Category: 2021

Armen Sarkissian meets with Rustam Muradov, highlights return of Armenian POWs

Toneyan Mark

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 18:02,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian received Commander of the Russian peacekeeping forces in Nagorno Karabakh, Lieutenant-General Rustam Muradov.  Russian embassy’s military attaché, Colonel Andrey Grischuk and special representative of the President of Artsakh Boris Avagyan also attended the meeting, ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the President’s Office.

Rustam Muradov informed the Armenian President about the implementation process of the tasks of the Russian peacekeeping forces, emphasizing the warm attitude of the population of Nagorno Karabakh towards the Russian servicemen.

Armen Sarkissian highly assessed the role of the Russian peacekeepers in Artsakh and wished them success in their service.

The interlocutors discussed issues related with the return of Armenian war prisoners and other civilian detainees kept in Azerbaijan, as well as discovering and returning to the Armenian side those missing in action. President Sarkissian assessed hindering of the searches by the Azerbaijani side as inadmissible and highlighted the solution of this extremely sensitive issue.

Electronic tips: Idram and IDBank continue developing the customer’s digital experience

Chakhmakhchian Vatche

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 17:56,

Non-cash and contactless payments have reached a stable place in our lives: these make the shopping process easier and more convenient. Idram & IDBank alliance has a great contribution in  the development  of this direction, and Idram’s QR contactless payment system is the leader of such  platforms in the Armenian market.

But there are such segments or fields in the market where it seems like the cash should stay because of their features. We speak  particularly about the tips we give in restaurants and cafes. But in Idram they assure that by paying the bill throughQR, it is possible to make the tips electronic: moreover, now the electronic tips successfully develop.

Grigori Yolyan, the commercial director of Idram tells about the electronic tips that are best integrated into the Armenian reality.

  • Yolyan, please tell us, what is the electronic tips?
  • I’m sure that each of us wants to give tips to the waiter after having a good time in a restaurant or café. That’s a world-accepted thing and even a code of conduct: when you are satisfied with the service, you want to thank the waiter. And very often, when making a non-cash payment, you must leave the tips by cash, which is not so convenient. Many of our customers were mentioning this inconvenience. By developing the system of QR and NFC payments, we decided to make the whole process of payment non-cash – both paying the bill and giving tips. I’m happy to mention that we managed to do that successfully, and since the very beginning of the pandemic, we actively develop this opportunity in a big number of restaurants and cafes where it is possible to make a contactless payment via Idram. When paying the bill, the client is suggested to choose the amount of tips to leave: 5%, 10%, 15% or type any other amount that the client wants to live as tips.
  • Is that amount transferred with the bill?
  • The payment process for the client is not changed: he does not take any additional action, and the system automatically separates the bills of restaurant/café and the tips. This means that from the amount paid by the client the restaurant gets its bill and the waiter gets the tips.
  • At the moment it is possible to make QR/NFC payments via Idram at more than 4400 points of sale, from which 1000 are favorite restaurants and cafes in Armenia. Why is the electronic tips service not available everywhere?
  • Technically we can activate the electronic tips wherever they have the Idram QR payment opportunity, particularly in the points of sale where our QR is printed directly on the bill receipt, which is given to the client to pay the bill.

However, in addition to our readiness and technical ability, the consent of the restaurant or café is required too. Each of our partners has his system and policy of encouraging the waiters. Our goal  is to provide them with modern solutions of contactless payments, and the partner decides which tools to use.

At the same time, it is important to us, as a fintech, contactless and non-cash payments provider, to develop the everyday experience of the customer continuously, especially when hundred thousands of customers get advantage of our solutions every month. We see that from the points where it is possible to leave electronic tips, the customer experience is more positive as we get many suggestions to expand the number of places with such opportunity. Here I have to mention that our partner restaurants and cafes also aim to improve the quality of their services and look for more modern solutions: here is where our interests coincide, and the number of places with electronic tips is growing.

  • How much is this solution loved and known by the customers? Is it measurable?
  • First time we have input the opportunity of electronic tips before the pandemic – in the end of 2019, but during the pandemic many new restaurants and cafes have joined this service. The service started expanding about one year ago. Each new service takes time, until the customers start trying, adapting. In case of electronic tips that period was a lot shorter: the service was really required and now thousands of customers use it monthly, whose satisfaction we see in the feedbacks. In addition, as I’ve already mentioned, the service grows rapidly, it is becoming available in more and more locations: the advantages and convenience of this service is appreciated both by owners of restaurants and cafes and customers.
  • Are the other companies providing contactless payments offer an opportunity of electronic tips in the Armenian market?
  • As I know, the solution that we offer does not have alternatives in Armenia at this moment. But I have to mention that it’s not just about the Armenian market: pilot projects of e-tips input can be counted on fingers in the whole world, this segment of the market is just gaining momentum. I’m happy that here also we are leaders in the market.
  • What is required to input Idram system as a payment method, or if at current restaurant/café it is already possible to make payments through Idram, how to connect the e-tips system?
  • To receive payments through Idram, the restaurant/café management needs to contact with the commercial department of Idram. The integration of system can be completed easily, without additional problems, in a short period of time. And the activation of e-tips service is easy to complete too, especially if in that location payments via Idram are already available, we only have to activate the e-tips service and let the restaurant/café give an opportunity to their clients to make contactless payments. If necessary, the technical support team of Idram partners is ready to help you and answer your questions. You can contact us via phone: 060 707 700 or email: [email protected] everyday from 09:30 until 00:30.

CivilNet: Nikol Pashinyan Calls on His Supporters to Gather at Republic Square

Maral Takmazian
CIVILNET.AM

15:18

By Varak Ghazarian

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the Iskander missile complexes purchased from Russia were defective. This provoked an outrage within the military and the opposition, who believe that the prime minister is trying to find reasons to justify his failures during the Karabakh War.

The First Deputy Chief of the General Staff Tiran Khachatryan was dismissed due to the comments he made regarding the Iskander missiles complexes shortly after.

Earlier today, the Armenian Armed Forces General Staff demanded Pashinan’s resignation with a statement signed by the entire leadership including the Chief of the General Staff, high commanders of the military, and the heads of all departments.

“The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, the government, will no longer be able to make adequate decisions in this critical situation for the Armenian people,” the statement read.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces also expressed its “resolute protest” against the dismissal of Tiran Khachatryan, who was recently dismissed by President Armen Sarkissian at the request of the Armenian Prime Minister.

In response to the statement released, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated on his Facebook account at 12:12 PM that “I consider the statement by the General Staff to be an attempt at a military coup. I am inviting all our supporters to Republic Square right now. I will address the public LIVE in the near future.” 

Shortly after, at 12:28, Nikol Pashinyan started his Facebook LIVE. During his LIVE, Pashinyan stated that he considers the statement set forth by the General Staff as an attempt at a military coup, and he invited all of his supporters to the Republic Square as soon as possible. 

Pashinyan also said that he has reportedly removed Onik Gasparyan, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, and will shortly appoint a new chief of staff.

Furthermore, the President of Nagorno-Karabakh Arayik Harutyunyan is in Yerevan and stated that he was ready to fulfill his mediating mission in overcoming the political crisis in the country. 

“I am ready to conduct a mediation process to overcome the political crisis in Armenia,” stated the Nagorno-Karabakh president. He continued, stating that “Our defeat will be much deeper and fatal. The blood we have shed is enough, now is the time to put an end to the crises.”

Pashinyan has since joined the group of supporters at Republic Square and is marching the streets of Yerevan with his supporters.

On the other hand, Vazgen Manukyan, the Homeland Salvation Movement Prime Minister candidate Vazgen Manukyan states that the movement “welcomes the statement of the General Staff of Armenia’s Armed Forces and expresses its support for the Armed Forces as the only & selfless Guarantor of our country. “

Additionally, Vazgen Manukyan called on citizens to gather at Liberty Square at 3:00 PM local time to express their solidarity with the Armed Forces.

Erdogan slammed, will open a fascist ‘Grey Wolves’ school in occupied Artsakh

Boris Nahapetian
Feb 23 2021

 11:43 AM CST  BY STEVE SWEENEY

Turkish “Grey Wolves” combine nationalism, racism, the fight against equal rights for women, for a self-claimed Turkish superiority. MENA Studies

Anti-fascist forces in Turkey blasted authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s links to right-wing paramilitary death squads today after reports that he will open a new Grey Wolves school in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.

He will lay the foundation for the building alongside Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev in the city of Shushi, which was taken by Azeri forces in November 2020 after a three-day battle.

Turkey’s neofascist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli pitched the idea earlier this year, but the school’s construction is seen as a deeply provocative move as the Grey Wolves have been responsible for the extrajudicial killings of minorities, including Armenians. Until the Azeri invasion, the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh had been run by its Armenian majority since 1994.

A spokesman for Turkey’s United Fighting Forces (BGM), a newly formed coalition of communist and leftist parties that includes Figen Yuksekdag’s Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), Partizan, and the Revolutionary Party, condemned the move.

“The Grey Wolves are a dark stain on Turkey’s blood-soaked history and responsible for the massacre of thousands of Kurds, Alevis and minorities, and attacks on trade unionists, communists, and progressives,” he said.

“Tayyip Erdogan and his fascist alliance will be defeated by a united struggle of all layers of the oppressed, There is a big explosion of anger against fascism seen in the struggle at Bogazici [university] — but also at the deepening economic crisis which is pushing more into poverty.”

The Grey Wolves organization is seen as the paramilitary wing of the MHP, responsible for thousands of deaths in Turkey. Funded and trained by the CIA as part of the Operation Gladio “stay behind movements” after World War II, it targets leftist movements and those that deviate from its strict Sunni Islamic ideals.

The group’s most notorious attack came in December 1978, when more than 100 of the country’s Alevi community were killed in a 10-day pogrom known as the Maras Massacre, which led directly to the 1980 military coup.

Grey Wolves founder Alparslan Turkes had strong links with the so-called “founding father” of the World Uighur Congress, Isa Yusuf Alptekin. They both campaigned for the eradication of communism among the Turkic populations of Soviet Central Asia and Xinjiang.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Grey Wolves set up training camps for young people in central Asia, but having failed to attract support, the group moved to China’s Xinjiang province, where it targeted recruitment among the Uighur community and supported the East Turkestan independence movement.

Morning Star

https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/erdogan-slammed-will-open-a-fascist-grey-wolves-school-in-occupied-artsakh/?fbclid=IwAR1jBxR5Wx_P771nJrRi7ix_QO1GHQ8QgmnNST0ZE2QzwxN85EIpufHKa3M

Anti-fascist forces blast Turkish president over plans to open Grey Wolves school in Nagorno-Karabakh

Jane Topchian
Morning Star, UK
Feb 23 2021

ANTI-FASCIST forces in Turkey blasted authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s links to right-wing paramilitary death squads today after reports that he will open a new Grey Wolves school in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.

He will lay the foundation for the building alongside Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev in the city of Shushi, which was taken by Azeri forces in November 2020 after a three-day battle.

Turkey’s neofascist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli pitched the idea earlier this year, but the school’s construction is seen as a deeply provocative move as the Grey Wolves have been responsible for the extrajudicial killings of minorities, including Armenians. Until the Azeri invasion, the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh had been run by its Armenian majority since 1994.

A spokesman for Turkey’s United Fighting Forces (BGM), a newly formed coalition of communist and leftist parties that includes Figen Yuksekdag’s Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), Partizan and the Revolutionary Party, condemned the move.

“The Grey Wolves are a dark stain on Turkey’s blood-soaked history and responsible for the massacre of thousands of Kurds, Alevis and minorities, and attacks on trade unionists, communists and progressives,” he said.

“Tayyip Erdogan and his fascist alliance will be defeated by a united struggle of all layers of the oppressed, There is a big explosion of anger against fascism seen in the struggle at Bogazici [university] — but also at the deepening economic crisis which is pushing more into poverty.”

The Grey Wolves organisation is seen as the paramilitary wing of the MHP, responsible for thousands of deaths in Turkey. Funded and trained by the CIA as part of the Operation Gladio “stay behind movements” after World War II, it targets leftist movements and those that deviate from its strict Sunni Islamic ideals.

The group’s most notorious attack came in December 1978, when more than 100 of the country’s Alevi community were killed in a 10-day pogrom known as the Maras Massacre, which led directly to the 1980 military coup.

Grey Wolves founder Alparslan Turkes had strong links with the so-called “founding father” of the World Uighur Congress, Isa Yusuf Alptekin. They both campaigned for the eradication of communism among the Turkic populations of Soviet Central Asia and Xinjiang.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Grey Wolves set up training camps for young people in central Asia, but having failed to attract support, the group moved to China’s Xinjiang province, where it targeted recruitment among the Uighur community and supported the East Turkestan independence movement.

  occupied-artsakh  

Yeghishe Kirakosyan: Azerbaijan blatantly disregards its obligations under international human rights treaties

Manouk Vasilian
Panorama, Armenia
Feb 24 2021

On 23 February Armenia’s Representative before the ECHR Yeghishe Kirakosyan and his deputy Liparit Drmeyan met with the H.E. Mrs. Inga Stanytė-Toločkienė, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to the Republic of Armenia, H.E. Mr Patrick Svensson, Ambassador of Sweden to Republic of Armenia and H.E. Mr. Paweł Cieplak, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Poland to the Republic of Armenia.

During the meeting, the ambassadors were informed about the human rights violations unleashed by Azerbaijan during the 44-day war in Artsakh. One of the key topics of discussion was the measures taken by the representative’s office to protect the rights of the captives currently held in Azerbaijan. In addition, the ambassadors’ attention was drawn to the fact that Azerbaijani government blatantly disregards its obligations under the international human rights treaties, namely the European Convention on Human Rights, the representative’s office reported.

Kirakosyan emphasized, that from the very beginning of the war a number of interim measure requests have been submitted to the European Court of Human Rights to protect the rights of prisoners of war and civilian captives. He further elaborated on the interstate application lodged against Azerbaijan with regard to the violations of rights guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Members of the meeting also discussed the results registered by the Constitutional Reform Commission and further actions: The ambassadors offered their support in the implementation of further constitutional reforms.

Armenian Ombudsman’s Office sends notice to prosecuting body over Ara Saghatelyan’s case

Badalian Vardan
Panorama, Armenia
Feb 24 2021


The Armenian Human Rights Defender’s (Ombudsman) Office has sent a notice to the body conducting criminal proceedings in connection with the arrest of Ara Saghatelyan, a former chief of staff of the National Assembly, the office told Panorama.am on Wednesday.

It said that immediately after the arrests made by the law enforcement authorities as part of a criminal case concerning a fake Facebook page, the Human Rights Defender’s Office received an alarm from a lawyer.

“As a result of the monitoring of social media and news outlets, records were made by the lawyers in connection with the launch of the criminal case and the arrests. A visit was paid to those involved in the case, including Ara Saghatelyan.

“After the visit, the lawyers also submitted a written application to the ombudsman.

“Based on the outcomes of the visit and the complaints made, a notice has been sent to the prosecuting body,” the office said.

Earlier on Monday, lawyer Robert Hayrapetyan stated that Ara Saghatelyan is a political prisoner “under all the criteria established by the PACE”.

Armenia’s former Ambassador to the Holy See Mikayel Minasyan also denounced the charges brought against him as “politically motivated.”

The lawyers also stated that the court ruled to arrest Saghatelyan for two months in the wake of political pressure. 

Opposition activists demanding Pashinyan’s resignation enter University of Economics

Alex Nanijanian
Panorama, Armenia
Feb 24 2021


A group of opposition activists on Wednesday headed to the Armenian State University of Economics after rallying at the Yerevan State University and urging students to join the protest demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Reaching the university area, they demanded that the bar gates be opened for the students to join their act of disobedience.

One of the young members of the opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF, Dashnaktsutyun) party, Gerasim Vardanyan, managed to climb over the bar gates and enter the university yard.

Large special police forces have been deployed in the area and do not allow the protesters to enter the university building, pushing them away from the gates.

Police officers said that the gates were closed at the request of the university administration by the university security staff.

On the other side of the gate, many students were chanting “Armenia without Nikol!”.

Eventually, the activists managed to enter the university building through the other entrance. They urged each other not to damage or break any property. 

Russian parliamentarian slams Pashinyan’s remarks about Iskander missile system

Elizabeth Jabejian
Panorama, Armenia
Feb 24 2021

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hinted at the inoperability of the Russian Iskander operational-tactical missile systems (OTRK) in his recent interview. Russian State Duma member Viktor Zavarzin commented on the Armenian PM’s remarks in an interview with  “Govorit Moskva” radio station.  To remind, Pashinyan declared on Tuesday that Iskander system ‘did not explode or exploded by 10%’ in the recent Artsakh war. 

In the words of the Russian MP, Pashinyan thus tries “to absolve himself from guilt for the Nagorno Karabakh war outcomes.”

“If a person tries to clear himself from the blame, he would speculate about Inskanders, likewise blame the Armenian people and the military. That is not true, of course. The Iskander systems have high accuracy in hitting the targets, proved in numerous military exercises. That [ed. Pashinyan’s statement] is an absolute lie. They were used in Syria with high accuracy,” said the parliamentarian. 

Aram Harutyunyan: Nikol Pashinyan’s rule has a ‘Bayraktar effect’ on Armenia

Babken Chilingarian
Panorama, Armenia
Feb 24 2021

Nikol Pashinyan and his wife Anna Hakobyan appear to have ‘Bayraktar effect’ on Armenia, the Chairman of National Unity party Aram Harutyunyan told a press conference on Wednesday. Harutyunyan recalled the PM’s favorite phrase about ‘laying down on asphalt`, adding people can now perceive what the PM meant. 

“In reality, he laid our soldiers down on asphalt. He led some 5-6 thousand sons to death and buried,” said Harutyunyan, recalling also the PM’s speech in parliament on September 17, where Pashinyan stated  that whatever the outcome of the war would be we should not recognize ourselves as defeated.

Harutyunyan also pointed to the title of the book authored by Pashinyan “The Other Side of the Earth”  which, per him, is no coincidence. “He turned the country upside down and eliminated all our achievements, yet we have the chance today to  pull ourselves together and recover,” stressed the speaker.