12:55,
YEREVAN, JUNE 25, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian signed decrees on relieving two officials of the Armed Forces from their posts, the Presidential Office said.
Accordingly, Armen Vardanyan has been relieved from the position of head of the Air Defense Forces/head of the Department and Ishkhan Matevosyan from the position of head of engineering troops/head of the Department.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
PARIS
A Turkish-French high school student was questioned by French intelligence officers about his Muslim identity and for alleged extremism after rejecting his teacher’s claims about the events that occurred in 1915 in what is now Turkey.
The student, identified as Altay, faced intimidation, threats of jailtime, and attempts to associate him with extremism because he did not accept his teacher’s assertions in history class on June 2, despite it not being a crime under French law to object to the Armenian claims.
Altay and his family, who did not share their last name over concerns for their safety, recounted the events to Anadolu Agency, saying that his teacher had devoted half of the 2-hour class to the Armenian claims, continually saying that Turks “killed Armenians” and civilians.
“I couldn’t stand it. I endured for 40 minutes and then calmly asked the question: ‘Is there evidence?’ Then, the teacher suddenly got angry and said: ‘How can you say this? How can you object to this?'” said Altay.
He added that his teacher said he could go to prison for a year for his words allegedly denying the “so-called” Armenian genocide, with the school administrators calling his father to discuss what happened.
After doing some research, he found out that none of his comments constituted a crime in France and that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) did not oblige defining the 1915 events as a “genocide.”
Questions on alleged radicalism, Muslim identity
After the incident, Altay was called a week later by intelligence forces to answer questions.
He said he was treated kindly, but that despite being told that he had not done anything illegal, they took the usernames and passwords of his social media accounts and asked questions about his religious beliefs and practices.
As a student undergoing exams at the time, Altay emphasized that he had been under a great deal of stress and, seriously worried about his future, was unable to concentrate on schoolwork.
Restrictions on freedom of speech
Altay’s Father Aydin said that during his meeting with the principal of his son’s school, he had been told that the teenager was “facing a very bad incident,” and that he could be fined or jailed.
The administrators “exaggerated the incident” during the conference, he said. In response, Aydin underlined that in France, “people have freedom of speech” and objected to them restricting his son’s freedom of _expression_.
“If he committed such a major crime, why don’t you give disciplinary punishment?” Aydin said he told the principal, who said that was not possible.
“I said: ‘But you convey everything to the high authorities, why don’t you punish him? If he’s guilty, then you need to punish him.’ Then they were silent. They didn’t say anything.”
“Since that day, I’ve been in a little bit of depression. Since I was very worried, they gave me leave from work. My son’s mental state also deteriorated. No one came to our support in this matter in France, only my colleagues at work supported me, nobody else…No one from the French administration called me.”
Altay’s mother Aysel also expressed that she was seriously worried about her son’s future after the incident.
Turkish stance on 1915 events
Turkey’s position on the events of 1915 is that the deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia took place when some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.
Turkey objects to the presentation of these incidents as “genocide,” describing them as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.
Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Turkey and Armenia as well as international experts to tackle the issue.
In 2014, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — Turkey’s then-prime minister — expressed his condolences to the descendants of Armenians who lost their lives in the events of 1915.
On June 12, Azerbaijan has returned 15 detained Armenian soldiers in exchange for Armenia’s landmine maps of the Agdam region, which has come under the control of Azerbaijan as a result of the second Karabakh war in the fall of 2020. The exchange of soldiers has been conducted on the border between Georgia and Azerbaijan.
PM of Georgia, Irakli Garibashvili has been personally involved in maintaining constant communication with Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev:
“Proud of the role Georgia played in close coordination with our strategic partner, the USA, and Acting Assistant Secretary Reeker to facilitate Azerbaijan’s release of 15 Armenian citizens detained during the conflict. Armenia providing Azerbaijan with the information about mined territories is an important step toward improved security in our region”, PM Garibashvili tweeted after the exchange had taken place.
Georgia’s efforts in facilitating the negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan were welcomed by the country’s partners in the United States:
“The U.S. welcomes the release by Azerbaijan of 15 Armenian detainees. We’re grateful to the Government of Georgia for its vital role in facilitating discussions between the sides. Such steps will bring the people of the region closer to the peaceful future they deserve,”, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in his tweet.
The US Embassy to Georgia has also expressed gratitude for the role that the country played in a recent exchange:
“We are grateful to Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and the Government of Georgia for the essential role Georgia played in facilitating these steps, which bring the people of the region closer to the peaceful and prosperous future they deserve.
The United States is pleased to support these steps and hopes they will lay the groundwork for additional cooperation. We continue to call for the return of all detainees and stand ready to assist the countries of the region in their efforts to continue cooperation and resolve outstanding issues between them. We also continue to urge Armenia and Azerbaijan to reengage in substantive negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to negotiate a comprehensive political settlement to the conflict,” the Embassy said in its statement.
ICC urges the international humanitarian and religious freedom community to further investigate this situation. Awareness, assistance, and advocacy are the three greatest needs. ICC makes the following humanitarian observations:
by Fintechnews Switzerland
In Armenia, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital payment solutions and boosted e-commerce activity.
Beniamin Tadevosyan, CEO and co-founder of Armenian paytech startup PayX told local fintech news site Fintech.am that, while prior to the pandemic payment technologies were well developed in the country, adoption was very low. But the global health crisis and the government’s call to limit cash usage have push adoption of digital payment to new heights.
Beniamin Tadevosyan
“Due to some local peculiarities, including the habit of the population to pay in cash … [payment technologies in Armenia] were not actively used in everyday life before the pandemic,” Tadevosyan told Fintech.am. “The increase in cashless payments, especially for e-commerce, amid the current situation is natural … [especially considering] that the government and the Central Bank of Armenia have repeatedly strongly recommended non-cash payments.”
Though no official data have been released, Tadevosyan said that at PayX, the volume and value of digital and online transactions “have increased markedly,” a trend he expects to continue.
Demand for online payment solutions, notably those with easy and seamless integration capabilities, has risen particularly, owing in part to the boom of social commerce. “These solutions are especially requested by stores operating on Facebook and Instagram,” he said
Armenia declared a 30-day state of emergency on March 16, 2020 to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus, which was followed later on by more stringent restrictions on movement. E-commerce skyrocketed after the announcement with retail sales tripling within the first month, Armenia’s Minister of High Technology Industry Hakob Arshakyan said at a press conference on April 8, 2020, describing the trend as a positive indicator that indicates great opportunities in the field of cashless commerce.
Armenia’s nascent fintech industry
Information about the Armenian fintech ecosystem are scarce but data available suggest that the country is home to just a handful of startups. Similarly to other nascent fintech ecosystems, Armenia’s fintech sector is dominated by young startups operating in the payment segment.
PayX, which was founded in 2017, develops digital, mobile and e-commerce payment solutions, serving both the retail and corporate segments. Qsak is an app-based mobile payment platform that allows individuals to receive cash back on their transactions, which they can accumulate, spend, transfer and withdraw.
EasyPay provides merchants with point-of-sale (POS) terminals and consumers with a card-linked wallet that allows them to easily make fund transfers, pay bills, top up their mobile credit, and make purchases both online and offline. So far, more than 2,700 payment terminals have been installed.
And Text And Pay Me is a new startup offering “text payments,” allowing users to perform peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers on any messaging app simply by entering text commands.
Besides payments, other fintech segments are also represented in Armenia, including crowdfunding with platforms such as BoostBloom and Ayo; corporate services with online invoice service My Online Invoice; and data with the likes of Cognaize, a startup that specializes in artificial intelligence (AI)-based processing of financial information.
One fast-growing segment is cryptocurrency and blockchain where a flurry of startups have emerged over the past years.
| Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH | Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH
Arcnet is a local blockchain startup providing a career development ecosystem comprised of a job market, certification, career advice and recruitment services; Omnia offers a platform for users to mine and invest in cryptocurrencies; and Coin Stats is an app-based cryptocurrency portfolio tracker with live crypto market data, research and news. Users can set price limits volume and market cap alerts, and sync multiple crypto exchanges.
Vahan Zanoyan, in a conversation with Lara Tcholakian, speaks about his memories of the Armenian Genocide, and the challenges his forefathers faced when they were deported from Musa Dagh and Sebastia. He reflects on the impact his family traumas have had on him, and the actions he has taken to keep the memory alive and to transform this trauma into a productive process for the development of Armenia.
About Vahan Zanoyan
Vahan Zanoyan is a global energy expert, writer, retired executive and anti-trafficking advocate. He has served as a global energy consultant to numerous international companies, banks, private and public organizations throughout the US, Europe, the Middle East, Far East and Latin America. He has published two volumes of poetry in Armenian, and four novels in English they include: A Place Far Away (2013) and The Doves of Ohanavank (2014), both of which were inspired by a chance meeting with a very young victim of sex trafficking
Program overview
Armenian leaders share inherited cultural and historical narratives, memories, life learnings and experiences. Down-to-earth, authentic and mindful conversations preserve the stories and legacies of families, and reflect on the lessons learnt from inherited collective trauma and introspective leadership.
#MindfulLeaders
#InheritedLegacies
18:59,
YEREVAN, MAY 25, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian received on May 25 Ambassador of France to Armenia Jonathan Lacôte.
As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the President’s Office, President Sarkissian and Ambassador Lacôte referred to the situation on the Armenian border, the encroachments of Azerbaijan on the territorial integrity of Armenia, as well as the necessity of an immediate return of the Armenian war prisoners and civilian hostages kept in Azerbaijan.
The sides also exchanged views on issues of regional security and stability, as well as the current agenda of the bilateral relations.
The European Parliament has adopted a resolution calling on Azerbaijan to release the Armenian prisoners of war (POWs) without any conditions. Azerbaijan should provide advocates, doctors and human rights defenders with access to Armenian POWs and cooperate with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in investigating reports about inhuman treatment of them, the European Parliament has stated.
Naira Zograbyan, an Armenian MP from the “Prosperous Armenia” faction, wrote on the Facebook that the European Parliament expressed its regret about the violence demonstrated during the Armenian-Azerbaijani war over Nagorno-Karabakh in the fall of 2020.
The Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have called on Azerbaijani authorities to provide complete lists of all those detained in connection with the conflict. They also called on all parties to clarify the fate of the missing people and to treat the bodies of those who perished with due dignity.
Also, the MEPs called on both parties not to destroy each other’s cultural values.
Besides, they condemned the opening of a trophy park in Baku, as it “promotes hostile sentiments and undermines the trust between the nations.”
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on at 06:27 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Armine Martirosyan; Source: CK correspondent
Source:
© Caucasian Knot