Category: Azer News

Dispatch News Desk (DND) News Agency of Pakistan reported that President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Uzbekistan is providing fresh momentum to Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan relations while strengthening the emerging partnership between the South Caucasus and Central Asia.

Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan are both relatively young nations, but they have accomplished remarkable achievements in human development and established themselves as important and reliable states. The visit is certainly part of a series of events within the broader strategy pursued by Baku and Tashkent to link the South Caucasus and Central Asia as a single geopolitical space. Such a reshaping would serve regional interests. Linking the South Caucasus and Central Asia through the development of transport routes would further consolidate this vision.

On August 23, President Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev delivered joint press statements in Tashkent that provided insight into the deep-rooted relations between the two nations. Their statements also offered international relations analysts an opportunity to better understand the background to the signing of the ‘Treaty on Eternal Friendship.’ The treaty is not simply a document; rather, it reflects a shared commitment to deepening cooperation, expanding opportunities for interaction and building a common future.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev rightly said during the joint press statement that relations between the two nations are based on a shared civilizational code, common historical roots, centuries-old friendship, enduring spiritual values, and similar cultures and traditions. This profound bond makes relations between the two countries solid and resilient to external circumstances.

Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan are enhancing cooperation in trade, industry, energy and transport, while strengthening political dialogue and maintaining active contacts between their parliaments, governments, sectoral agencies and regions. The collective investment fund established several years ago also plays an important role in promoting joint business initiatives.

In his remarks to the media, President Ilham Aliyev lauded President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s efforts to strengthen Uzbekistan’s potential, enhance its position in the international arena and address the country’s most important socio-economic challenges.

President Ilham Aliyev added that when President Shavkat Mirziyoyev took over the leadership of Uzbekistan, the situation was completely different, and he had to make tremendous efforts to put the country on the path of development. He essentially had to build the economic foundations for the country’s development from scratch, diversify the economy, develop industry and agriculture on a diversified basis, and attract investment into sectors that had, and continue to have, significant potential.

President Ilham Aliyev stated that Central Asia and Azerbaijan today constitute a single geopolitical and geo-economic region with enormous potential. He said that close interaction between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan would largely determine the overall positive development dynamics of this vast and increasingly integrated region.

It may be mentioned that President Ilham Aliyev and President Shavkat Mirziyoyev also attended the opening ceremony of the National Pedagogical University named after Nizami Ganjavi in Tashkent. The two heads of state were briefed on the history of the National Pedagogical University named after Nizami Ganjavi and the facilities available there. In 1935, the Tashkent Pedagogical Institute was established on the basis of the Faculty of Pedagogy of the Central Asian State University. In 1947, the institution was renamed the Tashkent State Pedagogical Institute named after Nizami, and since 1998, it has operated as the Tashkent State Pedagogical University named after Nizami.

The university comprises six higher pedagogical schools, as well as a Joint Education Higher School and a master’s department. In total, it has 33 departments and offers 38 bachelor’s degree programmes and 31 master’s degree programmes. With 730 teachers and scientific-pedagogical staff members, the university has more than 17,000 students, including six Azerbaijani citizens studying at undergraduate and master’s levels as well as independent researchers. At the same time, 250 students from 13 countries are pursuing their studies at the university.

The National Pedagogical University named after Nizami Ganjavi has signed memorandums of understanding with the Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University, Baku Slavic University, Baku State University, Azerbaijan University of Languages, Mingachevir State University, Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University, and Azerbaijan University of Architecture and Construction.

Under these agreements, joint scientific research and international conferences, academic and scientific exchanges, and cultural and educational ties are being developed. As part of cooperation with Azerbaijan, the first five graduates of Secondary School No. 1 named after Mirzo Ulugbek in the city of Fuzuli have earned the right to study at the university on a grant basis.

Regional experts believe that President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Uzbekistan will provide new strategic impetus to bilateral relations. The visit links bilateral cooperation to broader regional and global dynamics, as Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan ties are emerging as a geopolitical platform on a transregional scale that extends beyond the traditional bilateral framework.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on Monday his party will introduce a bill in Parliament that seeks to ban children under 16 from using social media, proposing fines of up to 10% of a platform’s global revenue for non-compliance, AzerNEWS reports, citing Tribune.

The bill would require social media platforms to take reasonable steps to verify users’ ages, including by utilising existing account information, facial technology and digital identity documents.

“We simply cannot accept the harm being done to a generation of New Zealand children,” Luxon said in a statement.

“Social media is exposing them to harmful content, addictive technology and pressures they are not equipped to deal with and it’s affecting their family life, mental health, sleep and education.”

It was not immediately clear if the bill would garner sufficient support to pass through Parliament, with one of Luxon’s coalition partners, the New Zealand First party, saying it would not support it.

“We have been concerned with the proposed legislation and the direction and slippery slope that legislation like this will inevitably take our country,” New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, who is also the country’s foreign minister, said in a post on X.

In December, Australia became the world’s first country to ban social media for children under 16, blocking them from platforms including TikTok, Alphabet’s YouTube and Meta’s Instagram and Facebook.

That legislation had been a “colossal failure”, Peters said, adding that keeping children off social media should be the responsibility of parents.

“I won’t pretend that it will be simple or that it will be perfect,” Luxon said at an event.

“We won’t get every single child off social media. Some will always find ways around it, but frankly, it’s just way too important not to at least try.”

Sometimes, the reaction of the other side is enough to assess the effectiveness of an information campaign abroad. An exhibition organised by Azerbaijanis in the heart of Prague clearly hit its target: two weeks later, it is still being discussed in the Armenian parliament, with barely concealed irritation.

To begin with, an open-air exhibition was held in Prague’s Old Town Square, focusing on the historical and cultural heritage of Western Azerbaijan and Qarabag.

The event was supported by Azerbaijan’s State Committee for Work with the Diaspora and organised by Farid Amiraliyev, coordinator of the Czech branch of the Coordinating Council of Azerbaijanis of Eastern Europe and founder of the Land of Fire organisation.

Judging by the reaction from the Armenian opposition, the event achieved its objective.

Lilit Galstyan, an opposition member of the Armenian National Assembly, said that the exhibition featured historical photographs showing the historical presence of Azerbaijanis in Qarabag and Armenia.

What particularly angered Galstyan was the promotion of the Western Azerbaijan issue directly within the European public sphere.

The Armenian MP effectively acknowledged that Azerbaijan is increasingly presenting its position to an international audience and is not limiting itself to diplomatic statements. According to her, such events are becoming part of a broader information campaign beyond the region.

At the same time, Galstyan turned her criticism towards her own government, accusing official Yerevan of passivity on the international stage. She complained that Azerbaijan was consistently promoting its historical and political narratives, while the Armenian side was preoccupied with internal conflicts.

Her statement that the concept of Western Azerbaijan, as she put it, ‘has already come to our lands’ was also telling.

In other words, an ordinary public event in the centre of Prague proved sufficiently visible to trigger an angry reaction from the Armenian opposition.

Greece has moved a Patriot air-defense battery from the island of Karpathos to Crete amid heightened concerns over reported Iranian threats against US military facilities in Europe.

The system was relocated to the Souda Bay area, home to a strategically important military facility used by the Greek Armed Forces, the United States and NATO. The move is intended to strengthen air-defense coverage around the base and its critical naval and aviation infrastructure.

The decision follows reports that Iran could consider targeting US military facilities in Europe if Washington escalates military pressure over the Strait of Hormuz. The Financial Times, citing Iranian sources, previously reported that potential targets could include US facilities in Bulgaria and Cyprus.

The Patriot battery had been deployed on Karpathos in March amid heightened regional tensions and concerns over possible ballistic-missile threats. Greek authorities have since reassessed the positioning of their air-defense assets as tensions between Iran, the United States and Israel have intensified.

Greek media reported that the battery, along with its personnel and equipment, was transported from Karpathos and is expected to operate near Souda. Images showed the system being prepared for transport by barge.

The Greek Defence Ministry has not publicly commented on the reported redeployment.

Athens is also reportedly assessing additional measures to protect critical infrastructure and military facilities, while Greek officials consider a direct Iranian attack on Greece itself unlikely.

A U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport on Tuesday morning, August 25.

According Flightradar24, the aircraft, operating under the callsign RCH4555 and bearing registration 07-7181, departed Riga at approximately 8:50 a.m. Moscow time. Its flight ended at Vnukovo at around 10:04 a.m.

Flightradar24 currently shows no further tracking information for the aircraft, indicating that it is either outside the service’s coverage area or has already landed.

The aircraft’s recent flight history shows that it arrived in Riga on August 23. Its previous departure point was listed as Camp Springs, Maryland, home to Joint Base Andrews, the U.S. military installation associated with presidential air transport, including Air Force One.

The C-17 Globemaster III is a heavy military transport aircraft operated by the U.S. Air Force and is designed to carry troops, equipment and cargo over long distances.

The purpose of the aircraft’s flight to Moscow was not immediately clear from the publicly available.

President Ilham Aliyev signed Azerbaijan’s first comprehensive State Tourism Development Programme on August 20, setting a target of 3.8 million annual visitors by 2030, up from 2.57 million today. The H1 2026 data, showing a 10.3% year-on-year decline, explains why the urgency is real. So do the programme’s own diagnoses of what is not working.

The timing of the State Programme for Tourism Development is quite instructive. The timing of the State Programme for the Development of Tourism cannot be ignored. During the first half of 2026, almost 1.092 million foreigners came to Azerbaijan; their number decreased compared to last year by 10.3%, due to a combination of a decrease in the number of post-Soviet travelers, fewer tourists from the Middle East and India, and rising airfares because of fuel price hikes associated with the war in the Persian Gulf. What is crucial, this programme comes not as a codification of an emerging, booming industry but as a counter-strategy to combat the retreat of the tourism industry, which is still unable to recover its pre-crisis level of 3.2 million foreigners per year reached in 2019.

Quick look at Azerbaijan’s position in the WEF ranking

The State Programme cites the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Development Index 2024, in which Azerbaijan ranked 56th of 119 countries. The regional peer comparison this ranking reveals is worth examining carefully, because it defines both the opportunity and the challenge simultaneously.

Country WEF TTDI 2024 rank Foreign visitors (approx.) Gap to Azerbaijan

Georgia 45th 9mn+ (2024) -11 places; 3.5x visitor volume

Kazakhstan 52nd ~8mn -4 places; larger landlocked market

Azerbaijan 56th 2.57mn (2025); 1.09mn H1 2026 Reference point

Uzbekistan 78th ~7mn (2024, rapid growth) +22 places; but growing faster

Armenia 72nd ~2mn +16 places; similar volume

The Georgia comparison, however, is the most telling and the most difficult. Azerbaijan lags behind Georgia by 11 places in the WEF ranking, but by a much greater gap in real tourist arrivals. In 2024, Georgia attracted more than nine million tourists, which is 3.5 times more than Azerbaijan managed in 2025, despite its smaller size, lack of well-developed hospitality infrastructure, and the absence of Azerbaijan’s source of energy income to fund tourism development. The thing that Georgia has, which Azerbaijan lacks, is an efficient low-cost airline hub in Kutaisi, with Wizz Air serving 23 European destinations out of one single airport, and a visa policy that has traditionally been more open to visitors from Western Europe. During the author’s study, conducted at Azerbaijan Technical University in 2025 on the branding of Azerbaijan’s tourism destination, 51.6% of the country’s foreign tourists found Azerbaijan’s tourism brand only “slightly recognizable,” which quantitatively reflects the depth of the branding issue highlighted in the WEF ranking. A country that outranks 63 other countries globally but lags behind its closest neighbor by 3.5 times in the number of tourists is facing a problem of product and access, not potential. However, the point surrounding the issue is not the question of potential, but converting it is.

Programme’s ambitions

LCCs’ attraction, regional airports, twentyfold flight frequency increase. The programme implies analysis of competitive prices compared to alternative regional destinations, cost-benefit analysis, and subsidization of charter and additional scheduled flights. LCCs’ attraction to regional airports, which are mentioned as one of programme priorities, will help fill the gap that prevented Gabala, Lankaran, and Ganja from having any passenger flow. Flight frequency on the current routes will increase twentyfold. Four new routes are expected to be launched by 2030.

34 visa-free countries + digital nomad visa + multiple-entry e-Visa. The programme commits to visa-free access for citizens of 34 target tourism markets by 2030, up from 17 currently, with 28 as an interim target. A digital nomad visa subtype will be introduced in 2027-2028. Multiple-entry e-Visa procedures will be updated. These measures directly target the Western European and North American visitor segments that current visa requirements deter and that generate the highest per-visitor spending.

3 new tourism zones + 3 tourism centres + 8 new hiking routes. Three new tourism and recreation zones will be created in 2027-2030, with at least three tourism centres established within them and master development plans prepared for each. Eight new mountain hiking routes will be identified, marked, and digitally mapped, adding to the 40 existing routes. Transport accessibility improvements for regional destinations, including railway GDS integration and tourist ticket packages, directly address the connectivity gap that keeps foreign visitors in Baku.

Tourism Ambassador Programme + unified information system: A new Tourism Ambassador Programme will be established – a structured influencer and advocate network that complements the Azerbaijan Tourism Bureau’s existing digital channels. The programme also envisages a unified national tourism information system.

Charter, route, event, operator, and accommodation subsidies: Subsidy mechanisms covering charter flights, additional scheduled routes, tourism event organisers, tour operators by foreign tourist volume, and micro/small accommodation businesses will be developed and implemented in 2026-2027. The Law on Tourism (2021) will be revised within six months. Investment incentive certificates for tourism projects will be restructured within three months. These mechanisms are the enabling conditions for private investment at the scale the programme’s value-added targets require.

Health tourism strategy + 5 culinary festivals annually + Tourist Village framework. Perhaps it is one of the best additions, if not the best. A strategy and action plan for health and wellness tourism will be developed, alongside an annual Health and Wellness Tourism Conference. At least five culinary festivals per year in the regions, alongside gastronomic championships, will develop the food tourism offer that research consistently identifies as a high-conversion product. A regulatory framework for the “Tourist Village” concept creates the legal architecture for rural and ecotourism development that current legislation does not adequately support.

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The programme is remarkably forthright about the underlying issues it seeks to address, which gives it credibility over its predecessors and practical utility for investors trying to understand where real opportunity lies. The willingness to state bluntly that the industry has been motivated by “inertia,” that service quality is lacking, and that prices are not competitive is an honest starting point that many national tourism initiatives fail to reach. The loss of 10.3% of visitors in H1 2026 is a significant blow to a sector already operating at levels below the pre-Covid peak. While the hike in fares resulting from the Gulf conflict situation is in part exogenous to Azerbaijan, the lack of competition in the form of low-cost carriers on Azerbaijani routes is an endogenous structural issue which has left the country vulnerable to fuel costs in a way it need not have been.

The target rate of annual visitation growth of 8.1% suggests that the programme will need to achieve 3.8 million foreign visitors by 2030 – a highly ambitious yet theoretically attainable goal provided that the aviation and visa facilitation measures will take effect on time. The investment needed to ensure that tourists choose Azerbaijan as a destination, rather than find out about it after arriving there, is the least clear part of the action plan. At least the Ambassador Programme is a step in this direction. The amount of digital investment necessary to catch up with Georgia in terms of social media presence is substantially higher than any existing budget provision.

What this programme means, in its totality, is the most structurally sound tourism policy document Azerbaijan has put together – a five-year strategy with clearly set numerical objectives, a roadmap with implementation agencies and timescales, and a forthright assessment of the structural barriers that need to be overcome. Whether it delivers 3.8 million visitors by 2030 will depend on the rapid execution of the aviation policy intervention that will be able to stop and then reverse the negative trend witnessed in H1 2026; on the visa facilitation process that will touch upon Western European markets, where the per visitor revenue is the highest; and on the regional tourism development that will create products for tourists to visit destinations other than Baku. These are all realistic prerequisites. But they are far from being certain ones. The programme has identified the right challenges. It’s all about execution next. And, lastly, with all that has been said, hopefully the possible reopening of the borders would also lead to better numbers for the programme.

With the support of the Azerbaijan Culture Ministry, an official meeting has been held under the MyStart special scholarship programme. The meeting brought together students currently studying audiovisual arts at universities abroad, as well as those planning to begin their studies in the field this year.

During the meeting, director of the Azerbaijan Republic Cinema Agency (ARKA) Rashad Azizov addressed the participants and provided detailed information about the

“Azerbaijani Culture – 2040” Culture Concept, highlighting the importance of developing the audiovisual industry and shaping state cultural policy within the framework of the strategy.

Rashad Jafarov, director of the Center for the Development of Cultural and Creative Industries (Yaradici Center), also spoke at the event.

He outlined the significance of launching the MyStart programme, its key objectives, and the opportunities it offers young people to pursue education abroad. According to him, the programme has so far supported 60 talented young people admitted to universities abroad, covering the cost of their education.

Film scholar Aydin Kazimzade then spoke about the history of Azerbaijani cinema, examining its distinctive features at different stages of development and emphasizing the importance of the connection between cinema and the traditions of national art.

The meeting concluded with wishes for success in the new academic year, further achievements, and successful professional careers for the participants.

Azerbaijani football club Sabah have scored a sensational 5-2 victory over Hapoel Be’er Sheva in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League play-off tie.

Sabah, who lost the first leg 2-1, turned the tie around with a dominant attacking display in Baku.

The Azerbaijani side extended their advantage to 5-2 late in the match, sending the home crowd at the Tofig Bahramov Republican Stadium into celebration.

The result represents a remarkable turnaround for Sabah, who had faced the difficult task of overturning a one-goal deficit from the first leg.

Sabah’s Champions League campaign has already included victories over KuPS and AGF, with the team reaching the play-off round after eliminating Danish side AGF 5-2 on aggregate.

The second-leg victory puts Sabah in a commanding position in their bid to advance to the next stage of UEFA’s premier club competition.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Uzbekistan marks another stage in the rapid rapprochement between Baku and Tashkent. Relations between the two countries have expanded beyond the traditional political and humanitarian agenda, with economic cooperation, investment, industrial partnerships and transport connectivity gaining increasing importance.

The growing focus is no longer limited to expanding bilateral trade. Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan are increasingly exploring opportunities to establish production chains that could connect Central Asia with the Caspian Sea, Trkiye and European markets. This development gives the bilateral partnership a broader strategic dimension. Uzbekistan, with its large domestic market and industrial potential, can strengthen its access to western markets, while Azerbaijan can further consolidate its role as a key transit and logistics hub between Central Asia and Europe.

Analyst Emre Diner, in a commentary for AzerNEWS, said that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to Uzbekistan should be interpreted as an indication that the Turkic world is moving beyond the rhetoric of cultural unity and beginning to emerge as an economic and geopolitical centre of power.

“Azerbaijan is not merely a brotherly country in this equation. Baku is also a strategic bridge connecting Central Asia with Trkiye and Europe,” Diner noted.

He emphasized that Uzbekistan strengthens the eastern flank of the Turkic world through its population, production capacity and political influence in Central Asia.

According to the expert, the two countries’ focus on trade, investment, logistics and Trans-Caspian transportation aims to contribute to the institutionalisation of the Organization of Turkic States through concrete projects.

Diner noted that the development of the Middle Corridor, the expansion of bilateral trade and the implementation of joint economic projects were among the principal topics discussed during the meetings.

He stressed the broader strategic significance of President Aliyev’s visit to Tashkent, saying that the rapprochement between Baku and Tashkent is transforming the Caspian Sea from a geographical divide into a shared connectivity route for the Turkic world.

“The transition from strategic partnership to alliance, reinforced by the concept of “eternal friendship,” represents a qualitative transformation in Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan relations. It demonstrates that cooperation between the two countries is no longer limited to changing economic interests or short-term political priorities. Their relations are being institutionalised as a long-term strategic commitment,” Diner said.

He added that this development has three important dimensions: political trust between the two leaders, stronger coordination between state institutions, and the expansion of cooperation into defence, energy, transportation, investment, education, and culture.

Diner emphasized that the concept of “eternal friendship” also provides continuity beyond the terms of the current presidents.

“The objective is to transform the close relationship between President Ilham Aliyev and President Shavkat Mirziyoyev into an enduring partnership between the two states and their peoples,” he noted.

The foreign policy expert stressed that the true significance of the new alliance will depend on whether it can create permanent institutions, joint investments and measurable economic results.

“It should also be underlined that the latest summit placed particular emphasis on translating every dimension of the alliance into concrete outcomes,” Diner added.

According to the analyst, President Aliyev’s visit should not be viewed merely as a symbolic meeting between two brotherly countries, but as an important step in the Turkic world’s search for economic sovereignty and strategic connectivity.

“If this emerging axis succeeds in achieving its principal objectives, the Turkic world will no longer be an actor seeking a place within an order established by others. Instead, it could begin shaping the emerging order in Eurasia. President Aliyev’s visit should therefore be interpreted as a powerful step toward that transformation,” he said.

He also emphasized that coordination between Baku and Tashkent can significantly enhance the diplomatic influence of both countries.

“Within the Organization of Turkic States, Azerbaijan provides the strategic connection extending toward Trkiye and Europe, while Uzbekistan represents one of Central Asia’s principal demographic, economic, and political centres,” the analyst pointed out.

Diner said that joint action by Baku and Tashkent could help the Organization of Turkic States move beyond its identity as a predominantly cultural organisation and evolve into an effective platform for cooperation in transportation, energy, trade, security and foreign policy.

“Closer coordination at the United Nations could also enable the two countries to develop common positions on sovereignty, territorial integrity, sustainable development, climate diplomacy, regional connectivity, and the reform of international institutions. This cooperation would allow the Turkic states to speak with a stronger and more unified voice on international platforms instead of acting as separate players. Such coordination should not be interpreted as an attempt to establish a new bloc against other powers. It would be more accurate to view this process as an effort to strengthen the strategic autonomy and negotiating capacity of the Turkic world within an increasingly multipolar international system,” he highlighted.

Diner further remarked that the growing partnership between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan could create one of the principal bridges connecting Central Asia with the South Caucasus.

“Uzbekistan can reach the South Caucasus, Trkiye, and Europe through the Trans-Caspian Middle Corridor, while Azerbaijan can expand its economic and political presence deeper into Central Asia,” Diner underlined.

He emphasized that cooperation in ports, railways, customs procedures, digital documentation systems, logistics centres, energy transmission networks and joint industrial projects could transform this geographical connection into genuine economic integration.

Diner added that Azerbaijan’s participation in the consultative mechanisms of the Central Asian states further strengthens its role as a link between the two regions.

He noted that, in the longer term, this transportation and trade network could extend toward Pakistan through north-south routes and potentially complement the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC.

However, he stressed that such an expansion would depend on infrastructure development, the harmonisation of customs systems, access to financing and, most importantly, security and stability along the relevant routes.

“The Azerbaijan-Uzbekistan partnership should therefore not be viewed solely within the framework of bilateral relations. It could become the central axis of a broader connectivity architecture linking Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, the South Caucasus, Trkiye, and Europe – and potentially Pakistan in the future,” Emre Diner added.

Ultimately, Baku and Tashkent are not simply strengthening their bilateral relations – they are constructing the political and economic backbone of a more connected and influential Turkic world.

The visit to Tashkent signals that the Turkic states are beginning to create an independent sphere of action by strengthening connectivity among themselves, rather than being forced to choose between major powers.

Armenia’s third president, Serzh Sargsyan, has appeared before the country’s Anti-Corruption Committee.

Armenian media outlets reported that Sargsyan arrived at the committee’s building on Monday.

Speaking to journalists as he entered the building, Sargsyan said he did not know why he had been summoned.

Earlier, Armenia’s Prosecutor General’s Office announced that criminal proceedings had been initiated against the country’s second president, Robert Kocharyan.

Kocharyan has been charged with abuse of official powers in three episodes, receiving bribes on an especially large scale in two episodes, and money laundering involving particularly large sums in four episodes.

Criminal proceedings have also been launched against nine other individuals as part of the same case, including Sargsyan, who served as Armenia’s defense minister and prime minister at different times.

The Prosecutor General’s Office also named Kocharyan’s son, Sedrak Kocharyan; former Yerevan Mayor Gagik Beglaryan; businessman Samvel Mayrapetyan; former Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan; and several other individuals among those involved in the case.