Author: Hagop Kamalian

Azerbaijani press: Intellectuals appeal to UNESCO regarding Azerbaijani heritage in Armenia

Hagop Kamalian
POLITICS25 March 2021 17:14 (UTC+04:00)

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 25

Trend:

A group of the Azerbaijani intellectuals sent appeal to the Director General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, on Azerbaijani cultural heritage in Armenia, Trend reports on Mar.25.

The document expressed serious concern about the threat of complete disappearance of the centuries-old cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people on the territory of Armenia as a result of its policy.

“Due to Armenia’s ethnic cleansing policy since the early 20th century, Azerbaijanis, who were indigenous residents of those places, underwent massive deportation from their ancestral lands. The last deportation was carried out in 1988, which resulted in over 250,000 Azerbaijanis’ becoming refugees. Today there isn't a single Azerbaijani remaining in Armenia. The country purposefully removes the traces of Azerbaijani culture everywhere, plunders, destroys and appropriates the cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people,” said the appeal.

“The historical names of former Azerbaijani-populated villages in Armenia, have been changed, and the names of ancient Azerbaijani toponyms were replaced by Armenian ones. Over 300 mosques in the former Iravan Governorate (in Armenia) in the early 20th century were deliberately destroyed or used for other purposes,” the appeal noted. “More than 500 cemeteries belonging to Azerbaijanis have been destroyed in Armenia. Moreover, the monument on the famous Azerbaijani poet Ashig Alasgar’s grave in his native village, in the ancient Goycha Province (which was located around Goycha (present-day Sevan) Lake in Armenia), was also destroyed. All the facts show once again that Armenia doesn’t recognize universal human values. This is contrary to all religious and moral norms," said the appeal.

The appeal emphasized that impunity for acts of vandalism, which went on for decades, is yet another proof that this is part of the state policy of Armenia.

"Deliberate destruction, appropriation of the Azerbaijani people’s cultural heritage, its presentation as the heritage of other peoples shows that Armenia rejects the very fact that Azerbaijanis have lived on these lands for centuries, creating a rich cultural heritage. This is a vivid example of intolerance that exists in Armenia against the Azerbaijani people," the appeal further said.

The Azerbaijani intellectuals called for an official request to be sent to the Armenian government for a detailed report on the current situation in connection with the cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people on the territory of Armenia.

"We also ask to send an expert group to Armenia to assess the current state of the objects of the centuries-old cultural and historical heritage of the Azerbaijani people," they noted.

The appeal authors also asked to inform them about UNESCO’s official position regarding the implementation of this initiative.

Turkish press: Erdoğan appoints new A-team following convention – Turkey News

Hagop Kamalian
  • March 25 2021 12:19:00

 

President and Chairman of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has renewed his A-team in the party following the general convention, appointing his closest aides Binali Yıldırım and Numan Kurtulmuş as the deputy leaders and four new figures to his executive board.

Yıldırım, a former prime minister and parliament speaker, has returned to the party management after he lost his race against the opposition candidate, Ekrem İmamoğlu, for the Istanbul Municipality.

Erdoğan has increased the number of executive board members from 50 to 75 and decided to appoint 47 new figures to the board. Among them are former Parliament Speaker and Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ, Metin Külünk, former Antalya Mayor Menderes Türel and former deputy parliamentary group leader Özlem Zengin.

Abdurrahim Fırat, a leading Kurdish politician; Abdurrahman Kurt, a former lawmaker from Diyarbakır; Metin Tarhan, a prominent Alevi leader; Sevan Sıvacıoğlu, a prominent member of the Turkish Armenian community; and former journalist Şamil Tayyar are included in the 75-member board. 2006 Miss Turkey Seda Sarıbaş who was serving as the head of the AKP women branch in the province of Aydın is also going to serve at the board.

Erdoğan picked up his 16-member central executive board out of the executive board and appointed four new names as deputy leaders. Hamza Dağ will serve as the responsible for media, Jülide Sarıeroğlu for civil society, Mustafa Şen for research and development and Ömer İleri for information and technology. Hayati Yazıcı will continue his charge with political and legal affairs, Efkan Ala for external relations and Nurettin Canikli for the economy.

Erdoğan also renewed his team at the parliament. Mahir Ünal and Mustafa Elitaş are appointed as deputy parliamentary group leaders along with Bülent Turan, Emin Akbaşoğlu and Cahit Özkan who were already doing this job.

ArmLur.am: Andranik Simonyan to be appointed Armenia National Security Service chief

Hagop Kamalian
News.am, Armenia
13:59, 27.03.2021

By the decision of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Judge Andranik Simonyan of the Court of General Jurisdiction of Lori Province on Friday was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Armenia, ArmLur.am reports.

And this is in the case when in recent times this judge was practically absent from work and the court hearings on criminal cases under his jurisdiction were not being held. The judge's workload was noted as the reason, but the actual reason was his not showing up for work.

And according to the information ArmLur.am has received, Simonyan was not appointed Deputy Chairman of the Investigative Committee by chance. According to reliable information, he will be appointed Deputy Director of the National Security Service (NSS) in a few days, after which he will be appointed Director of the NSS.

It means that his appointment to the post of the Deputy Chairman of the Investigative Committee pursues other goals.

Is Armenia a Top Software Outsourcing Country? – EIN Presswire

Hagop Kamalian
EIN News – Presswire

<img height="1" src=”"https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=251889322717210&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1" style="display:none" width="1" />

<img height="1" src=”"https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=251889322717210&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1" style="display:none" width="1" />

An ideal software development firm should totally match your expectations. Learn the best tips on finding top custom software development companies.

We desire, together we achieve!”

— CodeRiders

YEREVAN, ARMENIA, /EINPresswire.com/ — Software development outsourcing has been stepping up into the game for years now as an effective substitute for an IT team.

Recent interesting facts were released why so many countries that have high developer salaries and talent shortage choose Armenia as their next software outsourcing destination. Before finding out the most beneficial reasons for choosing Armenia as your next software outsourcing destination, let's find out what's offshore software development and how companies benefit from hiring a custom software development firm?

Software development outsourcing is a business model where a company decides to hire a third-party dedicated developer or a software development house to cover its technical requirements.

Why Should I Outsource My Software Development Needs to Armenian Software Outsourcing Companies?

Armenia is a small, landlocked country in the Caucasus-Caspian region. The country falls under UTC+4 (AMT) time zone. The country’s history dates back to the 9th century BC. Yerevan is the capital and the largest city of Armenia. The population is about 3 million people. Armenia’s official language is Armenian. Other widely spread and popular languages include Russian and English. Ethnic Armenians form 98% of the overall population.

Throughout the past several years, the Armenian tech sector retains 27% + consistent annual growth. In 2017 the turnover of the country’s IT sector formed up to 7% of its GDP. Various international IT companies open their branches in Armenia for quality and cost-saving reasons.

Custom software development companies and startups easily position themselves in the international market and shortly become one of the most competitive ones. For example, we at CodeRiders, have been recently announced as the Best Regional Software Development Partner by EuroAsian Startup Awards and were a finalist at Global Startup Awards.
Reasons international companies choose Armenia as their next offshore software development destination
1. Quality custom software development services and affordable prices go hand-in-hand

According to a Silicon Valley pre-seed venture capital fund, SmartGate’s overview of the Armenian tech sector, “Today Armenia’s tech is a hyper-growing industry with a massive shift from outsourcing to product creation, a generation of mature engineers who have 5+ years of experience working on cutting edge projects in multinational tech corporations and Silicon Valley startups, and rapidly growing demand for senior talent in engineering and tech business development, which can’t be met in the short to mid-term internally or through local educational institutions.”

As Armenia’s tech sector is still undergoing constant changes and developments, the industry rates are still quite low compared to service quality. So, unlike other well-known countries that pay lucrative wages to their developers, in Armenia, the developer salaries are much lower.

Let’s take “the PHP salary” example and draw comparisons between the following countries and Armenia.

USA: According to Indeed reports, the average salary of a PHP developer in the United States is $88.431 per year as well as a yearly $3000 cash bonus. In the meantime, to stay competitive with the other firms in the field, the companies should at least include some of such popular benefits as:

● Free snacks, drinks, lunch

● Work from home hours

● Gym membership, Insurance

● Stock options, Flexible schedule, etc.

Canada: According to talent.com, the average salary of a PHP developer in Canada is $90.000 yearly again without additional privileges. Here you can also find the numbers per region, such as:

Ontario – $100.000/year

British Columbia – $83.750/year

Quebec – $80.000/year
Australia: In Australia, the yearly wages of PHP developers vary from approximately $91.000 to $110.000 forming an average result of $97.945 per year. The top highest paying cities in Australia include the capital, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, etc.

Germany: In Germany the PHP average yearly salary may vary from $59.000 to $76.000.

These numbers are mentioned for a medium-level developer without other work-related complimentary services, and privileges. As an alternative to such higher wages and demanding conditions, you can hire a dedicated software developer from top software development companies in Armenia, and you’ll most likely pay an annual wage of $38.000 to $59.000 without additional expenditure. For further information, I suggest getting in touch with team CodeRiders.

2. IT industry in Armenia is under special state sponsorship

● Tech startups receive such attractive tax incentives as 0% income tax and 10% flat payroll tax.

● 71.8% of Armenia’s population uses the internet. Mobile 3G covers almost 90% of the country following 4G and 4G+ services that are available in large cities.

● No stated minimum capital requirements

● The company’s paid capital can be as low as 1$

● Dormant companies automatically avoid tax fees or recurring fees of filling reports

● Compliance requirements are brought to a minimum

● Newly registered IT companies get tax holidays.

3. IT sector is under special attention and support in Armenia with millions of opportunities for students

Software developer quality in Armenia is at a high stake as various governmental and subvention programs are being implemented to make tech education highly available to everyone. Armenia is also among one of the fewest countries in the world that has a free IT-oriented public school that provides software development and hardware classes to mid-school and high school students. TUMO Center of Creative Technologies is a public tech and design school for all the teens that want to learn technology. It has branches around the country and in the world.

8. IP and data protection laws are supported and put into action

International IP enforcement guidelines are adopted by the Armenian government including those by WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization). International copyright, trade secrets, know-how, confidential information, trademarks, data protection laws on IP have already been adopted and enforced in the country.

To sum up, when selecting an appropriate software development house, we highly recommend considering Armenia as a possible software outsourcing destination. The country is becoming the world’s next tech hub and you’ll get many profits throughout this development cycle.

Srbuhi Avetisyan
CodeRiders Software Development Company
+37411201301 ext.

Parliament session – LIVE – 03/24/2021

Hagop Kamalian

Parliament session – LIVE

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 10:00,

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Parliament is holding a regular session.

The bills debated yesterday, including the opposition’s bill on lifting the martial law, will be put up to voting.

Thereafter, the lawmakers will debate the election of judge of the Court of Cassation.

The MPs will also debate a number of other bills during today’s session.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Possible recognition of Armenian Genocide will rattle US-Turkey relations, says strategist

Hagop Kamalian
eKathimerini, Greece

Newsroom

22.03.2021 • 21:02

If US President Joe Biden recognizes the Armenian Genocide he will anger Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and will make it more difficult to improve the already strained relations with Turkey, according to the president of the Eurasia Group.

“It’s another move in the broader pivot from the Middle East, making a lot of Biden’s regional decision making less constrained,” Ian Bremmer said in a tweet, adding that such a move would also increase Ankara’s diplomatic isolation. 

The political scientist also said that, when asked whether the genocide recognition would proceed, a White house advisor told him that this was Biden’s pledge as a presidential candidate and “that’s the policy going forward.”

Talk about a possible recognition of the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottomans from 1915 to 1923 by the US was further fuelled after a letter signed by 38 Senators of both parties was submitted to the president, which called on Biden to recognize the deaths as Genocide. 

In responde to the letter, the White House said last week: “As a presidential candidate, President Biden commemorated the 1.5 million Armenian men, women, and children who lost their lives in the final years of the Ottoman Empire. He said then that we must never forget or remain silent about this horrific campaign.”

Armenia, Lebanon interested in expanding the bilateral agenda

Hagop Kamalian
Public Radio of Armenia

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ara Aivazian had a telephone conversation with the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants of the Republic of Lebanon Charbel Wehbe.

The sides hailed the level of mutual trust, the Armenian-Lebanese relations based on close friendship, and stressed the readiness of the two countries to take steps to further expand and enrich the bilateral agenda.

In this context, the Foreign Ministers stressed the important role of the Lebanese-Armenian community in all spheres of Lebanese public life and the significant contribution to the strengthening of friendship between the two countries.

Mutual support and closer cooperation within the framework of international structures was emphasized.

Foreign Ministers Aivazian and Wehbe spoke in detail about regional security and stability. Minister Aivazian drew his counterpart’s attention to the consequences of the large-scale war waged by Azerbaijan against Artsakh with the direct participation of Turkey, expressing special concern over Turkey’s transfer of mercenaries and armed terrorists from Syria and Libya, to the zone of military operations.

Armenia PM on his statement about Karabakh’s Shushi

Hagop Kamalian
News.am, Armenia
Armenia PM on his statement about Karabakh's Shushi
12:02, 21.03.2021

I was careless when I made a statement about Shushi that I wasn’t supposed to make. This is what Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said during his visit to Aragatsotn Province yesterday, touching upon the sensational statement that he had made about Shushi in the National Assembly a few months ago.

“Today the people who criticized me for my statement have become the biggest so-called defenders of Shushi. Who visited Shushi in 2020? What have we Armenians done in Shushi over the past 30 years? Yes, I made the wrong statement in terms of the way I made the statement, but I didn’t say anything wrong in terms of content because, for those people, Baden-Baden was a nice city to visit, not Shushi in Nagorno-Karabakh. They built places like Shushi in all places around the world, but as far as possible from Shushi,” he said.

When a citizen told him that Ruben Hayrapetyan has built a house in Shushi, Pashinyan said the following in response: “Yes, sure, an oligarch was tricked and taken there and forced to build a house, or he wasn’t tricked, I don’t know. This is the reality.”

During a question-and-answer session with government officials in the National Assembly on January 20, Pashinyan declared the following: “I would like to call your attention to the fact that, before the signing, 90 and more percent of the population of Shushi was Azerbaijani. So, you want to say that the city of Shushi with a population of 90 and more percent Azerbaijanis was an Armenian city with that status?”

Montreal: ‘Extremely racist’ event by Concordia student groups cancelled, guest condemns ‘sad day for freedom of speech’

Hagop Kamalian
CTV News, Canada

Luca Caruso-MoroCTV News Montreal Digital Reporter


MONTREAL — Student groups at Concordia University found themselves in hot water this week after inviting the Turkish ambassador to give a talk on the ongoing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The talk — which was supposed to happen on Friday — was on the Nagorno-Karabakh region, an area which has been the site of warfare for generations. Geographically, the region is in Azerbaijan, but the majority population is ethnic-Armenian.

The latest outburst of hostilities began Sept. 27 and has left hundreds, perhaps thousands, dead, marking the worst escalation of fighting in almost three decades. Neither side has taken responsibility for instigating the conflict.

Turkey has been a strong ally to Azerbaijan, which led some student groups to criticize event planners that had invited the Turkish ambassador to give a talk on Friday.

In a Thursday press release, four Armenian students’ advocacy groups called the event “extremely racist in nature,” adding that “hosting Turkey’s representative unopposed and providing the government of Turkey an academic platform to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh war is unethical, at best.”

“If you want to have a dialogue about Nagorno Karabakh, the voices that should be heard should be the ambassador of Armenia and the ambassador of Azerbaijan,” said Leonardo Torosian, co-president of the Armen Karo Student Association, one of the undersigned groups.

(Leonardo Torosian, co-president of the Armen Karo Student Association)

CTV News reached out to Concordia University for comment. A spokesperson responded to say the event had been planned by “independent student groups [who] decide their own activities.”

Under pressure from the student groups and commenters on social media, the organizing groups decided to cancel the event.

“Many have voiced their disapproval of this event,” read a statement posted Friday to social media by the student groups that organized the talk, which they said “was not meant as an endorsement of any state or political actor.”

Turkish Ambassador Kerim Uras took to social media to voice his disapproval of the cancellation on Friday, which he called “a sad day for freedom of speech and Charter rights in Canada.”

“Radical Armenian groups can't even tolerate a free exchange of views with a group of students,” he wrote. “Their use of the word ‘racist’ shows their intellectual poverty.”

“This is a person that represents a dictatorial Turkish regime,” said Torosian, referring to the ambassador.

“[A country] which violates human rights, which closes universities; we do not understand how any Canadian university can host such an ambassador,” he said.

— With files from the Associated Press

Armenian Catholic Cemetery Desecrated

Hagop Kamalian

03/19/2021 Turkey (International Christian Concern) –  The historical site of an Armenian and Catholic cemetery is being desecrated in Ulus, Ankara as construction continues on top of human remains. The Chamber of Architects Ankara Branch verified the remains and submitted stop work requests to several overseeing ministries. Not only does the construction of a state-owned bank continue, but oppositional political leaders are being barred from entering the site.

MP Garo Paylan, an Armenian-Turkish politician of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) condemned the continued construction and submitted questions to Parliament on why action was allowed to continue. Tezcan Karakuş Candan, President of the Chamber of Architects Ankara, also spoke out saying “the ongoing construction is a great disrespect to the multiculturalism of Anatolia. It is inhumane to be dumping concrete on top of those who lived in Anatolia, regardless of their religion, language or race.”

Paylan, Candan, and their accompanying group were stopped by police when they attempted to examine the Armenian cemetery site on March 16. Public outcry and sentiment speak of the historical Armenian presence in Anatolia and the disrespect shown to ancestors and those of a different religion, notably Christianity.

Armenian Christians are facing significant attacks against their heritage from both Turkey and Azerbaijan. Sacred places and items to Armenian Christians are being destroyed or misused for tourist attractions.