The activists picketing the Yerevan Municipality building have declared in a statement that force structures, criminals and statesmen try to exert pressure on them, their relatives and friends.

 The German Commerzbank AG has awarded a medal to Areximbank-Gasprombank Group for high quality of international payments, according to the results of activity in 2012.  

 There will be no official reaction from Baku. Moreover, the authorities will prevent any information on it in the Azerbaijani media outlets. Remarks came from Arif Yunusov, Head of the Department for Conflict Studies and Migration, Institute of Peace and Democracy (Baku), in response to a question from ArmInfo about NKR Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Aghabekyan's latest suggestion to use waters of the River of Tartar and Sarsang Reservoir jointly with Azerbaijan.

"Unfortunately, since the beginning of the Karabakh conflict many humanitarian issues have become a prey to political collisions. For instance, in 1992 Azerbaijan officially applied to Armenia with a request to set up a joint committee on POWs. My wife then worked at the Defense Ministry and personally made that request. In response, the Armenian party declared that Armenia was allegedly not involved in the conflict and its citizens were not in the territory of Azerbaijan and did not fell in captivity. Therefore, the Armenian party said, Azerbaijan needed to apply to the authorities of Nagorno Karabakh," Yunusov said.

He said that there were numerous such examples. Consequently, it is, at least, naive to think that Azerbaijan will accept that suggestion in a situation when the conflicting parties care for the political side of the issue, first and foremost. 

 As of August 20 there were no delays of the rail freight operations from Poti port to Armenia, but delays are possible over Poti flood alert, Vahe Davtyan, Spokesperson of the South Caucasus Railway CJSC told ArmInfo. 

 A man has committed suicide from the balcony of the government building N3. As a trustworthy source told Arminfo, the incident happened at the 6th floor where Armenia's Education Ministry is located. The man died at the scene because of injuries.

Moscow is forced to take into consideration Yerevan's viewpoint in its regional policy, the head of the political research department of the Caucasus Institute, Sergey Minasyan, told ArmInfo correspondent. 

 Armenia has acquired Chinese multiple-launch rocket systems with a firing range of up to 130 kilometers, a military source in Yerevan told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) on Monday.

 Before the crisis the key driver of economic growth in Armenia was construction, today, it appears to be agriculture. This is progress, this means diverse economy, food security, low inflation. But some figures from our national reports look suspicious if not fake. The key opponent here is the former Prime Minister of Armenia, MP Hrant Bagratyan, who has shared his concern about this “juggle show” with ArmInfo.

Georgian citizen of Azerbaijani origin was arrested for illegal crossing the border to Armenia near Chochkan village of Lori region. 

 The current actions of Turkey and Azerbaijan suggest that Armenian-Russian relations already depend on their tandem, the former Human Rights Defender of Armenia, former MP Larisa Alaverdyan told journalists on Saturday.

 I think it would be more logical for the Turkic-speaking nations to meet in the territories of their historical homeland - from Altay to Central Asia, Vice Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov told ArmInfo on Saturday, when asked to comment on the statement made by Turkish President Abdullah Gul during the 3rd Turkic Council meeting in Gabala.

 Armenia is preparing to sign the Association Agreement with the EU already in November 2013.  Nevertheless, one can hardly find any details, at least in Armenia, on that 1,500-page document. Is it legitimate initialing the Association Agreement with the EU amid overwhelming public unawareness of the content of that document?

A group of civil activists have filed an action in the Court of Appeal against the decisions to increase the gas and electric power tariffs in Armenia.  This is the third claim of the activists, as the first two were rejected. Activists say they will create "their own public court" if their third claim is also rejected. Pinning no hopes with the court, the activists complain that the tariffs were increased neglecting the public opinion. 

Armenian and Turkish businessmen met in Van to discuss prospects for activation of economic contacts. As Haber 3 reported, the meeting was organized jointly by Van Young Businessmen Union and Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia. 

Turkey's President Abdullah Gul wishes the summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States to be held in Nagorno Karabakh in future, Gul said at the summit held in Gabala, as APA reported.   

 In the course of his visit to Baku, Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to settle his two major tasks, specifically, to involve Azerbaijan into his integration projects and make it refuse transporting energy resources to Europe passing by Russia.  Remarks came from Stepan Grigoryan, Director of the Analytical Center for Globalization and Regional Cooperation, in a press conference, Friday. 

 Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Armenia Ivan Volynkin visited one of GPM's Armenian assets - the Ararat gold extraction plant, August 16. 

It is not clear yet, how signing of the Association Agreement between Armenia and the European Union may affect the relations between Armenia and Russia.  Armenia should strictly clarify what the EU offers it through this agreement, chairman of the Union of Russian Armenians, Ara Abrahamyan, told Arminfo correspondent. 

 The economic sanctions and trade war between Armenia and Russia, if Yerevan signs the Association Agreement with European Union, are hardly possible, political expert, Stepan Grigoryan, said at today's press-conference when replying to ArmInfo correspondent's question. 

 Today, the maximum buying rates at commercial banks of Yerevan were 405,5 drams for 1 dollar, 540drams for 1 EUR and 12,3 drams for 1 Russian ruble. The minimum selling rates stood at 406,5 drams for 1 dollar, 542 drams for 1 EUR and 12,4 drams for 1 Russian ruble .