Author: Antranik Varosian

Number and Armament of the Armed Forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan – Union of Informed Citizens

Antranik Varosian
  • 10:36 | August 29,2017 | Politics
  • Armenian:

As it is known, Armenian state authorities are reluctant to pulish figures related to the personnel and the technical resources of the RA Armed Forces. For that reason, “Union of Informed Citizens” NGO has decided to publish some not classified information related to the number of the armed forces of Armenia, Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and Azerbaijan, which the RA Ministry of Defense refuses to publish.

CFE

Armenia has been member of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe since 1990s. The treaty regulates issues related to arms control. Within the framework of the treaty, foreign military inspectorates have visited Armenia numerous times, and Armenian specialists have carried out inspections in a number of other countries (Turkey, Greece, Great Britain, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Moldova, and etc.).

Under the treaty, states are obliged to submit reports related to the number and distribution of conventional arms (both personnel and technical resources).

Based on the proposal by the Armenian Ministry of Defense, we have examined the 2017 report prepared based on the CFE member countries’ reports, which we have used to compile the information below (all data as of the beginning of 2017).

We will also try to highlight the data that have changed compared to 2016. The changed data are in italics.

Armenia and Artsakh

Number: According to the report, the overall number of Armenian servicemen is 44.800, 41.850 out of which are ground forces (the rest serve in the air force and air defense). The total number of recruits in the ground forces is 18.950.

In the report on Nagorno Karabakh Republic, the numbers are not completely unambiguous since NKR is not a member of CFE and, hence, is not accountable to it. Nevertheless, according to the report, the number of the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh is between 18 and 20 thousand.

However, the report assumes and we do not rule out that part of the armed forces personnel and equipment may be included in the numbers presented for the Armenian armed forces. This is also confirmed by the circumstance that during the 2017 parliamentary elections, there were only around 21.000 people in part of the lists of voters doing the compulsory military service and the contractual servicemen. Meanwhile, that list should have included around 19 thousand voters doing compulsory military service and about 5 thousand contractual servicemen.

Hence, we can conclude that part of the 42 thousand servicemen mentioned in the report were in Nagorno Karabakh or served there (Armed Forces of NKR).

Thus, the total number of Armenia’s and Nagorno Karabakh’s ground forces probably amounts to 50-55 thousand servicemen.

Another 4300 servicemen serve in the RA Police and in the border troops.

Structure: The Armed Forces of Armenia are composed of:

  • 5 army corps (one intelligence, tank, artillery battalions, 2-4 motorized infantry regiments in each of them, sometimes also signal, self-propelled artillery, logistics battalions, and other forces). Only the 5th Army Corps including Yerevan and Gyumri is different in that it has a more modest composition of troops.
  • 5 separate brigades (special, artillery, motorized infantry, and air defense).
  • 6 separate regiments (2 air defense and radio-tech each, 1 anti-tank and engineer each). Compared to last year, one radio-tech regiment has been added.
  • Air force.

Armaments: According to the report, the Armed Forces of Armenia have:

  • 101 T-72 tanks (additional 8 older tanks), and about 200-300 similar tanks are possessed by the Armed Forces of Nagorno Karabakh (verification of data on Artsakh is very difficult). Armenia also possesses 1 T-90.
  • 86 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), 12 reconnaissance combat vehicles, and 130 armored personnel carriers. 75 of IFVs are BMP-1. Majority of armored personnel carriers are BTR 60 and BTR 70. And there are about 250-350 IFVs and armored personnel carriers in the armaments of Nagorno Karabakh Republic.
  • 232 artillery units with a diameter of more than 120 mm, including 38 self-propelled, 131 towed units, 51 multiple launch rocket systems and 12 large-caliber mortars.

It is noteworthy that the report does not include the two “Smerch” multiple rocket launchers shown during the military parade in Yerevan in September 2016. 
There are additional 250-300 artillery systems in possessed by the Armed Forces of Nagorno Karabakh Republic. Among them, 40-50 are BM-21 “Grad” multiple rocket launchers.

  • The anti-tank units mainly possess “Fagot”, “Shturm”, and “Konkurs” systems. The anti-tank units also have Т-12 antitank guns.
  • Air defense armaments of Armenia’s and Artsakh’s Armed Forces include S-75, S-125, “Krug”, “Osa” and “Kub” There are also “Igla” and “Igla-1” portable air defense systems in the possession of Armenia and NKR. Armenia also has two divisions of S-300PS missile systems.
    It is worth noting that though not mentioned in the report, the 2016 military parade makes it clear that Armenia’s air defense also possesses “Buk” missile systems.
  • The military aviation is composed of 15 Su-25 “Frogfoot” jet aircrafts, 14 training airplanes, and 2 IL-76 During the recent year, the air force has obtained only one non-combat A-319 Airbus.
  • Armenia also possesses “Krunk” unmanned aerial vehicles of local production, which, however, were not included in this year’s report.
  • The Air Force also possesses 11 Mi-24 and Mi-8  helicopters, as well as 2 Mi-9 helicopters (mainly for commanders).
  • From tactical ballistic missiles, Armenia possesses 8 “Elbrus” and 4 “Tochka” missiles.

During the recent year, 4 “Iskander” type missile systems were added.

Azerbaijan

Number: According to the report, the total number of servicemen in the armed forces of Azerbaijan is 66.950, 56.850 out of which are ground forces, 7.900 are the air force and air defense forces and 2.200 serve in the navy.

There are 5.000 servicemen in the border troops (including coastal troops) of Azerbaijan. Furthermore, the police forces have about 10.000 personnel.

Structure: The Armed Forces of Azerbaijan (ground forces) are composed of 5 army corps commands, which include 23 motorized infantry brigades. Besides, there are 2 artillery, 1 rocket-artillery, 1 anti-tank, 1 engineer, 1 security, 1 signal and 1 logistics brigades.
The air force and the navy of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan are separated. The navy has one reconnaissance brigade of marine troops.

Armaments: According to the report, the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan have:

  • 439 tanks, 95 out of which are T-55, 244 are T-72 and 100 are T-90s. These tanks were designed in 50s to 90s respectively.
  • 191 infantry fighting vehicles (IFV), 15 reconnaissance combat vehicles, and 568 armored personnel carriers. The production of 88 of the IFVs dates back to the late 1980s, and these are BMP-3. 90 of the armored personnel carriers are of Azerbaijani production.
  • 554 artillery units with a diameter of more than 120 mm, including 123 self-propelled, 207 towed units, and 112 multiple launch rocket systems. At the beginning of last year, Azerbaijan had 6 “Solntsepyok” heavy flamethrower systems. This year their number has grown to 18.

In the artillery armament, there are also 148 mortars of 120 mm diameter, 36 out of which are self-propelled armored “Nona-C” and “Vena” systems.

  • The anti-tank units mainly possess “Fagot”, “Metis”, “Konkurs”, “Skif”, “Malyutka”, “Spike-LR” and self-propelled “Khrizantema” systems.
  • The Air Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan is composed of “Krug”, “S-125”, “Osa”, “Strela-10”, “S-200”, “Buk-1M”, and “Kub” systems, as well as 2 divisions of S-300PM2 “Favorit”
    The Armed Forces of Azerbaijan also possess “Igla-1” and “Igla-C” portable air defense systems.
  • The Azerbaijani air force possesses 21 attack aircrafts (most of them are SU-25 “Frogfoot”), 14 MIG-29 “Fulcrum” fighter jets, 12 training and 4 military transport planes.
  • The report contains contradictory information about Azerbaijan’s unmanned aerial vehicles. But according to other sources, their number fluctuates between 50 and 120, part of which is produced in Azerbaijan.
  • The air force is also equipped with 26 “Mi-24”, 13 “Mi-8”, 2 “Mi-2” and 20 Mi-17
  • From tactical missiles, Azerbaijan possesses 4 “Tochka” missiles from 1960s.
  • Azerbaijan’s naval forces are mainly equipped with 4 combat, 8 patrol, 6 amphibian and other (with smaller capacity and logistics-type) ships.

It is worth noting once again that all the data are as of beginning of 2017 and are considered open (not classified) information.

Union of Informed Citizens



Entertainment: French music icon Charles Aznavour gets star on Hollywood’s ‘Walk of Fame’

Antranik Varosian
France 24

Aug 24 2017

     

     

     

     

© Frederic J. Brown, AFP | Charles Aznavour (C) received the 2,618th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for live performance on August 24.

Latest update : 2017-08-24

With a career spanning eight decades, the crooner has recorded 1,400 songs — 1,300 of which he wrote — and has produced over 390 albums in multiple languages.

Born Shahnour Varinag Aznavourian in Paris to Armenian immigrants on May 22, 1924, he has sold more than 100 million records.

“Above all, I did it with love and dedication and for the pleasure for my audience,” he says on his website.

Aznavour’s parents fled the Turkish-ruled Ottoman empire to escape the massacres then being committed against their compatriots and landed in Paris, where they were waiting for a visa to head to the United States.

When the visa never materialized they ended up making their home in France, producing shows which Aznavour and his sister would take part in from a very young age.

He said he always saw himself “more as an actor who sings than a singer who acts” in an interview with BBC radio.

Aznavour left school early — and said he was always uncomfortable about his lack of higher education — but after World War II he teamed up with fellow French icon Edith Piaf, who took him to America and a solo career.

As her manager and songwriter, Aznavour lived with Piaf for eight years, once remarking he saw many of her lovers come and go but he was not one of them as “she was not my type.”

Either way, Piaf’s endless badgering for Aznavour to get a nose job eventually paid off.

“As for criticism, I have heard it all: They said I was ugly, short, that the ill should not be allowed to sing,” he once told AFP in an interview.

“I had an exemplary career I never could have dreamed of.”

(AFP)


Paylan Says, ‘Human Bones Were Found’ at Van Cemetery where Toilets were Built

Antranik Varosian
ASBAREZ

Aug 14 2017

Garo Paylan

ISTANBUL—Garo Paylan, an Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament representing the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) visited the Armenian cemetery in Van, where local government authorities have built a public bathroom facility.

According to the Istanbul-based Agos Armenian newspaper, Paylan spoke to local residents and inspected the site, saying that wherever he touched, “human bones were found.”

“Wherever I touched, human bones were found. There is no doubt anymore that this territory used to be an Armenian cemetery,” he said.

“A Muslim chapel, a toilet and a café are built on the cemetery. It is sad that we were not able to protect the remains of our ancestors,” added Paylan who explained to Agos that the site was an Armenian neighborhood dating back to the Urartu period, 850 century BC.

The area in question is in the Erdemit district of the Van province, where late last month a public beach was opened.

Edremit is situated on the coast of the Lake Van, approximately 11 miles from the city of Van. The current name of Edremit originates from Armenian name of Artamet, which literally means “Near the Fields” in Armenian, as it lies near grape fields and apple trees the line the coast of Lake Van.

Artamet was founded as a small town at the shores of Lake Van in Tosp district of Vaspurakan province, in the middle of Historical Armenia. Throughout history, the city has had several names: Artemida, Zard, Artashessyan, Avan, Artavanyan, and Edremit. In the 10th century, Artamet was known as a feudal city with a population of 12,000. It was renowned for the best apples in Armenia.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Artamet boasted approximately 500 households, 435 of which were Armenian. After the first Hamidian Massacres of 1894–1896, the Turkish population grew and Turks soon outnumbered the Armenians.

Prior of the Armenian Genocide, Artamet had 10 Armenian churches and a Greek church. Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, and other local Christians were almost entirely killed or driven out between 1915 and 1923. After the legal owners were massacred, thousands of their historical monuments were annihilated as well.

According to Agos, world-renowned Armenian artist, Arshile Gorky, was born in Erdemit. The newspaper added that a water fountain that was restored on Gorky’s property in 2015 by the Edremit municipality has been removed and water to the fountain was cut off.

Parseghian remembered as much for kindness as his coaching

Antranik Varosian
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

Aug 6 2017


SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Ara Parseghian was remembered as a championship football coach, mentor, tireless fund-raiser for medical research and gentleman of the first order during his funeral Mass and a memorial celebration that followed on Sunday.

Parseghian, who brought Notre Dame’s proud program out of the doldrums of the early 1960s to win two national titles, died Wednesday at 94 .

Former Notre Dame football Lou Holtz and former basketball coach Digger Phelps were among the speakers at the memorial. Country music artist Vince Gill, who with his wife Amy Grant are friends of the Parseghian family, performed two songs.

Holtz told attendees that the late school President Rev. Theodore Hesburgh once said hiring Parseghian was one of the smartest things he had ever done and that Parseghian once said his years in South Bend were the greatest of his and his family’s lives.

“Had Ara Parseghian not shown up, so many people would have missed him because of his insight, his love of his family and his caring for people,” Holtz said. “A lot of people can be successful. But Ara was significant. Significant is when you help other people be successful and, of course, that lasts many a lifetime.”

Parseghian, who coached at Miami University, his alma mater, and Northwestern prior to coming to South Bend, had 25 consensus All-Americans and a Heisman Trophy winner play for him at Notre Dame. He won national titles in 1966 and 1973 and posted an .836 winning percentage before he retired in 1974 at age 51.

It was noted at the memorial that Parseghian’s playbook always had the saying “We have no breaking point!” written on the last page. Parseghian lived that mantra outside football, as well.

Notre Dame President Rev. John Jenkins, who presided at the funeral, spoke of the grace with which the Parseghians faced devastating illnesses that touched the family. Parseghian and his wife of 68 years, Katie, lost three grandchildren between the ages of 9-16 to Niemann-Pick disease from 1997-2005. Parseghian helped create a foundation that has raised more than $45 million for research on the disease.

Parseghian also was a past national chairman for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. His daughter, Karan Burke, died in 2014 after battling MS for four decades.

“Such losses crush many people. They did not crush Ara” and his family,” Jenkins said.

Peter Schivarelli, manager of the band Chicago, remembered the opportunity Parseghian gave him to try out for the team as a walk-on in the 1960s. Though never more than a backup, Schivarelli said, Parseghian treated him as well as any All-American. Years later, Parseghian arranged for members of Chicago to stand on the Notre Dame sideline during a game against Southern California.

The band never forgot Parseghian’s kindness, Schivarelli said, and for the last 23 years has donated one dollar from every concert ticket sold to Parseghian’s foundation.

Phelps spoke of Parseghian’s sense of humor. In 1965, Phelps, then a high school coach in Pennsylvania, wrote a letter to Parseghian saying he wanted one day to be head basketball coach at Notre Dame and emulate the work Parseghian was doing with football. Phelps was hired in 1971 and came to find out that old note to Parseghian had been deposited in the coach’s “crazy letter file.”

When Phelps’ basketball team ascended to No. 1 in the national polls in January 1974, Parseghian acknowledged the achievement by inviting him to the stage at an event celebrating the ’73 football championship.

“He was a big brother and mentor,” Phelps said. “He was incredible being who he was, especially in letting me know how to coach here at Notre Dame. He told me every game you play is the other team’s Super Bowl. Your kids have to be ready, and above being ready, because the other team is coming after you.”

Nephew Tom Parseghian’s eulogy at the funeral described Ara as the son of Armenian immigrants in Akron, Ohio. Ara’s father saw no value in activities not academically centered. So Ara’s brother forged their father’s signature on a permission slip so Ara could play sports in school.

Ara grew into a fierce competitor as an athlete and coach, his nephew said, but it’s the gentleman the people who knew him will remember best.

“In 1964,” Tom Parseghian said, “before being offered the job, Father Hesburgh asked him a question: ‘Ara, will you adhere to the standards of integrity we expect here at Notre Dame?’ He verbally answered that question that day, and he continued to answer that question for the next 53 years.”

Minister: President was right in stressing security of transportations from Iran via Armenia

Antranik Varosian
News.am, Armenia

Aug 5 2017
Minister: President was right in stressing security of transportations from Iran via Armenia
16:30, 05.08.2017

YEREVAN. – Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan was right in stressing the security of transportations from Iran via Armenia.

Minister of Transport, Communication and Information Technologies of Armenia Vahan Martirosyan told the aforementioned to Armenian News – NEWS.am, referring to the question on Sargsyan’s upcoming visit to Iran.

Asked whether during the visit the Iran-Armenia railway project will be discussed, Martirosyan noted that this time the content of the visit will be slightly different. “Nevertheless, discussions [on this issue] are held regularly,” he added.

Earlier, in an interview with Iranian media outlets, the Armenian President pointed out to the route for multimode transportations (railway, air transport, ferry) from Iran to Europe via Armenia.

“This is the most secure route and the President pointed out to this,” Martirosyan said. 

BAKU: Fazil Mustafa: "This is a dangerous decision towards Azerbaijan"

Antranik Varosian 
Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijani Opposition
July 28, 2017 Friday
Fazil Mustafa: "This is a dangerous decision towards Azerbaijan"
Baku / 28.07.17 / Turan: "Ratification of the agreement on the
establishment of joint military forces of Russia and Armenia is a
decision directed against Azerbaijan," MP Fazil Mustafa said,
commenting on the ratification of the above-mentioned agreement by
Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Fazil Mustafa, this is
a dangerous decision regarding the interests of Azerbaijan; this
decision gives Russia the opportunity to speak on behalf of Armenia,
if some measures are taken against the occupation policy of this
country. "Ratification of this agreement means that Armenia lost its
independence," the MP said.
Faraj Guliyev says that the ratification of this document is not
surprising, since Russia has always been with Armenia. Russia arms
Armenia, provides it with its own living force. According to the
deputy, now the time has come when Azerbaijan should understand - who
is the enemy and who is the friend. Azerbaijan should know that in the
CSTO two states are enemies.
"In response, relations with Russia must be reviewed, relations with
NATO must be strengthened," the MP said. In his opinion, Karabakh was
occupied not by Armenia, but by Russia and handed over to Armenians.
Participating in the OSCE Minsk Group Russia with the hands of Armenia
violates the negotiation process.
"This is also a message that Russia in the event of war will be on the
side of Armenia," Mustafa said.

Georgia, Azerbaijan Sceptical about Yandex-Uber Rides

Antranik Varosian
EurasiaNet.org

– 6:05am, by Giorgi Lomsadze

Choosing a cab has become an increasingly geopolitically tricky decision in the ex-Soviet world after Uber and Yandex set up a joint ride-hailing service in Russia and its neighborhood.

About two weeks ago, US taxi-hailing pioneer Uber and its Russian rival, Yandex, had a marriage of convenience and produced a yet-to-be-named post-Soviet child. The new company is projected to help both companies – particularly, Uber – maximize their returns from Eurasia’s lucrative taxi-hailing markets  (in Russia alone, reportedly worth over $5 billion), currently dominated by Yandex.

But the arrangement, though not yet finalized, seems to have alienated some of the very customers that Uber was trying to reach.   
 
“I am officially deleting the Uber app,” wrote a Facebook user in Georgia when news of the merger hit. She went on to encourage others to follow suit.  

Many Georgians are boycotting Russian businesses in protest against Russia’s ever-expanding occupation of Georgia’s breakaway territories and the perimeter around them. Calls to boycott Yandex, which also runs a top Russian search engine, have been made since it expanded its taxi service to Georgia almost a year ago.

In keeping with the Kremlin’s take on the arrangement of borders to Russia’s south, Yandex shows separatist Abkhazia and South Ossetia on its maps as states independent from Georgia. One Georgian law firm, a prospective legal consultant for Yandex.Taxi in Georgia, walked out on the company last August after discovering how its maps reflected Moscow’s view on the lay of the land.

“Yandex maps disregard Georgia’s internationally recognized borders and we are, therefore, forced to refuse to provide our services to this company. We call upon all our Georgian colleagues to do the same,” the firm, Mgaloblishvili Kipiani Dzidziguri, said at the time.

Now, some Georgian users are reluctant to use Uber because of its association with the Russian company. Yandex will majority-own the merged firm. Beyond the new company, Uber and Yandex will have a joint “roaming” service that will allow its customers to use either group’s apps to call cars outside the “shared” countries.  

“I won’t use either [Yandex or Uber], unless there is literally no other choice,” said Maya Mateshvili, a media consultant based in Tbilisi.  

Others see a potential security risk.

“Take the example of LiveJournal, a blogging platform,” said Giga Paitchadze, a digital media expert in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. “It started out as an American company. They were successful; they expanded to Russia… and eventually were taken over by Russian oligarchs and that is when things started going south… they were squeezed by the Russian laws, the FSB [Federal Security Service] began asking for user information. Many users started switching to other platforms.”   

“Just imagine if the [Russian] Federal Security Service requests [Yandex-Uber] to provide details on all orders, rides, routes and rates; on who was given a ride, where and when,” Paitchadze went on saying. “That will keep many customers away.”

Further south, in Azerbaijan, the new Yandex-Uber company may be barred altogether, but for different reasons. Yandex.Taxi Chief Executive Officer Tigran Khudaverdian, who will head the merged company, hails from Armenia, Azerbaijan’s mortal enemy.

As a corporation, Yandex is not known to take sides in the fierce enmity between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh territory and adjacent lands. Both Moscow and Yandex maps recognize the separatist region, backed by Russian ally Armenia, as Azerbaijani territory.

But the Armenian-Azerbaijani feud stretches over decades and many dimensions. An Armenian name alone is enough for the Azerbaijani authorities to start talking boycott.         
 
Mais Agayev, the head of Azerbaijan’s State Transportation Agency, said that Yandex-Uber  is not likely to get a license to operate in Azerbaijan if an Armenian national or an ethnic Armenian is at its helm, Haqqin.az reported. He called on riders in Azerbaijan to put the country’s national interests first.

The Azerbaijani authorities, however, did not raise similar objections when Yandex.Taxi expanded its business to their country earlier this year. 

Azerbaijan, though, is not the only no-go zone for the new Yandex-Uber duo. They have not attempted to enter Ukraine, where Yandex is among the Russian companies banned by Kyiv in connection with Russia’s annexation of Crimea and support for rebels in Ukraine’s east.  The Ukrainian government argues that the ban is a matter of national security.

Azerbaijan and Georgia haven’t gone that far yet, and local customers’ objections to Yandex-Uber are unlikely to cripple this new taxi partnership. But the objections go to show that, in business in the Caucasus, as elsewhere, nothing can be assumed.

Opening Day at Camp Stepanakert and Gharabaghi Barbar

Antranik Varosian
Asbarez Armenian News



Armen Kazarians plays soccer with Artsakh campers

BY ARMEN KAZARIANS

During the first two weeks of AYF Youth Corps, we have had a great experience everywhere we have gone. We have also created lasting memories at Jambar in Stepanakert, Artsakh. Our official opening ceremony was on Thursday, July 13, even though the camp had started on Monday.

Artsakh TV filmed our opening ceremony, and the day passed very smoothly. The school we are currently hosting Jambar at is Stepanakert’s Ashot Doulian (Bekor) Number 2 School. The opening day was quite productive and fun. We started with our usual opening ceremony by having our red, blue and orange groups line up and sing “Mshak Banvor” and the Artsakh National Anthem. Then, the entire camp did morning exercises together. Our group leader was interviewed about our purpose for the Jambar, and various esteemed guests, including members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation in Arstakh, spoke to the participants and Artsakh TV to voice their support of AYF Youth Corps. After the ceremony, we returned to our regular schedule, which included song practice, arts and crafts, an educational lecture, lunch, and a fun game. We then had our closing ceremony, ending our day at Jambar.

A week into my stay in Stepankert, I have noticed that the Arstakh dialect, or “bar-bar,” is very unique. I am a native Eastern Armenian speaker, and am fortunate enough to understand most of what local Artsakh Armenians say. I’ve noticed it’s more difficult for native Western Armenian speakers to understand this dialect, but our entire group has been able to communicate and start to build relationships with our campers and local youth who volunteer and help the camp daily. Even though it takes some effort to understand the Arstakhstis, it is an interesting bar-bar to learn and understand, and this experience is the best way to learn. Within a week, I have managed to learn a few words that have helped me make memories with the Unkers helping us out and the Khokheq (kids) participating in the Jambar.

Armenia Places Third Out of 157 Teams at FIRST Global Youth Robotics Competition

Antranik Varosian
Armenian Weekly

By Harout Manougian on  

Special for the Armenian Weekly 

“We are few, but they call us Armenians.”  These words by Paruyr Sevak rang true at the FIRST Global youth robotics competition held at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., where Armenia’s TUMO Center for Creative Technologies team took home the bronze medal.

Armenia’s TUMO Center for Creative Technologies team took home the bronze medal (Photo: ANCA)

FIRST, an acronym meaning For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, was established in 1989 and has organized local robotics competitions for elementary and high school students for many years.  However, this year marked the first time they held a global competition, with teams representing 150 countries, six continents, and Team Hope, representing refugees.

“I am so proud of them!” exclaimed Hayk Voskanyan, the team’s mentor and TUMO Center robotics workshop leader, as he watched FIRST founder Dean Kamen bestow the medals on his protégés.  The TUMO Center in Yerevan was the home of Team Armenia where they designed, built, and tested their remote-controlled robot in preparation for the competition.

The initiative brought attention to the global challenge of providing clean drinking water.  Robots needed to collect plastic balls from the center of the field, sort the blue ones (representing clean water) from the orange ones (representing contaminants), and deposit them according to color.

Team Armenia poses with the tricolor and their medals (Photo: ANCA)

Although more students were involved during the preparation stage in Yerevan, seven 15-18-year-olds were selected to travel to Washington for the competition, including Levon Balagyozyan (Team Captain), Lilit Tarumyan (Spokesperson), Maria Ter Minasyan (Spokesperson), Ashot Tarumyan, Tigran Sahakyan, Davit Hovhanisyan, and Aram Madantsyan.  They shared the champions’ podium with Team Europe and Team Poland who won gold and silver respectively.

The event attracted national headlines when President Trump made an exception to the travel ban to ensure that Afghanistan’s all-female team would be admitted to the U.S. and able to participate.  It started with an Olympic-worthy opening ceremony on July 16, as teams entered with their national flags, cheered on by the many ambassadors and even one head of state, Canada’s Governor General-designate Julie Payette, who were in attendance.  The closing ceremony two days later was equally impressive and included a keynote speech delivered by World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.

Team Armenia with ANCA Interns, who cheered them on along the way (Photo: ANCA)

The TUMO students had a local fan club cheering them on, consisting of the staff and interns at the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) D.C. office.  Before the competition, they visited the ANCA headquarters to share their experience and career ambitions.

“It’s incredible what you guys are doing,” said Aram Hamparian, ANCA Executive Director. “When you’re done here, consider how your skills might contribute to the cause of Artsakh’s security by designing gunfire locator robots that can be deployed—as part of the Royce-Engel peace proposal along the border with Azerbaijan.”

The young robotics team took a brief respite from competition preparations for sightseeing, including a U.S. Capitol tour graciously hosted by Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.), who had visited the TUMO Center in Yerevan in 2016.  The group was welcomed their first evening in D.C. by families of the local Hamasdegh Armenian School.

The second FIRST Global challenge will be held in the summer of 2018 in Mexico City.

Iranian, Armenian Insurers to Cover Tourists

Antranik Varosian
Financial Tribune, Iran



Iran’s Parsian Insurance Company and Rosgosstrakh-Armenia Insurance on Thursday signed an agreement to provide insurance coverage to Iranian and Armenian tourists.

Travelers can purchase travel and auto insurance policies before leaving their own country and receive services at destination, Risknews reported.

The move is expected to help expand insurance and reinsurance ties between the two countries by opening representative offices and organizing mutual training programs.

The private-owned Parsian Insurance Company, affiliated with Parsian Bank, is one of the “Big Four” private insurance companies in Iran in terms of earned premiums. Industrial Management Institute ranked Parsian Insurance Company the third largest insurance firm in Iran with 16 trillion rials ($415.1 million) in revenues.

Rosgosstrakh-Armenia Insurance operates as a subsidiary of OAO Rosgosstrakh.

Back in February, the Central Insurance of Iran and Central Bank of Armenia signed an agreement to boost cooperation in insurance and reinsurance services during an Iranian delegation’s visit to the country. Officials from Iran Insurance Company, Parsian Insurance and Iranian Re also held meetings with Armenian insurers.

Iran is reportedly the second largest contributor to Armenia’s tourism industry. The number of Iranian tourists visiting Armenia has been growing steadily, such that in 2016 it registered the largest growth by any country with 30%.

According to ArmInfo, Armenian insurers’ premium income amounted to $66.6 million in 2016, marking a 6.8% growth compared with 2015. Iran insurance industry’s premium income stood at $6 billion in 2016.