he added. Electricity storage has become increasingly important as solar generation expands faster than Armenia’s power system can accommodate it. Solar facilities produce most of their electricity during daylight hours, while consumption often rises after sunset. Battery facilities can store surplus electricity generated during the day and return it to the grid when solar production declines or demand increases. They could allow Armenia to integrate more solar capacity while reducing imbalances between production and consumption. Former Deputy Energy Minister Hakob Vardanyan told CivilNet that Armenia needs at least five gigawatt-hours of storage capacity, with an output of 600–800 megawatts. Also read: Armenia’s solar growth is outpacing its power system, former energy official says At an output of 800 megawatts, a five-gigawatt-hour storage system could operate for slightly more than six hours. Armenia’s final domestic electricity consumption in 2024 was equivalent to an average continuous load of about 800 megawatts. Vardanyan estimated Armenia’s installed solar capacity at about 1,280 megawatts in September. Official energy balance data recorded about 706 megawatts of licensed and autonomous solar capacity at the end of 2024. The difference may reflect subsequent installations, different categories of producers or differences in methodology. Solar plants generated about 10% of Armenia’s electricity in 2024. Solar, hydropower and wind together accounted for 32%, while gas-fired thermal plants produced 38% and Metsamor generated 30%. Armenia nevertheless remains heavily dependent on imported energy. Russia supplied about 84% of its imported natural gas in 2024, while Iran supplied the remaining 16%. Thermal power plants primarily use imported gas and play an important role in balancing the electricity system. Large-scale storage could allow Armenia to make greater use of domestically generated solar electricity. It could not immediately replace natural gas used for household heating, however, because the country’s distribution network, building connections and household wiring would require extensive upgrades. Pashinyan said energy diversification should prevent Armenia from becoming disproportionately dependent on any country. “In any case, we should not have disproportionate dependence on any country,” he said. Green hydrogen could provide another way to store renewable energy. Surplus solar electricity can be used to produce hydrogen, which can later serve as fuel, be used by industry or be converted back into electricity. The government has not announced the scale, cost or timetable of a commercial green hydrogen project. Pashinyan said Armenia’s diversification policy did not exclude further nuclear cooperation with Russia. He said the government would choose a partner to build the country’s new nuclear power plant by comparing the price, quality and completion time offered by potential suppliers.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has urged Russia to sell its concession to manage Armenia’s railway network to a third party acceptable to both countries, warning that Yerevan could otherwise be sidelined from emerging regional trade routes. Pashinyan made the remarks in an interview with BOON TV that was published on Saturday evening. He said Russian management of the railway was not the problem, but tensions between Russia and the West were creating sanctions risks that could deter international investors and leave Armenia unable to compete for freight traffic. “We have absolutely no problem with the fact that Armenia’s railway is under Russian concession management,” Pashinyan said. “Our problem is that, not because of that fact itself but because of tensions between the West and Russia, we may once again be left out of our own initiative.” The Armenian government has asked Moscow to sell the concession, with Yerevan’s consent, to a third party acceptable to both Armenia and Russia, he said. “What we expect is for Russia, with our agreement, to sell the concession rights to a third party acceptable to both the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation,” Pashinyan said. Asked whether Kazakhstan could be a potential buyer, Pashinyan said it would be acceptable to Armenia, citing the Central Asian country’s developed railway infrastructure and experience investing in the sector. “If the question is whether Kazakhstan, for example, is acceptable to us, yes, it is acceptable to us, and we are not opposed to such a scenario,” he said. Armenia granted the concession to Russian Railways in 2008, transferring management of the national network to its subsidiary, South Caucasus Railway. The 30-year agreement runs until 2038, while the Armenian state retains ownership of the infrastructure. The operator is responsible for running and modernizing the network. Yerevan has sought changes to the arrangement as it works to restore railway links with Azerbaijan and Turkey. In April, Pashinyan said Armenia would make no decisions on the railway without consultations with Russia. Risk of being bypassed Pashinyan said Armenia had gained a “historic opportunity” to join international transport networks after more than three decades of closed borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan. But he warned that the design of the emerging routes could reduce Armenia to a short transit segment rather than turn the country into a regional transport hub. Under the U.S.-backed Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, or TRIPP, a planned railway would cross about 42 kilometers of southern Armenia, linking mainland Azerbaijan with its Nakhichevan exclave. Pashinyan said the railway could enter Armenia near Nrnadzor, pass through the Meghri area and leave near Agarak. But the main international freight flows could then continue from Nakhichevan directly into Turkey instead of traveling north through Armenia. “We see processes under way that could result in Armenia effectively being bypassed again,” Pashinyan said. “The railway could enter Armenia from the Nrnadzor side, leave near Agarak, and the main international flows could go not through Armenia and then into Turkey, but directly into Turkey through Nakhichevan.” Turkey began construction in 2025 of the 224-kilometer Kars–Dilucu railway, which will connect its eastern railway network with Nakhichevan while bypassing Armenia. The line could give Azerbaijan a direct railway connection to Turkey once the southern Armenian section opens. The Kars–Dilucu line is being built while construction on TRIPP infrastructure in Armenia has yet to begin. The project is part of a broader reshaping of South Caucasus transport routes, where new connections through Armenia will compete with the established Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway and other sections of the Middle Corridor linking Central Asia with Europe. Construction of the Kars–Dilucu line has already begun, while the reopening of the Kars–Gyumri railway through Armenia remains under discussion. Pashinyan said Armenia could not and had no legitimate grounds to obstruct the Turkish project, but should be able to compete with it. “The Kars–Dilucu railway will be built one way or another,” he said. “We cannot obstruct its construction in any way, nor do we have the legitimacy to do so. But we must have the right to compete with that railway, and under these conditions, we see that we cannot compete.”

Turkey has spent more than two decades building gas routes that give Ankara leverage over both suppliers and European buyers, while generating transit revenue and helping Turkish industry secure competitively priced energy, according to an analysis by Didier Holleaux. The article, “Turkey turns gas transit into a tool of power,” appeared in the September 14 issue of The World Energy Weekly, a publication of Petrostrategies, a French think tank specializing in energy and geopolitics. Holleaux is the author of Gas: The True Story, published in 2024. His central argument is that Turkey’s ambition to become a gas hub serves economic and political goals. Transporting gas can generate reliable returns, while access to supplies passing through the country can give Turkish manufacturers a price advantage over competitors farther along the route. The diplomatic benefit is equally significant: “Both customers and suppliers want to maintain good relations with transit countries,” Holleaux writes. Building routes from Russia and the Caspian Ankara pursued this strategy across several regions, positioning Turkey as an outlet for Iranian gas, a potential extension of Egypt’s export network and a transit route for supplies from Russia and Azerbaijan. As early as the 1990s, Turkey presented itself as a natural export route for Iranian gas. Ankara later proposed extending the Arab Gas Pipeline, which supplied Egyptian gas to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, through Turkish territory and potentially onward to Europe. Egypt’s declining export capacity ultimately undermined that ambition, Holleaux writes. Other projects strengthened Turkey’s position. Blue Stream brought Russian gas across the Black Sea for the Turkish domestic market, while TurkStream created a route through Turkey to southeastern Europe. Azerbaijan’s gas discoveries, particularly at the Shah Deniz field, opened another opportunity. Turkey became a central participant in the Southern Gas Corridor, with the South Caucasus Pipeline and the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline, known as TANAP, forming key parts of the route carrying Azerbaijani gas toward Europe. Together, these projects gave Ankara a role in transporting supplies from competing producers, reinforcing Turkey’s importance to regional energy trade. Resistance to routes bypassing Turkey Holleaux identifies the eastern Mediterranean as a setback for Ankara’s ambitions — and an example of its determination to resist exclusion. Regional gas producers favored export options that bypassed Turkey, including proposed subsea pipelines and liquefied natural gas shipments through Egypt’s Idku and Damietta plants, rather than Ankara’s proposed overland route. Holleaux describes Turkey’s subsequent deployment of exploration vessels accompanied by military ships in disputed waters as a campaign of intimidation. He also criticizes Ankara’s November 2019 maritime delimitation agreement with Libya, arguing that the agreement infringed on neighboring countries’ sovereignty and sought to strengthen Turkey’s ability to obstruct alternative export routes. “The message was clear: no gas pipeline to Europe could be built without Ankara’s approval,” he writes. The dispute illustrates the broader struggle described in the column: control over export routes can give a transit country influence even when that country does not produce the gas itself. Holleaux also points to Turkey’s efforts to secure access to Turkmen supplies. After an earlier swap arrangement involving Turkmenistan, Iran and Azerbaijan was halted, Ankara backed a new arrangement in 2025 under which Turkmenistan supplies gas to Iran, which then delivers gas to Turkey. For Holleaux, that agreement reinforces the same long-term strategy. Over two decades, he concludes, Turkey has turned gas transportation into “an instrument of geopolitical power.”

What visitor spending reveals about tourism in Armenia CivilNet speaks with Diana Kiguradze, Visa’s Regional Manager for the Caucasus and Moldova, about the findings and what they could mean for the sector. youtu.be/wewF8aV8pNQ

CivilNet: 15 Years Built on Trust CivilNet was born on Armenia’s Independence Day, with a mission to establish a one-of-its-kind independent media in the country. youtu.be/3a61fW7Go6I

Armenia has signed an agreement with university rankings provider QS covering three state universities, as the government pursues a goal of placing four Armenian institutions among the world’s top 500 by 2030, Education Minister Zhanna Andreasyan said. The agreement covers Yerevan State University, the National Polytechnic University of Armenia and Yerevan State Medical University. The American University of Armenia has also expressed interest in joining the initiative, she said. Speaking in an interview with Infocom, Andreasyan said an initial meeting with QS representatives had taken place the previous day. She said the partners would help the universities organize their work to improve their performance in the ranking system. “We are talking about the QS ranking system,” she said when asked which international rankings the government’s target referred to. “YSU is already included in QS, but not in the position we are aiming for.” QS, short for Quacquarelli Symonds, publishes the QS World University Rankings, an international comparison of universities. Its methodology combines academic and employer reputation surveys with indicators covering research citations, staffing, international engagement, employment outcomes and sustainability. Academic reputation accounts for 30 percent of the overall score, citations per faculty member for 20 percent and employer reputation for 15 percent. The ranking therefore measures several aspects of institutional performance, not classroom teaching alone. Asked whether roughly three and a half years would be enough to reach the government’s target, Andreasyan said she believed it would. She linked the effort to broader higher education reforms, including plans to merge universities and bring them together with research institutes under the government’s Academic City project. Andreasyan argued that combining institutions would pool resources and strengthen their international competitiveness. Universities elsewhere were also merging voluntarily because their individual resources were insufficient to compete globally, she said. She cited scientific publications as an area where closer integration with research institutes could improve university performance, through a larger research workforce and joint projects. However, under the QS methodology, research impact is assessed through citations relative to faculty size, rather than simply the total number of publications. An increase in research output alone would therefore not establish how far an institution might rise. Andreasyan said the mergers could improve performance indicators within a relatively short period. She did not disclose the agreement’s cost or detailed milestones for the three universities, and the American University of Armenia’s participation remained an expression of interest.

Armenia’s education minister has rejected descriptions of the country’s students as illiterate after an international assessment found that fewer than one in five Armenian 15-year-olds reached baseline proficiency in reading. Education, Science, Culture and Sports Minister Zhanna Andreasyan said the results highlighted serious difficulties in applying knowledge to practical situations. She said curriculum reforms would improve performance in the next assessment. “When people claim that our students are illiterate, that claim itself is illiterate,” she said in an interview with Infocom, urging a more precise discussion of which skills needed improvement. Armenia participated for the first time in the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, in 2025. Organized by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the assessment examines 15-year-olds’ knowledge and skills in reading, mathematics and science, including their ability to solve problems and apply what they have learned. The OECD’s Armenia country note presents a stark picture of academic performance alongside more favorable findings on teacher support and reported bullying. Only 19 percent of Armenian students reached at least Level 2, the baseline proficiency threshold, in reading, compared with an OECD average of 69 percent. In mathematics and science, 28 percent reached that threshold, against OECD averages of 65 percent and 74 percent, respectively. That means 81 percent fell below baseline proficiency in reading and 72 percent in each of the other two subjects. Falling below that threshold does not necessarily mean a student cannot read or has no mathematical or scientific knowledge. The report says students reaching Level 2 in reading can “identify the main idea in a text of moderate length,” locate information using specified criteria and reflect on a text’s purpose and form when directed to do so. In mathematics, baseline proficiency includes recognizing how an everyday situation can be represented mathematically, such as comparing routes or converting currencies. About one percent of Armenian students reached the highest proficiency levels in mathematics. Almost none reached those levels in reading or science. The assessment involved 6,804 students in 293 Armenian schools. The sample represented approximately 23,800 students, equivalent to an estimated 80 percent of the country’s population of 15-year-olds. “In Armenia, all data met the quality standards set by PISA and were considered fit for reporting,” the report said. Read more on civilnet.am/en