Author: Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS

Vice Speaker of Parliament briefs several foreign ambassadors on developments in Armenia- Turkey normalization process

Emil Lazarian

Save

Share

 16:36, 8 July 2022

YEREVAN, JULY 8, ARMENPRESS. Vice Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Ruben Rubinyan received today  Ambassador of Sweden to Armenia Patrik Svensson, Ambassador of Finland Kirsti Narinen, Ambassador of Lithuania Inga Stanytė-Toločkienė and Ambassador of Estonia to Riina Kaljurand, the Parliament’s press service said.

At the ambassadors’ request, Ruben Rubinyan presented the developments in the normalization process of Armenia-Turkey relations and the concrete agreements reached as a result of the last, fourth meeting of the special representatives.

Issues aimed at strengthening of bilateral cooperation were also discussed.

AW: UCLA Promise Institute announces 2022-2023 grant and fellowship recipients

Emil Lazarian
July 8, 2022 Guest Contributor Announcements 0

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Promise Armenian Institute grants and fellowships are designed to support research across all academic fields, with an emphasis on or connection to Armenia or Armenians, and it is pleased to announce the 2022-2023 grant and fellowship recipients.

PAI POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS

Haley Tupper (M.D., Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 2020) “Post-Semashko Health Systems: The Comparative Successes and Failures of Universal Healthcare (UHC) in the Former Soviet Space”

Under the mentorship of Dr. Shant Shekherdimian of UCLA Division of General Surgery, Dr. Tupper will evaluate Armenia’s and other post-Soviet nations’ successes and failures in expanding access to healthcare according to the WHO framework of key health system building blocks, to help guide Armenia’s universal healthcare (UHC) development.

Helen Makhdoumian (Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2021) “A Map of This Place: Nested Memory and the Afterlives of Removal”

Under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Rothberg, chair of the UCLA Department of Comparative Literature, Dr. Makhdoumian’s research will involve a contrapuntal study of Armenian American, Palestinian American, and American Indian/First Nations novels and memoirs; specifically, using a rubric of “nested memory” to articulate the structure of the multigenerational transmission of memory in the face of the recursivity of collective trauma.

PAI ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESEARCH PROGRAM POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP

Anna Aleksanyan (Ph.D., Clark University, 2022) “Gendered Aspects of the Armenian Genocide in the Experiences of its Victimized Females”

Under the mentorship of Dr. Taner Akcam, director of the PAI Armenian Genocide Research Program, Dr. Aleksanyan will write a monograph based on her dissertation, examining the gendered aspects of the Armenian genocide, in particular, the ways the Ottoman Armenian females were targeted for physical destruction, sexual abuse, rape, sexual slavery, forced assimilation, forced marriages, and forced prostitution.

UCLA PAI DISSERTATION YEAR FELLOWSHIP

Jennifer Manoukian, (UCLA Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures) “Purism and the Creation of the Western Armenian Written Standard (c. 1780-c. 1900)”

Under the mentorship of Dr. Peter Cowe, the UCLA Nareketsi Professor in Armenian Studies, Jennifer Manoukian will complete here dissertation which explores the emergence of the written standard known today as Western Armenian and examines the intellectual labor that led to its acceptance as the dominant medium for writing and education among Ottoman Armenians by 1900.

UCLA PAI COURSE DEVELOPMENT GRANT

Anne Gilliland, Ph.D. (Professor of Information Studies; Director, Center for Information as Evidence) “Through an Archival Lens: Armenia, the Genocide and Diaspora UCLA Information Studies”

This interdisciplinary undergraduate course centers the nature and role of “the archive” in understanding past events and future trajectories affecting the Armenian people.  It will use case studies and community engagement activities to teach students how to identify, compile, and critically read and respond to the multilayered dispersal, fragmentation, deliberate erasure, distortion and withholding of the Armenian archival record. Course content will be drawn from the instructors’ research engagement with official, community and family archives and other forms of memory texts across the Diaspora, historical Western Armenia, the Republic of Armenia, and the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh.

US lawmakers call for report on Azerbaijan’s activities in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020

Emil Lazarian
Panorama
Armenia – July 8 2022

The Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) strongly supports several key amendments to H.R. 7900, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23), as well as a bipartisan letter spearheaded by Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) along with Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), the Assembly reported.

With the full House of Representatives expected to consider the FY23 NDAA as early as next week, several key amendments were submitted to the House Committee on Rules today by Rules Committee Chairman James McGovern (D-MA), along with Representatives Tony Cardenas (D-CA), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Jackie Speier (D-CA).

Chairman James McGovern’s amendment modifies reports to Congress under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act to include actions taken to (1) address underlying causes of the sanctioned conduct, and to (2) pursue judicial accountability in appropriate jurisdictions for sanctioned individuals or entities.

Rep. Tony Cardenas’ bipartisan amendment, supported by Reps. Brad Sherman (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), David Valadao (R-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Andy Levin (D-MI), and Judy Chu (D-CA), calls for the creation of a report on Azerbaijan’s activities in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020 to be submitted to Congress by the Secretary of Defense in consultation with the Secretary of State.

Rep. Debbie Dingell’s amendment requires a report within 90 days of enactment that contains an evaluation of the humanitarian situation in Lebanon, as well as the impact of the deficit of wheat imports to the country due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A bipartisan amendment by Rep. Pallone, cosponsored by Reps. David Valadao, Jackie Speier, Zoe Lofgren, Dina Titus (D-NV), David Cicilline (D-RI), Judy Chu, Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Adam Schiff, Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Grace Meng (D-NY), Jim Costa (D-CA), and Connie Conway (R-CA), prohibits U.S. Department of Defense funding to Azerbaijan under the Section 333 Building Partner Capacity program.

A bipartisan amendment offered by Rep. Adam Schiff demands that Azerbaijan release all Armenian prisoners of war and captured civilians still detained in the aftermath of the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. This amendment is cosponsored by Reps. Frank Pallone, Jackie Speier, Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Jim Costa, Tony Cardenas, Don Beyer (D-VA), Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), Raja Krishnamoorthi, Gus Bilirakis, and Katherine Clark (D-MA).

Rep. Jackie Speier offered two amendments to the NDAA. The first is an amendment prohibiting U.S. security assistance from being transferred to the defense or security forces of the government of Azerbaijan, while the second is an amendment that would require detailed reporting and accountability for any assistance provided to Azerbaijan under the waiver provisions of Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act, including an “assessment of Azerbaijan’s use of offensive force against Armenia or violations of Armenian sovereign territory from November 11, 2020.” Both amendments are supported by Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), and Judy Chu (D-CA).

In addition to the aforementioned amendments, the Armenian Assembly of America strongly supports a bipartisan letter addressed to President Biden opposing the potential sale of next generation F-16 fighter jets and F-16 upgrade kits to Turkey. The letter states, in part, that Erdogan’s “regime has repeatedly used its military power to destabilize the Eastern Mediterranean, Middle East, South Caucasus, and North Africa for years.” The letter further highlights that “Turkish and Turkish-backed forces have utilized American-made weaponry and components during these incursions to commit war crimes, including purposefully bombing civilian targets like hospitals and schools in Iraq, Syria, and Nagorno Karabakh. They have also been used repeatedly to violate the sovereign territory of NATO allies and partners like Greece and Cyprus.”

"The Armenian Assembly strongly supports these timely amendments as well as the bipartisan letter opposing the potential sale of F-16s to Turkey," stated Congressional Relations Director Mariam Khaloyan. "Also, given Aliyev's aggressive rhetoric constantly threatening Armenia, and Azeri forces deliberately disrupting the lives and livelihoods of the Armenian population in border areas and in Artsakh, it is critically important to hold Azerbaijan accountable for its laundry list of human rights violations," Khaloyan added.

Places with right to deferment from army will be provided in universities of Armenia

Emil Lazarian
ARMINFO
Armenia – July 7 2022
Naira Badalian

ArmInfo. On July 7, the Armenian Government approved amendments to the draft law "On making additions to the law on military service and the status of servicemen", which  imply the possibility of deferment from service for university  students in priority specialties.

The adoption of the bill is conditioned by the need to establish the possibility of granting  deferment from mandatory military conscription to citizens majoring  in priority or important specializations for the country. In  particular, the draft stipulates that the circumstance of studying in  relevant universities majoring in priority and important  specializations for the state will be considered target study from  the point of view of deferment, and the Government will define the  universities and the order and conditions of studying in relevant  majors.

As RA Minister of Education, Science, Cultures and Sports Vahram  Dumanyan explained, the list of universities and specialties will be  agreed with the Ministry of Defense and approved by the government.   For citizens who received a deferment, the maximum draft age will  increase from 27 to 28 years, so that students do not have to take  exams and defend diplomas in an accelerated mode, he explained.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in turn, added that the government  will be able to put forward certain conditions for applicants  applying for these places. This will solve the problem of shortage of  young teachers, teachers in rural schools. "But everyone who applies  for these places will have to understand that he has obligations to  the state for the next 7.8, 10 years, and we must have mechanisms to  monitor the fulfillment of these obligations," he said. 

Azerbaijan will exert pressure on Armenia from Nakhichevan to force Armenia`s authorities into further concessions – MP

Emil Lazarian
ARMINFO
Armenia – July 7 2022
Marianna Mkrtchyan

ArmInfo. Azerbaijan will exert pressure on Armenia from Nakhichevan to force Armenia's authorities into further concessions, Tigran Abrahamyan, a member of the  opposition parliamentary faction With Honor, said. 

Yesterday's ceasefire violation in the western section of the border  suggests that thee interregional highway is a target as well.

In this context, the opposition MP notes that the Azerbaijani troops  advanced in this direction in July 2010, three months after the  "well-known events" (velvet revolution). 

"That advance not posed a great threat not only to the neighboring  settlements but also to the Yerevan- Yeraskh-Goris highway," Mr  Abrahamyan said. 

"Azerbaijan is most likely to exert pressure on Armenia from  Nakhichevan at the current stage to ensure Azerbaijan's advantage in  unblocking the regional transport links and force Armenia's  authorities into further concessions," the MP said. 

Freedom House urges Armenia`s premier to take concerns of media serious

Emil Lazarian
ARMINFO
Armenia – July 8 2022
Marianna Mkrtchyan

ArmInfo.Freedom House also urges the Armenian Prime Minister to take the concerns of the media seriously and leverage direct communication channels including  through open and transparent press-conferences to ensure a healthy  functioning democracy, reads a Twitter message by Freedom House. 

The Armenian authorities should support the independent media and  civil society by maintaining an active dialogue with them and the  people to counteract disinformation that poses threat to Armenian  democracy around crucial topics for the country.

Freedom House welcomes the decriminalization of "grave insults" in  Armenia and the government's commitment to broad consultation on  media legislation reflected in a Memorandum of Cooperation signed  between the Armenian Government and CSOs.  https://moj.am/storage/uploads/11M.pdf

At a discussion chaired by Armenia's premier, representatives of  government agencies decided to abolish criminal responsibility for  great insult, with only administrative responsibility. 

"The Criminal Code that will be enforced on July 1, 2022, will not  impose punishment for great insult," he wrote. Minister of Justice  Karen Andreasyan added that the criminal responsibility was  prescribed by the law to "prevent outrageous and inadmissible  behavior of individuals and groups amid profound social  polarization." 

"The government considers inadvisable to include an article on great  insult in the new Criminal Code and prefers the civil liability norms  in effect," the minister added. 

However, it does not mean derogatory remarks about people will not be  punished. Those abusing the freedom of speech will be fined up to AMD  3mln.

Newspaper: Armenia’s Pashinyan reports to Russia’s Putin about possible meeting with Turkey’s Erdogan?

Emil Lazarian
NEWS.am
Armenia – July 8 2022
09:59, 08.07.2022

YEREVAN. – Hraparak daily of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: The [Armenian PM Nikol] Pashinyan-[Russian President Vladimir] Putin phone conversation took place yesterday. In the statement published on the Kremlin's official website about it, there was a rather noteworthy point which was missing from the statement published on the RA Prime Minister's website. According to the Kremlin, "Nikol Pashinyan informed [Putin] about the contacts that happened in recent times that are aimed at the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey."

This is, of course, an interesting nuance, especially when, according to the Russian side, Pashinyan himself called; and judging by the Kremlin's statement, he called to report to the Russian president about the course of the very steps taken towards the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, or the agreements and results achieved.

We would not have paid attention to this nuance if publications had not appeared in the Turkish and Russian expert-analytical community that a Pashinyan-[Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan meeting might take place in the near future.

And the Russian expert-analytic community believes that a possible meeting between Pashinyan and Erdogan was discussed during the last [Armenia’s special representative Ruben] Rubinyan-[Turkey’s special representative Serdar] Kilic meeting (…).

The Russians note that the matter of a Pashinyan-Erdogan meeting was a component of the process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations (…).

Taking into account that the process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations is underway "under the high patronage" of Russia, we can even assume that it is possible that [Pashinyan] asked Putin for permission to participate in a possible meeting at the level of Armenia-Turkey leaders, or received an instruction of participation in that meeting.

MS: Glorikian’s New Book Sheds Light on Artificial Intelligence Advances in the Healthcare Field

Emil Lazarian
June 28, 2022

by Aram Arkun
WATERTOWN — Like many of us, I usually tend to keep up with developments in technology as they reach us in dribs and drabs, without really paying attention to the overall picture. Yet according to some experts, we are in a period of transformation of all aspects of life and society as revolutionary as that of the original Industrial Revolution. Healthcare entrepreneur and global business expert Harry Glorikian, an Armenian-American based in the Boston area, focuses our attention on how artificial intelligence (AI) and big data during this transformation affect healthcare in his new book The Future You: How Artificial Intelligence Can Help You Get Healthier, Stress Less, and Live Longer (Dering Harbor, New York: Brick Tower Press, 2021).

The book several months ago was on the top ten list of Amazon.com best-sellers and comes highly recommended. For example, New York Times bestselling author of 14 books on nutrition and health, and a television medical correspondent, Bob Arnot, M.D., in his brief introduction in the book recommends it be turned into the centerpiece of your coffee table. He exhorts, “It can make all the difference in the quality of your life.”

It is 272 pages long, including 52 pages of references to articles, which are mostly accessible online, but in its core sections, it is a fast-moving and lively work intended for a broad audience. Artificial intelligence is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, or in other words the ability of a device to teach itself to learn and think. Glorikian examines its use along with “big data” and predictive analytics in healthcare and proclaims at the start of his book “There’s not a person among us who isn’t going to feel the effects of this AI revolution, and it’s going to utterly transform the healthcare system as we know it today.”

Glorikian’s Expertise

At the start of the book, Glorikian relates how he came into this field. His story began in 1984, when as a 19-year-old, he worked for a man in the computer education business who also invented a type of computer to help him predict winning bets on roulette and other games of chance. This was his first insight into the benefits of predictive analytics and throughout most of his career, he wrote, he would “peer down the pike and tell my employer, fellow executives, or investors which products or business model will be the next best thing in healthcare” (p. 13).

Harry Glorikian

Flashing forward to 1999, Glorikian ends up working for Applied Biosystems, where scientists worked on the mapping of the human genome, combining the use of biology and information technology. Meanwhile, when his sister-in-law and husband are visiting and he is touring them around the Boston area, he came up with the idea of using GPS data to provide information on touristic sites or restaurants in the vicinity of travelers but was not able to break into what then was the telecom industry.

Iran’s security chief in Armenia on Caucasian tour

Emil Lazarian
IRAN FRONT PAGE
July 7 2022
ByIFP Editorial Staff
July 7, 2022

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani arrived in Armenia on Thursday as part of his Caucasian tour.

Shamkhani is scheduled to hold talks with his Armenian counterpart as well as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Bolstering and expansion of bilateral relations in various fields and cooperation to boost regional stability and security are top on the agenda of Shamkhani’s trip.

Upon his arrival in the Armenian capital Yerevan, Shamkhani stressed that Iran is against any action that would lead to a geopolitical change in the region.

He stated that his trip is in line with the administration of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s main foreign policy goal to expand and deepen relations with neighboring countries.

Shamkhani emphasized that Iran supports intra-regional cooperation to establish peace and stability in the region and tackle regional issues.

He expressed hope that the dispute between Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan would be resolved and reconciliation efforts would lead to a lasting peace within the framework of preserving the territorial integrity of both countries.

The disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh has been a bone of contention between Yerevan and Baku.

They last fought a six-week war in 2020 that claimed more than 6,500 lives on both sides and ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire deal that left Azerbaijan largely in control of the territory.

FemInno: Celebrating Female Innovation in Armenia and in the Whole South Caucasus

Emil Lazarian
July 7 2022