Author: Maghakian Mike

Political forces congratulate Pashinyan on election victory

Maghakian Mike

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 14:54, 21 June, 2021

YEREVAN, JUNE 21, ARMENPRESS. The political parties and blocs, which participated in the June 20 snap parliamentary elections of Armenia, congratulated the winner – the Civil Contract party led by caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on victory.

The Republic party has firstly expressed his deepest gratitude to all those who trusted them and voted in their favor.

“We appreciate your trust and feel obliged before you. The Republic party congratulates the winning team, wishing success in these decisive and difficulties times for Armenia. We wish that all forces elected to the parliament work for the benefit of our country and statehood and respect the desire of their voters. We do not put a difference between the citizens of our country. The Republic party promises its voters that it will continue spreading its approaches with the same energy, trying to balance Armenia’s foreign policy, proposing solutions to economic boost and new investment programs. We wish peace and welfare to our people and a productive work to the Parliament of 8th convocation”, the party’s Board said in a statement.

Arman Babajanyan from the Shirinyan-Babajanyan Alliance of Democrats said on social media that a democratic election was held in Armenia which ensured the freedom of voting. “Therefore any attempt to revise the result in post-election developments will be an encroachment against Armenia’s stability, public solidarity, in other words, it will be an internal attack against Armenia”, he said, congratulating the Civil Contract party.

President of the Fair Armenia party Norayr Norikyan stated that everyone must take into account the new situation formed in the political field.

“The outcome is a key message for me personally, to understand the essence of human relationships during the political activity, and the essence of “rules of the game” in the political field. The Fair Armenia party has been formed just 4 months ago, and the 4000 votes received come to show that we still have a lot to do to acquire the trust of our people and have a serious impact in the political field. I personally expresse my gratitude to all our citizens who have voted in favor of our party”, he said.

 

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Heads of Armed Forces’ air defense forces and engineering troops dismissed

Maghakian Mike

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 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

Georgia-U.S. Mediation: Azerbaijan Swaps 15 Armenian Captives for Mine Maps

Maghakian Mike
Civil Georgia
June 13 2021

13/06/2021 – 12:13

102 2 minutes read

Georgia and the U.S. brokered a new deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia, involving Baku’s release of 15 Armenian prisoners of war in exchange for getting from Yerevan a map of landmines in Agdam district, controlled by Armenian forces until recently. The captives were handed over to Armenia on the Azerbaijani-Georgian border, with the Georgian authorities in attendance.

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry underscored yesterday the support of the Georgian Government and Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili for the implementation of the deal. It also said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Acting Assistant Secretary Philip Reeker, European Council President Charles Michel, and the Swedish Chairmanship of the OSCE contributed to the process.

  • Prime Minister Garibashvili Visits Baku
  • Prime Minister Garibashvili Visits Yerevan

The Government of Georgia said the deal was achieved through “the active participation of Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, and engagement from U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, Philip Reeker.

“An extraordinary step has been taken toward bettering the security architecture of the South Caucasus,” stated the Georgian Government, adding that the deal “will give tremendous impetus to diffusing the tensions between Georgia’s immediate neighbors.”

President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili said, “Georgia is back on its historic mediator role, [U.S.] and EU are back in the Caucasus, building confidenc[e] is the path to lasting peace.”

Welcoming the release of Armenian detainees, U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken said “We’re grateful to the Government of Georgia for its vital role facilitating discussions between the sides. Such steps will bring the people of the region closer to the peaceful future they deserve.”

“The process was brokered by the U.S. and Georgian authorities, for which the Government of the Republic of Armenia thanks the U.S. President’s Administration and the Government of Georgia,” noted Mané Gevorgyan, spokesperson to Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan. “The return of all our compatriots kept in Azerbaijan is a priority for the Government of Armenia,” the spokesperson underlined.

Dozens of other Armenian prisoners of war are believed to remain in the Azerbaijani captivity months after the six-week-long war over Nagorno-Karabakh in fall 2020.

Turkish press: Turkish student grilled by French intel over ‘genocide’ denial

Maghakian Mike
Alaattin Dogru and Esra Taskin   |17.06.2021

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.

Georgia applauds its role in the Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiations

Maghakian Mike
The Messenger, Georgia
By Veronika Malinboym
Monday, June 14

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. 

Nagorno-Karabakh: A Humanitarian Perspective

Maghakian Mike

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:

  • International, third-party access is a crucial ongoing need, in large part because the conflict continues despite the November 9th ceasefire statement.
  • International recognition of the religious freedom components of this war is an immediate necessity.
  • Peacekeepers are not police. They inherently cannot and are not those responsible for responding to kidnappings, shootings into Artsakh from conquered territories, and other types of criminal activity. These activities remain ongoing.
  • Artsakh’s residents remain under threat to their physical integrity, which has created an absence of safety and stabilization that ensures that the consequences of the war are ongoing.
  • Humanitarian needs are immediate and ever-growing. Current solutions are not long-term, and require the presence of multiple humanitarian groups working in coordination to address key assistance issues.
  • Azerbaijan and Turkey’s seizure and presumed destruction of personal properties includes that of personal identification papers for displaced persons, further isolating them from humanitarian solutions.
  • Relocation to permanent housing and livelihood development are essential humanitarian needs. This includes vocational training, as several IDPs come from a “white collar” background that is not likely to be reestablished quickly.

Armenia’s Ex-President leaks alleged recording of PM Pashinyan

Maghakian Mike
JAM News
    JAMnews, Yerevan

Former President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan has released a recording of what he claims to be the acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan talking about the negotiation process for the settlement of the Karabakh conflict. In this recording, a male voice can be heard talking about a meeting with the presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus in Sochi in 2018.

In particular, in an alleged recording of the prime minister, the so-called Lavrov plan and the status of Nagorno-Karabakh are discussed. With whom exactly was Nikol Pashinyan sharing information at the time when he was recorded remains unknown, as no other voices can be heard in the recording and the ex-president did not specify this either.

  • Ex-President of Armenia Sargsyan thrashes PM in interview
  • Stages of the Karabakh conflict in the 1990s and attempts at resolution
  • Op-ed: ‘Blood, toil, tears and sweat’ – solving the Armenian political crisis

An election campaign is currently underway in Armenia, as early parliamentary elections are scheduled for June 20. All participants of the electoral race are now traveling to the regions of the country and meeting the voters. During one of such meetings, Nikol Pashinyan accused ex-President Serzh Sargsyan of “spending money stolen from the army in a Monte Carlo casino”.

Sargsyan personally denied this accusation, but at the same time said that he would give the prime minister 24 hours to prove his allegations:

“He must either present the facts, or I will release such facts about him and his family that society will spit on him. If he does not present the facts, I will deal with him”, Sargsyan said.

Once the 24 hours expired, the ex-president, at a meeting with voters in Gegharkunik region, released a recording that, according to the former president, would vilify Pashinyan on the eve of the elections. At the same time, he stressed that he did not intend to give out compromising material that dishonored his family, although he did not rule out this in the future.

The main intention of Serzh Sargsyan’s decision to publish the recording was to place all responsibility for the failure of the negotiations and the beginning of the second Karabakh war in the fall of 2020 on the incumbent head of state.

In the recording, what seems to be Nikol Pashinyan is talking about the settlement of the Karabakh conflict and his first meeting with the presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus after the Velvet Revolution in May 2018.

“Putin, Nazarbayev, and Lukashenka come and tell me: ‘The people trust you very much, you have had a historic chance to resolve the Karabakh issue. It was the same decision as in the ‘Lavrov plan”: the withdrawal of troops, and them entering [the region]”.

Earlier the ex-president of Armenia explained that the “Lavrov plan” as such did not exist, as it was a modified version of the Kazan document. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov proposed this settlement option on behalf of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs which is how it got the name ‘Lavrov’s plan’.

In one of his interviews after the end of the second Karabakh war, Serzh Sargsyan stated that he was going to sign this document. It is generally accepted in Armenia that he allegedly intended the return of some territories to Azerbaijan without agreeing on the future status of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

On the recording, Pashinyan says that without defining the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, this issue cannot be discussed. To this, the presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus say that Aliyev understands that “Karabakh will never be a part of Azerbaijan”.

In response to this sensational statement, Pashinyan proposes to fix it:

“I tell them, they say, good, this is interesting, I propose to write all this on paper. And this will be an interesting topic for discussion, I will bring this piece of paper and tell the people that such a topic exists”.

But Pashinyan’s interlocutors, according to him, do not agree to this and say that the President of Azerbaijan cannot openly declare this, since he will be accused of treason.

“I understand you, he is your old friend, you don’t want to be considered a traitor, you want me to become a traitor”, Pashinyan replies.

The prime minister also said that after this conversation, he understood that it was necessary at any cost to get off this “conveyor”, to get out of the negotiation deadlock, which had previously led to the war in 2016. It is necessary to do this by any means, even by “pretending to be crazy”, the main thing is to get out of this vicious circle.

From the ruling bloc, the first to “drain” the speech recording of the acting Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Alen Simonyan reacted to the Prime Minister:

“A very important episode, we ourselves could not publish it. Thank you”, wrote Simonyan on Facebook.

Pashinyan’s team believes that the recording only confirms that Pashinyan, unlike Serzh Sargsyan, was not going to sign any document that does not identify the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.

COVID-19 Accelerates Digital Payment Adoption in Armenia

Maghakian Mike
FinTech News, Switzerland

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.

CivilNet: “A unified sense of defiance should be central to our nation,” says Vahan Zanoyan

Maghakian Mike
CIVILNET.AM

07:05

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