Category: 2019

WCIT 2019: At the intersection of innovation, technology and talent

Ani Kharatian
Panorama, Armenia
Sept 30 2019

On the evening of October 6, Yerevan’s iconic Republic Square will set the scene for WCIT 2019’s opening ceremony. Spectators will be treated to an unprecedented concert blending human and computer talent like never before, WCIT’s Public Relations Team reported. 

The orchestra was created to perform for the first time at the WCIT 2019 opening ceremony. Grammy award winning DJ Armin Van Buuren will perform. The orchestra musicians are already arriving in Armenia (video). The main rehearsal for the performance will be on October 5.

The WCIT Orchestra, composed of musicians from 15 countries, which have hosted the forum in the past 40 years will perform on stage the music composed by AI in real time. The orchestra will have 100 musicians, including 30 from Armenia. The participating host nations include Canada, the Netherlands, Malaysia, the United States, Greece, Taipei, Spain, Japan, France, Denmark, Mexico, Brazil, Australia and India.

The concert will be performed under the baton of Maestro Sergey Smbatyan, the Artistic Director, and Principal Conductor of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra. The Orchestra will be accompanied by an AI software whose programmed to incorporate the musical DNA of all 15 countries, including uniquely Armenian compositions. Renowned Armenian composer Aram Khachaturyan’s most acclaimed composition, The Sabre Dance, will be brought into the digital age, with awe-inspiring 3D mapping projected onto Republic Square.

“Initially, we have intended to make the IT World Congress in Yerevan an unforgettable and remarkable event: this is one of the surprises we have prepared for the international community to show the Armenian innovative thought. As it is known, the music will be composed by artificial intelligence, which we call artificial talent. We prove that the center of the world is where there is talent and innovation, in this particular case in Yerevan’s heart, in the Republic Square,” said the president of the Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises (UATE), Alexander Yesayan.

WCIT 2019 will be held in Yerevan on October 6-9, 2019. The Congress is hosted by Armenia with the support and under the high patronage of the Government of the Republic of Armenia. The World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) was established by the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA). Its main organizing body is the Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises (UATE). 

Jermuk residents sue Armenian Ecology Minister

Emil Lazarian
News.am, Armenia
Sept 30 2019
Jermuk residents sue Armenian Ecology Minister Jermuk residents sue Armenian Ecology Minister

13:43, 30.09.2019
                  

A group of Jermuk residents filed a lawsuit against the Armenian Minister of the Environment Erik Grigoryan.

The third party is the Finance Ministry, the Lydian Armenia company and the SNCO of environmental impact assessments.

The plaintiffs demand that Erik Grigoryan be obliged to declare invalid the conclusion on the environmental impact of the modified project of the Amulsar mining complex and its approval signed on April 29, 2016.

The interests of 19 residents of Jermuk are represented by lawyer Nazeli Vardanyan. The case is pending before Judge Artsrun Mirzoyan.

World’s largest Yezidi temple opens in Armenia

Badalian Vardan
Rudaw, Kurdistan Region, Iraq
Sept 30 2019
World’s largest Yezidi temple opens in Armenia 
                                           
22 hours ago                                                                                                                                                          
Shahla Omar

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The world’s largest Yezidi temple was opened Sunday in Armenia, where the ethnoreligious group are the largest minority, in a ceremony attended by the deputy prime minister and other Yerevan officials. 

Located in Aknalich, 35 kilometers west of the capital city of Yerevan, Quba Mere Diwane consists of seven domes surrounding a central, arched roof, and houses a prayer hall, a seminary, and a museum.

First deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan used the occasion to draw comparisons between the tragic recent histories of Yezidis and Armenians.

“Unfortunately, in their modern history, Yezidis like Armenians have also fallen victim to genocide,” Mirzoyan said in a Sunday statement.

“It is symbolic and logical that the largest Yezidi temple in the world is in Armenia. Armenia is home to the Yezidi people. The children of the Yezidi people have been alongside their Armenian brothers for many fatal and heroic moments,” he added.

Quba Mere Diwane was built just a few meters away from Ziarat, Armenia’s first Yezidi temple established in 2012. Funded by Armenian-born, Russia-based Yezidi businessman Mirza Sloian, the new, 25 meter-tall temple towers over its humble predecessor.

Yezidi communities traditionally resided in the Kurdish-majority areas of modern day northern Iraq and eastern Turkey. A sizeable Yezidi community was established in what is now Armenia in the 1820s, formed by those who fled the Ottoman Empire’s persecution of non-Muslim minority groups.  Armenia’s last census, held in 2011, put the number of Yezidis in the country at over 35,000, making the ethnoreligious group Armenia’s largest minority.

Persecution and the pursuit of refuge have continued to haunt Yezidis, most recently at the hands of Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria.

Considered heretics by ISIS because of their faith, the community was subjected to particular violence by the militant group. Men were abducted and killed en masse, while women were trafficked and forced into sexual slavery. Thousands of Yezidis remain missing.

Of Iraq’s once 500,000-strong Yezidi community, some 100,000 have fled the country entirely – with a small number of them seeking refuge in Armenia – while 360,000 remain internally displaced.

Yezidi genocide in Iraq was recognized by Armenia’s parliament in January 2018.

Yezidi figures and advocacy groups have said temples like Quba Mere Diwane and the holy site of Lalish, which is currently undergoing restoration, act as sites of permanence amidst waves of displacement and help the group’s distinct cultural and religious practices from destruction.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/world/29092019
World’s largest Yezidi temple opens in Armenia                                            
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Shahla Omar
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The world’s largest Yezidi temple was opened Sunday in Armenia, where the ethnoreligious group are the largest minority, in a ceremony attended by the deputy prime minister and other Yerevan officials. 

Located in Aknalich, 35 kilometers west of the capital city of Yerevan, Quba Mere Diwane consists of seven domes surrounding a central, arched roof, and houses a prayer hall, a seminary, and a museum.

First deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan used the occasion to draw comparisons between the tragic recent histories of Yezidis and Armenians.

“Unfortunately, in their modern history, Yezidis like Armenians have also fallen victim to genocide,” Mirzoyan said in a Sunday statement.

“It is symbolic and logical that the largest Yezidi temple in the world is in Armenia. Armenia is home to the Yezidi people. The children of the Yezidi people have been alongside their Armenian brothers for many fatal and heroic moments,” he added.

Quba Mere Diwane was built just a few meters away from Ziarat, Armenia’s first Yezidi temple established in 2012. Funded by Armenian-born, Russia-based Yezidi businessman Mirza Sloian, the new, 25 meter-tall temple towers over its humble predecessor.

Yezidi communities traditionally resided in the Kurdish-majority areas of modern day northern Iraq and eastern Turkey. A sizeable Yezidi community was established in what is now Armenia in the 1820s, formed by those who fled the Ottoman Empire’s persecution of non-Muslim minority groups.  Armenia’s last census, held in 2011, put the number of Yezidis in the country at over 35,000, making the ethnoreligious group Armenia’s largest minority.

Persecution and the pursuit of refuge have continued to haunt Yezidis, most recently at the hands of Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria.

Considered heretics by ISIS because of their faith, the community was subjected to particular violence by the militant group. Men were abducted and killed en masse, while women were trafficked and forced into sexual slavery. Thousands of Yezidis remain missing.

Of Iraq’s once 500,000-strong Yezidi community, some 100,000 have fled the country entirely – with a small number of them seeking refuge in Armenia – while 360,000 remain internally displaced.

Yezidi genocide in Iraq was recognized by Armenia’s parliament in January 2018.

Yezidi figures and advocacy groups have said temples like Quba Mere Diwane and the holy site of Lalish, which is currently undergoing restoration, act as sites of permanence amidst waves of displacement and help the group’s distinct cultural and religious practices from destruction.

Fresno medical mission departs for Armenia

Chakhmakhchian Vatche
Your Central Valley, CA
Sept 29 2019
 

by: Stefani Booroojian

Posted: Sep 29, 2019 / 09:15 PM PDT / Updated: Sep 29, 2019 / 09:26 PM PDT

Leaders from the Eurasian Economic Union, Iran and Singapore gather in Armenia

Khondkarian Raffi
Foreign Brief
Sept 30 2019
  • In Daily Brief
  • October 1, 2019
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Photo: PM of Armenia

Leaders of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Iran and Singapore will convene today for the first day of the regular session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council. The signing of a new free trade agreement will top the agenda.

Both the Framework and Non-Services & Investment Agreement and the Armenia-Singapore Services & Investment Agreement will serve as benchmark agreements for cooperation between the EAEU and ASEAN.

The Eurasian Economic Union has sought to expand into the ASEAN sphere in states like Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to balance and diversify against China’s growing Belt and Road Initiative.

An example of EUEA’s efforts to create a common market with ASEAN states is the Transit Potential of the Eurasian Continent initiative. The initiative will implement large-scale infrastructure projects and transportation networks that connect Central Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

China is ASEAN’s biggest economic partner behind the United States.  Additionally, China is the largest trading partner of each of the five countries that make up the Eurasian Economic Union. While further steps are forecasted to strengthen economic ties between the EUEA and ASEAN, it is unlikely that business with China will waver for either of these blocs.

50 US doctors arrive in Armenia as part of charity medical mission

Arbi Tashjian
News.am, Armenia
Sept 30 2019
 16:03

Fifty doctors from the US have arrived in Armenia as part of the charity medical mission. During the current week, they will consult patients for free, perform surgeries and other procedures in medical centers of Yerevan and Armenian regions as well as in Artsakh in next week, Honorary Consul of Armenia in Fresno Berj Apkarian told NEWS.am Medicine.

Most of the doctors involved in the charity mission do not have Armenian roots, but expressed a desire to come to Armenia and help those who need their help.

“These people believe in the goals of our mission and want to serve people. When they see a smile on the patient’s face, this is a huge encouragement for them,” he said.

According to Apkarian, every year more and more experts and donors join the mission. Over four years, 4997 patients received medical care (including surgery) as part of the mission. This year, the mission includes five surgeons who will work in different clinics of the country, performing both small and large surgeries, as well as training local doctors, transferring their knowledge and experience to them.

According Dr. Vache Vassilian, who was involved in organizational work as part of the mission, a group of doctors is working in the village of Myasnikyan (Armavir Region); a group of dentists went to Vanadzor, another group to Gyumri, and several gynecologists to Akhuryan. Some specialists, including the famous surgeon Carl Owada, work in Yerevan. Doctors will work tomorrow in Masis, Myasnikyan, Vanadzor and Akhuryan, and from Wednesday – in the villages of Lori.

This year the mission also brought medical equipment to Armenia (including ECG devices, ultrasound, instruments for laparoscopic surgery) and medicines for more than $ 250,000. All this will be sent to the medical centers of Yerevan, Gyumri, Akhuryan, Masis, Myasnikyan, Karagerdi and, of course, in Artsakh.

As part of the mission, the operating room at the Ashtarak Medical Center was repaired for $ 325,000. The opening of the new operating room will take place on October 4.

This mission, as Apkarian noted, became possible thanks to the donations of the Armenian community in Fresno and other benefactors.

Russian expert speaks about possible collapse at Armenian Railways

Baghdasarian Karlen
ARKA, Armenia
Sept 30 2019

YEREVAN, September 30. /ARKA/. The Russian Railways and Russia’s transport ministry are “in the process of boiling”, Pavel Ivankin, Chairman of the Expert Council, Railway Transport Research Institute, said in an interview with ARKA News Agency. On September 20, RTVI reported that Russian Railways, a Russian fully state-owned railway company, was going to denounce its agreement with the Armenian authorities, since they were hobbling the work of its subsidiary – the South Caucasus Railway, which runs the Armenian Railways.  

The relations between the Russian Railways and the Armenian authorities have become tense because of searches and the criminal cases opened against the South Caucasus Railway. “Today the South Caucasus Railway’s office is paralyzed, some papers are seized and they are not given bank,” Ivankin said. “The key claim of the Armenian side is non-purpose use of financial means. But everything is still not confirmed by evidence.”

He said no official changes had been brought so far, but pressing from the Armenian side was increasingly being intensified and the claimed amount was growing – everything started from a ridiculous sum, but it has grown to USD 60 million.  
In his words, terms of the concession contract are quite transparent, and if there are claims, it is possible to look through it.
“Taking into account the fact that the administration of the South Caucasus Railway has been changed trice by Russia, I guess there could be some management mistakes, but this all is mostly connected with clams of the managing company, i.e. the Russian Railways toward the South Caucasus Railway, but there never were faults in complying with requirements from the Armenian side,” Ivanking said.  

Before the arrival of the new Armenian government, he said, all problems were considered at an international level and “everybody was happy about that”.   

Ivanking said that it is impossible to operate under such a pressure and that the matter will be solved this or other way before the beginning of the next year.

“Taking into consideration how things are developing now, I can say that this will not last for years, and it is necessary to understand that one year has already passed since the moment when this began, and later Russia may receive real claims from Armenia for breaching the concession terms, and if so, considerable fines may be imposed,” he said. “And therefore, the Russian side want to race against time not to give grounds to Armenia to place on record any failure of fulfillment of concession terms.”  
If the situation develops to absurd, he said, and concession contract terminates, then Armenia will be left with two options – to take trains back on leasing with a right of repurchase or without it, or to purchase them elsewhere.   

Any case, he said, these are quite significant additional expenses for Armenia, and to prevent that it would be reasonable to go back to retain the contract and continue cooperating. But if everything is driven to absurd, then a certain collapse will happen in three to six months.  

South Caucasus Railway, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, runs Armenian Railway, which was handed over to the South Caucasus Railway on February 13, 2008 for 30-year concession management with a right to prolong the management term for other 10 years. –0—


Armenia slams Ukraine for statement that does not contribute to peace process in Nagorno-Karabakh

Ani Basmajian
ARKA, Armenia
Sept 30 2019

YEREVAN, September 30. /ARKA/. Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has slammed today Ukraine for using the phrase ‘occupied territories’ in reference to Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

A foreign ministry spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan said all unilaterally-made statements on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which contradict the wording of the OSCE Minsk Group, which is the only internationally mandated body to mediate the talks on the conflict, do not contribute to the peace process.

On September 27, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, citing ‘repeated’ appeals of its partners, reminded its citizens of the procedures for entry and exit to / from foreign countries. “This, in particular, concerns the entry into the occupied territory of Nagorno-Karabakh (Azerbaijan Republic) and adjacent areas, as well as the entry into the occupied territories of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region / South Ossetia (Georgia).

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum.

On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the military operations. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed.  Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year.

In the early hours of April 2, 2016 Azerbaijan, in gross violation of the agreements launched a large-scale offensive along the entire Line of Contact between the armed forces of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan, using heavy weaponry, artillery and combat aircraft. Only thanks to the decisive actions of the Defense Army, which gave a fitting rebuff, on April 5, Azerbaijan was forced to ask, as in 1994, through the mediation of the Russian Federation for the cessation of the hostilities. It has been generally maintained, despite the recurrent violations by the Azerbaijani side. -0-

Asbarez: WCIT 2019 Keynote Speakers Announced

Karakhanian Suren
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September 27, 2019

WCIT 2019’s keynote speakers

YEREVAN—This October, world-renowned business executives, policymakers, government officials, academics and more will be in Yerevan, Armenia, to discuss the transformation of information and communications technology with attendees of the 23rd World Congress on Information Technology. Kim Kardashian West, entrepreneur, beauty mogul, producer and author, Alexis Ohanian, Co-Founder of Reddit and Initialized Capital, Gary Vaynerchuk, Chairman of VaynerX, and Narayana Murthy, Founder of Infosys are among this year’s ten special keynote speakers. More than eighty distinguished moderators and panelists will also round out the 2019 agenda. WCIT will be held from October 6 to 9.

The event will commence with a pre-opening celebration on October 6 in Republic Square, including a pre-opening concert that will be led by the WCIT Orchestra and will feature the world’s first performance of artificial intelligence music. The music will be composed in real time, as part of a collaboration between the orchestra and the international superstar DJ Armin Van Buuren. The official opening ceremony will take place on October 7, with an intimate conversation between the keynote speaker and Ohanian to follow.

On October 8, at 9 a.m., attendees will learn how Vaynerchuk created an empire on leadership and motivational speaking. This speaking session will be followed by special sessions: the Ministerial Roundtable and Mayoral Roundtable: Smart Cities. During the Ministerial Roundtable session, attendees will explore the lessons that successful nations have learned in order to manage national digital transformation and keep the digital world from balkanizing. During the Mayoral Roundtable on Smart Cities, a select panel of distinguished worldwide city mayors, urban planners, and infrastructure developers will explore how to leverage information and communications technology to provide city-dwellers with comprehensive public services.

The panelists will also discuss how to strike a balance between the technological promises of a brighter tomorrow and the freedom, privacy, and dignity of their citizenry. The World Information Technology & Services Alliance’s ICT Excellence Awards will take place on the final day, October 9, followed by a conversation on AI and genomics. With the goal of identifying the most outstanding ICT users, the WITSA ICT Excellence Awards honor organizations that have demonstrated exceptional achievement in using ICT to benefit societies, governments, individuals, organizations, and the private sector.

At the R/Evolution when AI Crosses Genomics session, attendees will discuss how AI and genomics will soon fundamentally transform healthcare, agriculture, and human reproduction. The session will also explore how values are added to the decision-making processes of these technologies and will discuss how to enjoy the benefits from the intelligent and judicious applications while managing the risks of rogues and renegades.

To view the full agenda, please visit the website.

For more information about the 23rd World Congress on Information Technology, and to purchase  discounted tickets, visit the website. Individuals will receive a 20 percent discount with promotion code: joinWCIT20%_INc5.

WCIT 2019 will be held in Yerevan on October 6 to 9. The Congress is hosted by Armenia with the support and under the high patronage of the Government of the Republic of Armenia. The World Congress on Information Technology was established by the World Information Technology and Services Alliance. Its main organizing body is the Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises.

ARF Delegation Meets with Armenia’s High Commissioner of Diaspora Affairs

Edgar Tavakalian
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September 27, 2019

From l to r: ARF-ER CC member Ani Tchaghlasian, High Commissioner of Diaspora Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Zareh Sinanyan, ARF-ER CC member John Mkrtschjan

RIDGEFIELD, New Jersey—A delegation representing the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Central Committee of the Eastern United States met with the High Commissioner of Diaspora Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Zareh Sinanyan at Sts. Vartanantz Armenian Apostolic Church’s community center.

The issues discussed at the meeting included repatriation of Diaspora Armenians, the creation of an atmosphere further fostering foreign business investments in Armenia, including a long-overdue U.S.-Armenia double tax treaty, as well as broader issues pertaining to Armenia-Diaspora relations.

From l to r: ARF-ER CC member Valot Atakhanian, Very Reverend Sahag Yemishian, High Commissioner of Diaspora Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Zareh Sinanyan, ARF-ER CC member Ani Tchaghlasian

The ARF delegation was comprised of Central Committee vice-chair Ani Tchaghlasian, John Mkrtschjan, and Valot Atakhanian.

Prior to the meeting, Sinanyan toured the church and community center, accompanied by the Very Reverend Sahag Yemishian and members of the ARF delegation.