By shooting down the Karabakh Armed Forces' helicopter, Azerbaijan has gained revenge, Stepan Safaryan, Head of the Armenian Institute for International and Security Affairs, said at today's press conference. 

The parliamentary opposition (Armenian National Congress, Prosperous Armenia and Heritage) has refused to negotiate with the Government on its 12 proposals to improve the social-economic situation in Armenia, the head of the parliamentary group of Armenian National Congress Levon Zurabyan told journalists on Wednesday.

 While speaking in the Armenian Parliament on Wednesday Speaker of the Cypriot Parliament Yiannakis Omirou criticized Turkey's neo-Ottoman policy. 

Remains of Sepuh (Arshak Nersisyan), the remarkable figure national-liberation struggle, the talented captain of the first Armenian Republic 1918-1920, will be committed to the ground at the Yerevan Pantheon "Yerablur" today on 20 November, Defense Minister of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan told the Government, Wednesday. A memorable evening will be held at the Armenian State Philharmonic  Concert Hall at 5pm on the same day.  Sepuh's remains were delivered to the Motherland overnight.

The much-anticipated unveiling of the Ghazi Rug, commonly referred to the Armenian Orphan rug took place Tuesday morning with the kick-off of week-long exhibit at the White House Visitor Center.

 Three parliamentary opposition parties, Armenian National Congress (ANC), Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) and Heritage Party, are set to rally on 10 December in the Liberty Square. The rally that will start at 1:00pm local time will grow into a march timed to the World Human Rights Day. 

 Stepanakert must take steps to ascertain fate of the crewmembers of Armenian Mi-24 helicopter that was downed by the Azerbaijani armed forces while making a training flight, Eduard Sharmazanov, Vice Speaker of Armenian Parliament, told reporters, Wednesday.

Parliament of Armenia amended the Law "on temporary incapacity allowances" in the first reading on 19 November along with the Law "on state pensions", Law "on profit tax," and the Labor Code. 

Parliament of Armenia passed amendments to the Law 'On national minimum wage' in first reading at the extraordinary meeting on 19 November. The amendments look to raise the minimum wage in Armenia by 5,000 drams starting 1 July 2015.

"Azerbaijan is a terrorist state," Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Shavarsh Kocharyan told reporters when commenting on latest downing of Armenian unarmed helicopter by Azerbaijani armed forces.  "Ramil Safarov who axed sleeping Armenian officer is what symbolizes Azerbaijan," Kocharyan said.

"We still cannot approach the crash site of downed Karabakh helicopter MI-24," Artsrun Hovannisyan, Armenia's Defense Ministry Spokesperson, told ArmInfo. 

He said the fate of the three pilots of the downed aircraft is still uncertain. The Azeri party keeps shelling at the crash site for already a week. 

To remind, the Azerbaijani armed forces downed an Armenian Mi-24 while it was conducting a training flight near the Line on Contact on 12 November. Three officers of the NKR Armed Forces, Sergey Sahakyan, Sargis Nazaryan and Azat Sahakyan, were on board. The NKR State Committee for POWs, Captives and the Missing has requested the ICRC assistance in returning the crewmembers of the downed helicopter. The Azeri officer that shot the helicopter down has been awarded a medal.

Armenian Parliament amended the scandalous Law on Turnover Tax in the second and final reading at an extraordinary meeting on 19 November,  
Vakhtang Mirumyan, Deputy Finance Minister, said no proposals were received by the second reading. He recalled that starting 1 October 2014, the turnover tax for economic entities engaged in the field of trade will be reduced from 3.5% to 1%. A status of the family business will be introduced. The Law sparked a wave of discontent of SME representatives who are not ready to hire accountants to submit the necessary documents to the tax agencies. In this light, the Government suggested postponing the deadline for submission of the documents till 1 Feb 2015.

Under the Law, the economic entities having up to 12 million drams annual turnover will be registered as family business and exempted from taxes. Starting 1 January 2015, the following types of responsibility will be applied to SME: a warning for violation of the law, a 20,000 AMD fine for repeated violation and a 5% turnover tax for a third case of violation. The economic entities violating the Law on Turnover Tax for the 4th time will occur in the field of VAT. Starting 1 Jan 2016, a SME having no document flow will have to pay the tax at a higher rate - 5%. VAT tax will be charged, if an economic entity fails to submit document flow for a second time.  Alongside with this, a system "law- abiding taxpayer" will be introduced. The system implies that SME will get out of the shadow and start submitting the necessary documents to the taxation bodies. The responsibility for violation of the given law and mechanisms of control over administrative violations will be toughened as well. 

On 6 October, Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan met with the SME representatives picketing the Government and then charged the finance minister to elaborate and submit an appropriate bill within 3 days.

"The Cold War" is still going on. The reason for the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the confrontation between West and Russia." The statement 
came from the head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry Mevlut Cavusoglu on 24 TV. The minister pointed at recent escalation of the confrontation between Russia and the West. 

"The Berlin wall is destroyed, but the walls in minds have not yet been destroyed. "The Cold War" is still going on in our minds. It has been felt even deeper in recent years. Russia can not provide a legitimate reason for the annexation of the Crimea," Cavusoglu said. He is sure that Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine are the most affected countries. Neither the West gains from the 'cold war,' he said.  Russia and the West should learn from the past, understand the consequences of the "cold war", Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

 "Baku is waging inhumane, immoral policy by shelling at the area where the downed Armenian helicopter crashed and not letting the Armenian side to 
approach the wreckage and remove the bodies of the crewmembers," David Babayan, Spokesperson of the NKR President, said when commenting on the latest statement by Firudin Sadigov, representative of Azerbaijan's State Commission on Prisoners of War Hostages and Missing persons suggesting that 'Azerbaijan will allow the bodies of the downed Armenian helicopter pilots to be taken, If it considers it necessary.'  

According to Babayan, it was not a statement by a normal human being; it was a statement by a maniac. "I think, now everyone will realize what neighbors Armenia and Nagorny Karabakh are dealing with. In this light, it is senseless speaking of any unilateral concessions," Babayan said. He recalled that the Armenian parties are working with international organizations on the issue. Babayan admits that Azerbaijan may go on new provocations to aggravate the situation and not let the Armenian party to the helicopter wreckage.

To remind, the Azerbaijani armed forces downed an Armenian Mi-24 while it was conducting a training flight near the Line on Contact on 12 November. Three officers of the NKR Armed Forces, Sergey Sahakyan, Sargis Nazaryan and Azat Sahakyan, were on board. The NKR State Committee for POWs, Captives and the Missing has requested the ICRC assistance in returning the crewmembers of the downed helicopter. The Azeri officer that shot the helicopter down has been awarded a medal.

OSCE CiO Personal Representative Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk told reporters following the Tuesday monitoring of the Line of Contact of the Karabakh and Azerbaijani Armed Forces near Aghdam he wished to visit the crash site of the downed Armenian helicopter, but his field assistant from the Azerbaijani party cautioned him not to do that for security reasons. Therefore, Kasprzyk abandoned the idea and the monitoring was conducted in the area of Askeran as planned. 

Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani party keeps shelling at the area where a Mi-24 helicopter fell down after it was shot by the Azerbaijani forces. The unarmed helicopter belonging to the NKR Armed Forces was making a training flight not far from the Line of Contact. The NKR has even applied to the ICRC for assistance in transferring the bodies of the three pilots. However, the ICRC representatives are not allowed to approach the wreckage for already five days.

Beeline is inviting all the interested persons to attend an interuniversity career fair. The press service of the company has told ArmInfo that the event will be held at the Yerevan State University on November 19.   

The crisis in Ukraine, Russia's relations with the EU and EuroAtlantic Alliance and the influence on the regional security in the South Caucasus are in the focus of attention of the 2nd South Caucasus Security Forum that kicked off in Tbilisi today, on 18 November.  

 Over 67,000 Armenian residents have taken advantage of free eye care services within "Sight to Armenian Eyes" program of "The Armenian EyeCare Project" (AECP) and Orange Foundation. 5200 out of these people underwent a surgery in the Mobile Eye Care Hospital (MEH). 

 The parliamentary opposition's proposal to carry out electoral reforms in Armenia may be implemented only after constitutional referendum, Vice Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Eduard Sharamzanov said on Tuesday.

Ameriabank was awarded Commerzbank STP Award 2013 for excellence in processing international transactions based on 2013 results.