Armenian
News Network / Groong
Table of Contents
Introduction
This Week in Review we’re only doing the Week in Headlines.
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Headlines in the News
Monday
●
The government’s nominee to one of the
Constitutional Court seats, Vahram
Avetisian, has withdrawn his candidacy. His
nomination had been criticized by relatives of the victims of the March 1, 2008
unrest, and Ter-Petrosyan led ANC oppositionists.
●
For the second time in two weeks Armenia
has locked diplomatic horns with Turkey, this
time over Turkey’s aggressive
policies against Greece and Cyprus. Last
week Armenia tweaked Turkey’s nerves when it commemorated the 100th
anniversary of the Sèvres treaty and
declared it a valid document that is not superseded by others.
●
Minister of Education, Arayik Harutyunyan, has
declared that universities
will open in September, and they will decide their mode of
instruction, whether online, hybrid, or other.
●
The unrest across Belarus continued over the
weekend over the August 9 presidential elections. The controversy
over Prime Minister Pashinyan’s hasty congratulations
to Alexander Lukashenko have also not subsided. Meanwhile the European Council has announced that it
will convene a meeting
of its members to discuss the situation in Belarus. Yervand Bozoyan analyzes the dangers of
the developments there, and
the absence of a policy in Yerevan visa-à-vis Russia.
●
Aliyev has formally sacked
his ambassador to Serbia, Eldar Hasanov, after he
was arrested in Baku on charges of embezzlement and corruption.
●
In a continuing purge of his foreign service,
Aliyev has also sacked his ambassador to Georgia. Faik Guliyev will replace Dursun Hasanov. Aliyev had said that some of his envoys
are unable to properly defend Azerbaijani interests abroad.
●
Michigan State Rep. Mari
Manoogian is giving the keynote speech at the
Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, August 18. She is one of 17 of the “new
generation of Democractic leaders” who will
address the DNC.
●
Tourism
is down 60% year-over-year (YoY) in the first half of 2020.
In H1/19 it was 770K, and in 2020 it is 311K, down 459K visitors.
●
Foreign trade decreased by 11.7% compared to the same period
last year.
● The construction sector experienced the
largest economic downturn, down nearly 77% YoY in H1/20.
Tuesday
● BBC’s HARDtalk has challenged Ilham Aliyev - or a senior minister - to appear on their show. But Angela Elibekova thinks Azerbaijan would not risk going on the interview.
●
Iranian FM Mohammad Javad Zarif has
highlighted the need
for developing economic relations with neighboring countries, naming 15 of
them. Armenia has about $175 million annual trade turnover, and friendly
relations with Iran.
● PM Pashinyan and Minister of Territorial
Administration and Infrastructure Suren Papikyan toured the Kotayk region.
● Armenia students advised to self-quarantine ahead of reopening of schools
● 6-year-old Mher from the town of Sevan
has won the Culinary Competition held
recently in Goris, Armenia.
He wowed the jury with his salad and stuffed fish.
● Armenia Environment Minister Romanos Petrosyan vowed to save Lake
Sevan fauna,
calling it a pan-Armenian priority and responsibility.
● Turkish professional climbers have been littering on Mount
Ararat at an
altitude of 4200 meters. Certain areas along the way look like a landfill.
● Some analysts are seeing Armenia’s 2018 “Velvet Revolution” as a
better model for what’s going on in Belarus today, than the more common comparisons to Ukraine’s
Orange (2004-2005) or Maidan (2014) revolutions.
● Christina Maranci, the author of The Art of Armenia, has managed to unearth some long-hidden
frescos with the
help of Adobe Photoshop. The result is not only fresh evidence of Armenian art
long thought lost, but also a method to find even more hidden treasures from
the ancient world.
● Armenia will participate in the International Army Games 2020, to be held in Russia and Belarus from Aug. 23 to Sep. 5.
● Yervand
Khundkaryan, who is nominated to the Constitutional Court by the General
Assembly of Judges, was questioned by the deputies of the My Step faction
who also asked him about holding the position of President of the
Constitutional Court.
●
The Documentary film 100 Years From Home will air
on PBS SoCal on Sept. 1.
●
Erkin Gadirli, a member of the Azerbaijani
parliament from the opposition ReAL party, believes that the simultaneous
recall of the ambassadors in Serbia and Georgia is connected with the supply of
Serbian
weapons to Armenia through Georgia. Georgia has denied this.
●
An Azerbaijani
perspective on PM Pashinyan’s interview on BBC’s HARDtalk.
●
The Asian
Development Bank (ADB) has approved a grant-financed
$750,000 Knowledge
and Support Technical Assistance project to help Armenia develop and
operationalize a distance education platform.
● Former Defense minister Vagharshak Harutyunyan has been appointed
Chief Adviser to Prime Minister Pashinyan.
● Kirk Kerkorian’s estate has given an
additional $2 million to the MGM Resorts company’s
Employee Emergency Grant Fund to support workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
● A new outbreak of coronavirus infection has been detected in Artsakh Republic.
● Armenia's foreign debt reached $8 billion according to the leader of the "One
Armenia" party Arthur Ghazinyan.
● Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan rejected the offer to
meet with former NSS Director Arthur Vanetsyan because official meetings with political forces
that question the policy pursued by Nikol Pashinyan are not acceptable for him.
●
The NSS has opened a criminal case into large-scale money laundering
allegedly involving former Yerevan mayor Gagik Beglarian.
Wednesday
● A new
statement by the ECtHR on state responsibility for the
right to life: the pardoning of an ethnically-motivated killing. This is
regarding the case of Azeri officer Ramil Safavor ax-murdering Armenian army
officer Gurgen Margaryan.
● The Asian Development Bank
will grant $2 million to Armenia for fighting against
COVID-19.
● Joe Biden officially became Democratic Party’s nominee for the US Presidency. Biden picked Kamala Harris as his VP running mate.
● Former President Serge Sargsyan gave a press briefing during which he discussed his views on the April 2016 war. He also said If there is a large-scale war, Armenia must recognize Artsakh's independence. A report on war’s skirmishes is also given by Edgar Elbakyan.
●
Iran considers the Meghri
border crossing point with Armenia as a very important ‘gateway to Eurasian market’.
●
President Armen Sarkissian congratulated Deep
Purple’s Iran Gillan for his birthday and thanked him for being a
friend of Armenia. (Then we all went down to Montreux…)
●
Azerbaijan has become Turkey’s top gas
supplier and reduced its dependence on Russian gas. This could have major
geopolitical ramifications for the region, such as Turkey’s vocal support for
Azerbaijan in its war against Armenia.
●
After visiting Artsakh, leader of
Homeland party Artur Vanetsyan stated that Artsakh right to
self-determination is not negotiable, and that resettling the lands is more
urgent than ever.
● The Minister of Nature Protection said
that a program to restore fish stocks in Lake
Sevan will start on August 20. If the
Homeland bloc wins the next elections in Armenia, Vanetsyan will become Prime Minister.
● Turkey may have discovered gas reserves under the Black Sea.
● A Russian General was killed in Syria by 'Explosive Device'.
●
Garo Paylan has asked Turkish Minister of
Culture & Tourism Nuri Erso, why they’re allowing the vandalism
of an Armenian cemetery in Ankara. Ankara
blames it on “hunters
and contractors.”
●
Turkey is helping build the new Libyan Army and
transferring to them some of the experience
of the Azerbaijan army against Nagorno-Karabakh.
●
The Armenian parliament has turned to the
Constitutional Court disputing the constitutionality of the process of Annuling
the changes to it.
●
The US has said it will not deliver
assistance to Lebanese government
in the aftermath of the deadly Beirut blast. It will continue assistance
directly to the people.
● Russian
opposition leader Alexei
Navalny 'poisoned', is in a coma.
Thursday
●
$50 million
will be spent for Ajapnyak metro station, according to Yerevan’s office of the
Mayor.
● Pres. Armen Sarkissian will launch a “Small and Successful States Club”, with a goal to unite small countries
for exchange of experience and ideas, developing visions for the future and
helping each other.
● Eurasian Economic Union
delegates will convene a forum in Iranian Aras FEZ at the border with
Armenia.
● Iran unveiled a new ballistic surface-to-surface missile on August 20. The missile is called
Shahid Qasem Soleimani, named after the Iranian top general who was
assassinated in a US airstrike earlier in 2020.
●
Armenian
Ambassador to Brazil Arman Hakobyan presented his credentials to President Jair Bolsonaro.
● A New police patrol service will be launched 2021 Q1
in Yerevan.
● Karabakh plans to build up to 1,000 apartments a year through a 5-year plan.
●
Michael Gunter is the new Stanford Shaw or Justin
McCarthy.
●
Armenia has
been open to tourism since August 12, according to a statement by the Tourism Committee of the Ministry for the
Economy.
● Armenia and Russia discuss cooperation in the Middle East.
●
Residents
of Jermuk fighting against Amulsar gold mining held a large car rally on August 20 toward capital Yerevan.
Residents and activists say that the government has not kept its promise to protect their environment and
interests.
●
Armenia
will be the first country to purchase locally made AK-12 assault rifles
● China plans to invest up to $15bn to
build a “smart city” in Armenia.
● Vice-Speaker Of Parliament Alen Simonyan is In hot water over Soros comment.
● Stepanakert Slams Baku’s Threats to Shell Artsakh.
Friday
●
Ambassador to Israel Armen
Smbatyan spoke with Globus
weekly about his vision of development of relations between two states.
●
The Constitutional reforms commission is
considering multiple
scenarios of manipulating the voting age in
Armenia.
●
PM Pashinyan
slams Turkey for “destabilizing and destructive” actions in
region and globally.
●
Artsakh
MFA responded to Azerbaijani speculations on economic
activities.
●
GovTech
Launchpad program for Armenian and Diaspora start-ups
kicks off aimed at
co-creating innovative solutions for public sector challenges through
cooperation between startups and the public sector,
●
Artsakh’s Government provides 25
million AMD to Lebanese-Armenian
community.
●
Mortality
rate soars in Azerbaijan, authorities refuse to point
finger at coronavirus despite statistics.
●
An Azeri
crime boss of the post-Soviet underworld was shot dead in
Turkey.
●
Armenia
beat Turkey, Romania in the 44th World Chess Olympiad held online.
●
Montebello City Councilman Jack
Hadjinian’s resignation from the LA County Sheriff’s Youth Foundation
Board of Directors over a decision to hold a town hall meeting for the
“Azerbaijani American” community — which was later cancelled — has shown how Azeris in the US are centrally
managed all the way from Baku.
● FIDE Online Olympiad: Armenia defeated by Bulgaria.
● Armenia is not going to participate in
the Tank Biathlon
competition of International Army Games 2020.
● PM Pashinyan had made drastic personnel
changes in his and
his wife's security services.
● Ankara is discussing establishing a Turkish military base in Azerbaijan, specifically in Nakhichevan.
Saturday
●
Business magnate Mikhail
Baghdasarov has died at 61.
●
300 needy Syrian-Armenian families in Damascus have
received financial support from the Armenian Government.
● Constitutional Reforms Concept to include
creation of a Supreme Court.
● ‘100 Years From Home,’ Airing Sept. 1 on PBS SoCal.
● Edgar Shatirian, a former member of an anti-corruption
body may be named as the government candidate for a Constitutional Court judge
soon.
● The AEF Announced 2020-2021 Richard R. Tufenkian Scholarship
Recipients.
● There are reports that Turkey has been flooding Lebanon with
weapons, through
the northern border with Syria. This has increased fears over a security
incident in the country.
● President Armen Sarkissian has helped restore fresco at St. Mesrop Mashtots Church.
● Turkey has hired lobbyists to break Congress’s de facto arms embargo.
● Artsakh Pres. Arayik Harutyunyan attended
an event dedicated to the 95th anniversary
of the foundation of Martuni city.
● Officer Gurgen Alaverdyan got lost due to weather conditions.
Azerbaijani diversion message is misinformation. Defense speaker.
People in the News
Ruben Sanamyan
Army captain Ruben Sanamyan displayed
exclusive bravery, selflessness and courage in defending the country and
ensuring its security, the Ministry of Defense said in the officer the National Hero of Armenia.
Sources
● Defense Ministry presents National Hero title recipient Capt. Ruben Sanamyan's valor in battle - Armenpress.am
Wrap-up
That concludes our program
for This week’s Groong Week in Review.
We hope it has helped your catch up with some of the news from the previous
week. We look forward to your feedback, and your suggestions for issues to
cover in greater depth. Contact us on our website, at groong.org,
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