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armenpress.am

29 January, 2019

Innovation and Technology Park to be constructed in Yerevan

Yerevan will become home to the first Innovation and Technology Park in the region to be constructed in Armenia. It will become the future workplace for more than 6000 leading professionals which will lead the integration of IT and innovation into all the major industries in the country, including engineering, finance, banking, healthcare, insurance, agriculture, mining, media, and telecommunication. 

The Innovation and Technology Park will differ from other parks with its type and scale. Currently, there are many different small and medium IT and engineering parks in the world. The Innovation and Technology Park which is being built in Yerevan will be the first multi-industry park among CIS and Eastern Europe countries in terms of represented industries and geography of companies originating from.

The philosophy of the Innovation and Technology Park is the creation of an "ecosystem of innovation". This will be possible through the involvement of educational, research and development institutions along with startupers, venture funds, incubation and acceleration programmers. 

The Park claims to become the environment, where IT meets major industries and defines innovative products and services of future generation – putting Armenia and Armenian innovative products into a global innovation map.  

The initiative of the project comes from the "Galaxy" group of companies together with Armenian IT community. The project planning phases lasted for more than 2 years, and the details of this large-scale project will be released soon.

Thomson Reuters Foundation

Jan 30 2019

Marathon church session ends as Dutch let Armenian family stay

Dutch government makes exception to immigration rules after Armenian families held non-stop church rites for three months

AMSTERDAM, Jan 30 (Reuters) - A round-the-clock prayer service to stop an Armenian family being deported from the Netherlands was ended after 96 days on Wednesday, after the government agreed to make an exception to immigration rules.

Using a law that bars police from entering a place of worship while a service is in progress, hundreds of supporters of the Tamrazyan family have held rites non-stop at the Bethel church in The Hague since Oct. 26 to block their deportation.

Late on Tuesday, the cabinet decided to allow the Tamrazyans and other families rejected for permanent residence after living for years in the Netherlands to stay in the country after all.

The families, which together have around 700 children, did not qualify for an exemption granted to minors living in the Netherlands for more than five years.

To avoid other families with no other prospect of qualifying for permanent residence taking root in the Netherlands, the government will also try to speed up asylum procedures.

"We are incredibly grateful that hundreds of refugee families will have a safe future in the Netherlands," a spokesman for Bethel Church, Theo Hettema, said on Wednesday.

But he said the church was worried about the consequences for future immigration policy.

The fight over the "children's pardon" put pressure on Prime Minister Mark Rutte's centre-right government, which has only a one-seat majority in parliament's Lower House, and looks set to lose its Senate majority in a March 20 election.

Rutte's Liberal party is trying to present a tough stance on immigration, to avoid losing ground to opposition parties such as the anti-Islam party of Geert Wilders.

Although Tuesday's decision was good news for the Tamrazyans, it came days too late for another family, the Grigoryans. That family of five, with children aged three to eight, was deported to Armenia early last week, just as the cabinet began deliberating on the issue. "This is unfair and very painful," their lawyer told Dutch news agency ANP on Wednesday.

"If their deportation had been postponed a few days, the family would have been allowed to stay."

(Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Catherine Evans)

Daily Mail, UK

Jan 30 2019

'It's like putting a swastika outside a Jewish school': Turkish flags left hanging outside two Armenian schools in Los Angeles as police brand the incident a 'hate crime'

By George Martin For Mailonline

One incident took place at AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School in Canoga Park And the other happened at the Holy Martyrs Ferrahian High School in Encino 

Police logged the incidents as a 'hate crime' after the flags were left on Tuesday 

Police have been called into investigate after several Turkish flags were hung outside two Armenian schools in Los Angeles. 

The AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School in Canoga Park and Holy Martyrs Ferrahian High School in Encino were targeted early on Tuesday in what police are treating as a possible 'hate crime'. 

'It is the equivalent of putting a Nazi swastika on the side of a Jewish school,' Paul Koretz, a city councilman, said at a news conference.

'It is outrageous, and we are not going to stand for it as a city.' 

The hanging of the flags in Encino has been recorded by LAPD as a hate crime, while the Canoga Park incident has been called a hate crime.

Fox News reported that members of the Armenian community were dismayed after the flags were hung. 

They reportedly believe the intention was to intimidate the community and discredit the Armenian Genocide, which saw as many as 1.5 million Armenians rounded up and killed by the Ottoman Turkish government beginning in 1915.  

The flags were removed on both campuses by the time students arrived, the Los Angeles Times reported.

'It came as a complete shock and surprise in the sense we weren't expecting it,' said Arpi Avanesian, principal of AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School in Canoga Park, where Turkish flags were found.

'I don't know what this person was thinking about. Why today? What set them off to do this? What doesn't shock me is they did it.' 

Armenpress.am

29 January, 2019

Pashinyan-Merkel meeting to take place February 1 in Berlin

Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will hold a meeting on February 1 in Berlin, the Armenian Embassy in Germany said on Facebook.

The embassy also presented German government spokesperson Steffen Seibert’s commentary on the upcoming meeting.

“On Friday, February 1, 2019,German Chancellor Angela Merkel will receive with military honors Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the German Chancellery. It will be followed with a conversation within a luncheon, during which Federal Chancellor Merkel and Prime Minister Pashinyan will exchange views over bilateral and economic relations, as well as foreign and security policy issues,” Seibert said.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

RFE/RL Report

Russian, Armenian PMs Speak By Phone After Moscow Meeting

January 29, 2019

Four days after meeting with him in Moscow, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian telephoned his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday for further discussions on Russian-Armenian commercial ties.

In a short statement, Pashinian’s press service said he and Medvedev talked about “cooperation within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and bilateral relations.” It gave no details.

A Russian government statement said the phone conversation took place “at the initiative of the Armenian side.” It said the two premiers “continued discussions on pressing issues of Russian-Armenian commercial and investment-related cooperation” which were on the agenda of their Moscow talks held on Friday. They also touched upon “integration interaction within the EEU,” the statement added without elaborating.

Official press releases on Pashinian’s January 25 meeting with Medvedev were also short on specifics. They indicated only that the two men focused on economic issues. The Russian government also noted that “the meeting took place at the request of the Armenian side.”

While in Moscow, Pashinian also visited the headquarters of the EEU’s executive body, the Eurasian Economic Commission. Speaking there, he praised the EEU and reaffirmed Armenia’s continued membership in the Russian-led trade bloc.

Pashinian did not meet with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin during his latest trip to the Russian capital. The two men most recently held talks there on December 27. On December 31, Russia’s Gazprom giant announced a 10 percent increase in the wholesale price of Russian natural gas imported by Armenia.

Earlier this month, the Armenian government began negotiating with Armenia’s Gazprom-owned gas distribution network in hopes of keeping its internal tariffs unchanged. Pashinian has repeatedly expressed confidence that the existing gas prices set for Armenian households and corporate consumers will not rise this 

year.

RFE/RL Report

Pashinian Rules Out ‘Lands-For-Peace’ Deal With Azerbaijan

January 30, 2019

Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh will not agree to territorial concessions 

Azerbaijan in return for mere peace in the region, Prime Minister Nikol 

Pashinian said on Wednesday.

“We can’t even discuss the lands-for-peace formula,” he told reporters in 

Yerevan.

In that regard, Pashinian rejected parallels drawn by his political opponents between his policy on the conflict with Azerbaijan and a conciliatory line on Karabakh that was favored by Armenia’s former President Levon Ter-Petrosian.

“I think that our government is pursuing a policy on the Karabakh issue which no other government [of Armenia] pursued in the past,” he said. “Attempts to find parallels or similarities with any former political course are utter nonsense.”

Ter-Petrosian was forced by his key ministers to resign in 1998 after strongly advocating a Karabakh peace plan put forward by the U.S., Russian and French mediators in 1997. The plan called for the liberation of virtually all districts around Karabakh that were occupied by Karabakh Armenian forces during the 1991-1994 war. It envisaged no mechanisms for determining Karabakh’s status, the main bone of contention.

Over the past decade, the mediating powers have advanced a similar settlement calling for Armenian withdrawal from those districts. In return, Karabakh’s predominantly Armenian population would determine the disputed territory’s internationally recognized status in a future referendum.

It is not clear whether Pashinian supports this peace formula in principle or has discussed it with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. The two men have met for three times since the end of September, most recently in Davos on January 22.

“The meetings with Aliyev were not negotiations,” said Pashinian. “They were informal contacts during which we simply exchanged thoughts.”

Arminfo, Armena

Jan 31 2019

The creative staff of the World Questions program of the BBC TV and  Radio Company comes to Armenia: British journalists will try to find  answers to questions related to the velvet revolution

Tatevik Shahunyan

At the beginning of February of this year, the creative staff of the World Questions program of the British BBC TV channel arrives in Armenia.

During the visit, the presenter of the program Jonny Dymond, will  try, together with the representatives of the socio-political circles  of Armenia, through debates, to find answers to his questions  regarding the latest processes in the republic related to the velvet  revolution and the reforms that followed it. The presenter will focus  on issues relating to the foreign policy of Armenia, the economic  revolution promised by the new government.

Armenpress.am

29 January, 2019

Speaker of Parliament holds meeting with UK Ambassador to Armenia

Speaker of Parliament Ararat Mirzoyan has held a meeting today with UK’s Ambassador to Armenia Judith Farnworth, the parliament’s press service said.

The Speaker highly appreciated the current level of relations between the two countries, attaching importance to the ambassador’s role in the issue.

Speaking about further deepening and developing the Armenian-UK ties, Mirzoyan namely emphasized the active cooperation between parliamentary friendship groups, as well as mutual visits. The Speaker expressed conviction that all grounds for effective cooperation between delegations of the two countries exist in international parliamentary arenas.

The UK ambassador congratulated Mirzoyan on being elected Speaker and attached importance to the free, fair and transparent elections in Armenia.

Farnworth noted that the UK has great experience in parliamentary administration and can assist Armenia in developing supervision mechanisms and strengthening democracy.

Speaking about the projects aimed at developing institutional capacities of the parliament, the ambassador expressed readiness for active cooperation.

Addressing parliamentary diplomacy, the UK ambassador highlighted boosting of partnership between friendship groups and strengthening cooperation in multilateral formats.

The sides also touched upon opportunities for bilateral cooperation within the framework of the more expanded European family, as well as the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed between Armenia and the European Union.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

Panorama, Armenia

Jan 30 2019

Armenia’s crime rate up 11,2% last year, police colonel says

The Crime rate in Armenia grew by 11,2% or over 2018, but the country’s murder rate hit its lowest point over the past 40 years, Head of the Armenian Police Headquarters, Police Colonel Armen Ghukasyan told a news conference on Wednesday.

According to the official, the number of crimes increased by 2,267 cases to 22,551 last year from the previous year’s 20,284, fuelled especially by big increases in corruption-related offences and crimes against property.

“If in 2017 634 corruption crimes were revealed, in 2018 the number grew by around 2,5 times to stand at 1,353. Such crimes fall under the category of latent crimes, and an increase in their numbers is a positive result itself, since their detection is rather difficult for law enforcement agencies and requires extensive operative and investigative measures,” Ghukasyan said.

According to the official, last year police revealed nearly 5,7 billion drams in corruption-related damages to the state, organizations and individuals, while the number was around 735 billion in 2017.

The police colonel also says more people tend to report various crimes to police now, with the reports on apparent crimes rising by 9,145 last year.

The crime rate increase of 2018 isn’t unprecedented, he says, since it has been recorded six times since Armenia’s independence.

The second leading type of crimes in 2018 was the crimes against property. Last year, the number of revealed cases was 10,112, while in 2017 – 8,102.

Meantime, the crimes against persons is on the decline, as Armenia saw the lowest murder rates over the past 40 years.

Speaking about the crime rates after the declared amnesty in Armenia, Ghukasyan said according to the updated information 40 ex-convicts out of 581 released under the amnesty have again committed 42 crimes.

Not ruling out a possible connection between a crime rate growth and amnesty, the official at the same time says the humanitarian approach towards prisoners is not wrong, adding the ex-convicts simply need to be kept under control.

BBC, UK

Jan 30 2019               

Did wine cause a full-scale revolution in Armenia?

According to some Yerevan locals, seeds of change were inadvertently sowed in the intimate interiors that define many of Armenia’s new specialist drinking dens.

By Martin Guttridge-Hewitt

Born late-December 2012, In Vino was the first specialist wine bar and shop to open in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan. The cosy interior brims with hand-picked bottles; pungent cured meats and cheeses fill the deli counter; and passionate staff deliver a wealth of knowledge with every glass.

This scene would be familiar to most oenophiles, and is repeated in cities across the globe. So to understand the significance of this particular bar, some wider context about this corner of the Caucasus is needed.

View image of In Vino was the first specialist wine bar and shop to open in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan (Credit: Credit: age fotostock/Alamy) 

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Armenia claims an enviable history. What are believed to be the oldest known traces of winemaking in the world have been found in the country’s south, at the 6,100-year-old Areni-1 archaeological site. Christianity first blossomed here. Literary, artistic, culinary and musical traditions pre-date many ancient civilisations. But modern times have been defined by struggle.

Ottoman occupation in the early-20th Century turned from oppression to mass killings, decimating the population and significantly shrinking borders in the process. Soviet rule, beginning in 1922, restricted opportunities and options – and independence in 1991 resulted in kleptocratic decisions where industrial assets were stripped with little investment to plug the gaps.

Additionally, territorial disputes became numerous. Borders with neighbouring Turkey and Azerbaijan remain closed, and swathes of land have been annexed. Successive autocratic regimes over the last three decades had given rise to endemic corruption, stunting the economy and limiting social mobility. An enormous diaspora now remains overseas, and on home turf, one third of the population is currently impoverished with 16% unemployed. Those with a job earn an average of £270 per month.

All of which makes Armenia an unlikely candidate for The Economist magazine’s 2018 Country of the Year. That is until you look at the events of spring 2018, when the Velvet Revolution swept through towns and cities after former president Serzh Sargsyan tried to extend his decade in power.

The public, weary after years of administrative criminality, had finally had enough. Young activists mobilised, using social media to organise large-scale protests, bringing major roads and public realms to a standstill. Within weeks, the ruling Republican Party stepped down. Not a single shot was fired.

Elections in December 2018 then saw reformist acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who was a key figure in the revolution, claim 70.4% of the vote. Many now believe major improvements are possible after seeing barriers between political class and population removed. As a symbolic gesture, the gates to the National Assembly and the prime minister and president’s offices were opened to the public in October to convey new governmental transparency.

However, some Yerevan locals believe the seeds of change were inadvertently sowed in the intimate interiors that define many of Armenia’s new specialist drinking dens that stand on Saryan Street, now dubbed ‘Wine Street’ thanks to the sheer number of establishments that have opened since In Vino arrived. A huge financial risk at that time – with some doubting such a small bar could turn a profit – six years on, In Vino is a firm fixture in the capital's nightlife scene.

The area caters to a new generation of drinkers, who prefer quality wines (domestic and imported), craft beers and spirits with traceable origins over the mass-produced vodka popularised during Soviet times – and a staple of more traditional haunts popular with the now-deposed political class. With the old regime disinterested, establishments such as In Vino became breeding grounds for progressive ideas. Frustrations, resentments and hopes were shared across tables, eventually boiling over into direct action.

“Wine created places where people would come and share ideas without feeling encroached by the presence of the ruling class,” said Vahe Baloulian, one of In Vino’s owners. “[In Vino] became one of those places where similar types of people would gather and exchange ideas. It didn’t happen because they started drinking wine, but wine usually attracts people who are better educated, more forward-looking.”

Wine Street's dominant demographic – largely young, educated and employed but tired of the corruption in parliament – would not only support the revolution, but go on to produce the government of today.

“Right now, a lot of the people who are involved in the parliament are just like us, people who used to come to our wine bar regularly,” said Mariam Saghatelyan, one of Baloulian’s partners at In Vino. “They might  not be very experienced in the field, they might not know that much about politics, but at least they have the same interests as me, and if I am against something they want to change, I can voice my opinion. I’m not afraid of them anymore.”

Wine created places where people would come and share ideas without feeling encroached by the presence of the ruling class 

While these new wine bars and ideas might be progressive in today’s Armenia, gathering and exchanging thoughts over wine is firmly rooted in the country’s cultural heritage.

“Even if you read stories or historical points about our ancestors – my grandfather, their grandfathers – how they would resolve different issues was always around a table with an alcoholic beverage,” Saghatelyan said

.

Just as wine has been brought back to the fore by Armenians keen to see one of the country's oldest traditions thrive, the slow, relaxed atmosphere we associate with drinking reds, whites and roses has restored that tradition of addressing the day’s issues over a fine vintage.

“The whole wine itself is a story – the winemaker, where it was made, the history of the winery. People started to discuss things around the wine, then the next day you could see them coming together as a group,” Saghatelyan said. “A lot of problems were discussed, because wine makes conversations flow.”

Domestic wine production has re-emerged in tandem with these new perspectives. Under the Soviet Union, Armenia was instructed to focus on brandies. Many of the red grape vines used to produce wines were removed to increase capacity for the white varieties brandy requires. 

Other red vineyards simply fell into disrepair as demand declined.

In the years after Soviet authority ended, however, a thirst to resurrect the lost wine industry grew alongside newfound freedoms promoting the recognition and celebration of Armenia's traditions that had been suppressed under communism. Output of Armenian wine has since exploded, as In Vino’s success demonstrates. When it opened, there were just 10 native varieties on sale; that number now stands at 85, with reds such as Areni and Kakhet and Voskehat whites particularly popular  in the shop.

“Armenian winemakers of the recent generations showed that it’s possible to make good wine in Armenia. Because before that people were going for sweet wines which was all sugar and juice or foreign wines,” Baloulian explained. “So a lot of things like this made people believe what they were told was impossible was possible.”

It may sound tenuous to suggest a link between that newfound belief in quality winemaking and the realisation that other forms of positive change could also happen. But there are parallels. Armenia’s new producers approach winemaking with hopes of competing globally. 

Meanwhile, the revolution began with demands for better prospects from a population tired of an economy that could not function properly on the international stage.

“Winemaking is not a new thing here, but the approach and the philosophy is,” explained Varuzhan Mouradian, who heads up the Van Ardi winery, one of Armenia’s growing number of award-winning, modern vineyards. “I think the consumer should follow and trace the wine back to starting from that bud break. She or he needs to feel that sun, and see how deep the roots went, how they were fighting the stones to collect different minerals.”

“The contrast compared to 15 years ago, or during Soviet times, was that wine was just considered an alcoholic beverage and produced as such,” said his daughter, Ani Mouradian, who explained how the last six years have been crucial to cementing the reputation of Armenian wine on the world circuit as producers started appearing at foreign trade shows. And confidence in the wine industry is growing.

The Van Ardi winery is building accommodation overlooking the vines, scheduled for completion in 2020. Elsewhere, in the most prominent wine region of Vayots Dzor, the country’s first wine route has been established. There’s hope that Armenia could become the next emergent wine destination, like neighbouring Georgia, bolstering a small but economically significant tourism economy in the coming years.

Whether Armenian wine really started the revolution is a matter of opinion, but its impact on a country in the throes of being reborn seems undeniable.