Author: Maral Chavushian

Bioxil-2 disinfectant created by Armenian scientists is an effective mean of fighting COVID-19

Maral Chavushian

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 15:10, 4 June, 2020

YEREVAN, JUNE 4, ARMENPRESS. A new generation composite disinfectant, called Bioxil-2, created by scientists at the A.B. Nalbandian Institute of Chemical Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, can be used successfully for disinfecting the territories, spaces and items in the fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the National Academy of Sciences told Armenpress.

Bioxil-2 is based on active oxygen, does not contain chlorine and is highly effective disinfectant. It doesn’t leave a color, is environmentally safe, is not affecting the human health and is non-toxic.

The disinfectant has been tested in the healthcare ministry’s Disinfection Center CJSC and the National Center for Fighting Tuberculosis SNCO, as well as in enterprises producing different types of food. It has proven to be highly effective.

The Institute donated 1 tons of Bioxil-2 to the ministry of emergency situations for preventive measures.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

Georgian official expects apology from Armenia’s health minister

Maral Chavushian
Panorama, Armenia

Director of the Center for Infectious Diseases, AIDS and Clinical Immunology of Georgia Tengiz Tsertsvadze called ‘incorrect’ the remarks of Armenian Health Minister Arsen Torosyan about the epidemiological situation in Georgia. According to Interpressnews report, Tsertsvadze suggested Arsen Torosyan must either substantiate the grounds for calling into doubt the accuracy of the official statistical data of Covid19 in Georgia, or apologize.

“We don’t think that senior officials should make the similar statements without any arguments. COVID-19 patients are identified and registered according to the highest international standards, transparently, and their high credibility has not yet been questioned by any international institution or expert. We think that the Minister should either substantiate his incorrect assessments, or at least disavow his statement and apologize,” Tengiz Tsertsvadze as quoted by the source.

The Georgian official also noted that with current statistics of Covid-19 in Armenia the statement of the minister is at least ‘ridiculous.’ We invite Arsen Torosyan and all the interested persons to arrive in Georgia and we are ready to share them the country’s experience in COVID-19 management, ”he added.
As reported earlier,  Armenian Health Minister Arsen Torosyan called into doubt the official statistics of Georgia about the coronavirus cases and asked if the death rate of pneumonia was included in it.

Armenia attorney: If it weren’t for police, I would probably be behind bars now

Maral Chavushian
News.am, Armenia
Armenia attorney: If it weren’t for police, I would probably be behind bars now Armenia attorney: If it weren’t for police, I would probably be behind bars now

13:12, 23.05.2020
                  

YEREVAN. – My family is being harassed for the past two day. At first glance, it seemed like the matter was domestic, but in reality it turned out not to be so. Lawyer Tigran Atanesyan said this Saturday, referring to the attack on his house.

“Right next to my house is the old movie theater of Kanaker; it is currently a recording studio. There is a small playground there, my children always go and play [there]. However, the owner’s son, who is 40 years old, demands, says that my children no longer have the right to play there,” he said.

According to Atanesyan, he has no relations with that person, and there are bars separating his house and that institution. “On the second day, they decide to completely block those bars, my wife calls, I say, ‘Let them block, don’t pay attention.’ Meanwhile, seeing that we are not giving in to provocation, they start cursing—with the worst sexual insults—at my 7-year-old son, who is looking, from the first-floor window, what they are doing (…): They want to hit my window, my wife runs out, for 5-6 minutes they make the most insidious curses at my wife; my children, everyone locks themselves in the house,” he said.

According to Atanesyan, they attacked his house, said they would demolish the house and again mentioned that he was a lawyer. “My wife calls me, I rush home, I realize it’s a provocation. There is no excuse for attacking the house, even if those people had a problem with me; but I again say that there is no problem. I called the police, and they reached our house almost at the same time as me, the incident now continued with me. They attack me, and if it weren’t for the police, I would probably be behind bars today because I didn’t know how all that would have ended after the swearing. One [of them] is a well-known drug dealer, and the others were nothing—like him,” he said.

The lawyer noted that this incident was related to his professional activities, and also said that he had applied to a security service to provide round-the-clock security around his house.

“But if someone tries to frighten me with this, he is sorely mistaken. I will fight against this disgrace with double the energy,” he said.

To note, the press reported on Friday that Tigran Atanesyan’s house was attacked, and insulting remarks were made against his family, and they had attempted to injure his 7-year-old son.

PM Pashinyan visits intensive gardening business in Ararat province

Maral Chavushian

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 11:15,

YEREVAN, MAY 23, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited an intensive gardening business in the Azatavan community in the Province of Ararat to get acquainted with the agricultural work.

Minister of Economy Tigran Khachatryan, Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Suren Papikyan and Governor of Ararat Garik Sargsyan accompanied the PM.

The owner of the facility said he has benefited from the government’s support program and he currently employs 12 workers, with the number of employees expected to reach 50 during harvest season.

The farmer said he is willing to expand his garden but the owners of neighboring lands are either unwilling to sell or they can’t find the owners at all.

The PM said he finds the absence of large lands to be a major problem.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

Coronavirus: Armenia reports 322 new cases, 293 recoveries on May 22

Maral Chavushian
Panorama, Armenia

Armenia has confirmed 322 new coronavirus infections, bringing the total number of cases to 5,928 in the country as of 11 a.m. Friday, May 22, the Ministry of Health reports.

293 more patients have recovered from the disease with the total number of recoveries now standing at 2,874.

The number of COVID-19 fatalities has increased by 4 to 74.

The latest victims were 52 (male), 81 (male), 61 (male), 82 (male) years old and had underlying chronic health conditions, the ministry said.

In addition, one case of death was recorded on Thursday when the patient had tested positive for COVID-19, but the cause of death was another disease. The total of such cases is 28.

The number of active cases is 2,952.

As many as 47,654 tests have been performed in the country since the disease outbreak.

The ministry once again urges you to:

• Stay at home

• Limit physical contact

• Take care of personal hygiene

• Wash hands for at least 20 seconds, especially before eating and after coming home

• Avoid public areas and transportation as much as possible

• Maintain at least 1-meter distance when speaking to someone

• Inform a doctor when experiencing flu-like symptoms instead of resorting to self-treatment

• Upon returning from a country where the coronavirus has a large spread, practice self-isolation for 14 days while being in touch with your polyclinic doctor

• Regularly check your temperature while informing your doctor of the results

• Don’t panic and follow your doctor’s advice

Source Panorama.am

Noubar Afeyan updates Armenian President on testing of coronavirus vaccine

Maral Chavushian
MediaMax, Armenia

Noubar Afeyan has told Armen Sarkissian that the company has got the interim data for the first phase of work and the first testing has been successful, said the Armenian presidential press service.

 

Moderna announced on May 18 that it was launching phase 1 of the vaccine testing.   

 

In particular, it involved 45 volunteers, in all of whom the vaccination elicited antibodies.

 

The volunteers, divided into groups by 15, received doses of 25mg, 100mg and 250mg once in 28 days.

 

Previously, Noubar Afeyan announced that the clinical trial of the COVID-19 vaccine, involving 600 people, would begin in July.


1 billion and 66 million AMD donated to anti-coronavirus efforts in Armenia

Maral Chavushian

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 18:43,

YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Finance informs that a total of 1 billion and 66 million drams has been donated to the Armenian government for its anti-coronavirus efforts, ARMENPRESS reports the government said.

The treasury account (900005001947) was opened on March 17th for citizens and organizations willing to make donations.

The government said a total of 4153 payments were made since.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

Why “The Land for Promise” Formula Will Never be Accepted by Armenia & Nagorno Karabakh

Maral Chavushian
Indrastra
May 7 2020

IndraStra Global Thursday,
By Dr. Benyamin Poghosyan
Chairman, Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies, Yerevan, Armenia

Despite the worldwide standstill brought by the COVID–19 pandemic, conflict resolutions remain among the key priorities of the international community. This is true for the Nagorno Karabakh conflict too. Without going deep into history it’s worthy to recall the key milestones of the conflict. The Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Region declared its intention to leave Soviet Azerbaijan and join Soviet Armenia in February 1988. In the final days of the Soviet Union, Nagorno Karabakh organized a referendum and declared its independence. Almost immediately Azerbaijan launched a military attack against Nagorno Karabakh seeking to crash the newly established republic. The hostilities came to an end in May 1994 and since then the negotiations have been launched under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group with Russia, the US, and France as Co-chairs. The mediators have put forward several proposals including the so-called “Madrid Document” which was submitted in late 2007. Since then several modifications of that plan have been discussed, including the Kazan document of June 2011 and the “Lavrov Plan” of 2014 and 2016. In their March and December, 2019 statements OSCE Minsk group Co-chairs again reiterated that any solution should be based on those ideas. 

However, the Madrid document and its modified versions are essentially based on the inherently flawed “Land for Promise” formula. They effectively suggest that the Nagorno Karabakh Republic should concede large territories to Azerbaijan only to receive a promise by Azerbaijan and the international community to hold a legally binding _expression_ of the will to fix the legal status of Nagorno Karabakh in indefinite future. This is neither fair nor symmetric deal. Politicians, international relations pundits, and even ordinary citizens understand what does a promise mean in geopolitics, and especially in the current world indulged in great power competition. If both conventional wisdom and complex strategic research indicate anything it is the fact that no state will give land and endanger its security only to receive the promise in return. 

Meanwhile, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov seemed to push forward this idea during April 21, 2020 roundtable discussion with the participants of the Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund in the videoconference format. He stated that since April 2019 negotiations have been underway based on another modification of the Madrid document. According to Lavrov, this new version envisages the land concessions by the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and opening up communications as the first stage of the settlement while other phases will be implemented in an indefinite future. Apparently, Azerbaijan is ready to accept such a solution and has recently amplified its pressure on Armenia and Karabakh. On May 2, 2020, the Azerbaijani Defense minister has stated that the possibility of renewed hostilities has increased dramatically, and this statement may be described as a vaguely veiled threat towards Armenia. 

However, it should be emphasized that pressure over Armenia and the Nagorno Karabakh Republic will never force the majority of society to accept this “unfair and asymmetric deal”. The Co-chair countries and Azerbaijan should understand that even if any leader signs such an agreement it will have zero effect on the ground. There is a stark difference between grand ceremonies of agreements’ signature in some luxurious European hotels and the de facto withdrawal of troops. Armenia and the Nagorno Karabakh Republic’s defense and intelligence community will never allow endangering the security of the state and population and if it will be left with the only alternative of war, it will prefer the war. In this scenario, the devastating hostilities most probably will not be confined along the Azerbaijan – Nagorno Karabakh Republic borders and will spread over the territories of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Given the Armenia – Russia, and Azerbaijan – Turkey alliances it may create a dangerous possibility of Turkey – Russia (NATO – Russia) military clash. Taking into account the growing US-China tensions and uncertainty over the future transformations of the world order, neither US/EU nor Russia should be interested in such an outcome.

Experts may argue if there are any viable alternatives to this scenario. Many in Armenia and the Nagorno Karabakh Republic including representatives of the political parties and other groups argue that the Karabakh conflict has been already solved and the only task for the Armenian side is to keep the current status quo indefinitely. They believe that after an additional 25 years of negotiations the new generations of Azerbaijanis will simply forget the pre – 1994 status quo and the current situation will be a new normal for them. 

However, we should take into account the fact that Azerbaijan is not ready to accept the current status quo for another 25 years and threaten to change it through the war in case if negotiations fail. Thus, we face a situation when both keeping the status quo and any attempts to force a peace deal based on the flawed “Madrid principles and land for promise” formula may result in the resumption of hostilities.

The only way to avoid devastating war with regional spillover effects is to abandon the unrealistic “land for promise” formula and elaborate a fair and symmetric deal. The Minsk Group Co-chairs should accept the fact that the cornerstone of any such solution should be the immediate determination of the final legal status of the Nagorno Karabakh in parallel with the settlement of other thorny issues such as land swaps and return of IDPs and refugees. Anything else will result in either resumption of hostilities or the prolongation of the status quo.

About the Author:
Dr. Benyamin Poghosyan is Founder and Chairman, Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies and also, Executive Director, Political Science Association of Armenia since 2011. He was Vice President for Research – Head of the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense Research University in Armenia in August 2016 – February 2019. He joined Institute for National Strategic Studies (predecessor of NDRU) in March 2009 as a Research Fellow and was appointed as INSS Deputy Director for research in November 2010. Before this, he was the Foreign Policy Adviser of the Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia. Dr. Poghosyan has also served as a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences and was an adjunct professor at Yerevan State University and in the European Regional Educational Academy.

His primary research areas are the geopolitics of the South Caucasus and the Middle East, US – Russian relations and their implications for the region. He is the author of more than 70 Academic papers and OP-EDs in different leading Armenian and international journals. In 2013, Dr. Poghosyan was appointed as a “Distinguished Research Fellow” at the US National Defense University – College of International Security Affairs and also, he is a graduate from the US State Department’s Study of the US Institutes for Scholars 2012 Program on US National Security policymaking. He holds a Ph.D. in History and is a graduate from the 2006 Tavitian Program on International Relations at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.            

Iran building power stations in Karabakh – outrage on Azerbaijani social media, Baku says project carried out with its consent

Maral Chavushian
JAM News
May 7 2020
07.05.2020
    JAMnews, Baku

Azerbaijani social media users are angry that Iran has begun the construction of two hydroelectric power stations called Khudaferin and Qiz Qalasi across the Araz River.

The fact is that part of the mounts and bridges included in these structures are in the Jabrail region of Azerbaijan, which is now under the control of Armenia as a result of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

In Azerbaijan, any contacts of neighboring countries with the unrecognized Karabakh republic are always perceived with indignation. And this time, many were outraged that “Iran is building bridges in the occupied territory of Azerbaijan.” But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs assures that everything is done with the knowledge and consent of the Azerbaijani government.

The most patriotic and nationalistic citizens of Azerbaijan already have a lot of complaints against Iran. In particular, the situation of the Azerbaijani national minority living there and Iran’s relations with Armenia (some believe that these relations are too warm).

Once news about the construction came out, angry publications immediately began to appear on social and other media platforms.

Journalist Mubariz Azerbaijanli notes that Azerbaijan has always supported Iran fraternally, while Iran, in his words, in turn has responded with “black ingratitude.”

“Iran, which verbally recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and itself stealthily supplies oil and electricity to the Armenian separatists through Araz, should not throw at the feet of the Armenians the economic, political, religious and cultural bridges existing between it and Azerbaijan,” he writes.


Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Khalaf Khalafov says that nothing “terrible” is happening, and Iran’s actions do not infringe on the interests of Azerbaijan.

The diplomat says an agreement to continue building hydropower plants and hydroelectric power plants over the Araz River was signed between Iran and Azerbaijan in 2016.

“This agreement is based on the principles of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the two states. The Iranian side perceives part of the fastenings and bridges that fall on the territory of Azerbaijan within the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,” Khalafov explains.



Opposition Bright Armenia faction: What happened in parliament shall have political consequences

Maral Chavushian
News.am, Armenia
May 8 2020

17:06, 08.05.2020