Author: Edgar Tavakalian

Turning colorful bus into beehive: Resident of Armenia’s Goris town present his invention

 10:32,

YEREVAN, JUNE 15, ARMENPRESS. Karlen Chagharyan, 72, a resident of Armenia’s Goris town, is engaged in beekeeping for more than 30 years. He continues the work of his father who also has been engaged in beekeeping for many years. Recently the Goris town resident decided to bring something new in his work, making the process more effective. He colored his own bus and turned it into a beehive.

“In fact, this idea is for making my work easier and raising its effectiveness. After turning the first bus into a beehive I understood how much it was effective. Previously, when I was placing the beehives in fields, some times later I had to transport them to another place which required money, etc. Now these problems do not exist anymore. I take the beehives which are located in the bus to another place very easily. In order to have a good honey, transporting beehives from time to time is very important”, he told Armenpress, adding that he already has the second bus which again turned into a beehive.

Karlen Chagharyan is one of the beekeepers in Goris having the most beehives. Currently he has 120 beehives, some of which are placed in the buses. He decided to increase the number of bus-beehives as he has seen the effectiveness of this idea. He has already acquired the third bus which is at the stage of turning into a beehive.

“The advantage of having a bus-beehive is obvious. The temperature in the bus is stable, it is isolated, equipped and conditions have been created. The work with bees has become easier, neither wind, air temperature nor rain affect it. In the past I had to spend 200-300,000 AMD, engage 15-20 workers to transport the beehives, but now I take them wherever I want without making additional spending”, he said.

Chagharyan said such an idea has never been implemented in Goris. He was the first to make that invention. He says he has set a task to have a high-quality honey and is satisfied with the consumption as he has concrete clients.

“In any case, the market, the sale of honey are very important for beekeepers. Today the market is small and also has honey not in so much high-quality, and our citizens usually do not differentiate what is good honey and what not”, he said, urging to buy high-quality honey, especially when the price difference is little.

Reporting by Anna Gziryan; Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

EAFJD strictly condemns announcement of 3 MEPs over Armenia-Artsakh road construction

 21:18,

YEREVAN, JUNE 12, ARMENPRESS. On behalf of its chapters across Europe the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) deplores the recent joint statement of the Members of the European Parliament, Marina Kaljurand, Traian Basescu, and Željana Zovko concerning the construction of a new highway, between Armenia and Artsakh, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the EAFJD.

‘’Unfortunately, such a statement is not only counterproductive for the peace process but it also undermines fundamental human rights, such as the right of a people (in this case the people of Nagorno Karabakh/Artsakh) to development and freedom of movement. These rights are inalienable and by no means depend on the status of a country. Hence the content of this statement undermines the credibility of the European Parliament as a house of democracy.

The signatories of the statement express their “unwavering support to the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group” and therefore logically also Basic Principles. How coherent it is to state this and in the next sentence claim that the conflict must be resolved within the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan? For anyone who is even superficially familiar with the negotiation process, it is clear that the essence of this statement in fact undermines the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group and all that has been agreed until now.

Whether it was intended or not, this self-contradictory statement is unfortunately a word-for-word reflection of the official Azerbaijani policy of total isolation imposed on an indigenous population. Unfortunately, such a statement also encourages the war-rhetoric of a regime that is widely notorious for crackdowns on freedom of _expression_, for scandalous, elaborate corruption mechanisms (Azerbaijani Laundromat) and modern slavery, regularly exposed by renowned platforms of investigative journalism.

As European citizens we believe that the European Union is a union of values. We do believe the Members of the European Parliament, in this case from the major political groups such as the EPP and the S&D are accountable for and have a moral obligation of upholding these values.

Hence we call on the signatories of this statement to refrain from supporting rhetoric of oppression, the isolation of an indigenous population and raise their voice for the fact that the people of Nagorno Karabakh are currently left on their own in the face of the Covid-19 global pandemic’’, reads the statement.

ArmInfo.Artsakh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement regarding the ECHR verdict in the case of Makuchyan and Minasyan v. Azerbaijan and Hungary.

As the press service of NKR MFA reports, the statement, in  particular, states:

It is noteworthy that during the proceedings, the Court noted that  the actions of Azerbaijan – the pardon of Ramil Safarov immediately  after his arrival in Azerbaijan, the payment of salaries during his  stay in the Hungarian prison, the provision of an apartment and the  career advancement – indicate that Azerbaijan recognizes and accepts  the crimes by Ramil Safarov as its own. The court also stressed that  each of these measures individually and collectively had testified  that various state structures and top officials had approved and  encouraged Ramil Safarov’s actions and that the approval and  encouragement were strongly supported by the Azerbaijani society as a  whole.

As we have repeatedly stated, pardon, heroization and popular  glorification of a murderer as a role model to follow are an integral  part of the state policy of the Azerbaijani authorities conducted for  years on inciting Armenophobia in the country and encouraging hate  crimes against Armenians. We consider it necessary to recall once  again that the manifestations of racism and xenophobia against  Armenians in Azerbaijan have been repeatedly mentioned in the  documents of a number of international organizations, in particular,  the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the  European Commission against Racism, and Intolerance and the Council  of Europe Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the  Protection of National Minorities.

The fact that not only the Azerbaijani authorities, but also the  majority of the Azerbaijani society approve and encourage the heinous  crime committed by Ramil Safarov is an alarming signal of serious  transformation of the public consciousness in the country.

The ECHR ruling on the murder of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan by  Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov can and should become a basis for  taking practical steps, supported by the international community, to  eradicate the negative phenomena caused by the multi-year state  policy and practice of the Azerbaijani authorities on injecting the  “hatred virus” against Armenians and everything Armenian into the  public consciousness>.

It should be noted that on May 26 the ECHR issued a ruling on the  statement of the successors of the killed Armenian officer Gurgen  Margaryan in relation to Azerbaijan and Hungary on the extradition  and release of the murderer Ramil Safarov.  According to the decision  of the ECHR, published on the court’s website, Azerbaijan violated  the Convention by releasing officer Safarov. The report of the Court  also notes that the case concerns not only the release of the  extradited prisoner, but also his heroization. Meanwhile, in the  private actions of Safarov there were egregious manifestations of  violence that were not characteristic of a military officer.   According to the court, Azerbaijan violated its obligations to ensure  a proper decision of the Hungarian court. In conclusion, the ECHR  decided that Azerbaijan must pay to the applicants (Margaryan’s  successors) a compensation and legal costs amounting to 15,143.33  pounds. At the same time, the ECHR did not see any violations by  Hungary, which extradited Safarov to Azerbaijan. The decision noted  that in Budapest they could not know that Safarov would be released  immediately upon arrival at home.  To note, official Baku has already  responded to this verdict of the ECHR. The spokeswoman for the  Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry stated that the court did not actually  satisfy the main claim of Armenia.  “So, the court’s decision does  not require the annulment of the decree on pardon, which is the main  object of the proceedings, or the re-examination of the case against  the relevant person. On the other hand, the claim for material  violation of the right to reside was also rejected,” the  representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan   concluded.