Category: 2022

European Union and WHO donate digital X-ray equipment to Armenia

Hovik Karapetian
       
         

 

News release

 

Reading time: 2 min (483 words)

The European Union (EU) and WHO recently donated X-ray equipment to the Ministry of Health of Armenia for use in the radiology rooms of 7 hospitals in the capital of Yerevan and the regions. The donation is part of a larger assistance package provided by the EU to help boost the country’s COVID-19 response.

The new X-ray units will facilitate monitoring of patients’ progress and improve clinical decision-making. They are invaluable to hospitals that see hundreds of COVID-19 patients daily. While traditional film X-rays continue to be effective in establishing a diagnosis, digital X-rays allow for images to be manipulated, providing better quality and definition. This allows for precise and fast diagnostics in hospitals.

Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia Ms Andrea Wiktorin, Armenia’s Deputy Minister of Health Dr Lena Nanushyan, and WHO National Professional Officer Dr Henrik Khachatryan gathered at Goris Medical Center to hand over the equipment. “Support to health care in the regions is essential. The EU stands by Armenia to continue the fight against the virus and improve the life of Armenian citizens,” said Ms Wiktorin.

The Goris Medical Center is one of several hospitals to receive equipment from WHO through the Solidarity for Health initiative funded by the EU. The Center also received 1 electrocardiogram machine and 3 oxygen concentrators, which have helped hundreds of patients recover from severe illness caused by COVID-19.

“I would like to thank our partners for their continued and invaluable support in the fight against COVID-19 for the past 2 years,” expressed Dr Nanushyan. “Within the framework of the Solidarity for Health initiative, with EU funding and WHO support, an X-ray device has been donated to Goris Medical Center which will enable necessary examinations with a modern device, providing better medical care to our compatriots.”

The guests also learned about the Vaccination is Care campaign and heard from health-care workers about their first-hand experience and the challenges of vaccine deployment.

The Vaccination is Care campaign is being implemented within the joint EU–WHO action to support the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination in Armenia in close cooperation with the Ministry of Health. It aims to make COVID-19 vaccination more accessible for people over 65 living in the regions through mobile vaccination groups, visiting polyclinics, outpatient clinics and community centres located closer to their homes.

In addition to COVID-19 vaccination, vulnerable older people can access other essential health services, including screening for noncommunicable diseases such as anaemia and diabetes.

“WHO is committed to assisting with strengthening the resilience of the health system in Armenia, focusing on the regions through the provision of training opportunities to local medical staff and supplying essential medical equipment to make services accessible,” emphasized Dr Khachatryan. “The Vaccination is Care campaign enables the population in Syunik marz to receive COVID-19 vaccines in their local medical centres without travelling.” 

EU Special Representative Toivo Klaar Is On A Short Visit To Armenia

Diana Dabaghian
The Shepherd of the Hills Gazette
By Sammy Edwards Last updated Jul 14, 2022

Toivo Klaar, the EU’s special representative for the crisis in South Caucasus and Georgia, is on a short visit to Armenia.

“Back to very hot Yerevan for a short visit. Looking forward to important meetings,” Klaar tweeted.

The EU special representative did not specify which meetings we are talking about.

The last time Toivo Klaar came to Armenia was on June 3. During the visit, the EU special representative met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Ruben Rubinyan.

Researchers discover Crusades-era grenades in Jerusalem’s Armenian Quarter

Emil Lazarian
Armenia –
– 14:20 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Researchers have discovered grenades that were used in the time of the Crusades within the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. In a recent study, the remains of elements of the grenades were analyzed and explosive materials were found inside them.

In the analysis of the objects found in the Garden of Armenia in Jerusalem, these 900-year-old objects were identified to have possibly been hand grenades, The Greek Reporter says.

Researchers tested residues on sherds from four sphero-conical vessels, which they dated to the 11th or 12th century.

Chemicals indicative of medicine and oils were found in three of the vessels, but the fourth vessel contained a unique combination of plant-based oils, animal fat, and nitrates, indicating something that was built to explode.

The several sphero-conical vessels excavated from the Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem between 1961 and 1967 are artifacts attributed to the Mamluks at the time, a group of enslaved soldiers that eventually won political control across swathes of the Middle East and fought the Crusaders.

Researchers Discover Crusades Era Grenades in Jerusalem

Arpi Talalian
ByJames Ssengendo
Researchers discover Crusades era Grenades in the Old City of Jerusalem Credit: Wikimedia Public Domain

Researchers have discovered grenades that were used in the time of the Crusades within the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. In a recent study, the remains of elements of the grenades were analyzed and explosive materials were found inside them.

In the analysis of the objects found in the Garden of Armenia in Jerusalem, these 900-year-old objects were identified to have possibly been hand grenades.

Researchers tested residues on sherds from four sphero-conical vessels, which they dated to the 11th or 12th century.

Chemicals indicative of medicine and oils were found in three of the vessels, but the fourth vessel contained a unique combination of plant-based oils, animal fat, and nitrates,  indicating something that was built to explode.

The several sphero-conical vessels excavated from the Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem between 1961 and 1967 are artifacts attributed to the Mamluks at the time, a group of enslaved soldiers that eventually won political control across swathes of the Middle East and fought the Crusaders.

Stanica Aurel-Daniel, a researcher at ICEM Tulcea said “Sphero-conical vessels were used as small containers for various substances, another hypothesis indicating even fermented beverages (beer)”.

“Certainly, the use of these containers for Greek fire or grenades remains topical,” the researcher said. She added that she was, however, unaffiliated with the research.

Though it’s not the first time the use of grenades in the Crusades has been suggested and there have been previous historical accounts of Saladin’s forces tossing explosives during the Siege of Jerusalem in 1187, the recent analysis lends more credibility to the idea.

The researchers confirmed that the chemical cocktail on the pottery sherd was not black powder, indicating that Crusades-era fighters figured out a way to build explosive, handheld weaponry locally.

In thinking about brutal Crusades weaponry, swords, bows, maces, axes, and flails probably come to mind, but according to a recent study, hand grenades were common, too.

Carney Matheson, a molecular archaeologist at Griffith University in Australia said: “An explosive has two main components: a fuel and an [oxidizer], as well as a vessel that applies pressure to allow the reaction to build pressure until it can cause an explosion.”

“If explosive ingredients are correct, then it advances our understanding of medieval weapons in the Middle East at this time because it shows that the explosive weapons described by the crusaders were a local invention,” said Matheson.

Matheson further added that “the chemical ingredients for these weapons were developed in the Middle East, not the adoption of black powder from China through the silk route.”

Weapons similar to the analysis of the objects were found nearly a century ago in Cairo, and that team found evidence of sulfur and potassium nitrate on the artifacts. However, recent work identified additional nitrates, which are believed to have mixed together to form an oxidizing agent in the heart-shaped ceramic grenades.

Rep. Pallone condemns waiver of Section 907 restrictions on U.S. military aid to Azerbaijan

Manouk Vasilian
Panorama
Armenia –

Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) condemns the annual U.S. presidential waiver of Section 907 restrictions on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan and urges passage of the amendment (#337)  led by Rep. Congresswoman Jackie Speier calling for a State Department and Defense Department report on the effects of U.S. military assistance on Armenia/Azerbaijan peace negotiations, ANCA reports.

"We don't believe that there is any justification for waiving [Section 907 of the FREEDOM Support Act]  because of the constant threat that Azerbaijan poses not only to Nagorno Karabakh but also to Armenia itself, that continues ever since [the 2020] war."

The Speier Amendment #337 will be voted on Thursday as part of "en bloc 3" – a larger grouping of amendments to the  Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R.7900).

Joining Rep. Speier and Rep. Pallone as congressional cosponsors of the bi-partisan measure include Representatives Judy Chu (D-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), James Langevin (D-RI), Brenda Lawrence (D-MI), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Dina Titus (D-NV), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and David Valadao (R-CA).

Roman Trotsenko ‘at loggerheads’ with Pashinyan – Past daily

Emil Lazarian
Panorama
Armenia –

Russian billionaire Roman Trotsenko, de facto owner of the GeoProMining Gold LLC and the Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC), is “at loggerheads” with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the Past daily reports, citing its sources.

“Our sources in the government tell us that Pashinyan is so enraged that he even prohibited anyone from his inner circle to put in a good word for or interfere in any matters related to Roman Trotsenko and his mining business,” the newspaper says.

“According to the sources, there are several reasons for Pashinyan's anger, including the failure to make important investments and deliver on other promises as well as the steps during the acquisition and transfer of the ZCMC shares which will lead to serious consequences sooner or later,” it adds.

On September 30, 2021, Industrial Company JSC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Trotsenko's GeoProMining, mysteriously acquired 60% of the ZCMC shares and promptly donated a quarter of that stake to the Armenian government. The granted 25% of the shares make up 15% of the ZCMC equity. Trotsenko’s company acquired the shares immediately after they were unfrozen by an Armenian court.

“At the same time, according to our sources, the government is certain that Trotsenko's acquisition of the shares will be declared invalid by the court. In this case, the current authorities have the sufficient resources to reach an equal agreement with any new shareholder, i.e. to regain a stake in ZCMC as ‘donation’,” Past says.

‘If you were Greece’s PM, you would now be in prison for treason’, Greek user tells Pashinyan

Aram Torosian
Panorama
Armenia –

Scores of Turkish users welcomed Nikol Pashinyan's phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday.

“In a phone conversation with Turkey’s President Erdogan we emphasized the importance we attach to the bilateral normalization process between Armenia and Turkey. We expect early implementation of agreements reached in the meeting of our Special Representatives on July 1,” Pashinyan said in a tweet.

In their comments on the post, Turkish users hailed Pashinyan for “courage”, saying without Turkey’s support Armenia “cannot be integrated into Europe”. They wished both countries good luck in their normalization efforts.

Meanwhile, a Greek user named Mike Kevrekidis expressed surprise over the Armenian people’s silence.

“If you were the Prime Minister of Greece, you would now be in prison for treason. I don’t understand why the Armenian people are not doing anything about this,” he tweeted.

https://www.panorama.am/en/news/2022/07/14/Greek-user-Pashinyan/2707192

https://twitter.com/Makis_Kevrekidi/status/1546517084095528967

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Nikol Pashinyan
@NikolPashinyan
Jul 11
In a phone conversation with Turkey’s President Erdogan we emphasized the importance we attach to the bilateral normalization process between #Armenia and #Turkey. We expect early implementation of agreements reached in the meeting of our Special Representatives on July 1․
513
604
2,354

Mike Kevrekidis
@Makis_Kevrekidi
Replying to

@NikolPashinyan
If you were the Prime Minister of Greece you would now be in prison for treason. I don’t understand why the Armenian people are not doing anything about this
6:29 PM · Jul 11, 2022Twitter for iPhone

ARF’s Franck Papazian barred from entering Armenia by Pashinyan’s order

Mary Lazarian
Panorama
Armenia –

Co-chairman of the Coordination Council of Armenian Organization in France and Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Bureau member Franck Papazian has been banned from entering Armenia, he said on Thursday.

“It is with great sadness that I inform you that I was barred from entering Armenia last night,” he wrote on Facebook. “By the order of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, I have been declared persona non grata in Armenia.”

He said the Armenian police escorted him back onto the Air France plane and took his passport.

“I knew that I was banned from entering Turkey and Azerbaijan. Now I am denied entry into Pashinyan's Armenia as well,” Papazian said.

“After 40 years of hard work for Armenia and the Armenian cause, It’s extremely painful to find myself in such a situation. Nikol Pashinyan’s decision once again indicates that he is not up to the responsibilities incumbent on him.

“Pashinyan is strong when he asks his police to expel an activist of the Armenian cause. Can you imagine this little leader talking with Erdogan or Aliev? Sooner or later, the Armenian people will realize that they will have to get rid of this leader who is making every effort to weaken Armenia. The Diaspora will also realize it. But it’s high time to tell him to stop,” he stated.

Armenia to send 50 fallen soldiers’ remains to the Netherlands for DNA testing

Emil Lazarian
Panorama
Armenia –

The Armenian government on Thursday approved a draft decision to provide more than 31 million drams to the Ministry of Health for DNA analysis of the remains of soldiers killed in the 2020 war in Artsakh.

The ministry will send 50 samples of tissues to the Netherlands for DNA testing to identify the fallen soldiers.

"There are still complex, damaged and modified bone tissues which cannot be subjected to DNA extraction for human identification. Therefore, it is necessary to send another 50 bone tissue samples to the Netherlands,” the draft decision said.

An additional $75,000 will be needed to extract DNA from the damaged bone tissues and to reveal their complete genetic profile, it added.

According to the latest data, 3,825 Armenian servicemen were killed in the 44-day war.

Disney+ warns Turkish subtitle translators about hitting political nerves in Turkey

Bedik Zaminian
Turkish Minute
International Journalists Association, Germany
By

 Turkish Minute

 -

  

Disney+, which launched in Turkey last month, has warned its Turkish subtitle translators about the political atmosphere in Turkey, telling them to avoid hitting a nerve on a wide range of controversial issues that the Turkish government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are sensitive about, the Gazete Duvar news website reported on Wednesday.

Disney+, The Walt Disney Company’s flagship direct-to-customer digital streaming service platform, has been offering Turkish viewers access to more than 1,000 movies and over 16,000 episodes from some 400 TV shows and 170 documentaries and exclusive content collections since it launched in the country on June 14.

Before it started broadcasting, the online streaming platform opened an office in Turkey in line with a social media law that went into effect on Oct. 1, 2020, setting forth progressive sanctions forcing social media platforms with more than 1 million connections a day to appoint a representative in Turkey with whom the Turkish authorities can resolve problems arising from cases of insult, intimidation and violation of privacy.

After initially refusing to comply with the law, giant social media platforms, which were subjected to large fines by Turkish courts, had to announce that they would appoint local representatives to Turkey.

Duvar said the Disney+ administration sent an e-mail to its Turkish translators to warn them about the political atmosphere in the country with respect to some of the productions that include religious, national and political references.

According to Duvar, translators were asked to inform the platform’s Turkey administrators about productions that deal with critical issues for Islam, the massacre of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire during World War I, which Turkey does not recognize as a “genocide,” the Kurdish issue, the Cyprus problem and LGBTI+s, topics that Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) government are sensitive about.

The Kurdish issue, a term prevalent in Turkey’s public discourse, refers to the demand for equal rights by the country’s Kurdish population and their struggle for recognition, while the Cyprus problem refers to an ongoing dispute between Greek and Turkish Cypriots about each other’s legitimacy on the island.

The e-mail also asked the translators to inform Disney+ administrators for Turkey about productions that “make Erdoğan look like a dictator,” according to Duvar, which added that authorities from the digital streaming platform hadn’t returned their calls for comment.

https://www.turkishminute.com/2022/07/13/warns-turkish-subtitle-translators-about-hitting-political-nerves-in-turkey/