Author: Anna Tamamian

 20:00,

YEREVAN, MARCH 10, ARMENPRESS. MEPs call on the UNESCO to launch an urgent fact-finding mission, send it to Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas to investigate calls about the destruction of Armenian cultural heritage, and investigate the situation on the ground, ARMENPRESS reports a number of members of the European Parliament, including Željana Zovko, representing the EPP faction, said during the discussion of the draft resolution "Destruction of Nagorno Karabakh Cultural Heritage".

Cypriot MEP Costas Mavrides from the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, in turn, stressed that civilization and culture should be an opportunity to bring peoples closer to each other, to create friendship, not to become an instrument of hatred and enmity.

"We are dealing with a country's cultural heritage; when it is destroyed, it is a violation of international law. The European Union must pay attention to this destruction, because it is happening on a systematic basis. This is a cultural genocide, its recognition is a vital necessity. We saw it in Palmyra, Syria, we saw it in Turkish-occupied Cyprus, we see it in Karabakh, carried out by Azerbaijan. Therefore, it is important for us to recognize this cultural genocide committed by Azerbaijan against Armenian culture in Nagorno-Karabakh," Mavrides said.

 10:15,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 28, ARMENPRESS. The first ever Armenian company specializing in building and producing innovative rehabilitation devices – QaylTech – is developing a new VR equipment designed for people with disabilities.

QaylTech’s upcoming Qaylaber device will be available for military veterans with disabilities.

The company showcased this innovation at the Dubai Expo 2020.

After the 2016 April War, a group of Armenian kinesiologists teamed up and started to voluntarily work with military servicemen who suffered disabilities. As a result of many years of work, the specialists realized that Armenia lacks the required quantity of rehabilitation devices and personally initiated production. This is how QaylTech was launched.

QaylTech founder Davit Arsenyan told ARMENPRESS that each device was created upon necessity. He said that people with disabilities who are unable to walk potentially develop more than 30 diseases and conditions – the prevention of which is incomparably more effective than treatment.

Together with his team, Arsenyan had numerous successful results at the hospital after the 2016 war, but then they faced a problem. When the time came for the patient to leave the hospital and go home, their inability to walk and subsequent sedentary lifestyle lead to health problems. In order to help the patients in preventing this, Arsenyan and his team created the devices. Even in seemingly hopeless cases the veterans are able to walk again thanks to the dedicated work of QaylTech.

“We had a patient, Hovo. During the war he was shot in the head by sniper fire. 45% of his brain was removed, including the brain’s language center. Everyone thought Hovo was never going to speak again,” Arsenyan said.

But one day, a remarkable event happened.

Arsenyan says he was walking down the hospital corridor to the patient’s room while quietly singing a song – Getashen – a patriotic song popular among the military. Singing a verse from the song, Arsenyan entered Hovo’s room, and to everyone’s awe Hovo continued the verse.  “We all froze for a moment. Then I found out that Getashen was the song of his company in the army. We researched and realized that this happened due to brain plasticity. The function of the damaged center is being assumed by the function of the neighboring healthy center. This led me to start working as founder of QaylTech,” Arsenyan said.

Arsenyan says they’ve worked with veterans having the most serious brain damage. Even when they would send test results to various hospitals around the world, they would say ‘the patient won’t survive, even if he does, he will be in a vegetative state’. But now, not only did the patients survive, but they are also walking and speaking.

 

 

In 2018 QaylTech made its first exoskeleton model and went on to perfect it in the next years. Because of the difficult and time-consuming nature of creating the exoskeleton, simultaneously they began to design and develop other equipment, namely the Qaylaber – a walk simulator device, a verticalizer, a tilt-bed, a standing-frame wheelchair, electric-powered wheelchair with the capacity of 30 km/h speed.

Now, QaylTech is developing the Walk Simulator Device called Qaylaber.

“The person who is unable to walk stands on the device and starts operating it with arms and legs. The device is equipped with sensors, again produced by QaylTech, which is connected to a virtual reality headset. Through the sensors and goggles the patients appears in virtual reality where they can walk, and do their everyday activities. For example, they can play football or skiing games with virtual reality,” Arsenyan explained.

With the Skiing VR game, QaylTech wants to hold world cyber-sport tournaments for people with disabilities. The people with disabilities from all over the world will be able to come together through ZOOM, Skype or Viber, see each other in virtual reality.

Both the device and the idea are unprecedented.

Moreover, the device will contribute to preventing the diseases which could be caused by sedentary lifestyle. QaylTech plans to provide the device to military veterans with disabilities.

The QaylTech devices are successfully used in hospitals and rehabilitation centers, and at the same time the experts are working to perfect the equipment.

“The cost of the VR-game devices could be rather high, but I am trying to find the means wherever I can,” he added.

QaylTech is cooperating with various charitable organizations in order to make the products accessible for veterans and others in need.

Arsenyan says it takes 4 to 5 years for a startup to start making income. Speaking of funding, Arsenyan noted the first investment they got; it was a 6 million dram investment from the Ministry of High-Tech Industry.

“Perhaps there will be some who will say that I am making money by using soldiers. I don’t like to speak about this topic, I will simply say that I haven’t taken and I will not take any money from any soldier. But on the other hand, people should realize that if this all wasn’t a business it would simply die. This is how our devices reach hospitals and rehabilitation centers, and we always invest the company’s profit in the development of technologies,” Arsenyan said.

The QaylTech founder added that they want to restore and develop the once-industrial potential of Armenia.

He further added that Armenia cannot be a market for their products, thus they want to access the international arena, and they already have the pre-requisites for this – internationally certified, high-quality equipment with competitive price.

Arsenyan said he wants to launch a crowd-funding next year.

Interview by Karine Terteryan

Photos by Gevorg Perkuperkyan

 19:53, 1 March, 2022

YEREVAN, 1 MARCH, ARMENPRESS. The Chinese government calls on Russia and Ukraine to resolve the situation through dialogue, ARMENPRESS reports Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a telephone conversation with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, during the telephone conversation, Kuleba presented the situation after the first round of Russian-Ukrainian talks, noting that the cessation of hostilities is their priority, and official Kyiv wants to continue negotiations.

Wang Yi noted that China's position is open and transparent. The Chinese side stands for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. "Reacting to the current crisis, China calls on Ukraine and Russia to find a solution through negotiations and to support all constructive international efforts aimed at a political settlement of the issue”, reads the statement.

Wang Yi added that China is convinced that the security of one country cannot be at the expense of the security of other countries, and regional security cannot be achieved through expanding military alliances.

Press Contact:

Shant Sahakian, Executive Director

Armenian American Museum and Cultural Center of California

(818) 644-2214

[email protected]

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

ARMENIAN AMERICAN MUSEUM HOSTS CONCRETE POURING CEREMONY

 

Glendale, CA (February 22, 2022) – The Armenian American Museum and Cultural Center of California celebrated the first concrete pour of the historic project by hosting a Concrete Pouring Ceremony at the construction site of the landmark center at Glendale Central Park.

 

Executive Director Shant Sahakian officially kicked off the Concrete Ceremony by welcoming the Board of Trustees, Board of Governors, Construction Committee, and government officials to the construction site.

 

“Today, we are one step closer to the dream of the Armenian American Museum and we are all so privileged that the museum is going to be in the City of Glendale,” stated Glendale Mayor Paula Devine. Mayor Devine was joined by her colleagues on the Glendale City Council including Councilmember Ara Najarian, Councilmember Vrej Agajanian, Councilmember Ardy Kassakhian, and Councilmember Daniel Brotman as well as City Manager Roubik Golanian.

 

“The concrete pouring is a historic milestone that represents the foundation of the museum and a symbol of unity for the Armenian community here in Los Angeles and throughout the world,” stated Ambassador Armen Baibourtian, Consul General of Armenia in Los Angeles.

 

“The Armenian American Museum will serve as a hub and stand forever as a center that celebrates the rich culture and history of the Armenian people and brings our diverse communities together,” stated Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian.

 

The historic milestone was commemorated with a prayer led by the Board of Trustees Co-Chairs including Archbishop Hovnan Derderian representing the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America, Bishop Torkom Donoyan representing the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Rev. Hendrik Shanazarian representing the Armenian Evangelical Union of North America, and Bishop Mikael Mouradian representing the Armenian Catholic Eparchy.

 

Executive Chairman Berdj Karapetian expressed appreciation to the many donors, supporters, community members, and government partners who have contributed to the project. He reflected on the moment when the vision for the Armenian American Museum project was first formally discussed during an early meeting of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee Western USA’s Landmark Subcommittee on January 13, 2014. He announced that the Concrete Pouring Ceremony will conclude with the burial of a time capsule featuring the official minutes of that meeting to forever be part of the foundation of the cultural and educational center.

 

The time capsule burial was led by Executive Vice Chairman Zaven Kazazian, Architect Aram Alajajian, and Construction Committee Member Hrair Balian who were part of the founding committee with Executive Chairman Berdj Karapetian.

 

The Concrete Pouring Ceremony followed a series of construction site visits by Congressman Adam Schiff, Senator Anthony J. Portantino, Supervisor Kathryn Barger, and the Glendale City Council to witness the progress on the project.

 

The Armenian American Museum will be hosting its Legacy Gala on Sunday, March 27, 2022 at the JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE. The event will pay tribute to the visionary benefactors and supporters who are building a legacy of education, preservation, and cultural enrichment for generations to come.

 

For more information, visit https://www.ArmenianAmericanMuseum.org.

 

###

 10:38, 22 February, 2022

STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. President of the Republic of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan welcomed the decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin to recognize the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

President Harutyunyan made a statement on this occasion which says:

“On behalf of the authorities and people of the Republic of Artsakh I welcome the decision of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to recognize the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

The right of nations to self-determination and building one’s own state is inalienable for every people and is a fundamental principle of the international law.

The establishment of an independent state and its international recognition becomes an imperative especially in the face of existential dangers, as it is the most effective and civilized means of preventing bloodshed and humanitarian disaster.

The Republic of Artsakh has been fighting for its freedom, security and state-building for decades and has been exposed to many trials and genocidal actions. Thus, we hope that the Republic of Artsakh, which has relevant indisputable historical, political, legal and moral bases, has earned the international recognition of its sovereign state.

Congratulations to the people of Donbass on this historic event! We hope that steadfast peace and stability will be restored in this once prosperous country”.

On February 21 Russian President Vladimir Putin announced about the recognition of sovereignty of Donetsk and Lugansk. Putin made this statement while addressing the people of Russia. Following the address, the Russian President signed the decrees recognizing the independence of Lugansk and Donetsk, as well as the agreements on friendship and mutual assistance with the leaders of Donetsk and Lugansk.

 11:19, 25 February, 2022

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 25, ARMENPRESS. Armenian gymnasts Artur Avetisyan and Vahagn Davtyan entered the finals of the Rings exercises at the Cottbus Gymnastics World Cup.

Meanwhile, Olympic bronze medalist Davtyan also performed a new element on the pommel horse, which will be recorded in his name.