Author: Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS

Ararat Mirzoyan discusses security situation in South Caucasus with Foreign Ministers of Austria and Estonia

Emil Lazarian

 15:45,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS.  On February 16, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan had opportunities to talk to Foreign Minister of Austria Alexander Schallenberg and Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna, the foreign ministry said.
They exchanged views on topics of bilateral cooperation and on the prospects of further deepening of the Armenia-EU partnership. The security situation in the South Caucasus and the recent developments were touched upon.

Prime Minister, UN High Commissioner for Refugees discuss problems of forcibly displaced refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh

Emil Lazarian

 20:23,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a meeting with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi in the framework of the Munich Security Conference.

The Prime Minister referred to the programs implemented and planned to be implemented in the near future by the Armenian government, including the long-term ones, in the direction of solving the humanitarian problems of the forcibly displaced refugees from Nagorno Karabakh. Nikol Pashinyan presented the main problems and needs of forcibly displaced refugees, the PM's office said.

In this context, the sides exchanged ideas regarding the necessary assistance from the international community, the steps and possibilities of implementing relevant programs.

Armenpress: Arsen Harutyunyan declared four-time European champion

Emil Lazarian

 20:32,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Freestyle Wrestling Team's Arsen Harutyunyan has been declared a four-time European champion after defeating his Turkish opponent at the European Freestyle Wrestling Championships held in Bucharest.

In the final of the 57 kg category, Harutyunyan wrestled against Turkey's Muhammet Karavus and won with a score of 10-0 in just one minute.

Armenian and Iraqi Prime Ministers exchange ideas on regional issues and mutual interests

Emil Lazarian

 21:28,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, ARMENPRESS.  The meeting of the Prime Ministers of Armenia and Iraq Nikol Pashinyan and Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani took place in Munich.

 During the discussion, the leaders emphasized the multi-sectoral cooperation between Armenia and Iraq and underscored the importance of consistently implementing the agreements that had been reached, the PM's Office said.

In this context, they highlighted the significance of the Iraqi president's visit to Armenia last year and the upcoming visit of the Armenian President to Iraq.

Ideas were exchanged on regional issues of importance, as well as other topics of mutual interest.

Asbarez: Armenia’s Cosmic Ray Division Joins Virtual Alpine Observatory

Emil Lazarian
by Contributor

 

 

 

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Dr. Johannes Knapp (left), ASEC board chairperson, accepting the accession certificate from VAO chairperson, Dr. Michael Krautblatter


The polar and high mountain regions of the earth are warming at nearly twice the rate of Europe, and two-and-a-half times the global average. This can have profound consequences on earth’s weather including, for example, the supply of fresh water from melting snowcaps at places such as Armenia. In April 2012 the “Virtual Alpine Observatory,” a networked collaboration of international research organizations operating high-altitude observatories and research stations, was established and has been studying this situation.

Cross-border cooperation has made it possible to study problems related to the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and cryosphere to determine the environmental impact on human health and well-being. All these spheres are interlinked. Changes in one can affect the others. Participating are research institutes and observatories in Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Georgia, Italy, Norway, Slovenia, and Switzerland.

The Cosmic Ray Division’s accession certificate from the Chair of the VAO, Dr. Michael Krautblatter, welcoming CRD as a member of the VAO

Dr. Johannes Knapp, a scientist at the DESY research center in Germany, and member of the international board of directors of the Aragats Space Environment Center of the Yerevan Physics Institute’s Cosmic Ray Division, on October 26, 2023 accepted CRD’s accession certificate from the Chair of the VAO, Prof. Dr. Michael Krautblatter. The CRD is now a VAO associate member. The VAO is a subproject of the European Neighborhood Policy. As a statement by the VAO indicated, “That environmental and climate challenges are transboundary interdependent by nature, and therefore require a holistic approach to address them.”

CRD will participate in VAO’s interdisciplinary study of Alpine warming. Measurements of various parameters at different locations will be collected, put into formats according to international standards, and shared. Moreover, analysis and visualization tools will be developed to access this data at VAO’s high performance computing centers. CRD operates two high altitude research stations on Mt. Aragats: Aragats station at 3200 m (10,500 ft), and Nor Ambert at 2,000 m (6,560 ft). Here a large number of meteorological, geophysical, and atmospheric processes are monitored, including electrical events in the atmosphere. Data from these measurements are put on the internet in near real time together with analytical tools.

Dr. Knapp is professor at Deutches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) in Germany, where he specializes in astroparticle physics. He is chairman of the Aragats Space Environment Center Board of Directors, and is a frequent visitor to Armenia.

US highly values Armenia’s commitment to a dignified and stable peace – Blinken

Emil Lazarian

 13:05,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 17, ARMENPRESS.  The United States of America highly values Armenia's commitment to a dignified and sustainable peace.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this during the meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
"Armenia is a highly valued partner in the United States and we appreciate its commitment to achieving  a dignified and lasting peace," said Blinken.
Bliken stated that in addition to discussing and working towards it, they are also  working on strengthening relations between the two countries across various fields.
U.S. Secretary of State  expressed his intention to discuss those matters with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

New South Wales Parliament Adopts Motion Calling For Armenian Genocide Education and Museum

Emil Lazarian
Feb 15 2024
SYDNEY: The New South Wales Legislative Council has debated and unanimously passed a motion calling on Australia's largest state's government to expand Holocaust education to include the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides and establish a Museum to create further awareness, reported the Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU).

The motion, presented to the Legislative Council in the last sitting week of 2023 by the Hon. Chris Rath MLC, was debated on Wednesday 7th February 2024.

Members from across the political aisle spoke on the historic motion, including Hon Daniel Mookhey MLC (ALP), Dr. Amanda Cohn MLC (GRNS), Hon Susan Carter MLC  (LIB), Hon Mark Buttigieg MLC (ALP), Hon. Jacqui Munro MLC (LIB), Hon. Anthony D’Adam MLC (ALP), and Hon. Stephen Lawrence MLC (ALP).

In particular, powerful statements were made in support of expanding genocide education to incorporate the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek genocide in the curriculum and establish a museum to create awareness about the genocide, by Rath, Munro, Cater and Buttigieg.

Rath, the youngest ever member of the NSW Legislative Council – appointed in March 2022 – said, “All of us as Australians—students and children—know a lot about the Holocaust, and rightly so. Many, many years later I learnt about the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek genocides. They are still not well known and not well taught, which is a very sad thing and exactly what the motion is about.”

ANC-AU Executive Director, Michael Kolokossian welcomed the historic undertaking by the NSW Upper House.

"The Armenian-Australian community thanks Mr. Rath and his colleagues in the Legislative Council for ensuring New South Wales continues to lead the way after being the first state legislature to recognise the Armenian Genocide and the Republic of Artsakh," Kolokossian said. "The teaching of the darkest chapter of Armenian history is the next step to ensuring we have a more vocal citizenry when future attempts to exterminate our race – as we witnessed with the recent ethnic cleansing of Artsakh – are attempted by criminal autocratic regimes."

‘International community must acknowledge Azerbaijan’s lack of legitimacy for military aggression,’ Armenian official

Emil Lazarian

 11:52,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, ARMENPRESS. The international community must acknowledge Azerbaijan's lack of legitimacy for military aggression and demand the withdrawal of its troops from occupied territories of Armenia, Ambassador-at-large Edmon Marukyan has said.

“I am often asked whether Azerbaijan will attack Armenia again,” Marukyan said in a post on X. “My answer is that Azerbaijan lacks any legitimate grounds for attacking Armenia. All actions since 2021 constitute aggression and are deemed crimes under international criminal law. Azerbaijan's occupation of Armenian territories remains unpunished. The international community must acknowledge Azerbaijan's lack of legitimacy for military aggression and demand the withdrawal of its troops from occupied territories, urging a return to negotiations.”

Armenpress and Israeli TPS to launch news exchange

Emil Lazarian

 13:25,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, ARMENPRESS. Armenpress News Agency on February 15 signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel’s Tazpit Press Service (TPS) news agency on exchange of English-language news and video content.

Armenpress Director Narine Nazaryan highlighted the MoU especially in terms of swift exchange of verified news amid constant, active developments taking place around the world.

“The latest developments once again proved how important information security has become,” Nazaryan said. In this context, the document we’ve signed with our new Israeli colleague will allow us to activate the swift exchange of verified and reliable news between the two countries. We hope that this memorandum of understanding will be the first step on our path of effective and lasting cooperation with Tazpit Press Service.”

Tazpit Press Service (TPS) is an international Israeli news agency that provides in real time, accurate and reliable news on Israel and the Middle East. Established in 2010, the agency cooperates with leading news agencies of Spain, Bulgaria, Romania, North Macedonia, Albania, Kazakhstan, the Philippines and other countries.

Armenpress State News Agency, founded in 1918, is the only Armenian media outlet to have news exchange agreements with news agencies of 30 countries, including Italy, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, Latvia, Lithuania, Argentina, Cuba, Russia, Georgia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, the UAE, Qatar, Egypt, South Korea, China, Vietnam and Iran.

Aside from Armenian, the news content of Armenpress is also available in nine languages: Russian, English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Turkish, Georgian, Persian and Chinese.

Armenpress covers domestic and international events with its local team of journalists, as well as foreign correspondents stationed in the world’s leading centers.




Armenia’s Power Grid Expansion: A Story of Ambition and Investment

Emil Lazarian
Feb 15 2024

In the heart of Armenia, a revolution is underway, and it's not political or cultural. It's electrical. Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) CJSC, the powerhouse behind the nation's medium and low voltage distribution networks, is in the throes of a massive expansion, attracting significant investments to broaden the power grid and connect an unprecedented number of new subscribers.

The numbers are staggering. In 2023 alone, ENA connected 35,000 new subscribers to the power grid. That's equivalent to adding a new town the size of Artashat, Armenia's fifth largest city. If the current growth rate continues, Yerevan, the country's capital, will see 68,000 new subscribers by 2030. That's equal to the combined number of subscribers in Gyumri and Vanadzor, Armenia's third and fourth largest towns.

This expansion isn't happening in a vacuum. Since 2016, ENA has invested AMD 235 billion in modernizing its equipment and infrastructure. The result? A reduction in technical and commercial losses, improved service quality, and international investors lining up to offer loans at below-market rates.

The trust in ENA is well-placed. The company has ambitious plans to invest a total of AMD 461 billion by 2030 to further develop the network economy, reduce losses, and enhance service quality. This investment will not only strengthen Armenia's power grid but also pave the way for a more robust and sustainable economy.

As of today, , there are 118,000 applications for new connections under review. This is a testament to the growing demand for reliable power in Armenia. With ENA at the helm, the future of Armenia's power grid looks brighter than ever.

In Yerevan alone, 19,939 new subscribers were connected in 2023. This trend is set to continue, with the capital city poised to become a beacon of power and progress in the region.

The expansion of Armenia's power grid is more than just an infrastructure project. It's a story of ambition, resilience, and the transformative power of investment. As the lines between technology and humanity continue to blur, ENA is leading the charge, illuminating a path towards a brighter, more connected future.