Month: September 2020

Artsakh reports 2 new cases of COVID-19

Boris Nahapetian

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 12:09, 5 September, 2020

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. Artsakh health authorities say that two new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the country in the last 24 hours.

The total cumulative number of confirmed cases in Artsakh is 304 with 270 recoveries so far.

As of 11:00 September 5 the number of active cases stood at 32.

Two people infected with COVID-19 had died earlier in Artsakh, but authorities say the deaths were caused by other pre-existing health conditions.

Reporting by Anna Grigoryan; Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Death toll in methanol poisoning incidents climbs to 17, several victims suffer vision loss

Yeghisabet Vorskanian

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 12:40, 5 September, 2020

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. The number of fatalities in the shocking alcohol poisoning incident climbed to 17 on Saturday, the health ministry said.

A total of 46 cases of methanol poisoning were registered from August 31 to September 5.

16 people received treatment and were discharged from hospitals.

29 of the cases took place in Armavir with 9 fatalities, 15 in Yerevan with 7 fatalities, and 2 in Kotayk province with 1 fatality.

13 people are still hospitalized. The patients are displaying various symptoms such as vertigo, blackouts, nausea, comatose state, and three patients have vision loss. Most of them are in serious or critical condition.

The deadly alcohol poisoning incident was caused by bootleg vodka sold on the black market.

Earlier investigators had said that a man from the town of Armavir is under arrest in suspicion of running the bootleg business. Two other suspects are also under arrest for their involvement. 

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Armenia, Russia launch tactical military drills involving heavy artillery and air force

Emil Lazarian

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 12:25, 5 September, 2020

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. Armenian troops and Russian servicemen from the 102nd Military Base in Gyumri have launched joint bilateral battalion tactical military exercises.

The Russian military said in a news release that tank, engineering and reconnaissance units have developed defensive, offensive and reconnaissance operations with artillery, air defense and air support during the drills.

The troops conducted daytime and nighttime armored vehicle driving training, as well as live fire exercises using firearms, mortars, tanks, personnel carrier armaments, artillery and anti-aircraft cannons.

Around 1000 troops from the Russian Southern Military District and 300 units of military equipment, including fighter jets, other military aircraft and UAVs are participating in the exercises.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan




Sarkissian and Pashinyan offer felicitations on Gyumri Day

David Nargizian

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 12:46, 5 September, 2020

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. President Armen Sarkissian and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan congratulated Armenians on Saturday on the occasion of Gyumri Day.

The President said in his address that Gyumri is a unique city with a beautiful history and open-hearted people. “The city has lots to offer, love, warm atmosphere, culture and tasty food…Everything,” Sarkissian said. “Let’s visit Gyumri more often and enjoy its unique human and cultural [flavor].”

In turn, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan shared a video online from his earlier speech in Gyumri’s central plaza, congratulating the residents of the second largest city of Armenia. “Congratulations dear Gyumri,” he wrote.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan




“Where’s our common sense?” President reminds GMIS2020 Summit about Azerbaijani attack amid pandemic

Emil Lazarian

“Where's our common sense?” President reminds GMIS2020 Summit about Azerbaijani attack amid pandemic

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 14:28, 5 September, 2020
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS. Speaking at the 2020 Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS), Armenian President Armen Sarkissian reminded the participants about the Azerbaijani military attack on Armenia at times when both countries – and the entire world – were struggling to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sarkissian delivered the remarks during the Restoring Prosperity in a Post-Pandemic World online discussion on September 5.

The Armenian President spoke about the COVID-19 pandemic and his concerns at this phase when the world is undergoing changes. He noted that the concentration of people in big cities creates conditions for the rapid spread of the virus. He emphasized that the coronavirus is a consequence and not the reason of the changes happening around the world.

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“At times of uncertainties, if you lose your common sense for your human dignity or your humanity its very easy for you to become xenophobic, it’s very easy to blame others for your failures and I see now in this world problems that are occurring because we are in transition,” he said.

“Just recently while Armenia was fighting coronavirus and our neighbor Azerbaijan was fighting coronavirus, Azerbaijan started on the border with Armenia a military activity, and where is our common sense?” Sarkissian also spoke about Turkey’s destructive rhetoric during those days.

“That concerns me as an Armenian, as a President because it takes me back 105 years ago when the Armenian Genocide happened in the Ottoman Empire. And it gives me more concern because some Azeri officials were speaking about bombing the Armenian nuclear power plant, which is unheard of, because at the end of the day when you bomb a nuclear power plant it will hurt not only Armenia but it will hurt everybody, every neighbor we have around,” he said.

“My hope is that during this transition, we don’t lose our common sense,” the Armenian President added, stressing that the world needs to value what it had created before, and focus on the future.

Editing by Stepan Kocharyan

ANN/Armenian News Conversations – Judicial reforms, data protection and privacy in Armenia – 09/05/2020

Shushan Frangulian

Armenian News Network / Armenian News

Conversations on Armenian News: Judicial reforms, data protection and privacy in Armenia

ANN/Armenian News

September 5, 2020

Table of Contents

Introduction

Subscribe and Listen to us on…

Guests This Week

Your Hosts

This Week’s Conversation on Armenian News: Judicial reforms, data protection and privacy in Armenia

Overview

Guest

Analysis and Discussion

Sources

Wrap-up

Hello and welcome to Armenian News Network, Armenian News. I’m Hovik Manucharyan.

A quick reminder to subscribe to our channel and like this podcast to help us reach a wider audience. It would also help us immensely if you could share this podcast on your social media to give us an extra boost. Thanks in advance!

In this Conversation on Armenian News episode, we’ll be talking with a legal expert specializing in telecommunications, information security, and privacy in Armenia. If you’re interested in judicial reform, privacy, and data protection in Armenia, this will be an episode you won’t want to miss.

So clear your schedule for 40 minutes, sit back and enjoy the discussion.

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  • David Sandukhchyan

  • Hovik Manucharyan

  • Asbed Bedrossian

Armenia has European grade laws in the areas of finance, business, data protection and privacy. What is preventing Armenia from achieving its full potential in foreign direct investment (FDI)?  Why do many Armenian startups incorporate in foreign countries, and use Armenia as their offshore labor resource?

Our guest today is David Sandukhchyan, who is an Armenian lawyer with 20 years of experience in telecommunications, cyber law, media and personal data protection. He started his legal career as an Internet freedom advocate and made substantial contributions to the development of media, telecommunication and technology legislation in Armenia. 

David was Chief Counsel for over 8 years at Beeline, one of the leading Armenian telecom operators. From 2005 to 2007 he was a member of the Council of Europe expert group on human rights in information society and committee of experts on electronic democracy.  

Today David lives in Toronto, Canada and as a private consultant he is involved in many Internet freedom, data protection and telecommunications development projects.  He holds a BA degree in law and a Master’s in physics. He is a certified ISO information security auditor with a Certificate in Advanced Cyber Security from York University in Toronto.

What were some of the major headaches of the chief counsel for one of the largest telecom operators in Armenia?

How did the government’s relationship with large companies evolve over your nearly a decade at Armentel?

Are there citizen initiatives like the EFF to champion privacy protections in Armenia?

Armenia prides itself as the “Silicon Valley of the former USSR” and we have seen some successes where a number of Armenian startups eventually got a significant amount of VC investment in Armenia. Some of the major success stories pride themselves in having a value that’s measured in the hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars. For instance, the best-known startup PicsArt has received $65 million VC investment so far according to Crunchbase. Another popular startup Krisp is in the Series A funding stage with $8.5 million so far, and there are more examples.

But there is a common pattern we’re seeing. In both cases, we’ve seen these startups re-incorporate in the US (specifically Silicon Valley) prior to getting investments. What this means in reality is that these companies become US companies and the value of the company largely transfers from Armenia to the US, leaving the Armenian branch as an outsourcing center for the US company. 

Armenia is compliant with EU regulations, so the laws are pretty good. But the way Armenina works is not great because it works on the basis that people should trust the government. But the basis for this trust is not in place. What are the causes for this? 

  • Lack of trust by foreign investors because their capital is not protected;

  • Judiciary: personalities & processes;

  • Kompromat as part of “the system”;

  • Armenian government's stance on the issue of privacy, media freedoms.

  • Armenian Parliament Passes Bill on Coronavirus Restrictions – Azatutyun.am

  • ՀԱՅԱՍՏԱՆԻ ՀԱՆՐԱՊԵՏՈՒԹՅԱՆ ՕՐԵՆՔԸ – ՏԵՍԱԼՍՈՂԱԿԱՆ ՄԵԴԻԱՅԻ ՄԱՍԻՆ

  • Media Advocate: Under new law TV and Radio Commission becomes a censor and a judge – Panorama.am

  • Armenia Adopts Law Limiting Broadcast of Foreign Media – SputnikNews.com

  • Lawyer: The search in the office of Judge David Grigoryan was carried out without his consent, and without the consent of the SJC, which is a gross violation of law – ArmInfo

  • Armenian President signs into law location data bill for contact tracing of coronavirus cases – Armenpress

  • Another package violating rights was silently rubber-stamped in the parliament… – Yerkir Media

That concludes this week’s Conversation on Armenian News. We hope you enjoyed it.

As always, we want your feedback, including your suggestions for Conversation topics in the future. Contact us on our website, at groong.org, or on our Facebook Page “ANN – Armenian News”, or in our Facebook Group “Armenian News – Armenian News Network”. As a reminder, we are available on most major media platforms, including Youtube, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and more.

Special thanks to Laura Osborn for providing the music for our podcast. I’m Hovik Manucharyan, and on behalf of everyone in this episode, I wish you a good week. Thank you for listening.

Turkish Press: Turkey: 1,100-year-old Armenian church holds holy mass

Yeghisabet Vorskanian
Turkish Press
Sept 6 2020
September 6, 2020

VAN, Turkey

A millennium-old Armenian church this Sunday celebrated a special mass in eastern Turkey.

The Armenian Akdamar Church of the Holy Cross – an invaluable piece of Turkish cultural heritage located in the Van province – hosted the mass amid precautionary measures due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 1,100-year-old church is opened for worship once a year with special permission of the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry.

The mass, which normally draws thousands of local and international tourists, this year gathered a limited number of visitors due to virus safety measures.

The roughly two-hour mass ceremony aired live. A team of 25 people came from Istanbul to perform the ritual.

Speaking to the press afterwards, Van Governor Mehmet Emin Bilmez said that due to virus measures: “Today, a small group of the Armenian community performed a symbolic ritual here.”

Sahak Mashalian, head of the Armenian Patriarchate in Istanbul, thanked officials who made it possible to hold the mass.

Akdamar Church, a medieval Armenian place of worship in Turkey’s eastern Van province, was built around 915-921 A.D. by architect Bishop Manuel under the direction of King Gagik I Artsruni.

The church, which has a special place in East-West Christian art, carries the most important adornments and the most comprehensive wall reliefs of its time and was added to UNESCO’s Tentative List of World Heritage in 2015.

Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Ministry has done extensive renovation and restoration work to bring the medieval church back to its former glory.

On Sept. 19, 2010, Akdamar Church hosted its first service after a 95-year break. The church opened for service every year for one day, with the last service in 2019 attracting thousands of local and international tourists to Van

*Writing by Handan Kazanci


Eurovision: Armenia will take part in Junior Eurovision 2020 and Eurovision 2021

Alex Jidarian
ESCXTRA, EU
Sept 6 2020
Armenia will take part in Junior Eurovision 2020 and Eurovision 2021

Armenian broadcaster ARMTV has announced that it will take part in the two upcoming Eurovision events – the 2020 Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Warsaw and the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam.

They are the 14th country to confirm their participation at Junior Eurovision, while they join 29 other countries in announcing their intention to take part in Eurovision 2021. The news was announced as part of the broadcaster’s new season of programming.

With a full list of participating countries usually announced in July, Armenia’s confirmation comes late in the game with just over two months left until the contest. The contest will be held in Poland for the second time in a row. Last year in Gliwice, Karina Ignatyan represented Armenia at the contest with “Colours of Your Dream”. They finished in ninth place – their joint lowest ever result at the contest.

From a usually successful country, the past two results – both ninth-place finishes – have come as a surprise and Armenia will no doubt want to turn the tide on their results this year. In the past, they have finished in the top three seven times – including one win in 2010.

With confirmation of their participation from the Armenian Head of Delegation, David Tserunyan, the next question is: will Athena Manoukian return to Eurovision in 2021? After first expressing her interest to take part in the contest in July 2019, she went onto win Depi Evratesil 2020 with all but one set of full marks from the jury.

Following the contest’s cancellation in March, there has been no word on whether Athena will be given another chance to represent Armenia next year. It wouldn’t be the first time that the Armenian act was selected internally. In fact, their most recent internal selection was Srbuk in 2019.

Since joining the contest in 2006, Armenia have failed to impress the fans as much as in the junior contest, and have so far never made the top three. They earned their best result – 4th place – in 2008, and again in 2014. We will have to wait and see whether Athena will be invited back next year.


Chess: Serzh Sargsyan: Armenian team suffered from deplorable use of double standards

Emil Lazarian
News.am, Armenia
Sept 6 2020

YEREVAN. – President of the Armenian Chess Federation (ACF)—and Armenia’s third President—Serzh Sargsyan has addressed a letter to FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich regarding what had occurred with the Armenian national team at the recent Online Chess Olympiad, the ACF press service informed.

“On behalf of the Armenian Chess Federation, I express my gratitude to FIDE and to you personally for organizing the inaugural Online Chess Olympiad amid the ongoing pandemic situation.

Strong with 190 member nations and in its capacity of the most important chess authority in the world, the International Chess Federation is vested with great responsibility in terms of developing and disseminating chess across the globe. The Online Olympiad was an attempt to bolster international chess activities and offer another chess festival to chess fans and chess players around the world.

In an effort to turn the tournament into reality, FIDE and its partners exerted a lot of effort and dedication. The Armenian Chess Federation appreciates FIDE’s and your personal contribution to the tournament.

I should note with much regret that perhaps due to some rush and insufficient assessment of key organizational issues, a number of problems occurred during the tournament, mostly because of regulatory shortfalls, which obviously could have been foreseen despite the fact that the tournament was being held for the first time.

The situations that emerged in the quarterfinal Armenia – India match and in final Russia – India match, as well as several problems in the group stage were due to said regulatory shortfalls. The problems faced in the group stage were not deeply analyzed and taken into consideration.

In this regard, I express my deep concern and anxiety over FIDE’s latest decisions. Even a minor manifestation of injustice causes confrontation among chess community and chess players. This was the reason behind our team’s decision not to play a second match against India. The discontent of players escalated after FIDE made an opposing decision in the same situation.

The Armenian team suffered from a deplorable use of double standards. As a matter of fact, FIDE failed to abide by its own decision, which constituted a precedent. FIDE did not deeply evaluate the Armenian Chess Federation’s statement that the Internet had not been interrupted on the Armenian side and we obviously had faced a force majeure situation.

I regret some FIDE officials’ behavior in social media: they interpreted the situation in an incomplete and distorted way, which was immediately followed by our chess players’ response. I think that players should have expressed their opinion in an appropriate manner, without emotional formulations, but I also believe that FIDE should be twice as much refined and cautious in addressing chess players and refrain from humiliating their dignity.

“Desirous to preserve the positive atmosphere in the big chess family, I hope that in the future FIDE will act according to its ‘GENS UNA SUMUS’ motto, where one’s failures, defeats and troubles are the failures, defeats and troubles of everyone,” Sargsyan’s letter reads, in particular.


EU criticizes the sentencing of Azerbaijani opposition leader

Lara Chatinian

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 14:53, 5 September, 2020

The European Union Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Spokesperson Peter Stano has criticized the sentencing of Azerbaijani opposition leader Tofiq Yagublu. "Armenpress" introduces the text of the statement:

“On 3 September, Mr Tofiq Yagublu, Deputy Chairman of the Musavat political party was sentenced to four years and three months’ imprisonment. There are serious questions as to whether due process was observed throughout his detention and trial. While the European Union welcomes the recent registration of the Republican Alternative Party (ReAl) as a political party in Azerbaijan, the sentencing of Mr Yagublu raises questions about the authorities’ commitment to protecting and enhancing political freedoms for all.

The EU calls upon the authorities to re-examine the case of Mr Yagublu, in line with Azerbaijani’s international commitments.”