Author: Maghakian Mike

High-Tech minister welcomes Armenia-Engineering Week 2020 event participants

Maghakian Mike

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 13:17, 7 July, 2020

YEREVAN, JULY 7, ARMENPRESS. The third annual Armenia-Engineering Week 2020 event is being held online this year from July 6 to 10.

The event has been initiated by Armenia’s ministry of high technological industry, the Enterprise Incubator Foundation and the Engineering Association, the ministry told Armenpress.

Minister of High-tech industry Hakob Arshakyan delivered opening remarks at the event, stating that the Engineering Week has become an expected technological event, and major works are being done to organize and hold it at the highest level.

“I want to mention some indicators about Armenia’s high technology developments. 2019 was a special year as several important events were held in Armenia, the ministry of high-tech industry was established which was a priority for a country like Armenia having such a serious technological development. Nearly 30% growth in turnover was registered in the field which involves more than 1600 people. Companies providing services and numerous products, as well as successful startups are developing in Armenia”, the minister said.

He welcomed the event participants from Armenia, the Diaspora and different countries of the world, wishing an innovative week to all and expressing hope that next year the event will be held in an offline format.

Director of the Enterprise Incubator Foundation Bagrat Yengibaryan said in his remarks that this event is a unique international platform and this year will gather the representatives of various technological enterprises, engineers, scientists, leading experts, students, as well as the representatives of the government and the business.

Director of the Engineering Association Vardan Aleksanyan noted that during these series of events the Armenian engineers this year as well will have an opportunity to demonstrate the solutions created in Armenia. “This is a chance to once again talk about the scientific potential existing in Armenia”, he said.

Armenia-Engineering Week 2020 aims at demonstrating Armenia’s latest achievements in engineering and high technologies.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Armenia in talks with several manufacturers for possible COVID-19 vaccine

Maghakian Mike
Panorama, Armenia
July 2 2020

Armenia is negotiating with several manufacturers and international agencies for a possible vaccine against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan told a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

Torosyan says he is personally holding talks with vaccine manufacturers, including Moderna Therapeutics, a biotech company co-founded by American entrepreneur of Armenian descent Noubar Afeyan. According to the minister, the vaccine being developed by the company is one of the most likely candidates to be approved for the treatment of the infection.

Armenia is also in talks with WHO and UNICEF platforms, which will try to purchase large quantities of vaccine and equally distribute it to different countries.

“The danger is that some countries may buy up already produced or a potential vaccine, which means the rest will just get the vaccine late,” Torosyan said, defending the move to start the talks now.

The health minister said a potential COVID-19 vaccine could be available by the end of 2020 or in early 2021, which will become clear after the results of the third phase of trials are summed up in fall.

Torosyan highlighted a coronavirus vaccine could help countries get back to normal.

Book: “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari translated into Armenian

Maghakian Mike
News.am, Armenia
July 3 2020
“Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari translated into Armenian “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” by Yuval Noah Harari translated into Armenian

19:40, 03.07.2020
                  

AGBU Unites Diaspora and Homeland with First Pan-Armenian Chess Tournament

Maghakian Mike

AGBU Unites Diaspora and Homeland with First Pan-Armenian Chess Tournament and All-Star Closing Ceremonies

The Republic of Armenia has long been distinguished as a nexus for chess supremacy, with its national preoccupation with the game, large share of world champions, including Olympic winners and over 70 grandmasters (GMs), and, recently, the integration of Chess into its core public school curriculum. This June, it took that passion a step further with the launch of the first Pan Armenian Chess Tournament (PACT), hosted by the AGBU-sponsored Armenian Virtual College (AVC) in association with the Chess Academy of Armenia.

The virtual journey took place between June 8 and 26, 2020, despite, and, to a large extent, on account of the global pandemic. As millions of Armenian students and chess players found themselves in lockdown mode and looking for ways to connect with fellow Armenians with likeminded interests, AVC was in an ideal position to step up and organize both the tournament and the all-star virtual closing ceremonies featuring 23 celebrated grandmasters from around the world.

During the ceremonies, GM Tigran L. Petrosian, a two-time Chess Olympic champion made inspirational congratulatory remarks, saying: “It was a brilliant idea to unite all Armenian chess enthusiasts from around the globe. I think the organizers have performed an important service with this virtual tournament. It gave me the opportunity to meet my colleagues and friends, whom I have been missing so much. I wish these young players all the best and hope that they will achieve new goals, titles, and we will have new winners.” GM Lilit Mkrtchian, European Women’s Team Champion extended her congratulations from Germany, remarking that she hoped that even when the pandemic was over there will be another online tournament organized.

GM Smbat Lputian, Founder and President of the Chess Academy of Armenia, also expressed his great satisfaction to all the stakeholders involved. “We were happy to create such a warm and collegial environment, which united Armenians from communities geographically distant from each other. I am thankful to all those who contributed into its realization. Honestly, I am so glad to be with all of you here, I am pleased that we are one family and that we hearten each other today.”

Soon after the announcement of PACT, 520 interested players signed up, representing 36 countries and five regions—from the Americas, Armenia and Artsakh to Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia and Oceania. The tournament was structured in two stages: five regional semi-finals; and three rounds of final games leading to the PACT champion titles. Between games, players were given access to renowned Armenian chess champions via the AVC multi-media interactive chess courses.

Dr. Yervant Zorian, the founding president of AVC, a member of the AGBU Central Board, and mastermind behind this multi-regional virtual undertaking, explained the vision: “The idea of creating this innovative tournament was not only to discover new talent from across the Armenian world, but, more important, to create a dynamic online global community of chess loving students. AVC will continue to leverage its virtual platform and experienced community coordinators to offer them skill-building and interpersonal bonding activities.

Among the diverse competitors, Armenia’s players met their match among formidable peers ranging in all ages, with 428 players under the age of 20. Notably, winners were no older than 16. The youngest, a semi-finalist, was age nine.

Among the finalists, Third Prize was taken by 16-year old Tigran Arzumanyan of Goris in Armenia’s Syunik province, Second Prize went to 14-year old Kirk Ghazarian of Coto de Caza, California, USA, and First Prize was awarded to Sargis Sargsyan of Vanadzor in Armenia’s Lori province. An official certificate was conferred upon each winner, signed by GM Smbat Lputian, the president of the Chess Academy of Armenia and Dr. Zorian, as president and founder of AVC. In addition, winners received valuable monetary rewards in the form of virtual gift cards.

The semi-finalists from the Americas included (1st) Kirk Ghazarian, age 14 (USA); (2nd) Suren Ghazaryan, age 15 (Canada); (3rd) Ethan Boldi, age 13 (USA). From Europe: (1st) Daniel Karapetyan-Hakopyan, age 13 (Spain); (2nd) Dimitrios Levon Zakarian, age 12 (UK); and Henrik Serobyan. Middle East and Africa: (1st) Kevork Yeghian, age 16 (Syria), (2nd) Edward Iskanderian, age 14 (Lebanon); (3rd) Arsen Kenyan, age 9 (Syria). Armenia: (1st) Sargis Sargsyan, age 16; (2nd) Tigran Arzumanyan, age 16); (3rd) Menua Hakobyan, age 12. Asia and Oceania: Shahan Abu Sayeed, age 9 (India).

A semi-finalist from Aleppo Kevork Yeghian, an AGBU-AYA scout representing the Middle East/Africa region, echoed the sentiments of many of the young participants, saying, “I am really happy for the chance to participate in the competition and get acquainted with other chess lovers from different places.”

The closing ceremonies were capped with a surprise live “blitz” match between European Women Team Champion Elina Danielyan versus Russian Women’s Rapid Champion Karina Ambartsumova. Other commentators included U.S. Women’s Vice-Champion Tatev Abrahamyan and U.S. Vice-Champion Varuzhan Akobian.

In his congratulatory remarks, AGBU Armenia President Vasken Yacoubian summed up the broader implications of the successful tournament. “Chess helps develop the individual on many dimensions, but it has also become sort of our national trademark. Every nation has its features and virtues, and over the decades, chess has become the trademark of both the Armenian Nation and Armenia. And this has a big meaning. It’s clear that we, as Armenians, have the great possibility of producing champions, who become our national heroes and bring pride to the people. This pride helps unite people, and in unity is strength—which is the AGBU motto. That is why AGBU is so keen on supporting the game in all its forms. Since 2007, we have been involved in the Chess Olympiad in Armenia’s schools, and we will continue to do so along with new initiatives such as the Pan-Armenian Chess Tournament.”

For more information and to view the closing ceremonies, go to https://youtu.be/D6lSINT-6Rs. To explore AVC online chess courses, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j3TbN0Ipu0

The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) is the world’s largest non-profit organization devoted to upholding the Armenian heritage through educational, cultural and humanitarian programs. Each year, AGBU is committed to making a difference in the lives of 500,000 people across Armenia, Artsakh and the Armenian diaspora.  Since 1906, AGBU has remained true to one overarching goal: to create a foundation for the prosperity of all Armenians. To learn more visit www.agbu.org.

This email was sent to Armenian [email protected]

Armenian General Benevolent Union, 55 East 59th Street, New York, New York 10022, USA

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Large fire breaks out at Tsitsernakaberd

Maghakian Mike

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 21:34, 26 June, 2020

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, ARMENPRESS.  A large fire has broke out in the territory of Tsitsernakaberd  Armenian Genocide memorial complex. ARMENPRESS reports Facebook users post photos and footgaes of the fire.

Details are being clarified.

The fire broke out in the grassy area.

The correspondent of ARMEPRESS reports from the scene that several fire brigades of the rescue service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations are trying to put out the fire.

Spokesperson of Yerevan Mayor Hakob Karapetyan wrote on his Facebook page that a while ago large-scale firework display was organized in that territory.

Editing and translating by Tigran Sirekanyan

Armenia opposition figure: PM Pashinyan doesn’t care about laws

Maghakian Mike
News.am, Armenia
Armenia opposition figure: PM Pashinyan doesn’t care about laws Armenia opposition figure: PM Pashinyan doesn’t care about laws

14:36, 27.06.2020
                  

YEREVAN. – Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan doesn’t care about the Constitution and the laws. Opposition figure Ruben Hakobyan, a member of Vernatun Club, and Director of the “Akunk” Center for the Political Analysis, on Saturday told this to reporters outside the National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia.

“Today, the behavior of the opposition is not adequate because you wake up every day and everyone is talking about the fact that the halls of power—represented by [PM] Nikol Pashinyan—have taken an illegal and unconstitutional direction. We understood very well that he [Pashinyan] doesn’t care about both the Constitution and the laws, he does what he wants, his family ties do what they want, and state structures do not exist today, or the branches of power don’t exist today, they are under his direct coercion and compulsion and, of course, we say, ‘Enough is enough.’ He doesn’t pay attention to it, naturally, we have to take equivalent steps, and those (…) are the mechanism whereby Pashinyan came to power—by closing off streets, breaking the door of the radio house [Public Radio],” he said.

According to him, if the law enforcement agencies did not give criminal assessments to Nikol Pashinyan’s actions at that time, then every citizen can do what Pashinyan did.

Ruben added that he was summoned to the NSS in connection with calls to overthrow the constitutional order, in an interview Friday.

“Indeed, we must stand up for the Constitutional Court because it is the only bastion that is able to show signs of life and does not obey the dictatorial aspirations of the prime minister,” Hakobyan said.

https://news.am/eng/news/588025.html

Azerbaijani press: UNSC publishes report on Armenia’s occupation policy in Azerbaijani territories

Maghakian Mike
  • 18 Jun 2020 23:06

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  • NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT

A comprehensive report on the international legal obligations of the aggressor country Armenia that occupied Azerbaijani territories has been published and circulated at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The author of the report is Professor, Royal Lawyer Malcolm Shaw (UK), AzerTag reports.

The main provisions of the report read as follows:

– The Armenian Armed Forces were directly involved in the occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and seven adjacent regions.

– Armenia established a puppet regime in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and continues to support its existence in various ways, including by maintaining a military presence there. Armenia cannot avoid responsibility for these violations of international law by trying to conceal its aggressive role behind the scenes of a puppet regime.

– International law prohibits the possession of territories by force. Therefore, any action taken by Armenia or its puppet regime in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan cannot change the previous legal status of these territories. Consequently, those territories are the territories of Azerbaijan in accordance with international law.

– Armenia holds state responsibility for its violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights. Such violations include attempts to change the laws and legal system of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, infringement on property rights, demolition or destruction of cultural and historical monuments, the establishment of Armenian settlements in the occupied territories, improper treatment with people under the protection and their violent destruction.

– Armenia must stop its violations and pay compensation for the damage caused by these violations. These obligations can be monitored and enforced by the relevant UN human rights treaty bodies and international judicial institutions inconsistent with international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

– Armenia can be held individually responsible for the numerous military offenses, crimes against humanity, and genocide during this aggression through the national courts, as well as the courts of different countries or third countries. Its state responsibility can be executed by interstate mechanisms.

The report exposing Armenia’s occupation policy was published and circulated as an official document of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council.

Parliamentarian: Armenia is taking steps to mitigate the consequences of the statement in the European Parliament

Maghakian Mike
Arminfo, Armenia

ArmInfo. Of course, we knew that the construction of the third road connecting Armenia with Artsakh might not be welcomed, and, of course, we realized that there would be attempts to give negative assessment to this process. However,  this separate opinion does not mean at all that we should have  abandoned the construction, a lawmaker of the parliamentary   faction Mikael Zolyan expressed a similar opinion ArmInfo.

, he said.

In this light, the negative response to certain actions of Armenia,  according to the parliamentarian, in no way means that Armenia should  not take these actions. Another question is the work necessary to  level the real impact of such responses. In this direction, Armenia,  of course, faces the need for its implementation.

To recall, on June 11, Marina Kaljurand, Co-Chair of the  Parliamentary Cooperation Committee of the European Parliament for  Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, Traian Basescu, Permanent Rapporteur  for Armenia, and Zhelyana Zovko, European Parliament Standing  Rapporteur for Azerbaijan, made a joint statement regarding the  construction of a new highway linking Artsakh and Armenia. Expressing  concern in this regard, they emphasized that the decision to build  was taken bypassing the Azerbaijani authorities.

Zolyan stressed that this statement was distributed on behalf of only  a few European parliamentarians and in no way reflects the official  point of view of the European Parliament. In his opinion, in any  case, the very fact of this statement causes concern, given the  position of its authors in the parliamentary cooperation bodies of  EU-Armenia and EU-Azerbaijan. According to him, Yerevan’s harsh  reaction to this statement is caused precisely by this fact.

Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan reported on the project of  building a third highway between Armenia and Artsakh on June 5. The  latter, together with the Minister of Territorial Administration and  Infrastructures of Armenia Suren Papikyan, visited the south of the  Kashatagh region, from where it is planned to continue the route to  the southern part of the Syunik region of Armenia. After the Goris-  Stepanakert road and the Vardenis-Martakert highway, the  150-kilometer highway will become the third highway connecting  Armenia and Artsakh.

Asbarez: National Cooperation is Imperative to Overcome Crisis, Says ARF Bureau Chairman

Maghakian Mike

ARF Bureau Chairman Hagop Der Khachadourian

In an interview published by Yerkir.am on Sunday, Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau chairman Hagop Der Khachadourian emphasized the imperative for national cooperation to overcome the current crisis in Armenia, adding that there is a need for the formation of a new brand of government.

Below is an English translation of the interview.

Yerkir.am: How do you assess the current situation of combatting the pandemic in Armenia?

Hagop Der Khachadourian: Our organization [the ARF] in Armenia has already made its assessment of the situation by drawing on multifaceted analysis and expert opinion. Of course the pandemic is a global crisis for people and governments. No country and no government was completely equipped to confront the vast scope of public health, economic, humanitarian, psychological and security challenges posed by the pandemic.

However, it is through state institutions and governmental efforts that make it possible to quickly respond to the crisis by finding appropriate solutions to first stop the spread of the virus and later to effectively fight against it. Unfortunately, just in that aspect, the government of Armenia has made mistakes, as a result of which we are facing today’s serious and dangerous situation. We still are anticipating that the government of Armenia will formulate a state mentality through which it can emerge with a mode of operation. If not, we will suffer irreparable damages, the responsibility for which will lie with the parliamentary majority, the government and the prime minister himself.

Yerkir.am: Months ago experts and political forces were sounding the alarm and were proposing comprehensive programs and suggestions immediate actions to the government.

H.D.K.: That is true. The leadership simply chose to ignore multiple suggestions presented by the ARF and other political parties and experts. But after continued pressure there were attempts to partially take those suggestions into consideration or haphazardly address them, it was already too late. What happened was that the government denied itself the opportunity to benefit from expert assistance to combat the pandemic.

Despite this environment, the ARF Bureau called on the all Armenians to come to the aid of Armenia. From the first day, through its ranks, regional bodies and affiliate structures (ARS, Homenetmen, Hamazkayin), as well as its youth and student organizations, the ARF went to work by sending shipments and establishing programs to assist in the pandemic effort. Today, we are reiterating our readiness to cater to the needs of the people of Armenia and Artsakh.

Naturally, we were anticipating that through the exiting pan-Armenian readiness and preparedness we would be able to fight against the pandemic with a collective and united front through our nation’s abilities. The government should have been the entity to bring these capabilities together by organizing consultations with all political forces in order to confront the challenges through consensus. The leadership should have demonstrated political will, and by putting aside all differences, come up with a unified program and carried it out through collective efforts. However, during these days of the crisis the leadership did not adhere to its higher mission. Not only did it not initiate such efforts, but rather in this reality, made divisive statements and showed disdain toward alternative viewpoints.

Instead of accepting suggestions and the helping hand extended for help, refraining from its failed approaches and correcting its mistakes, the government continuously tried to blame others. Once again we witnessed the leadership’s egregious efforts to find domestic enemies and advancing a policy of drawing divisive lines. The most recent developments attest to the leadership’s use of pressure to silence the opposition.

Yerkir.am: Are you referring to the prime minister’s latest statements against the ARF?

H.D.K.: Not only that. Today, intolerant approach toward approaches differing from the leadership has become commonplace. As for the prime minister’s speech, the comments made by him—in the manner in which he said, its context and the words he used—were not becoming of the head of state and political leader.

By responding to substantive criticism and specific suggestions in that manner is not only a political blunder, but also weakens the population that is confronting serious issues. It is an unacceptable and dangerous approach. Evidently, the prime minister has not understood, or is intentionally underestimating the ARF’s existence, force, will and spirit.

Yerekir.am: How do you envision a way out of the current situation?

H.D.K.: Given the current situation, the priority must be to emerge and confront the crisis through national cooperation and to ensure the secure and safe development of the country via efforts that correspond to our national standards. All of this requires the formation of a new brand of government.

CIVILNET.Confusion over Hospital Capacity in Armenia Reflects Widespread Distrust in Institutions and Highlights Government’s Public Communication Problem

Maghakian Mike
CIVILNET.AM

15:20 

By Mark Dovich

Does Armenia have enough hospital beds for patients infected with the coronavirus? The capacity of the country’s healthcare system has become a hot-button issue in recent days after a series of contradictory statements from government officials on the matter.

Although Health Minister Arsen Torosyan had been warning that Armenia was approaching the point of running out of available hospital beds for several days, the issue became a more popular topic of public discussion following a June 6 press conference by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who went on the record stating that three coronavirus patients in critical condition had died waiting for intensive care beds to become available.

In late April, Torosyan cautioned that the Armenian healthcare system currently has a maximum capacity of 3000-4000 patients. Case in point: Arman Hovakimyan, the director of the Surb Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center, a large medical facility in Yerevan, revealed in late May that upwards of 95 percent of the hospital’s intensive care beds were already occupied. As of June 8, Armenia reported about 9,000 active coronavirus cases, with nearly 500 patients in critical or extremely critical condition.

However, just two days after Pashinyan’s press conference, Torosyan announced that Armenia had added 350 new hospital beds, primarily by expanding rural hospital capacity across the country. According to Torosyan, medical facilities in the towns of Vedi, Spitak, Dilijan, and Martuni, as well as in Yerevan, had all increased their supplies of available hospital beds in recent days.

In other words, the Armenian government effectively switched tack, in just a matter of days, from warning that the country’s maximum hospital capacity had been reached to announcing that there are now “enough [hospital beds] to serve all patients, even if the [current] infection rate…is maintained.” This change in projection, announced without any clear or detailed explanation to the public on how the government achieved such a positive result, generated a widespread conspiracy theory on Armenian-language social networks, suggesting that now patients can or must pay a bribe to receive a hospital bed.

Although the ramifications for public health are certainly significant, it is no longer just a public health issue. 

Armenia introduced strict coronavirus-related social restrictions in mid-March, but without strict enforcement. As economist Hrant Mikaelian has shown using data from the Russian search engine Yandex, Yerevan saw significantly higher levels of non-compliance with social restrictions than neighboring capitals Tbilisi and Baku during their respective lockdowns. 

In early May, Armenia became the first country in the region to reopen virtually all sectors of the economy—despite not seeing a flattening of the infection curve. At the time, the Armenian government argued that maintaining restrictions on social activity had proven economically unsustainable. Nonetheless, since the reopening, the country’s infection rate has continued to climb, dwarfing coronavirus figures in neighboring Georgia.

Beyond the public health response, the confusion over Armenia’s hospital capacity also highlights ongoing issues within the government and between state institutions. The extent to which government bodies are successfully coordinating and collaborating with one another in crafting the state’s pandemic response and messaging remains unclear. If, at his press conference, Pashinyan failed to mention the expansion of rural hospital capacity simply because he was not briefed about the development by the Health Ministry—as some observers have speculated—then the entire hospital bed issue is the outcome of intra-governmental communication problems.

At the same time, the confusion over Armenia’s hospital capacity also highlights a deep historical distrust in state institutions among the general public that predates Armenia’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Polling data from the Caucasus Research Resource Center from 2017, a year before the Velvet Revolution, show that the majority of respondents reported trusting only two institutions: the Armed Forces and the Armenian Apostolic Church. As a point of contrast, less than 20 percent of respondents reported “fully trusting” or “rather trusting” the president, the National Assembly, and the court system.

Though these figures have changed following the Velvet Revolution—public trust in Pashinyan topped 80 percent late last year—Armenia still grapples with widespread public distrust in state institutions, particularly the police and the judiciary. This deeply-ingrained distrust contributed both to early dismissals of government announcements about the severity of the disease and, later on, the widespread flaunting of social restrictions during the lockdown.

The Armenian public’s lack of trust in state institutions is also reflected in the ease with which conspiracy theories and fake news, including coronavirus-related misinformation, spread throughout the country and on its vibrant social media networks. Many of these stories are pushed by media platforms and civil society organizations associated with figures from the pre-revolutionary government, who retain the knowledge and resources to conduct slick and clever disinformation campaigns against the current administration. 

This latest misstep underscores the needs for a strategy to improve public communication and increase trust in state institutions—issues which, importantly, are deeply intertwined. In light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in the country, it is imperative that state institutions convince the general public to undertake and respect measures that may run counter to widespread cultural norms in a society that deeply values its traditions. As prominent Lebanese-Armenian health expert Tamar Kabakian-Khasholian has written, a “communication strategy that prioritizes the engagement of the public…is urgently needed to protect individuals and communities, as well as to save lives.”

Read more: Armenia’s Government Has a Public Communication Problem

In picture: Yerevan’s Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex, Armenia’s largest venue of its kind, is filled with beds and is on standby to start accepting COVID-19 patients. Photo by Hakob Manukyan/CivilNet.