Armenian News... A Topalian... Azerbaijan will train guard dogs to respond to Armenian speech ... LOL...

Zoryan Institute's 35th Anniversary 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK72ZAq4lMI&feature=youtu.be 

Pan Armenian, Armenia
Nov 7 2017
November 7, 2017 - 13:49 AMT
Azerbaijan will train guard dogs to respond to Armenian speech 
Guard dogs in Azerbaijan will be trained to respond to Armenian speech, head coach-cynologist at the country's Dog Training Center Movjud Askerov revealed. 

According to him, dogs are now trained and carry out commands given in the Azerbaijani language. Askerov said they are supposed to respond to Armenian speech in the near future, 1news.az reports citing Femida.az. 

"This mainly applies to guard dogs so that they can warn soldiers in case they hear Armenian speech when the rivals are approaching," Askerov said. 

He pointed out that some armies used to have kamikaze dogs for destroying the enemies' equipment. Such dogs are not used in the Azerbaijani army, he said. 

A1+
The Azerbaijani side does not lead the OSCE mission to its front lines
November 8,2017

On November 8, in accordance with the agreement reached with the Artsakh Republic authorities, the OSCE mission conducted a planned monitoring of the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Artsakh and Azerbaijan in the North from Martakert town.

From the positions of the Artsakh Republic Defense Army, the monitoring was conducted by Gennady Petri (Moldova) and Ognen Jovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Field Assistants of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office .

On the opposite side, the monitoring was conducted by Field Assistant of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Mikhail Olarun (Moldova) and Martin Staffer (Germany).

The monitoring passed in accordance with the schedule, but the Azerbaijani side did not lead the OSCE mission to its front lines.

From the Artsakh side the monitoring mission was accompanied by the representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Artsakh, Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Artsakh reports. 

Daily Sabah, Turkey
Nov 9 2017
Security on Turkey-Armenia border tightened 
Seeking to strengthen its security, Turkey has installed new cameras on its border with Armenia.

The Kars governorate, which shares a border with Armenia, released a statement saying that the camera network that cost TL 2.8 million ($720,000) would soon be activated.

Authorities in the eastern province announced that the project will "prevent occasional negative developments along the border."

RFE/RL 

Report Another Solar Plant Built In Armenia
November 07, 2017
Armenia's second major solar power plant was inaugurated on Tuesday in
the presence of Prime Minister Karen Karapetian and other senior
officials.

The 1-megawatt plant was built in Talin, a town 70 kilometers
northwest of Yerevan, as part of a $1 million investment projected
co-funded by a group of Armenian entrepreneurs and the German
government.

One of the local investors, Hayk Chobanian, said the facility, already
connected to the national power grid, can meet the energy needs of
about 400 households. He described its launch as the start of "a
parade of solar plants" that will increasingly spring up in Armenia.

"Our country's [solar energy] potential is great and I think that in
the coming years we will introduce hundreds of megawatts of solar
power capacity," Chobanian told reporters.

Deputy Energy Minister Hayk Harutiunian, who also attended the opening
ceremony, reaffirmed the Armenian government's declared commitment to
greater use of renewable sources of energy in the country. He said
nine more small solar plants are now under construction.

Armenia's first major solar plant with a 0.5-megawatt capacity went on
stream in late September. It was built by a company controlled by
Samvel Karapetian, a Russian-Armenian billionaire businessman
increasingly investing in the Armenian energy sector. A company
representative said the "pilot project" could be a prelude to the
construction of a much bigger facility of its kind that would also be
financed by Karapetian.

In addition, the government is expected to call soon an international
tender for the construction of a separate 55-megawatt solar plant.

Solar and wind power currently make up only a tiny share of
electricity produced in Armenia. 

RFE/RL Report
Israel's Netanyahu Sees Closer Ties With Armenia
November 07, 2017
Emil Danielyan
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to improve Israel's
uneasy relationship with Armenia after holding talks with Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

The two men were reported to have discussed not only Armenian-Israeli
ties but also the situation in the Middle East and the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, with Netanyahu expressing concern over
Iran's "attempts to establish a military presence in the region."

"We'll strengthen relations between Israel and Armenia in tech,
cyberspace and agriculture," the Israeli leader, who is also his
country's foreign minister, tweeted after the talks.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry likewise said Netanyahu told Nalbandian
that Israel is ready to "expand" its relations with Armenia and sees
"great potential for cooperation" between the two nations.

According to a ministry statement, Nalbandian expressed confidence,
for his part, that bilateral contacts will gain "new impetus." They
have already intensified of late, he said during what was apparently
his first-ever official visit to Israel.

The statement added that the two men explored ways of boosting modest
bilateral trade and cooperating in the areas of agriculture,
information technology, education and tourism.

Israel's Minister of Regional Cooperation Tzachi Hanegbi similarly
sought to "strengthen our relationship" when he visited Yerevan in
late July. Hanegbi and Nalbandian signed agreements on avoidance of
double taxation and mutual lifting of visa requirements for holders of
Armenian and Israeli diplomatic passports. The Israeli cabinet member,
who is affiliated with Netanyahu's Likud party, also met with Prime
Minister Karen Karapetian.

Armenian-Israeli relations have been frosty until now, reflecting
differing geopolitical priorities of the two states. Armenia has
maintained a warm rapport with Iran to ease its geographic isolation,
while Israel has pursued strategic cooperation with Turkey and
Azerbaijan.

Armenia has been particularly worried about Israel's large-scale arms
deals with its arch-foe. In 2012, Israeli defense officials confirmed
a reported deal to provide the Azerbaijani military with more weapons
worth a combined $1.6 billion. The Azerbaijani army used some of these
Israeli-made weapons, notably sophisticated anti-tank rockets, during
April 2016 hostilities in Karabakh.

Just weeks after Hanegbi's trip to Yerevan, an Israeli Defense
Ministry agency halted exports to Azerbaijan of "suicide" drones
manufactured by an Israeli company accused of using them against an
Armenian army position in early July. The export control agency
launched an investigation into the alleged incident in August.

The Israeli daily "Maariv" reported at the time that representatives
of the company, Aeronautics Defense Systems (ADS), traveled to
Azerbaijan this summer to finalize a contract for the sale of Orbiter
drones to the Azerbaijani military. The paper claimed that two Israeli
drone operators working for the company rebuffed Azerbaijani
officials' demand to demonstrate the use of the deadly drone by
hitting the Armenian position with it. But other, more senior ADS
executives agreed on launch the deadly craft on the target, according
to "Maariv." ADS denied the report.

It was not clear whether Nalbandian discussed the alleged drone attack
with Netanyahu. The Armenian Foreign Ministry statement said only that
he briefed Netanyahu on Armenia's and international mediators' efforts
to achieve a "solely peaceful" solution to the Karabakh conflict.

The ministry added that the two men also "exchanged views on pressing
regional and international issues, developments in the Middle East."

A short statement by a spokesman for Netanyahu said: "The Prime
Minister raised the issue of Iran's attempts to establish a military
presence in the region and its negative influence." It did not
elaborate.

RFE/RL Report
Minister Meets Protesting Students, Rejects Their Demands
November 8, 2017
Marine Khachatrian
The Armenian government will not refrain from essentially abolishing
temporary exemptions from compulsory military service, Education
Minister Levon Mkrtchian told on Wednesday university students
protesting against the planned measure.

Mkrtchian met with representatives of the students as they boycotted
classes for a second day in protest against a relevant government bill
passed by the Armenian parliament in the first reading.

Over 200 students rallied outside the main Yerevan State University
building and marched through the city center before the meeting.

"When it comes to serving the homeland, no citizen of the Republic of
Armenia will have privileges," Mkrtchian told several organizers of
the continuing protests.

The minister repeated his arguments that over 85 percent of male
students of state-run universities are already drafted to the armed
forces at the age of 18 because they pay tuition fees unlike the other
students who study for free.

The latter have until now been allowed to perform the two-year service
after completing their undergraduate, graduate or post-graduate
studies. Those obtaining doctoral degrees have been exempt from
military duty altogether.

The controversial bill drafted by the Defense Ministry would grant
deferments only to those students who would agree to undergo parallel
military training and serve in the army as officers for three years
after graduation. The protesting students say that without deferments
they would find it much harder to become scientists or scholars.

Mkrtchian dismissed such assertions, arguing that only a small
percentage of Armenian students temporarily or permanently exempt from
conscription have pursued academic or scientific careers. "There is
quite strong political support behind [the bill] # I don't think that
this bill is subject to withdrawal," he said.

The protest organizers made clear, meanwhile, that they will continue
the boycott until the government meets their demands which are backed
by some Armenian opposition leaders.

The protesters on Wednesday again tried unsuccessfully to enter YSU
premises and get more students to join their campaign. Entrance doors
of those buildings remained locked from inside, with the university
administration apparently seeking to contain the boycott.

At least one YSU professor, Karen Saghatelian, condemned the shutdown
and joined the protesters.

ARKA, Armenia
Nov 8 2017
The only center in the region for training private pilots opened in Armenia 
The General Department of Civil Aviation of Armenia has opened the only center in the region for training private pilots, Sergey Avetisyan, the head of the Department, said on Wednesday.

The unique center, he said, will allow Armenia not only to be in tune with global trends in development of small aviation, but will also allow it to be the regional flagship in the training of private pilots.

In his words, people from Georgia and Russia express interest in the center and the first application for training has already been received.

The pilot-training center has been opened in cooperation with the United States’ Piper aircraft manufacturer and with support from its official representative in the Commonwealth of Independent
States and Simon Mnoyan, director of SimAvia Company.

Drew McEwen, vice-president of Piper, said that the opening of this center in Armenia is an achievement for the company and a step forward in development of small aviation in Armenia.

Training in the centre costs AMD 10 million, and the curriculum, including theoretical knowledge and practical classes, will last two months.

The company has provided Piper PA-28-181 aircraft for practical classes.