Dr Dikran Abrahamian - Keghart.com
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Tuesday, 27 November 2018
Armenian News... A Topalian The Armenian Genocide
On Nov 21st 2018, Derby City council became the first city council in England to recognise The Armenian Genocide as a Genocide.
Please see Mr Russell Pollard's personal journey in achieving this outcome in his website, link here below, to read more about this event.
Dr Ara and Mrs S. Nahabedian attended the council meeting and witnessed this historic motion adopted unanimously by the full city council of Derby.
Financial Times, UK
Nov 23 2018
Turkey and Armenia: the truth is more complicated
From Ümit Yalçin, Ambassador of Turkey to the UK
Your article “ Finding Armenia” (FT Magazine, November 17) wrongly describes the events that unfolded in eastern Anatolia during the final years of the Ottoman Empire. Labelling these events as a “genocide” perpetrated by one side against the other and vilifying the Turkish nation has long been the main feature of the one-sided Armenian approach. It is unacceptable and obviously disputable from a variety of standpoints, including legal and historical.
A closer look at the history of the first world war and the final period of the Ottoman Empire would reveal that reality is much more complex than what some Armenian circles would have you believe.
That being said, Turkey does not deny the hardship and suffering of many Ottoman Armenians, along with all the other constituent nations of the Ottoman Empire, during the first world war. What we oppose is creating a “hierarchy of sufferings” and baselessly accusing a nation of the biggest of all crimes.
Turkey firmly believes that drawing enmity from the past only fuels ill feelings and prevents the Turkish and the Armenian people from becoming any closer.
Ümit Yalçin
Ambassador of Turkey to the UK
Panorama, Armenia
Nov 21 2018
Paylan: Why don't Turks say that Dolmabahçe Palace was built by Armenian architect?
Garo Paylan, an Armenian member of the Turkish parliament representing the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) reflected on the Armenian cultural heritage in Turkey during the budgetary debates of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Addressing the parliament session, the lawmaker stressed that the appropriated heritage is misrepresented in the country, noting that those in Turkey fail to admit the fact that the architect of Dolmabahçe Palace in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul was an Armenian, Ermenihaber reports.
“Why don’t you say that Dolmabahçe Palace belongs to us, Akhtamar belongs to us ... During the college years, when we visited Dolmabahçe, the guide said that the palace was built by Italian architect Baliani. I believed, but when I returned to college I found out that Dolmabahçe was built by Armenian architect Garabed Balyan,” Paylan was quoted as saying.
“Can you imagine? There is a perception that an Italian architect is preferable to an Armenian one. Many sites in Istanbul bear the marks of the famous Balyan family. Why do you deny this? Why don’t you say that Sultanahmet, Dolmabahçe Palace and Akhtamar are ours?” he asked.
The Balyan family was a prominent Ottoman Armenian family of court architects in the service of Ottoman sultans and other members of the Ottoman dynasty during the 18th and 19th centuries. For five generations, they designed and constructed numerous major buildings in the Ottoman Empire, including palaces, mansions, konaks, kiosks, yalis, mosques, churches, and various public buildings, mostly in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul).
The nine well-known members of the family served six sultans in the course of almost a century and played an important role in the westernization of Ottoman architecture during the Tanzimat period.
RFE/RL Report
Pashinian Rules Out Change In Armenia’s Policy On Iran
November 20, 2018
Armenia will maintain its close relationship with neighboring Iran despite renewed U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Tuesday.
“We need to develop relations with Iran very intensively and they must be mutually beneficial,” Pashinian told reporters, commenting on the impact of the sanctions on Armenian-Iranian ties.
He said he sees “no need to make any changes” in Armenia’s policy towards Iran. “We should not only maintain the good level of our relations but also try to
raise them to a new level,” he stressed.
Pashinian said that the U.S. administration “understands our situation and policy.” Having good relations with the United States is also “very important” to Armenia, he added.
A team of officials from the U.S. state and treasury departments visited Yerevan last week to explain the sanctions re-imposed by President Donald Trump earlier this year to Armenia’s government and private sector. No details of their meetings were made public.
Iran was also high on the agenda of U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton’s October trip to Armenia. Bolton said he hold Pashinian that the Trump administration will enforce the sanctions “very vigorously.” Commercial and
other traffic through the Armenian-Iranian border is therefore “going to be a significant issue” for Washington, he said.
Speaking in the Armenian parliament a few days after his talks with Bolton, Pashinian made clear that his government will maintain Armenia’s “special” relationship with Iran.
The premier on Tuesday did not deny reports that some Armenian commercial banks have started closing the accounts of Iranian citizens, most of them Armenian
descent, living in Armenia. He insisted that those private banks are not acting on his government’s orders. He suggested that they have commercial operations with the U.S. and do not want to be sanctioned by Washington.
Pashinian met with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani when he visited New York in September to address a session of the UN General Assembly. The two leaders discussed ways of expanding Armenian-Iranian trade and reaffirmed their support for joint energy projects planned or already implemented by the two states.
With Armenia’s borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey closed due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Iran as well as Georgia serve as the sole conduits for the landlocked country’s trade with the outside world. Armenia also imports Iranian natural gas and other fuel.
RFE/RL Report
Armenian Minister Sees Slower Growth In 2018
November 23, 2018
Sargis Harutyunyan
The Armenian economy is on course to grow by 5 to 6 percent this year, Economy Minister Tigran Khachatrian said on Friday.
Economic growth in Armenia accelerated to 7.5 percent in 2017, according to official statistics. It hit 9.7 percent in the first quarter of this year, before the start of weeks of mass protests that led to the resignation of the country’s longtime leader, Serzh Sarkisian, and his government.
Data from the Armenian Statistical Committee shows that growth has slowed down since then. The government agency has also reported a sharp drop in foreign investment.
Political opponents of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, the protest leader who came to power in May, have seized upon these figures to criticize his economic record. They claim that his government’s policies are scaring away local and foreign investors.
Khachatrian insisted that the dramatic regime change, commonly referred to as a “velvet revolution,” will benefit the domestic economy in the longer term. He argued that the new government has already broken up economic monopolies linked to the former regime and is taking other measures to improve Armenia’s business environment.
“The revolution has led to a greater degree of economic freedom, easier access to the markets and more equal competition,” said Khachatrian. “These are factors that could and should create a more favorable environment for
investment-related decisions. But they can’t produce solutions and results at once.”
The minister predicted that the upcoming parliamentary elections, which Pashinian’s bloc is widely expected to win, will also contribute to faster growth. The resulting “stabilization of the situation” in the country will only
encourage businesspeople to launch new projects, he said.
Pashinian cited economic considerations when he started pushing for the holding of the snap elections in early October. He said political uncertainty resulting from his team’s modest presence in the current Armenian parliament is hampering economic activity.
RFE/RL Report
Armenian Police Chief Downplays Higher Crime Rate
November 22, 2018
Sargis Harutyunyan
The chief of the Armenian police, Valeri Osipian, downplayed on Thursday an 11 percent increase in the number of crimes registered in the country this year,
saying that they were previously underreported.
According to Armenia’s Statistical Committee, law-enforcement bodies recorded 16,227 crimes in January-September, up from 14,554 in the same period of 2017.
Some critics blame the current Armenian government, which took office after this spring’s “velvet revolution,” for the higher crime rate. They claim that it is less tough on crime than the previous authorities in Yerevan.
Osipian insisted, however, that other factors are at play. “True, there has been an increase in crimes but it’s not risky enough to make us feel concerned … It has to do with a number of factors,” he told reporters.
“First of all, the vicious practice within the police system of concealing crimes has been completely eliminated,” explained Osipian.
He said police officers used to tell victims of theft, robbery and other offenses not to file formal crime reports “so that that does not affect police indicators.” As a result, many crimes were “registered orally” and thus not added to official statistics, he said.
Osipian, who was appointed as police chief by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in May, declined to name any police officers responsible for that. He insisted only that his predecessor Vladimir Gasparian “always demanded that they don’t underreport” crimes.
Zhanna Aleksanian, an outspoken human rights activist, strongly disagreed, saying that many crimes were “concealed, covered up and ignored” by the police
under Gasparian. “I don’t think that this police [leadership] has fully stopped underreporting crimes or using violence,” she told RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
According to Osipian, another reason for the larger number of registered crimes is that their victims are now less wary of reporting them because of what he described as greater public trust in the police. “While people did not trust, respect and love us, police servicemen, in the past, I can say that the opposite is the case now,” he claimed.
News.am, Armenia
Nov 23 2018
Will Armenia eliminate Diaspora Ministry?
There is no final decision regarding the future of Armenia's Diaspora Ministry, acting Minister Mkhitar Hayrapetyan said.
The official believes that during the past years the Ministry of Diaspora was playing a symbolic role.
“If the Diaspora Ministry has to be a symbolic agency that is not to solve precise tasks, let it be a department,” Hayrapetyan emphasized.
Asked whether he will retain his post, Hayrapetyan urged to wait until the results of the early parliamentary elections. The acting minister added that he is ready for working either in the parliament, or in the government.
The incumbent authorities have already declared their intention to cut the number of ministries.
Agriculture Monitor Worldwide
November 22, 2018 Thursday
Armenia to start producing tractors
Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday, November 21 met Armen Harutyunyan, the head of Beltekhnika, a Lithuanian company engaged in the production of agricultural equipment.
At the meeting in Yerevan, the sides discussed issues related to Beltekhnikas initiative to implement an investment project for the production of agricultural machinery such as tractors in Armenia.
Reaffirming the Armenian governments interest in implementing the proposed investment project, Pashinyan said it will generate new jobs in line with his governments drive for providing favorable conditions for investors.
Harutyunyan said they are going to produce modern farm equipment, affordable for local farmers, part of which will be exported to the European market.
The new plant will be created on the basis of the former Hayelectromash factory. $5-7 million will be invested in the first stage, followed by an additional investment of $10-15 million. Harutyunyan said his team will start working on its implementation as early as December 1, 2018.
The first plants annual output capacity is 3,000 tractors. The second plant will increase the output by additional 5,000 tractors. Nikol Pashinyan welcomed the initiative and expressed confidence that it was going to be a success story.
Nov 21 2018
Armenian church dragged into Russia-Ukraine feud
Ani Mejlumyan
Armenia’s top cleric made an ambiguous statement involving the schism in the Orthodox world, but it’s been interpreted as backing Russia.
Armenia's top church official, Karekin II, at a ceremony to consecrate a new church in Novosibirsk, Russia. While in Russia he weighed in on the dispute between the Russian and Ukrainian churches. (photo: Facebook page of Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin)
Armenia’s top religious official has been dragged into a feud between the Russian and Ukrainian churches and appears to have sided with Russia.
Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II was consecrating a new Armenian church in Novosibirsk, Russia, made from Armenia’s trademark pink tuff stone, when he was asked about the schism that has rocked the Orthodox Christian world. In October, the Russian Orthodox Church announced that it was cutting ties with the Constantinople Patriarchate, following the latter's declaration of support for an independent Ukrainian church.
The Armenian church is not part of the Constantinople Patriarchate and does not have a direct stake in the conflict, unlike many of the other national Orthodox churches that are being forced to take sides in the dispute. Karekin nevertheless weighed in.
“The Armenian Apostolic Church is a supporter of canonicity. And in this regard, one can never welcome steps that are aimed towards division, dismemberment of the church,” Karekin said at the November 19 ceremony.
Both Russians and Ukrainians interpreted that as a vote of support for Moscow. And some Ukrainians said it was a manifestation of Yerevan’s pro-Russia foreign policy. "It’s not the Catholicos of All Armenians who speaks here, but the Kremlin,” analyst Andriy Datsiuk told the Ukrainian TV network Priamyi. “Because today Armenia is politically, economically and militarily dependent on the Russian Federation. Therefore, whatever they say, the statement is dictated by political motives.”
But one senior Ukrainian church official denied that Karekin had taken a side in the dispute. “Some understood the statement as condemnation of the provision of the Tomos to Ukraine. Where did you see any note regarding Tomos in the statement of Karekin II?,” said Archbishop Yevstratiy, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate, referring to the official granting of autonomy, or autocephaly, to the Ukrainian church.
He added that the Armenian church – the first official church in the world, after Armenia adopted Christianity in 301 – had no direct relation to the Ukrainian or Russian churches. And he blamed Ukrainian journalists for mistakenly reporting the story by following Russians’ lead.
Karekin and other church officials, meanwhile, failed to clarify the church’s official position, and Armenian media have left the story alone.
Ani Mejlumyan is a Yerevan-based journalist.
Armenian News... A Topalian...Hayastan All-Armenian Fund
Panorama, Armenia
Nov 19 2018
Pan-European Phonethon 2018: Armenians of Europe donate € 1,242,460
The Pan-European Phonethon of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund is over. During the period from November 14 to 18, the Armenians of Europe have raised a total of 1,242,460 euros, the Fund's press service reports.
The Phonethon-2018 was launched in Marseille, but included also Toulouse, Lyon, Paris later moving to Switzerland, Germany, and Greece. Over 10,000 people participated in the Phonethon this year, with 700more than the previous years.
The money raised during the Phonethon-2018 will be directed to the development of agricultural projects in Tavush region, installation of solar energy in Artsakh and the needs of the Syrian Armenians in Armenia.
Herewith the results of Pan-European Phoneathon 2018:
Paris - € 686,162
Marseille - € 207,149
Lyon - € 177,898
Toulouse - € 66 447
France in total - € 1,137,746
Germany - € 73,845
Switzerland - € 19,717
Greece - € 11,150
Public Radio of Armenia
Nov 20 2018
Armenia sees no need in reconsidering relations with Iran – acting PM
Armenia sees no need in reconsidering its relations with Iran, the acting Prime Minister says.
“We have to develop our relations very intensively, and these relations should be mutually beneficial,” acting PM Nikol Pashinyan told reporters today.
“As neighboring countries we not only have to maintain the level of relations, but also try to raise them to new heights,” Pashinyan added.
He said that a company that has relations with both Iranioan and American partners, may be forced to make a choice, and when it comes to private companies, it’s up to them to decide which way they go.
On the government level, he said “we have clearly presented our position, our interests in relations with Iran and Georgia.”
“I’m confident that our American partners understand our situation and policy,” the acting PM said.
He added that development of good and strong relations with the US is also very important to Armenia.
“I’m glad that relations with Armenia is also on the priority list," Nikol Pashinyan said.
The commens come in the wake of a visit by an interagency team of subject matter experts from the US Departments of State and Treasury to Yerevan.
They discussed the Iran sanctions policies with counterparts in the Armenian government and business community.
The Trump administration has restored all sanctions lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal in a bid to pressure Iran.
The sanctions that went into effect on Monday target Iran's oil exports and financial transactions, hitting the country's main source of revenue and hard currency.
The Trump administration will allow Japan, China, India, Italy, Greece, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey to escape US sanctions against Iran.
Panorama, Armenia
Nov 20 2018
Despite all efforts, Azerbaijan’s policy on isolation of Artsakh fails – official
A new wave of hysteria has risen in Azerbaijan against the backdrop of the recent visit of Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan to France to attend annual Telethon and Phonathon in the country.
Sahakyan’s meetings held in Paris have angered Baku, which in turn, has sent a note of protest to the French Foreign Ministry over the visit.
In a statement released on 17 November, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said, “France's constant double standards approach makes Azerbaijan reconsider its ties with that country.”
In a separate statement, Baku promised to also present a note of protest to the US for issuing a visa to the Artsakh leader.
Panorama.am correspondent has talked to David Babayan, a spokesman for the Artsakh president, over the possible reasons behind such a conduct of Azerbaijan.
The official stressed this is Azerbaijan’s yet another failed attempt to isolate Artsakh from the international community.
“Azerbaijan is apparently trying to impede any steps and policies of Artsakh aimed at establishing cooperation with different countries. The country spends huge sums – billions of dollars – on it, but all in vain,” Babayan said, meantime stressing Armenia shouldn’t be relieved and not take Baku’s steps seriously.
“But this is the reality: spending huge sums, they fail to achieve a desired end. It irritates Azerbaijan, causing uproar in the country,” he stressed.
The spokesman strongly believes the attempts of the adversary to isolate Artsakh are continuous, and Azerbaijan will not abandon its policy.
“We should clearly realize this and never give up, thinking that Azerbaijan has changed its policy line or ultimate goal. For better or worse, no one shall take deterrent measures instead of us. First of all, we must continue strengthening our trinity – the unity of Mother Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora,” he said, stressing the need to carry out works inside the country and prepare best professionals to work on international platforms.
“We have that potential, we have talented and patriotic diplomats, including within various structures of the Diaspora,” the Artsakh official said.
Babayan stressed despite all the anti-Armenian activities of Azerbaijan, Artsakh doesn’t feel isolated either in France or US thanks to the great support of Armenia and the Diaspora.
“However, the adversary works in multiple channels. Let’s take the example of France: according to reliable sources, Azerbaijan together with Turkey constantly threatens the leaders of those French sister cities which have cooperation agreements with Artsakh. We know about it for sure. In fact, they have declared jihads our friends who are either MPs or social and political figures in different cities,” he said.
“Azerbaijan runs the same policy also in the US, that is why we must preserve the trinity and be united,” the spokesman stressed.
Summing up, he noted Armenia shouldn’t follow the aggressive workstyle of Azerbaijan which is agreed with the fact that Baku has no legal, political or moral truth on its side. According to him, this is the reason why Azerbaijan puts the emphasis on its interests, bribery and terrorism.
“They stay focused on money, while we – on values,” he said.
Panorama, Armenia
Nov 17 2018
Armenian border villagers block road, demand return of Karen Ghazaryan held captive in Azerbaijan
See also Armenia blasts Azerbaijan’s attempts to present mentally ill captive as criminal
The school students of Berdavan border village in Armenia's Tavush region are holding a rally, demanding the return of their fellow villager Karen Ghazaryan, who is being held captive in Azerbaijan.
The demonstrators marched to block the interstate highway at the edge of the village on Saturday morning, Panorama.am reports, citing Aravot.am.
Ghazaryan’s relatives, the teaching staff of Berdavan secondary school and the village prefect Smbat Mughdusyan also jointed the protest campaign, the news agency said. A large group of police officers were also dispatched to the scene.
The interstate roadway remained closed as of midday.
34-year-old Ghazaryan, whom the Azerbaijani authorities are trying to present as a ‘saboteur’, has a history of mental illness, which has prevented him from being conscripted for military service.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry has slammed Baku’s attempts to present a person with serious health problems as a criminal as a ‘gross violation of the international humanitarian law’, stressing all measures are being taken to return the captive to Armenia.
PanArmenian, Armenia
Nov 20 2018
Armenia has lowest child suicide rate in Europe
Armenia has the lowest child suicide rate among the countries of the European region, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a fresh report.
According to the WHO, 190 million children and adolescents under the age of 18 live in the European region. 44 million of them were physically and 18 million sexually abused, and 55 million experienced psychological trauma. 90 percent of all such cases go unnoticed, the WHO said.
Child abuse is often the cause of suicide, the report says. Russia leads by the number of child and adolescent suicides in the European region and is followed by Latvia, Belgium, Finland, Moldova, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, on the other hand, have the lowest child suicide rates.
WHO recommends changing the legislation, involving health workers in identifying such cases, acquainting parents with “peaceful” methods of education and teaching children how to defend themselves.
News.am, Armenia
Nov 17 2018
Analyst: Armenia trails behind Azerbaijan in development of intellectual capital
Armenia needs to reach and pass Azerbaijan in the development of intellectual capital, analyst Gagik Harutyunyan stated at a press conference on Saturday.
As per the analyst, in order to worthily address the challenges which Armenia faces today, it is essential to develop the country’s main capital: intellect and high-quality personnel.
“The main accomplishment of the third Republic [of Armenia]—the victory of Karabakh War—became possible thanks to technology and human capital,” Harutyunyan noted. “But we lost that advantage [over Azerbaijan] in the following years.”
The analyst added that, as case in point, today Azerbaijani universities rank higher than Armenian institutions of higher education.
MediaMax, Armenia
Nov 19 2018
Mikael Mikaelyan wins Armenia’s 1st skiing medal this season
Armenia has won its first skiing medal this season thanks to 19-year-old Mikael Mikaelyan, who took the gold for 10km freestyle race in international qualifying tournament in Saariselkä, Finland.
The young athlete came out the winner among 45 participants, all a year older than him, and earned 79.12 points. Mikaelyan is very close to securing a place in 2019 World Cup finals.
Other Armenia representatives were also involved in Saariselkä tournament. Tadevos Poghosyan finished 12th, Arman Matinyan was 29th, and Katya Galstyan came 23rd.
Armenian Technology Group 550 E Shaw Ave, PO Box 5969, Fresno, CA 93755
PRESS RELEASE
Over 700 acres planted in Armenia with Food Security in mind
For the 2018-2019 growing season, more than 700 acres of farmland were sown by the Armenian Technology Group, Inc., (ATG) to produce assorted varieties of seeds in Armenia. Gagik Mkerchyan, director of ATG operations in Armenia and Mekhitar Grigoryan chief agronomist, spearheaded the planting of high-quality wheat, alfalfa, corn, lentil, garbanzo and other legume seeds for reproduction throughout Armenia.
The objective of this year’s planting is to re-create Armenia’s Seed Bank, in order to make high-quality seeds available to the growers during natural disasters and / or to overcome man-made obstacles.
“Despite the hail-damage which some of our fields sustained prior to the 2018 harvest, we are satisfied with the outcome of that harvest. We were able to expand our operation,” stated Mkerchyan.
What began -- with the assistance of USAID and USDA Foreign Agricultural Services from the 1990's through 2008 -- as the Wheat Project, continued with the private contributions of the Armenian-American community. Since the establishment of Armenia’s independence, the country faced at least two crises during which ATG- associated farmers helped bail it out of potential famines. (Please see then-US Ambassador Michael Lemmon’s letter to ATG on our website). Last summer, ATG's Armenia staff again placed its entire seed inventory under production -- first, to re-energize the private seed producers and, second, to make locally generated high-quality seed available to growers. It was then time for ATG to rebuild the seed bank again.
“We view a Seed Bank as an essential part of food security. It is an integral part of even national security, particularly for a landlocked country like Armenia.” said Varoujan Der Simonian, Executive Director of ATG.
ATG farm experts continue their Research & Development, in co-operation with the International Maze and Wheat Improvement Association (CYMMIT). Chief agronomist Mekhitar Grigoryan, who has been with ATG since 1992, annually, on 14 trial-plot sites, practices applied science methodology to select the best seeds varieties suitable for Armenia’s climate.
“Over the next two years we follow by extensive trials of those varieties at seven different growing zones in Armenia. We carry all the risks, and only after ensuring the best seed varieties suitable for producing results, which only then are made available to growers.” said Grigoryan.
The process has been part of the intent and purpose of our relationship with the international research center. It has now devoted over two decades to helping us increase farm productivity and income in Armenia. (see CYMMIT letter to ATG on our website).
ATG places high priority on preserving the quality of seeds, to ensure that farmers obtain only the highest quality. The process begins by roguing the fields early on. That involves removing, by hand, those plants and other seeds that may have undesirable characteristics from various fields. This is followed by sorting and, after harvest, treating and processing, prior to making the seed available to grain growers.
“We appreciate that Prime Minister Pashinyan’s administration is mediating between financial institutions and the growers, who, due to dishonest practices by members of previous governments, have either lost their lands or are in court trying to save their farms and livelihoods. We have faced a depopulation of the rural communities, where some 60% of the land is not being cultivated. It was time for us to rebuild the seed inventories again,” said Gagik Mkerchyan.
During annual field demonstrations, director Mkerchyan and agronomist Grigoryan re-emphasize to ATG associated farmers the benefits of utilizing a more cost effective and agriculturally efficient no-till farming methodology, underscoring that this will help increase farm income.
Re-supplying the country’s Seed Bank is crucial to strengthening the heartland of Armenia! It results in newly-created jobs, increased domestic productivity, freshly-generated income and, eventually, the growers' ability to provide for their families and manage their own social needs.
Reflecting on the recent successes on Armenia's fields, ATG board members strongly voiced agreement that the vital and timely financial support of 2017 contributors made possible a potentially tremendous impact for the coming 2018-2019 harvesting season.
Serving the people of Armenia since 1989, ATG is a California based501(c)3 non-profit corporation. Contributions are tax-deductible, and could be made on line or mailed to P. O. Box 5969, Fresno, CA 93755.
Panorama, Armenia
Nov 17 2018
Sport
Yura Movsisyan scores four as Armenia beats Gibraltar 6-2
The Armenian national football team crashed Gibraltar 6-2 in the UEFA Nations League match on Friday.
Gibraltar took the lead in the 10th minute, yet Armenians slowly asserted control and equalized when Yura Movsisyan scored the first goal for the team in the 27th minute.
The Chicago Fire forward hit three more goals in the first nine minutes of the second half – the first haul in the history of the Armenian national football team.
Arthur Kartashyan and Alexander Karapetyan scored the fifth and sixth goals for Armenia. In the 78th minute, Adam Priestly struck the second goal for Gibraltar.
Armenia lost the first match to Gibraltar 1-0 in Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium on 10 October.
The national team is now set to face Liechtenstein on November 19.
Georgia Today, Georgia
Nov 19 2018
Nerd Nation: The People Factor behind Armenia’s Tech Prowess
By Dr. Simon Appleby
Tiny landlocked Armenia is best known in the region for apricots and brandy, and is the source of long-running Caucasus rivalries as to which nationality first invented winemaking, whose mineral water and dolma are superior, and whose Olympians are better at wrestling and weightlifting. However, Armenia has a more recent claim to fame: it was a major technology hub of the Soviet Union.
Over 150,000 ethnic Armenians from the diaspora settled in the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic at the invitation of the Soviet government after the Second World War (partly to compensate for the massive loss of life among Armenia’s male population). As a result, while quite mono-ethnic, Armenia was cosmopolitan in ways that other Soviet Republics were not. Armenian settlers from Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Palestine, France and USA integrated into Soviet Armenia’s life, with the academics among them working effectively alongside their USSR-born colleagues in hardware and software development, rocket science and medicine.
The cross-fertilization of ideas and concepts from East and West in Armenia’s institutions bore fruit. Armenia played a key role in the development of the first Soviet atomic bomb, and produced around 40% of the USSR’s computer hardware. The Armenian-developed “Sevan” OS powered the Soviet Union’s ICBM inventory as well as its nuclear submarines; a great deal of dual-use technology was developed in Armenian state institutions, and significant investments in hardware manufacturing and assembly were made.
By the late 1980s, Armenians wryly referred to themselves as a “Nerd Nation”, seeing a career in IT as both prestigious and politically uncontroversial.
DIASPORA-LED DEVELOPMENT
The dark days of the 1990s brought much of this momentum to a halt, but the past decade has seen a renaissance in Armenia’s tech sector. On the one hand, the steady inflow of diaspora Armenians from all over the world has brought capital, export market networks, access to latest technologies and modern project management knowhow. On the other hand, ethnic Armenians in STEM disciplines abroad, many of whom are members of the Philadelphia-based Armenian Scientific Diaspora Association, serve as a bridge for talented Armenian developers looking to commercialize their products or perform outsourcing services to foreign companies.
Several donor and government-financed initiatives also play a role. Established in 2002, the Enterprise Incubator Foundation (EIF) attracted to its facility such technology giants as Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, IBM, Cisco, HP and Intel. EIF also hosts a venture capital fund Granatus, a source of equity and guidance to early stage tech companies which are also to be found on EIF’s premises. Importantly, EIF has set up a technology center in Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city.
Investment promotion by Business Armenia is becoming more polished and customer-focused, signaling that the Armenian tech sector is open for business. Indeed, global players find Armenia an increasingly attractive location. An example is Synopsys, a developer of “secure everything”, from silicon chips to AI, to cloud computing and IOT applications. With over 13,000 staff worldwide, Synopsys has a large presence in Yerevan with several hundred employees and its own training center. Another US-headquartered company with a base in Armenia is National Instruments, operating in the test/measure/control system segment.
As a result of all the above, over the past decade Armenia’s tech exports have been growing at an average pace of 23%/year, reaching 15% of total exports. The tech sector’s overall output currently accounts for 6% of GDP, similar to agriculture.
While Georgia’s architect-designed Tech Park in Mtatsminda looks like a transplant from Silicon Valley, much of Armenia’s IT sector work has been done in crumbling Soviet-era buildings, with decent cable internet connection but neither aesthetically pleasing nor very comfortable. That is set to change.
THE PEOPLE FACTOR
While the arrival of foreign tech companies was a great boon for the development of Armenia’s tech personnel, qualified labor remains a key constraint for the industry.
Armenia may have integrated chess into its general school curricula, however the teaching of STEM disciplines in primary and secondary schools remains weak, particularly in rural areas. Several non-governmental, diaspora-financed initiatives are working to close the gap in IT, tech and creativity skills while operating outside the formal school system. Still, a solid foundation in mathematics and basic sciences is very important at school level, and this responsibility largely lies with government.
One example of a non-governmental initiative to promote computer literacy is the in-school robotics initiative by the Union of IT Enterprises, piloted in Armath. A more comprehensive approach is represented by TUMO, an innovative after-school training program providing free-of-charge “IT and Creativity” training for more than 14,000 youngsters in Yerevan, Gyumri, Stepanakert and Dilizhan (three new centers will be launched in 2019). The brainchild of a US-based IT entrepreneur, Sam Simonyan, TUMO has just opened its first international franchise (in Paris) and is soon to go global.
Given the weakness of government systems, individual people, prominent philanthropists and social entrepreneurs, play an oversized role in the transformation of Armenia’s Nerd Nation. For many of these individuals, including TUMO’s Sam Simonyan, the focus on education goes hand-in-hand with regional development and the building of an ecosystem for science and tech innovation.
With their fortune originating in Russia’s financial sector, Ruben Vardanyan and his wife Veronika Zonabend are behind several philanthropic enterprises, the best known of these, iDEA Foundation, has established an international boarding school in Dilijan, tourist attractions in the remote southern region of Syunik, and the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative. Another offspring of iDEA is the Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST) co-founded in 2017 with a successful life sciences investor Noubar Afeyan in order “to mobilize the scientific, technological, and financial resources of the Armenian and international communities.” FAST’s current offering includes an incubator, an Angel Investor network, a travel grant program, a fellowship program, and internships for undergraduates in established IT firms. Their 2018 public events have been a great success, with the NSF-FAST Conference in October 2017 well attended and the Global Innovation Forum a very interesting and thought-provoking event covering Life Sciences and IT (the full catalogue of presentations can be seen here). FAST is now working to convert a large land parcel in inner Yerevan into a special technology zone that will host ICT-related faculties of Armenia’s universities as well as innovators and investors from around the world.
CHALLENGES AHEAD
• Rather weak STEM teaching in primary and secondary schools results in a scarcity of teenagers eligible for tertiary education in STEM.
• Vocational-level instruction for technicians is inadequate.
• The growth of Armenia’s tech sector is causing rapid inflation in salaries as vacancies exceed qualified candidates. To an extent the gap is being filled by Iranian programmers fleeing their country, but that is not a long-term solution. It is anticipated that Armenia will need an extra 25,000 programmers by 2025, but the current supply pipeline cannot meet that need.
• In the face of rapid wage growth, the sector must refocus on quality products and a great return on investment for clients. This will require investment in branding and marketing, not just a race to the bottom on price.
• There is negligible state funding for early-stage commercialization of research, unlike Europe, USA and China, and this is a stage that few commercial entities will touch.
• There is not yet a deep enough pool of VC’s and Angels operating locally.
If these challenges are addressed, the technology sector in Armenia could be a major contributor to the national economy and employer of talented young people, effectively ending the process of brain drain that has plagued Armenia for two decades. Combined with modern agriculture and a prudent approach to tourism development, Armenia’s lack of natural resources and problematic relations with its two Turkic neighbors would no longer be a significant impediment to development and prosperity.
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Eleanor Roosevelt is known to have said: 'Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself.' While we are quick to recognize the mistakes of our neighbors, this week’s Tbilinomics toast is to our ability to recognize and learn from their successes.
About the author: Based in Armenia, Dr. Appleby is an Australian veterinary scientist and agronomist, and has been operating Hong Kong-based agribusiness group Yu Feng Nong Holdings since 1997. His companies are engaged in M&A consulting, agricultural engineering, farm and asset management.
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