At a press conference held today, Norayr Mouradkhanyan, who heads the Police Department's Division of Passports and Visas, stated that so far this year 1,309 individuals have been granted ROA citizenship. This compares with 1,735 individuals having been granted citizenship in the prvious eleven years combined. Mr. Mouradkhanyan claimed that the rise was based on the recent passage of the dual-citizenship law in Armenia. He stated that 1,249 individuals of the 1,309 cases received ROA dual-citizenship so far this year and that 312 individuals had renounced their Armenian citizenship.