Category: 2022

Karen Vrtanesyan: We will never be able to restore justice if we continue to deceive ourselves

Meline Chalian
panorama.am
Armenia – Jan 29 2022

The destruction process continues in Armenia, according to information security expert and coordinator of the specialized website Razm.info Karen Vrtanesyan.

"We will never be able to recover what has been lost, avenge our dead and restore justice if we continue to deceive ourselves, to pretend that everything is all right, "the army was not defeated" and, using that pathos, to silence those who dare to speak the truth,” he wrote on Facebook on Saturday.

“The state has suffered a defeat, and the army is part of the state. We have all been defeated. First of all, the state has lost to Nikol the Turk and his men, and then (quite expectedly and logically) to the Turks themselves. The worst thing is that the process of defeat is not over; the destructive process continues.

“I understand that it hurts terribly to realize it, especially in the conditions of, to put it mildly, very passive conduct of the national elites. However, it is a fact.

“It is impossible to renovate a house or even clean it up if you pretend not to notice the shaggy and squeaky elephant squeezed into the house,” Vrtanesyan said.

Satik Seyranyan reelected as chairwoman of the Union of Journalists of Armenia

Eduard Nalbandian
panorama.am
Armenia – Jan 29 2022

Chairwoman of the Union of Journalists of Armenia Satik Seyranyan has reelected to her post at the 13th  congress of the union on Saturday. 

The elections of the chair, board members and the members of the Overseeing commission were on the agenda of the 13th Congress. 

To note, the Union of Journalists of Armenia was founded in 1959. The organization is a member of the International Confederation of Journalist Unions and which unites around 1,500 journalists and media NGOs.

Four Azerbaijani soldiers got lost in Qarvachar

Emil Lazarian
panorama.am
Armenia – Jan 29 2022

Four servicemen of the Azerbaijani army, including an officer, got lost due to bad weather in a hard-to-reach area in the Artsakh's Karvachar region, currently under control of Azeri forces. 

“Due to a sharp change in the weather and a storm …, four servicemen of the Azerbaijani army got lost and disappeared,“ the local sources reported, citing the defense ministry. 

According to them, search operations are underway to find the servicemen in  a remote area on the border with Armenia. The area is covered with snow and the passage there is extremely difficult. 

Turkey’s domestic fortunes are tied to foreign policy success

George Mamian
ARAB NEWS, Saudi Arabia
Jan 28 2022



SINEM CENGIZ
22:52

In the past, foreign policy did not get a lot of attention from the Turkish public. However, as Turkey has started to play a greater role in international and regional politics, the public is taking a more serious look at the country’s record on foreign policy issues.
Inevitably, the first focus of the Turkish people is on the economic and domestic issues that affect them the most. However, in recent years the country’s foreign policy orientation has started to have an effect on both the domestic and economic fronts.
Foreign policy issues have become a hot topic of debate in Turkey before every election. As the country approaches one of its most important elections, scheduled for next year, there seem to be significant changes in foreign policy, not only in terms of rhetoric and discourse but also substance and strategy.
A recent report published by a Turkish daily newspaper stated that an overall assessment of Turkey’s foreign policy and its priorities was made during a briefing held at the Turkish Presidency a couple of weeks ago. Officials concluded that Turkey’s success in dealing with internal problems depends on its diplomatic performance.
The report also said that Turkey’s short-term priority in foreign policy will be to focus on normalizing strained ties with regional foes, including Armenia, Israel and Gulf countries, to create a “trouble-free circle” around its neighborhood.
There is now a speedy phase of reconciliation efforts in progress with Armenia, Israel and the Gulf countries, in a way that would have been unthinkable a year ago. In the coming months, in particular February and March, there are expected to be several high-level official visits and meetings to boost this rapid normalization process.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said his country might send its foreign minister to the Antalya Diplomacy Forum that will be hosted by the Turkish government in March. He said: “It would be irrational to miss a chance to continue meetings.”
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu confirmed that Turkey has invited neighboring countries to attend, including Armenia, Greece, Greek Cyprus, Israel and Egypt, nations with which Turkey has strained relationships.
Ankara revealed the invitation was sent to Yerevan less than a week after their respective special envoys held their first round of negotiations on normalizing relations between the two states.

The normalization of relations with Egypt, the Gulf countries, Israel, Armenia and Greece will be a litmus test for Turkey’s new diplomatic-restoration efforts.

Sinem Cengiz

The Turkish and Armenian foreign ministries described the talks, held in Moscow, as “positive and constructive” and agreed to continue the discussions about reconciliation and reestablishing diplomatic and economic bonds after three decades.
As part of confidence-building efforts, they also agreed to resume reciprocal charter flights between Istanbul and Yerevan. There are also reports that studies are being carried out into the possibility of launching flights between Armenia and other cities in Turkey, including Kars and Van, which contain religious and historical sites of importance to Armenians.
Also, this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged, during a meeting with Armenian Foundations Union President Bedros Sirinoglu, to implement a legal arrangement that will allow religious foundations for minorities in Turkey to elect their own boards of directors.
In Turkey’s relations with Israel, meanwhile, there seems to be a softening of the language toward Tel Aviv and it is likely that further exchanges will take place following telephone conversations between the two countries’ presidents and foreign ministers. For a move toward full rapprochement, the next development in ties would be the reciprocal appointment of ambassadors.
Erdogan recently revealed that a potential visit by Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, is being discussed and there is an expectation that it might happen as soon as the first half of February. He also said that Ankara is ready to discuss an alternative gas pipeline after the US rescinded its support for a planned conduit to carry Israeli gas to Europe via Cyprus and Greece.
Regarding relations with the Gulf countries, Erdogan has revealed plans to visit Saudi Arabia and the UAE in mid-February. There are already ongoing talks with Egypt as part of the normalization strategy with Arab states that have been at odds with Ankara.
Another crucial area in which Turkey might continue to stimulate normalization efforts could be the improvement of relations with the EU, in which Ankara’s relations with Greece have an important dimension.
Erdogan hosted a dinner for EU ambassadors in Turkey on Jan. 13 to discuss the prospects for beginning a positive phase of relations with the members of the union. Shortly after that meeting, the Turkish-Greek Joint Economic Commission convened in Athens on Jan. 24 for the first time since 2010. Turkish Deputy Trade Minister Mustafa Tuzcu and Greek Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Konstantinos Fragogiannis co-chaired this fifth session of the JEC.
It is obvious that some of Turkey’s foreign policy problems will not be resolved any time soon. Yet a new rhetoric and a new strategy of engagement will help, paving the way for a positive track in strained relations.
The normalization of relations with Egypt, the Gulf countries, Israel, Armenia and Greece will be a litmus test for Turkey’s new diplomatic-restoration efforts.
The outcome of these efforts is likely to have a significant effect on how Ankara copes with the economic and domestic issues the country faces ahead of the upcoming elections.

  • Sinem Cengiz is a Turkish political analyst who specializes in Turkey’s relations with the Middle East. Twitter: @SinemCngz
Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point-of-view

Increasing defense capacities priority for Armenia – FM says on Army Day

Emil Lazarian

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 12:00,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 28, ARMENPRESS. Improving the Army and increasing the defense capacities are a priority for Armenia, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan told reporters during the visit to the Yerablur Military Pantheon on the occasion of the Army Day.

“We ought to learn lessons from the 44-day war, deal with increasing our defense capacities and improving the Army. No country could have an alternative”, he said.

The Republic of Armenia and Armenians around the world celebrate the 30th anniversary of foundation of the Armenian Armed Forces on January 28.




Armenian deputy PM got 4th dose of COVID-19 vaccine

Rose Khoyetsian

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 12:21,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 28, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Mher Grigoryan has got his 4th dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

He told reporters today that he tested negative for COVID-19 after communicating with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan who contracted the virus.

“I was infected with the virus, recovered, got vaccinated and later I got vaccinated again”, he said.

Asked whether he received his third dose, the deputy PM said he received the 4th dose.

“From Army To IT Industry” program an amazing opportunity for newly demobilized men, participants say

Emil Lazarian

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 12:32,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 28, ARMENPRESS. “From Army To IT Industry” program participants say after ending the military service they were in uncertainty over their future, didn’t know from where to start, but they got acquainted with the announcement about this program and decided to apply.

Hrant Gishyan and Grigory Grigoryan applied to this program. They said that they got informed about it on the internet, immediately applied to it and passed all stages. These boys stated that for the beginning no professional knowledge is needed, just it is necessary to have elementary knowledge.

“This program made me go deeper into the field. There was an uncertainty after the military service, I didn’t know from where to start. And I saw the announcement on the internet, immediately applied, and the program really contributed to my quick orientation about what I want in the future”, Grigori Grigoryan said.

He informed that after completing the courses he applied for a job in one of the IT companies in Armenia and was selected among the many applicants. He is sure that this program helped him to be hired by that company.

In turn Hrant Gishyan said that in addition to professional skills, he also gained a skill of working in a team, made new friends. He says this course is a wonderful opportunity for the newly demobilized men to create a career, work and be useful for the state. “The launch of this program is a very good idea. After the war it was difficult to do something new, there was no desire at all, but this program made me go further into the future. It was an amazing opportunity to try to learn something new without spending money. The field in its turn has prospects”, Gishyan said.

He says that after the war this program forces to understand that they are not ignored and that the government thinks about them.

These two boys are friends now, both have applied to this program, met each other and currently work in the same company thanks to the knowledge gained by the program.

Education program director at the Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises (UATE) Shamam Gevorgyan told Armenpress that this program has been implemented since 2016, after the April War. The program beneficiaries were the boys who participated in the April War. Gevorgyan said that the results were satisfying as a total of 168 men were trained in 2016. Shamam Gevorgyan said that after the 2020 War, the number of program applications declined.

This year 85 out of 138 registered participants of the program have passed professional trainings.

The UATE will soon launch a new course in partnership with DISQO.

Armenian soldiers who participated in the September 27, 2020 war launched by Azerbaijan against Artsakh, the disabled servicemen, their family members, as well as the family members of fallen soldiers will have an opportunity to develop their skills in the IT sector.

The Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises (UATE) of Armenia restarts its project “From Army to IT Industry”, aimed at solving the education and employment issue of the beneficiary groups in the technology sector. The UATE is working jointly also with the Armenian ministry of high technological industry, providing free participation to online technology education courses conducted by the ministry for the persons who have participated in the war operations.




Catholicos Aram I addresses congratulatory message on Armenian Army Day

Jane Topchian

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 14:42,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 28, ARMENPRESS. Catholicos Aram I of the Great House of Cilicia addressed a congratulatory message on the Armenian Army Day.

“Today is the Armenian Army Day, in other words, the day of the protection, security, dignity and strengthening of our nation and homeland. Let’s pray for our army, let’s stand by our army. The strengthening of the Armenian Army is the strengthening of the homeland and our nation”, Catholicos Aram I said.

The Republic of Armenia and Armenians around the world celebrate the 30th anniversary of foundation of the Armenian Armed Forces on January 28.




Armenian Army is always necessary for ensuring physical existence of Armenian people – Artsakh’s State Minister

Emil Lazarian

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 15:14,

STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 28, ARMENPRESS. State Minister of Artsakh Artak Beglaryan addressed a congratulatory message on the Homeland Defender’s Day.

“The powerful Armenian Army is always necessary for guaranteeing the physical existence, sovereignty, dignity, rights and freedoms of the Armenian people in their own homeland”, he said in his address. “I bow before the memory of all those fallen for the defense of the Homeland. Brotherly hugs and congratulations to the defenders of the Homeland”.

Cristiano Ronaldo wears hoodie of brand with Armenian name at meeting with UAE leaders

Vanyan Gary

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 15:49,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 28, ARMENPRESS. Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo wore a hoodie of the brand AZAT MARD, a name in Armenian, meaning "Free Man", during the meeting with the Vice President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and the Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed.

Ronadlo met with UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of the Emirate of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed in Dubai.

AZAT MARD is a contemporary menswear brand specializing in luxury clothing and outerwear for the fashion-forward, powerful modern man. It was co-founded in 2018 by Garen Tchobabanian, a former football player, and Neil Malhotra, who holds a Fashion Management degree from the prestigious Istituto Marangoni in Milan.