Wednesday, December 1, 2021
Russian, Armenian, Azeri Officials Hold More Talks On Transport Links
• Aza Babayan
Russia -- A Russian-Armenian-Azerbaijani working group on cross-border transport
issues meets in Moscow, January 30, 2021.
Senior Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani officials were meeting in Moscow on
Wednesday to try to hammer out final details of an anticipated agreement on
restoring transport links between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The meeting began less than a week after the leaders of the three states held
talks in another Russian city, Sochi. They reported further progress towards
opening the Armenian-Azerbaijani border to passenger and cargo traffic.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said a trilateral working group dealing with
the matter will meet in Moscow in the coming days to announce “decisions which
we agreed today.” He did not elaborate.
The session of the group co-headed by deputy prime ministers of Russia, Armenia
and Azerbaijan began in the afternoon and was still not over late in the evening.
“I cannot give at this point details of the agenda of the trilateral working
group,” a spokeswoman for Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian said earlier in
the day.
The Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped last year’s war in Nagorno-Karabakh
commits Armenia to opening rail and road links between Azerbaijan and its
Nakhichevan exclave. Armenia should be able, for its part, to use Azerbaijani
territory as a transit route for cargo shipments to Russia and Iran.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly claimed that the deal calls
for a special “corridor” that will connect Nakhichevan to the rest of Azerbaijan
via Armenia’s Syunik province. Commenting on the Sochi talks over the weekend,
he declared that the “Zangezur corridor is becoming reality.”
The Armenian Foreign Ministry effectively denied that on Tuesday. Grigorian
likewise insisted that the three leaders discussed conventional cross-border
transport links, rather than “exterritorial roads” implied by Aliyev.
Armenia Steps Up Mandatory Testing For Unvaccinated Workers
• Marine Khachatrian
Armenia - People line up outside a mobile vaccination center in Yerevan's
Liberty Square, September 24, 2021.
The government introduced on Wednesday mandatory weekly testing for all
unvaccinated workers as part of its efforts to boost Armenia’s low vaccination
rates facilitating the spread of the coronavirus.
Public and private sector employees refusing vaccination have been required to
take coronavirus tests twice a month at their own expense since October 1. They
will now have to pay for such tests every week in accordance a directive issued
by Health Minister Anahit Avanesian.
Hundreds of thousands of Armenians have gotten inoculated in the last two
months. The government hopes that the new testing requirement will encourage
many others to do the same.
Less than 20 percent of the country’s population has been vaccinated so far, a
figure reflecting widespread vaccine hesitancy.
Davit Melik-Nubarian, a public health expert, welcomed Avanesian’s directive.
But he said the authorities should find ways of motivating not only registered
workers but also many other citizens such as pensioners and self-employed
farmers.
“If we look at official statistics, [we will see that] employees, who can be
influenced by us, make up a disproportionate percentage of vaccinated people,”
Melik-Nubarian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Armenia - A man is vaccinated against coronavirus at a mobile vaccination center
in Yerevan, October 24, 2021.
The Armenian Ministry of Health is also looking forward to the introduction on
January 1 of a mandatory coronavirus health pass for entry to cultural and
leisure sites. Only those people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or
have had a recent negative test will be allowed to visit bars, restaurants,
theaters and other public venues.
The measure championed by Avanesian has been criticized by some restaurant
owners concerned about a loss of their revenue. They have also complained that
it is still not clear how the authorities plan to ensure compliance with the
health pass.
Melik-Nubarian questioned the authorities’ ability to enforce it. “There is
concern that it will prove impossible to verify compliance,” he said. “That
would mean that the decision remains on paper and people will hear one thing but
see another in real life.”
The daily number of officially confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths in Armenia
began falling two weeks ago after several months of steady increase that
overwhelmed the national healthcare system. The Ministry of Health recorded 502
new cases and 43 deaths on Wednesday morning.
Karabakh War Veteran Arrested On Coup Charges
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia -- The main entrance to National Security Service headquarters in
Yerevan.
A prominent war veteran highly critical of Armenia’s government was arrested on
Wednesday one year after being charged with plotting to assassinate Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian.
Ashot Minasian was the commander of a volunteer militia from the southeastern
town of Sisian that took part in the 1991-1994 and 2020 wars in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Minasian and three opposition figures were detained in November 2020 amid
anti-government protests in Yerevan sparked by Armenia’s defeat in the six-week
war with Azerbaijan stopped by a Russian-brokered ceasefire.
The National Security Service (NSS) charged them with plotting to kill Pashinian
and overthrow his government. The NSS claimed to have found large quantities of
weapons and ammunition in a property belonging to Minasian.
All four men rejected the charges as politically motivated before being freed by
courts a few days later. One of them, Artur Vanetsian, headed the NSS from
2018-2019. He is now a leader of one of the two opposition groups represented in
the Armenian parliament.
Acting on prosecutors’ appeal, Armenia’s Court of Cassation ordered lower courts
in October this year to hold fresh hearings on Minasian’s pretrial detention.
A Yerevan court of first instance afterwards refused to remand him in custody.
The higher Court of Appeals overturned that ruling on Wednesday.
Minasian’s ensuing arrest was strongly condemned by opposition politicians and
other critics of Pashinian’s government. Aram Vardevanian, a lawyer and lawmaker
representing the main opposition Hayastan bloc, called it a further blow to
judicial independence in Armenia.
Earlier this year, the Armenian Ministry of Justice asked the country’s judicial
watchdog to take disciplinary action against a judge who refused to issue an
arrest warrant for Minasian in November 2020. The judge, Arman Hovannisian,
described the move as government retribution for his decision.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2021 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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
Armenian Foreign Ministry, experts assess trilateral Sochi declaration
Dec 1 2021
- JAMnews Yerevan
PRESS RELEASE: Sam & Sylva Simonian: Tech Pioneers Advancing Armenia & AUA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sam & Sylva Simonian: Tech Pioneers Advancing Armenia & AUA
Sam and Sylva Simonian are two of the most notable names trailblazing their distinctive path for advanced innovation in Armenia. In addition to their triumphant conception and creation of the TUMO Foundation’s Centers for Creative Technologies in Armenia, Artsakh, and several countries abroad, they have been very instrumental in establishing the Computer Science (CS) program at the American University of Armenia (AUA), generously funding its launch in 2002.
As an AUA Emeritus Trustee, Sam Simonian recalls, “In my student days, CS was not offered as a degree. I graduated in electrical engineering and had to learn programming on my own. It was clear then when the AUA CS program was first established that technology would become the essential discipline to produce entrepreneurs who can invent, start companies, employ people, create prosperity, and trade electronically without being hampered by the country’s locked borders.”
Today, the AUA Akian College of Science and Engineering boasts of an impressive roster of degree programs and state-of-the-art curriculum for its students, offering undergraduate degrees in computer science; data science; and engineering sciences, as well as graduate degrees in computer and information science; and industrial engineering and systems management. Situated within a setting of rapid technological leaps taking place in Armenia, the Simonians find it not only encouraging to witness the number of successful tech companies emerging in Armenia, but they also underscore the high growth rate at which the new companies are accelerating, albeit the prevalent shortage of experts that often hinders exponential growth.
With the launch of the ‘Build a Better Future With AUA’ campaign, the University is spearheading transformation by dedicating efforts to advance experiential learning and intently remodeling the science and technology curriculum to directly impact the growth of Armenia. The Simonians recognize the strategic significance of this AUA undertaking and underscore the immensity of what needs to be done within the country to bridge the existing gaps and positioning Armenia as an equal player in the global field. “There has to be more exerted efforts to realize both expanded budgets and strategy to improve the entire educational system. At one time, there were many more students enrolled in liberal arts studies, but that model has to be flipped. We have to teach and encourage kids at an early age to engage in creativity and technology, and when they enter university, the institution should have the scale and the quality to refine and excel their knowledge instead of starting them with general “101” courses,” Mr. Simonian asserts.
As the sponsors of the annual AUA Faculty Teaching Excellence Award, the Simonians view education as a critical component of their mission to aid and expand access to knowledge and skills-development for youth in Armenia. With encouragement and compelling advice to students entering STEM fields, they instill hope for almost guaranteed success in life, but also note that the biggest risk-takers who take the bold step to launch their own companies come along every so often. Their words of wisdom to those entrepreneurs would be to, “find partners in their journey who will complement their deficiencies as it can get very tiring and lonely working 24/7,” while counseling that it is very important not to forget their roots when they strike success and to be benevolent toward those who are less fortunate.
Sam and Sylva Simonian have been a commanding source of power and inspiration for many. But what they signify the most is that everyone can be a part of promoting education and advancing Armenia in their own way. In their words, “Life is more beautiful and fulfilling if you can not only improve yourself and your family, but also help solve the challenges of a country in desperate need.”
As AUA looks back on 30 years of progress through education, we recognize that our institution would not have reached this level of accomplished prominence without the support of steadfast and resourceful benefactors like the Simonians who have been pioneers in results-driven philanthropy that continues to power progress in Armenia. The level of contribution AUA students and alumni will make to the country and the society they will build are sown through the seeds of education. Our challenge in that process is to direct our collective efforts onto shaping the next decade of dynamic technological progress and delivery of greater development impact.
“I would like to see a peaceful, happy, strong and technologically superior Armenia, and education is the only vehicle to take us there,” Mr. Simonian urges.
We are grateful for the tremendous support by Sam and Sylva Simonian and look forward to building upon their influence by engaging more collaborators, believers, and partners in realizing our forward-looking vision of Armenia.
To learn more, visit https://30th..
Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia, affiliated with the University of California, and accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission in the United States. AUA provides local and international students with Western-style education through top-quality undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs, promotes research and innovation, encourages civic engagement and community service, and fosters democratic values.
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German Court Finds ISIS Member Guilty of Genocide in Yezidi Killing
The defendant, Taha Al-J, covers his face at a court in Frankfurt, Germany
A man was sentenced to life in prison by a German court on Tuesday for crimes committed in Iraq which resulted in the death of an enslaved Yezidi girl, the German DPA news agency reported on Tuesday.
The Frankfurt Higher Regional Court found Taha Al-J, an Iraqi native whose full name was not released for legal reasons, guilty of genocide and a war crime resulting in death.
He must also pay damages of 50,000 euros ($56,391) to the girl’s mother. Presiding judge Christoph Koller said it was the world’s first verdict for crimes committed by the self-styled Islamic State terrorist militia against the Yezidi minority.
During the preliminary remarks on the reasons for the verdict, the defendant slumped in the courtroom and the session was interrupted.
Al-J was found guilty of having kept and abused a Yezidi woman and her daughter as slaves between July and September 2015. To punish the 5-year-old, he tied her to a window grate in the courtyard of the property in Fallujah in sweltering heat, where the child died, in agony, of thirst.
Islamic State systematically persecuted the Yezidi religious community during the conflict. Jennifer W, Al-J’s former wife, to whom he was married according to Islamic rites, was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Munich Higher Regional Court in October. As a witness in the trial against Al-J, she had described her former husband as violent. Al-J himself has not commented on the accusations against him.
Armenia reports 398 daily COVID-19 cases
11:09,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. 398 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Armenia in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 338,518, the ministry of healthcare reports.
6462 COVID-19 tests were conducted on November 29.
977 patients have recovered in one day. The total number of recoveries has reached 317,175.
The death toll has risen to 7567 (32 death cases have been registered in the past one day).
The number of active cases is 12,330.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
Greek, Cypriot and Armenian special forces complete joint exercises
19:27,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. The Special Forces of Greece, Cyprus and Armenia completed the joint Close Quarter Battle 2021 military exercises, ARMENPRESS reports, Greek City Times informed.
From November 22 to 26 2021, the “Close Quarter Battle 2021” took place under the Greece-Cyprus-Armenia Tripartite Cooperation Program.
The purpose of the joint exercise was to increase combat capability and interoperability of the combined special forces in combat conditions.
The training included rapid reaction battle shots, moving shots, night shots, urban warfare and handling of the dead and wounded inside a residential area.
The Cypriot Defence Ministry said “similar exercises, in combination with the Tripartite Cooperation Program between Greece, Cyprus and Armenia, reflect the excellent cooperation between the Armed Forces of the three countries.”
Europe and France must support the Armenian people in the face of Azerbaijani-Turkish aggression – French Senate
Panorama, Armenia
Nov 30 2021
“France must show itself worthy of the hope it lit in the Armenian hearts,” the official Twitter account of the French Senate wrote on Tuesday. Reflecting on the event titled “Armenia, one year later” held under the high patronage of the Senate President last week and dedicated to the one-year anniversary of the Senate resolution on the recognition of the Artsakh Republic, the message read: “Europe and France must support the Armenian people in the face of Azerbaijani-Turkish aggression.”
Political scientist: Armenia PM will continue yielding to Azerbaijan
News.am, Armenia
Nov 30 2021
14:25, 30.11.2021
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will continue to yield to Azerbaijan. Anzhela Elibegova, a political scientist and Azerbaijani Studies specialist, told this to a press conference Tuesday.
She explained that there are no “red lines” after which Azerbaijan will be ready to stop if it is not hindered.
Elibegova noted that during his last press conference PM Pashinyan did not clearly answer the questions as to whether the Azerbaijanis will leave the territory of Armenia, and did not give a clear answer to the questions about the possible handing over of some territories in Tavush Province and of Tigranashen village in Ararat Province to Azerbaijan.
“We do not know what he [i.e., Pashinyan] is secretly negotiating and what else we can lose,” the analyst emphasized.
According to her, the task of the Armenian side is to prevent and not allow the Azerbaijanis to advance.
“However, the inaction of the current Armenian authorities is beneficial to the Azerbaijanis, who say that if the corridor [to Nakhichevan] is not provided, it will be taken by force; that is, they are confident that they will get [it]. In such conditions, the Armenian soldier does not know whether or not there is a state behind him,” Elibegova said.
She added that by showing that they are not going to hand over a single centimeter of Armenian land, the leaders of the communities of Syunik Province, who ensured the security of Syunik and the reliable rear of Karabakh during the 44-day war last fall, are now defendants.
“We see that as long as they are arrested, the Azerbaijanis are occupying the strategically important territories of Armenia. These people have proved that they can resist the Azerbaijanis. A question arises: Why were they arrested in that case? These guys hinder the implementation of broader agreements which were reached verbally—behind the scenes. We saw part of those agreements in the document adopted during the meeting of the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia in Sochi,” the political scientist concluded.
PACE Committee calls on Yerevan, Baku and Tbilisi ‘to guarantee the right to hold Gay Pride marches’
News.am, Armenia
Nov 30 2021
PACE Committee calls on Yerevan, Baku and Tbilisi ‘to guarantee the right to hold Gay Pride marches’
20:03, 30.11.2021
The Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is concerned about the situation of LGBTI people in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, noting that “many infringements of these people’s human rights have been alleged or confirmed”.
Those countries, the Committee said, should adopt effective legislation and “policies to strengthen action against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender _expression_, and sexual characteristics”.
While welcoming the progress made by Georgia in combating discrimination, as well as the opportunities that arise with the current democratic transition process in Armenia, the parliamentarians called on Yerevan, Baku and Tbilisi “to guarantee the right to hold public events to support the rights of LGBTI people” such as Gay Pride marches, ensure that they can take place safely and “protect the participants from any violence”.
The adopted draft resolution, based on the report prepared by Christophe Lacroix (Belgium, SOC), calls for the adoption of codes of conduct for the media and members of parliament “prohibiting stigmatising and discriminatory comments and hate speech targeting LGBTI people”.
The parliamentarians also called on the three Southern Caucasus states “to improve access to sexual and reproductive health care and information and awareness-raising about sexually transmitted diseases; introduce procedures which allow transgender persons to change their name and sex on birth on documents; and to strengthen co-operation with civil society organisations working to protect human rights including those of LGBTI people, while guaranteeing their independence and protecting their safety and that of people working with them”.
The draft resolution will be debated at the next PACE plenary session (24-28 January 2022).
COVID-19: Armenia announces 8-nation entry ban over Omicron variant
13:30,
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 29, ARMENPRESS. Armenia is prohibiting the entry of travelers from a number of countries because of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the Minister of Healthcare Anahit Avanesyan said at a news conference.
Following the WHO guidelines the Armenian authorities are imposing a ravel ban, she said.
“We plan to temporarily restrict the entry of citizens of South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Madagascar and Tanzania,” Avanesyan said.
However, she added that other additional restrictions will also be imposed.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan