RFE/RL Armenian Report – 01/12/2021

                                        Tuesday, 

Armenian Opposition Unimpressed With Moscow Summit

        • Naira Nalbandian
        • Narine Ghalechian

RUSSIA -- Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev 
and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian attend a joint press conference 
following a trilateral meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, 

The two opposition parties represented in Armenia’s parliament claimed on 
Tuesday that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian failed to achieve anything during 
his talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev hosted by Russian President 
Vladimir Putin on Monday.

They singled out Pashinian’s failure to secure the release of Armenian soldiers 
and civilians held by Azerbaijan two months after a ceasefire deal brokered by 
Putin stopped the war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Pashinian, Putin and Aliyev met in Moscow to discuss the deal’s implementation. 
In a joint statement issued after the meeting, they said their governments will 
set up a joint “working group” that will deal with practical modalities of 
restoring transport links between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The statement made no mention of the unconditional exchange of all prisoners 
also envisaged by the Russian-brokered deal. Pashinian confirmed that he and 
Aliyev did not reach any agreements on the issue.

“The enemy’s agenda is being fully realized while the Armenian side’s is not,” 
said Edmon Marukian, the leader of the opposition Bright Armenia Party (LHK). 
“Why? Because the symbol of our defeat [Pashinian] continues to hold talks.”

“Pashinian was taken to Moscow for doing only one thing: to sign up to the 
unblocking of transport routes and arteries vital for Azerbaijan,” agreed Naira 
Zohrabian of the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK).

Both Marukian and Zohrabian stressed that in the run-up to the Moscow summit 
Pashinian said that the release of the Armenian prisoners of war is essential 
for opening the Armenian-Azerbaijani border for commercial traffic.


Armenia - Opposition leader Edmon Marukian speaks at a news conference, November 
19, 2020.

A senior member of the ruling My Step bloc, Ruben Rubinian, insisted that the 
joint statement issued by Aliyev, Putin and Pashinian is “beneficial for us” 
even though it makes no references to the POWs. He argued that the planned 
opening of the border will allow Armenia to have rail links with Iran and Russia.

“The Russian president backed in principle the Armenian side’s position [on the 
POWs,]” Rubinian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

Pashinian thanked Putin for that support when they met separately in the Kremlin 
following Monday’s trilateral meeting. “This is the most sensitive and painful 
issue for us,” he said.

Putin stated, for his part, that the summit was “useful” despite Aliyev’s and 
Pashinian’s failure to agree on the release of the Armenian captives. “I hope 
that there will be an agreement on all problems, including the issues of 
humanitarian character,” he told the Armenian premier.

According to Yerevan-based human rights lawyers, more than 100 Armenian POWs and 
civilians remain in Azerbaijani captivity. They include 62 soldiers who were 
taken prisoner in early December when Azerbaijani forces seized the last two 
Armenian-controlled villages in Karabakh’s Hadrut district occupied by them 
during the six-week war.

In a letter to United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres publicized last 
week, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov branded those soldiers as 
“saboteurs” and indicated the Azerbaijani authorities’ intention to prosecute 
them on relevant charges.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry condemned Baku’s plans as a gross violation of 
international law and the Karabakh truce agreement. It accused the Azerbaijani 
side of “using Armenian prisoners of war as hostages to advance its political 
agenda.”



Wartime Security Chief Also Slams Pashinian

        • Robert Zargarian

Armenia - Mikael Hambardzumian, a senior official from the National Security 
Service, at a news conference in Yerevan, 27Nov2015.

A former official who ran Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) during the 
recent war in Nagorno-Karabakh has hit out at Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, 
saying that he could have stopped hostilities three weeks before the ceasefire 
brokered by Russia on November 9.
Mikael Hambardzumian was appointed as acting head of the NSS on October 8 eleven 
days after Azerbaijan launched offensive military operations in and around 
Karabakh. Pashinian replaced him by another senior NSS officer, Armen Abazian, 
one month later.

In an interview with the Fifth Channel TV station aired late on Monday, 
Hambardzumian claimed that he himself decided to leave Armenia’s most powerful 
security service because of Pashinian’s handling of the war. He singled out the 
prime minister’s failure to accept a more favorable ceasefire agreement which 
was negotiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 20.

In November 17 televised remarks, Putin said that the Armenian side would have 
suffered fewer territorial losses and, in particular, retained control of the 
strategic Karabakh town of Shushi (Shusha) had Pashinian agreed to that deal 
accepted by Azerbaijan. He said he was taken aback by Pashinian’s stance.

Pashinian explained afterwards that he rejected the proposed truce because it 
called for the return of Azerbaijani refugees to Shushi. He claimed that that 
too would have restored Azerbaijani control of the town overlooking the Karabakh 
capital Stepanakert.

“I was informed about [Putin’s] proposals not by the prime minister but by my 
colleagues,” said Hambardzumian. “I obviously wondered why we are not taking 
that step and what keeps us from doing that. After all, it was the only real 
opportunity to stop the war and suffer fewer human and territorial losses.”

According to Hambardzumian, during an October 19 meeting of Armenia’s Security 
Council the chief of the Armenian army’s General Staff, General Onik Gasparian, 
warned Pashinian that the Armenian side is heading for defeat and that the war 
must be stopped as soon as possible. He said then Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan 
echoed that warning.

“Nevertheless, such a decision was not made [by Pashinian] after that,” added 
the former NSS chief.

During the six-week war Azerbaijan recaptured four of the seven districts around 
Karabakh which had been occupied by Karabakh Armenian forces in the early 1990s. 
Baku agreed to stop its military operations on November 10 in return for an 
Armenian pledge to withdraw from the three other districts.

The Armenian opposition has blamed Pashinian for the defeat and demanded his 
resignation. Opposition leaders have portrayed Putin’s revelation as further 
proof of the prime minister’s mishandling of the war that killed at least 3,300 
Armenian soldiers.

Hambardzumian added his voice to the opposition demands shortly after his 
sacking. He was also among two dozen retired NSS officers who issued in December 
a joint statement calling for Pashinian’s resignation. The prime minister has 
repeatedly refused to quit.



Armenia Plans Limited COVID-19 Vaccination


Poland -- A paramedic is vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease 
(COVID-19) vaccine at a hospital in Warsaw, December 27, 2020.

The Armenian health authorities are planning to vaccinate only 10 percent of the 
country’s population against COVID-19, a senior government official said on 
Tuesday.

Gayane Sahakian, the deputy director of the National Center for Disease Control 
and Prevention, also announced that Armenia will receive its first coronavirus 
vaccine doses before the second half of February.

“We are planning to acquire vaccines for 10 percent of the population to carry 
out at first vaccinations of only high risk groups,” Sahakian told a news 
conference.

“We are now holding negotiations on concrete time frames for their imports. We 
are confident that we will have the first imports by the end of January or the 
first half of February,” she said.

Sahakian said the talks center on possible supplies of the Russian vaccine 
Sputnik V or three other certified vaccines that have been developed by the 
Western pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca. It is still 
not clear which of them will be chosen by the Armenian government, added the 
official.

Sahakian announced in early December that the government has commissioned 
600,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines from COVAX Facility, a global partnership 
backed by the World Health Organization. She said Armenian medical and social 
workers, seniors and people suffering from chronic diseases will be the first to 
get vaccine shots free of charge.


Armenia -- Medics at the Surb Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center in Yerevan, 
Armenia's largest hospital treating COVID-19 patients, June 5, 2020.

The official did not clarify on Tuesday whether the government’s supply contract 
with COVAX, worth $6 million, remains in force. Nor did she say if the health 
authorities could vaccinate a larger proportion of the population later this 
year.

Armenia has been hit hard by the pandemic, with more than 162,000 coronavirus 
cases and at least 2,941 deaths caused by them reported by the authorities so 
far. The real number of cases is believed to be much higher.

The daily number of new infections has fallen significantly since the beginning 
of November. The Armenian Ministry of Health reported on Tuesday morning that 
355 more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, sharply 
down from more than 2,000 cases a day routinely recorded in late October and 
early November.

Sahakian acknowledged that the country’s coronavirus numbers will likely rise 
again after the New Year’s and Christmas holidays and the reopening of schools. 
But she did not predict a serious resurgence of cases.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2021 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

 


Over 93.9 mln COVID-19 tests conducted in Russia

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YEREVAN, JANUARY 11, ARMENPRESS. Russian medics have conducted over 93.9 mln tests for the presence of the novel coronavirus infection, TASS reports citing the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing.

“Over 93.9 mln tests for the presence of the coronavirus have been conducted in the Russian Federation”, the statement said. Over the past 24 hours, 383,000 tests were made.

According to the agency, to date, some 625,900 people remain under medical observation due to the suspected coronavirus infection.

Today marks renowned Armenian filmmaker Sergei Parajanov’s 97th birthday

Panorama, Armenia

Jan 9 2021
Today marks renowned Armenian filmmaker Sergei Parajanov's 97th birthday
 
 
Today, 9 January marks the 97th birthday anniversary of prominent Soviet Armenian filmmaker Sergei Parajanov.
 
Sergei Parajanov or Paradjanov (born Sarkis Paradjanian) was one of the 20th century's greatest film directors, who made significant contribution to Ukrainian, Armenian and Georgian cinema. Born in 1924 in Tbilisi, Georgia, to an Armenian family, his work reflected the ethnic diversity of the Caucusus where he was raised.
 
His first major work was Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1964), which earned him an international reputation for its rich use of costume and color, and its whimsical portrayal of rural life. Possibly his greatest work, The Color of Pomegranates (1969), described the life of the Armenian poet Sayat Nova. The film angered the Soviet authorities, who claimed that it evoked nationalist sentiment.
 
Claiming that Parajanov promoted homosexuality, the government arrested him in 1973 and sentenced him to five years in a labor camp. A large number of prominent artists, writers and filmmakers protested his sentence, but Parajanov was only released four years later, in large part due to the efforts of French surrealist Louis Aragon. He was banned for making films for many years afterwards, when he was living in Tbilisi, but he was allowed to make The Legend of Suram Fortress (1984), which captured much of the color of his earlier work.
 
He managed to direct three more films before he died of cancer in Yerevan on 20 July 1990, aged 66. A house was built for him in Yerevan which was completed shortly after his death, but which now houses all his belongings and has been turned into the Parajanov Museum.
 
 
 

Aegean Airlines resume flights to Yerevan with discount sale

Greek City Times
Jan 7 2021
by PAUL ANTONOPOULOS

Due to the Turkish-sponsored invasion of Artsakh by the Azerbaijani military and Syrian mercenaries, direct flights between Greece and Armenia, run by Aegean Airlines and Wizz Air, ended.

However, with the signing of the bitter ceasefire agreement on November 9, normalcy is slowly beginning to return to Armenia.

Aegean Airlines will resume flights to Yerevan from Athens on March 31 with discounted flights.

The discounted flights to Yerevan will be available until January 11.

If you are looking for an international holiday outside of Greece, why not consider Armenia and support the economy and people that have been devastated following the Turkish-sponsored invasion of Artsakh.




The California Courier Online, December 31, 2020

1 -        Turkish Generals Led War on Artsakh:
            This was a Turkish, not Azeri, Victory
            By Harut Sassounian
            Publisher, The California Courier
            www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
2-         Armenians mourn fallen heroes, demand Pashinyan’s resignation
            Azerbaijan, Armenia exchange prisoners
            with Russian peacekeepers’ mediation
 3-        Armenia continues to fight COVID-19 pandemic
4-         Los Angeles Midwives, First LA Midwifery Team
            with Hospital Delivery Privileges
5-         COVID vaccine developers refuse to give Erdogan
            platform for positive press

*****************************************

******************************************

1 -        Turkish Generals Led War on Artsakh:
            This was a Turkish, not Azeri, Victory
            By Harut Sassounian
            Publisher, The California Courier
            www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com

Exiled Turkish journalist Cevheri Guven disclosed in a video report
the names and activities of three Turkish Generals who had a decisive
role in leading Azerbaijan’s war on Artsakh, starting on Sept. 27
2020. It is already known that modern drones and missiles purchased by
Azerbaijan from Israel, Turkey and Russia had a devastating effect on
Armenia and Artsakh. It is also known that 200 Turkish military
advisors and several thousand Syrian mercenaries participated in the
war on behalf of Azerbaijan. However, this is the first time that a
detailed report is made public about the presence of these Turkish
Generals in Azerbaijan during the war.

One of the Turkish military leaders is Lieutenant General Sheref
Ongay. The second is Major General Bahtiyar Ersay, and the third is
Major General Goksel Kahya. The presence of these Turkish Generals in
Baku is linked to the dismissal before the Artsakh War of Colonel
General Nejmeddin Sadikov, Azerbaijan’s First Deputy Minister of
Defense and Chief of General Staff who had been at his post for 27
years. He was accused of treason and cooperation with the Russian
military intelligence, according to Russian and dissident Azeri
sources. Sadikov was reportedly arrested after his dismissal which was
denied by Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense. However, he has not been
seen in public since his dismissal. Sadikov was reportedly born in
Derbent, Dagestan, and is of Lezgin origin. He has a poor knowledge of
the Azerbaijani language. It is also alleged that his cousin is
serving in the Russian Army in Gumri, Armenia. Sadikov was educated in
Russia. It is important to note that a large number of Azeri soldiers
were sent to Turkey to get their military education. Sadikov did not
allow those returning from Turkey to serve in critical military
positions. He was opposed to Turkish dominance in the leadership of
the Azerbaijan’s Armed Forces. As a result, Turkey asked for Sadikov’s
dismissal after which those trained in Turkey were given leading
posts.

Returning to the three Turkish Generals, Sheref Ongay is the Commander
of the Turkish Third Army, deployed in Erzingan. He was in control of
the Artsakh War. Ongay graduated from the military academy in Ankara
in 1982 and served in various units of the ground forces. In 2014, he
was appointed Commander of the 9th Army Corps. He was for a while the
head of the infantry school in Tuzla.

The second Turkish military leader in Azerbaijan, Major General
Bahtiyar Ersay, was earlier jailed for being involved in a scandal
(Operation Sledgehammer). However, he was pardoned and released,
possibly because he made a plea bargain with the authorities,
disclosing the names of the other participants in the conspiracy. He
was subsequently promoted to the rank of Brigadier General becoming in
charge of the 2nd Commando Brigade which fought with great brutality
against the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) in Eastern Turkey. He is
now the Chief of Operations at the Command of Turkish Land Forces. He
stayed in Baku throughout the Artsakh War and personally managed the
operations. Before the start of the war, two satellite communication
centers were built in Baku and at the military airport of Gabala to
contact the soldiers on the ground and the headquarters in Turkey.
Both centers were managed exclusively by the Turkish Army. The
Azerbaijani military was ordered to obey all commands of the Turkish
superiors and not argue with or contradict them. Ersay was in charge
of the Syrian mercenaries who had earlier fought in Syria and Libya on
behalf of Turkey. Furthermore, Ersay managed the highly technical
military equipment provided by Turkey to Azerbaijan.

The third Turkish military man is Major General Goksel Kahya who was
in Azerbaijan since July of this year. He is close to the Defense
Minister of Turkey. Previously, he was Deputy Undersecretary in the
Ministry of Defense. While taking part in the war in Libya on behalf
of Turkey, he was captured by the opposition Libyan forces and then
released. Kahya was in charge of the Turkish drones operating in Libya
which gave him valuable experience in managing the drone war against
Artsakh.

Since the end of the Artsakh War, the Azeri public has expressed its
unhappiness that Russian peacekeepers are located on the territory of
Karabagh. Some analysts have described the Russian presence in
Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia as a defeat for Turkey and the United
States, and a victory for Russia, having located its forces “under the
nose of NATO member Turkey.” As Russian online newspaper Vzglyad
concluded: Artsakh War’s “plan was Turkish, the Generals were Turkish,
and the drones were made in Turkey…. Baku can celebrate victory, but
in terms of command and control, Turkish Generals can celebrate
victory.”

Retired Lieutenant Colonel of the Azerbaijani Army Oleg Guliyev, now
living in Moscow, told the Vzglyad newspaper: “Azerbaijan must fully
reclaim Karabagh. This is correct and fair. But we must reclaim
Karabagh ourselves. If we reclaim it on a Turkish leash, then we will
reclaim only Karabagh, and we will lose the rest of our country.”

Clarification

In my last week’s article, I referred to a letter purportedly written
by Catholicos Khrimian Hyrig. After my article’s publication, I
discovered that the letter was actually written more recently by
historian Hayk Konjoryan imitating Khrimian’s writing style and
nationalistic views. I regret any confusion that this may have caused.

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2-         Armenians mourn fallen heroes, demand Pashinyan’s resignation
            Azerbaijan, Armenia exchange prisoners
            with Russian peacekeepers’ mediation

By Lillian Avedian
and Leeza Arakelian

(The Armenain Weekly) After a three-day period of national mourning,
tens of thousands participated in a nationwide strike on Tuesday,
resuming mounting pressure against Armenia’s prime minister to step
down over his decisive role in the conclusion of the Artsakh War.

During the massive rally led by the ‘Movement for the Salvation of the
Homeland,’ Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) representative
Ishkhan Saghatelyan offered the My Step faction a deadline to discuss
these demands in-person. In staying the course, Saghatelyan told
reporters on the night of Tuesday, December 22 that if Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinyan remains in power, there would only be ruins left to
rule.

The process of demarcating the borders of Armenia and Artsakh
following the November 9 ceasefire agreement has been fraught with
uncertainty, creating security concerns for residents of border
villages. Under the agreement, the districts of Zangelan and Kubatli
were transferred from Artsakh to Azerbaijan, creating a new border
between Armenia’s southernmost province of Syunik and Azerbaijan.
Parts of the major Goris-Kapan-Meghri highway now pass through
Azerbaijani territory as well.

On December 17, Kapan mayor Gevorg Parsyan shared that Armenia’s
Ministry of Defense had ordered volunteer detachments to withdraw from
their defensive positions overlooking the town by 5 p.m. local time
the following day, since those territories were handed over to
Azerbaijan under the ceasefire agreement. These posts were set up
during the war by locals in order to defend Syunik against the
advancement of Azerbaijani troops. During meetings with community
leaders from Syunik on the 18th, Armenian Minister of Defense
Vagharshak Harutyunyan stated that Russian peacekeepers would be
deployed to the area to guarantee its security. He assured them that
the process of border demarcation was taking place with the
participation of high ranking officers from both sides and that no
territory would be conceded from the Republic of Armenia.

“Not even a single millimeter of land has been surrendered from the
region of Syunik,” insisted PM Pashinyan in an attempt to dispel
rumors of land loss ahead of his planned visit to the region on
December 21st. He wanted to “look directly into the eyes” of residents
and answer their questions, but his visit was cut short as roads to
his passage were blocked by protesters. He returned to Yerevan without
visiting Meghri, Kapan or Goris. On the eve of Pashinyan’s arrival,
Goris mayor Arush Arushanyan called on residents to gather at the
gates to the entryway of Syunik to block his entrance. Arushanyan was
arrested on charges of illegally organizing a rally, and has since
been released.

Six Armenian soldiers were found in the Azerbaijani-occupied Hadrut
region and returned home on December 20th after a successful search
operation was conducted with the combined efforts of the Artsakh State
Emergency Service, the International Committee of the Red Cross and
Russian peacekeepers. Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan said the
young men had been cut off from the Armenian Armed Forces for 70 days.

The bodies of nine soldiers found near Armenian military positions in
southern Artsakh were handed over to the Defense Army on December 16
by Russian peacekeepers. The circumstances surrounding their deaths
have not been revealed. The fate of dozens of soldiers captured by the
Azerbaijani military near the Hin Tagher and Khtsabert communities
following last week’s hostilities remains unknown. The area was the
site of renewed fighting after Azerbaijani forces attacked the two
villages on December 11, as a result of which the villages were placed
under Azerbaijani control.

Meanwhile, Artsakh Ombudsman Artak Beglaryan submitted his resignation
on Tuesday, December 22. Beglaryan will be taking up another position
within the Artsakh government, where he says he will be addressing the
ongoing challenges in the Republic.

Azerbaijan and Armenia held a prisoners’ exchange, in which two
Azerbaijanis were delivered to Baku and four Armenians to Yerevan, on
Dec 28 with the mediation of Russia and the International Committee of
the Red Cross.

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3 -        Armenia continues to fight COVID-19 pandemic

The Armenian government has commissioned 600,000 doses of coronavirus
vaccines from World Health Organization-backed COVAX; medical and
social workers, seniors and people suffering from chronic diseases
will be the first to get vaccine shots free of charge, and according
to Gayane Sahakian, the deputy director of the National Center for
Disease Control and Prevention,

COVAX is a global partnership which aims to finance COVID-19 vaccines
to be distributed fairly to more than 180 countries that have joined
it. The Armenian government’s supply contract with COVAX is worth $6
million. The first vaccine which COVAX will make available to the
participating countries is the one produced by the British company
AstraZeneca. It is expected that the manufacturer will deliver it to
COVAX in February or March.

They will be enough to vaccinate 300,000 people (roughly 10 percent of
Armenia’s population). According to the Ministry of Health, there were
15,498 active coronavirus cases in Armenia as of December 28. Armenia
has recorded 157,948 coronavirus cases and 2,775 deaths; 139,675 have
recovered.

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4-         Los Angeles Midwives, First LA Midwifery Team
            with Hospital Delivery Privileges

LOS ANGELES—On Wednesday December 16, midwives, nurses and birth
professionals from across California joined a Zoom celebration to
congratulate Lilit B. Sarkissian and Naomi E. Drucker on the “birth”
of LA’s newest midwifery practice, Los Angeles Midwives, A
Professional Nursing Corporation. The midwifery team is the first in
Los Angeles with hospital delivering privileges—providing both home
and hospital birth options to women in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Midwives co-founders are Certified Nurse-Midwives whose
primary offering is birth services (delivery, prenatal and postpartum
care) to expectant mothers, and Well-Woman Care to women ranging from
12-80 years old. The event was a chance to learn more about the
founders, the type of care they provide, the future of birth in a
post-COVID Los Angeles, and how midwives can help improve women’s
health in California.

“I’m so excited about this moment. Since I was 9 years old, I knew I
wanted to deliver babies and provide care to women at this most
precious and empowering moment of their life” said Lilit Sarkissian.
“I have dedicated my life to learning about and working in this field
as a researcher, bedside nurse, childbirth educator, nursing professor
and today—as a midwife.”

Los Angeles Midwives seeks to provide care to women that empowers them
by giving them the choice between birthing at home, or in a hospital
while maintaining the personalized care that is a hallmark of
midwifery. Childbirth is a pivotal moment in a woman’s life and both
midwives believe that the self determination of women to make the best
health care decision for themselves and their babies begins with
having access to the options that best fits with their vision of their
ideal birth.

The festive event, which took place in the Year of the Midwife, not
only celebrated the creation of this new business, but also the
expansion of the type of care that Los Angeles Midwives provide to
women. The program began with a warm remembrance of Debbie Frank, who
was a midwifery leader and pioneer in Los Angeles who opened the door
to making this type of care possible in the LA area.

“Lilit and I dreamed while working side by side as nurses – that we
would one day become midwives and create a practice that could help
bridge midwifery care from the home to the hospital,” said co-founder
Naomi Drucker. She added, “many women desire midwifery care but
hesitate for fear of losing that continuity if things get complicated-
which is when they need their trusted team the most! Also a change of
birth setting either by choice or by necessity should not require a
change in provider which could create a margin for error due to
unnecessary information handoffs.

While everyone was in attendance to celebrate this new milestone, they
also wanted to learn how Los Angeles Midwives would be impacted by
California’s recent passage of SB 1237, the Justice & Equity in
Maternity Care Act. The guests were joined by Paris Maloof-Bury, CNM
and Kathleen Belzer, CNM, the current and past Presidents of the
California Nurse-Midwives Association, who provided the guests with an
overview of the new California law, and its envisioned implementation
in the State.

“The California Nurse-Midwives Association and I want to congratulate
Los Angeles Midwives on their opening, and look forward to their
success!” said Maloof-Bury. She added, “I’d like to invite Naomi and
Lilit to help us at CNMA to chart a way forward for other
nurse-midwives and hospitals across California to expand this type of
offering, thus giving women and birthing people greater access to
midwifery care in the setting of their choosing, along with the
continuity and safety that come from integrating midwives and
hospitals.”

Private practice midwives in California are currently allowed to
deliver a baby in a home or birth center setting, but generally do not
serve women in hospital settings. It is rare for midwives to have
delivering privileges in the LA area, which is what makes Los Angeles
Midwives an appealing option for women who want to receive midwifery
care, but want to have the peace of mind of the labor and delivery
resources available in a hospital setting.

Both founders are able to provide this type of care because they were
long time labor and delivery nurses at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center,
received their Certified Nurse-Midwifery degree from Frontier Nursing
University, and completed their midwifery clinical rotations with the
UCLA Midwives group. They embrace the Hallmarks of Midwifery while
understanding how to be most effective in a hospital setting.

Keeping with the “birth” theme of the celebration, the event ended
with the midwives “revealing” their new logo, which was designed by a
very appreciative new dad as a way of thanking Lilit and Naomi. Since,
both Lilit and Naomi serve as adjunct clinical nursing faculty at UCLA
and Mt. St. Mary’s, respectively, the night couldn’t end without a
little active learning game. The participants answered fun questions
such as “how many high heels does Naomi own? how old would Florence
Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, be today? and, what do
Naomi and Lilit’s husband’s have in common?” The answers being 0, 200
and both men have delivered one of their children.

The evening’s celebration ended with a hopeful outlook on the years
ahead for Los Angeles Midwives and midwives from across the country as
they continue to work to improve health outcomes for women at all
stages in their life, especially at some of the most pivotal moments
of their lives.

For more information, visit www.LosAngelesMidwives.com

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5-     COVID vaccine developers refuse to give Erdogan
         platform  for positive press

(Combined Sources)—Pfizer and BioNTech will supply the United States
with 200 Million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine.

BioNtech was co-founded by Dr. Ugur Sahin and his wife Dr. Ozlem Tureci.

BioNTech until now was mostly focused on cancer treatments. It had
never brought a product to market.

Sahin, 55, was born in Iskenderun, Turkey. When he was 4, his family
moved to Cologne, Germany, where his parents worked at a Ford factory.
He grew up wanting to be a doctor, and became a physician at the
University of Cologne. In 1993, he earned a doctorate from the
university for his work on immunotherapy in tumor cells.

Early in his career, he met Türeci. She had early hopes to become a
nun and ultimately wound up studying medicine. Türeci, now 53 and the
chief medical officer of BioNTech, was born in Germany, the daughter
of a Turkish physician who immigrated from Istanbul.

On the day they were married, Sahin and Türeci returned to the lab
after the ceremony.

In 2001, Sahin and Türeci founded Ganymed Pharmaceuticals, which
developed drugs to treat cancer using monoclonal antibodies.

After several years they founded BioNTech as well, looking to use a
wider range of technologies, including messenger RNA, to treat cancer.
“We want to build a large European pharmaceutical company,” Sahin said
in an interview with the Wiesbaden Courier, a local paper.

Sahin and Türeci sold Ganymed for $1.4 billion in 2016. Last year,
BioNTech sold shares to the public; in recent months, its market value
has soared past $21 billion, making the couple among the richest in
Germany.

The two billionaires live with their teenage daughter in a modest
apartment near their office. They ride bicycles to work. They do not
own a car.

In Germany, where immigration continues to be a fractious issue, the
success of two scientists of Turkish descent was cause for
celebration.

“With this couple, Germany has a shining example of successful
integration,” wrote the conservative-business site Focus.

A member of Parliament, Johannes Vogel, wrote on Twitter that if it
was up to the far-right Alternative for Germany party, “there would be
no BioNTech of Germany with Özlem Türeci & Ugur Sahin at the top.”

“If it were up to critics of capitalism and globalization,” he added,
“there would be no cooperation with Pfizer. But that makes us strong:
immigration country, market economy & open society!”

This is reinforced by the fact that German Chancellor Angela Merkel
held a video-conference meeting with the founders of Biontech and
thanked them, noting that the whole world is “proud of them.”

Yet no contact or meeting has taken place thus far between the Turkish
spouses and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The couple did not issue any reactions to Erdogan’s statements in
which he congratulated them on developing the vaccine; he said was
prepared to receive the vaccine himself. Erdogan also claimed to have
had a conversation with Sahin.

According to Ruetir news on December 20, the Turkish Zaman newspaper
reported that Sahin and Tureci “do not respond to Erdogan’s calls,”
noting that they “do not want to talk to him, because they object to
the oppression that he is practicing on all segments of Turkish
society.”

Ahval News reported on December 21 that Türeçi and Şahin have decided
not to hold a call Erdogan because, as they have said, “we are not his
advertising medium.”

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Russia delivers new batch of humanitarian assistance to Artsakh

TASS, Russia
Dec 20 2020
The cargo has been delivered to Stepanakert, the de-facto capital of the unrecognized republic. Later the aid will be distributed among the neighborhoods

MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. Russia’s Emergencies Ministry delivered another batch of humanitarian assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh by rail, the ministry’s press service told TASS on Sunday.

"On December 19, specialists of the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s joint grouping unloaded 17 rail cars with Russia’s humanitarian assistance. This is 300 cubic meters of lumber and a platform with a truck-mounted crane," the press service said.

The cargo has been delivered to Stepanakert, the de-facto capital of the unrecognized republic. Later the aid will be distributed among the neighborhoods.

This is the second part of the humanitarian assistance delivered by the Russian Emergencies Ministry by rail. So far, nine out of 54 train cars have arrived.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1992-1994, tensions boiled over and exploded into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and seven adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them. Talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement have been ongoing since 1992 under the OSCE Minsk Group, led by its three co-chairs – Russia, France and the United States.

On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. The Russian leader said the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides would maintain the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to the region. Besides, Baku and Yerevan must exchange prisoners and the bodies of those killed. The Russian rescuers arrived in the region on November 16.

Medical training sessions held in Nagorno-Karabakh with sanitary instructors of observation posts

Panorama, Armenia

Dec 26 2020

Within the framework of combat training sessions with personnel of the peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno Karabakh, medical training sessions were held on the basis of a special purpose medical unit, Russian Defense Ministry reported. 

About 30 sanitary instructors of observation posts have practiced methods of stopping various bleeding, applying bandages, tourniquets and splints for injuries and fractures, as well as the procedure for providing emergency resuscitation care.

During the training, the servicemen were shown the actions of loading and unloading the wounded using improvised means and overhead systems to evacuate victims from military equipment and hard-to-reach areas, the source said.     

Combat training sessions with the peacekeeping contingent are held regularly and are aimed at constantly improving the level of professional training of military personnel, improving the acquired skills, as well as maintaining the established requirements for the combat capability of units.


President Sarkissian, Primate of Shirak Diocese express concern over current challenges

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 15:16,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 25, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian paid a working visit today to Gyumri, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

President Sarkissian met with Primate of the Shirak Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church Archbishop Mikayel Ajapahyan. They discussed the current crisis situation in the country, stressing that joint efforts are needed for overcoming this situation.

They expressed their concerns over the current challenges facing Armenia, especially highlighting the security and defense of the state borders and bordering communities, the return of prisoners of war from Azerbaijan.

President Sarkissian also visited the Holy Savior Church in Gyumri.

He met with Governor of Shirak province Tigran Petrosyan and Mayor of Gyumri Samvel Balasanyan.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

New group of Armenian priests leaves for Dadivank

Public Radio of Armenia
Dec 23 2020




A new group of Armenian clergymen has left for Dadivank Monastery, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin informs.

“Another group of clergymen left for Dadivank with the blessing of the Patriarch of All Armenians,” the Mother See said.



The Russian peacekeepers undertook to protect the monastery, after the Karvachar region, where the church is situated, was handed over to Azerbaijan under the trilateral statement of November 9.

Armenian priests continue their eternal prayer for our homeland and people, Fr. Vahram Melikyan, Director of Information Services of the mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, said late last month.

The Catholicos of All Armenians is in constant contact with our clergy living in the church.

Leader of anti-Pashinyan protests calls on police and military to endorse them

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 14:18,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. The opposition Homeland Salvation Movement has called upon the military and the police to join them in demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation.

“I am calling on the army to immediately join our people with a statement, I am calling on the police to immediately join our people with a statement. Every hour matters,” former Prime Minister Vazgen Manukyan told a crowd of supporters who gathered in central Yerevan where they’ve declared a strike.

Manukyan is the Homeland Salvation Movement’s candidate for interim prime minister.

The movement was started by 16 political parties (1 parliamentary and 15 non-parliamentary).

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan