During the awards ceremony for the Cyber Security Challenge, Arayik Harutyunyan, Minister of Education and Science, said: “Our goal was to teach our students to be protected from cyber attacks.”
Information security and media expert Samvel Martirosyan noted that those who won the competition were the authors of their own and creative works.
5 out of 170 schoolchildren and young people were recognized as winners by the special commission.
Armenia is getting popular not only as a tourism destination during the summer season but also in winter. MIR TV station has prepared a reportage about Armenia’s Tsakhkadzor resort town where visitors hold new levels of adrenaline and extreme skiing experience.
The reporter reminds that Tsakhkadzor is just 60km far from capital Yerevan and the resort’s lift network rises to the top of the Teghenis mountain at over 2800 metres, while the terrain up here is steep, offering some seriously challenging skiing.
As the source says, the resort offers skiing and snowboarding, usually at prices well below those in Western Europe.
The skiing season that usually lasts until the end of February in Tsakhkadzor, offers options also for beginners and children at specially designed terrains, the source said.
No need for H1N1 border surveillance, says disease control official
16:06, 11 January, 2019
YEREVAN, JANUARY 11, ARMENPRESS. Influenza A virus subtype H1N1 and Influenza B are circulating in Armenia, with 99% being Influenza A and 1% Influenza B, National Center of Disease Control and Prevention Director Artavazd Vanyan told a news conference.
He says the same picture exists in neighboring countries, and European countries.
“Currently, 51 out of 549 samples tested positive for H1N1, the remaining were other respiratory infections,” he said, adding that there is no need for border surveillance associated with the flu.
He said Armenia is among the countries where nearly all at-risk groups are being monitored.
As of this moment, he said 1251 people sought medical treatment at polyclinics, against last year’s 967.
“We have 693 patients in outpatient care, against last year’s 658,” Vanyan said, adding that there is no significant increase in the indicators.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
ArmInfo.Acting Minister of Defense of Armenia David Tonoyan on January 9 received the Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates in Armenia, Dr. Jassim Mohammed Al Qasimi. During the meeting, the sides discussed the possibilities of cooperation between the two countries in the field of defense. As reported by the press service of the Armenian Defense Ministry, speaking about the prospects for the development of bilateral military cooperation, David Tonoyan stressed the importance of establishing cooperation on a planned and contractual basis.
Ambassador conveyed to the Acting Defense Minister invitation from Secretary of Defense, Emir of Dubai, Prime Minister and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to participate in the IDEX 2019 (International Defense Conference & Exhibition), which will be held on February 17-21. Having accepted the invitation, David Tonoyan said that in addition to the participation of the delegation headed by the Armenian Defense Minister, the military industry enterprises of Armenia will present their products at the exhibition, and the guard of honor and the military orchestra of the Ministry of Defense will take part in the ceremonies.
The artistic director and principal conductor of the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, Sergey Smbatyan will perform his first concert of 2019 in Valletta, Malta.
Maestro Smbatyan is set to conduct the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra in performance of its New Year concert on 6 January, the Armenian symphony orchestra told Panorama.am.
The concert, organized in collaboration with Malta’s presidential office, will be held at Mediterranean Conference Centre built in the 16th century.
Under the direction of Sergey Smbatyan, the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra will be performing pieces by Strauss, Rossini, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Bernstein and other composers.
The concert program also features Sabre Dance from the ballet Gayane by Aram Khachaturian. Popular mezzo soprano Clare Ghigo will share the stage with the orchestra during the concert.
Citizen’s Decision Party highlights social-economic situation, says parliament is additional tool for struggle
12:59, 26 November, 2018
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. The Citizen’s Decision social-democratic party will tour electoral districts to interact with voters and distribute booklets about their programs, as well as mandarin oranges – the symbol of their party.
The party is running for parliament with its “The Future is Yours” motto.
Citizen’s Decision Executive Body member Michael Nahapetyan told ARMENPRESS that the mandarin orange symbolizes the values of justice and unity of the equality of those alike.
Asked why they are starting the campaigning from the Mashtots Park in Yerevan, Nahapetyan said they have returned to where they started from. “The Mashtots Park is a place where the representatives of the civil society that are today participating in formal political processes have developed. It is here that in 2012 the struggle for the public area began,” he said.
Nahapetyan said citizens who highlight public solidarity and social justice will vote for them.
“The social-economic condition of Armenia speaks about the fact that those who should raise the issue of social justice are in the hundreds of thousands in Armenia,” he said.
Nahapetyan said they even if they don’t overcome the threshold for passing to parliament they will still be actively engaged. “It’s not a problem for us to work outside the parliament, the parliament is an additional tool for us. If citizens of Armenia will find it appropriate for us to possess this tool, we will take the pathway of utilizing it, if not, we will struggle for our ideas through the extra-parliamentary pathway,” he said.
Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan
15773 real estate registration transactions have been made in October 2018 in Armenia, a 27,1% growth against September 2018, according to the Real Estate Cadastre Committee. The October indicator grew 2,9% against 2017’s same month.
The average market prices for 1 square meter of apartment buildings in Yerevan grew 0,9% in October, compared to September, and 10,9% against 2017’s October.
The prices grew 0,1% in provinces in the reporting period, the committee said.
Monday, November 26, 2018
Campaigning Starts For Armenian Snap Elections
November 26, 2018
• Satenik Kaghzvantsian
• Gayane Saribekian
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian holds an election campaign meeting in
Talin, November 26, 2018.
Campaigning officially kicked off on Monday for Armenia’s snap parliamentary
elections which Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and his political allies are
expected to win by a landslide.
Two alliances, including Pashinian’s My Step bloc, and nine political parties
are vying for at least 101 seats in the Armenian parliament that will elect the
next prime minister, the country’s most powerful official.
The pre-term elections result from this spring’s mass protests that brought
down Armenia’s longtime leader Serzh Sarkisian. They will be held on December 9
under a complicated system of proportional representation. Armenians will vote
for not only parties and blocs as a whole but also their individual candidates
running in a dozen nationwide constituencies.
Under Armenian law, a political party needs to win at least 5 percent of the
vote in order to be represented in the National Assembly. The vote threshold
for blocs is set at 7 percent.
Armenia - Mane Tandilian (C) and other election candidates of the Bright
Armenia party campaign in Yerevan, November 26, 2018.
Pashinian reiterated his pledges to ensure that the elections are the most
democratic in Armenia’s history when he formally launched his election campaign
in the northwestern Shirak province.
“From now on, every time you decide to do a revolution you can do it with a
single ballot,” he told supporters at a rally held in the town of Talin. “Why
did the [spring] revolution take place? Because the people were denied a chance
to form a government through elections, because your votes were stolen, because
your choice was distorted through voter bribes, threats and various
irregularities.”
My Step is widely regarded as the election favorite. Most of its 183 election
candidates are members of the Pashinian-led Civil Contract party. The bloc’s
electoral list also includes non-partisan civic activists and other public
figures allied to the popular premier.
Civil Contract until recently made up the Yelk alliance together with two other
parties, Republic and Bright Armenia. They decided to participate in the
upcoming elections separately. Republic joined forces with another small
pro-Western party earlier this month.
Among other major election contenders are businessman Gagik Tsarukian’s
Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnaktsutyun) and Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK). The BHK
finished second in all legislative elections held in the past decade.
Tsarukian held no public gatherings on the first day of the election campaign,
leaving it to two other senior party figures, Mikael Melkumian and Gevorg
Petrosian, to present the BHK’s election manifesto to journalists. They said
the tycoon will start campaigning for the elections on Tuesday in the central
Kotayk province, his traditional stronghold.
Both men declined to comment on their party’s electoral chances. “Until the
people speak up [on election day] we have no right to distribute roles and
determine our seats [in the new parliament,]” explained Petrosian.
Armenia - The Republican Party's Armen Ashotian (L) and Arpine Hovannisian
present the HHK's election manifesto at a news conference in Yerevan, November
26, 2018.
The former ruling HHK, meanwhile, started its campaign with a news conference
held in Yerevan by two of its leading members, Armen Ashotian and Arpine
Hovannisian.
Ashotian expressed confidence that his party will be represented in the new
National Assembly despite what he described as an atmosphere of fear. He
claimed that scores of HHK supporters are wary of expressing their political
views for fear of losing their jobs and being bullied by Pashinian loyalists.
“These people are numerous, and a big surprise will await Nikol Pashinian and
his political tem late on December 9,” declared Ashotian.
The HHK won the last parliamentary elections held in April 2017 amid opposition
allegations of vote buying and voter intimidation. It is now trying to position
itself as the sole truly opposition force capable of holding the new government
in check.
Former President Sarkisian’s name is absent from the HHK’s list of candidates
which is topped by his longtime protégé, former Defense Minister Vigen
Sargsian. Also noteworthy is a lack of wealthy businessmen among those
candidates. They strongly contributed to the party’s past electoral successes.
Campaigning in Shirak, Pashinian branded the HHK as a “criminal group that
plundered the country for more than 20 years.” The upcoming elections, he said,
must “formalize the political death of the Republican plunderers.”
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian holds an election campaign rally in
Artik, November 26, 2018.
Pashinian was accused by the HHK of abusing his powers for electoral purposes
after holding rallies during working visits to two other provinces last week.
The HHK and other critics noted that the rallies were held before the official
start of the campaign. The prime minister insisted that he did not break any
Armenian laws.
Pashinian announced late on Sunday that he is taking a ten-day vacation in
order to concentrate on the parliamentary race. Armenia’s First Deputy Prime
Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said afterwards that he will substitute for the
premier until December 6.
Ashotian criticized Pashinian’s unpaid leave, while calling it a response to
the HHK criticism. He said Armenia is faced with grave economic and security
challenges that require constant attention from the head of its government.
“Dear Mr. Pashinian, why did you leave [the post of prime minister] and go [on
vacation?] You were going to win anyway,” added the top Sarkisian ally.
Republicans To Avoid ‘Big’ Campaign Rallies
November 26, 2018
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia - Armen Ashotian, deputy chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia,
speaks at a pre-election news conference in Yerevan, November 26, 2018.
Former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) confirmed
on Monday that it will not try to hold major rallies during its parliamentary
election campaign.
Armen Ashotian, the HHK’s deputy chairman, said it will be relying on media
coverage and “knocking on people’s doors” instead.
“We will be making use of all means of campaigning: the press, online media,
house-to-house visits, events on the spot. There won’t be big rallies,”
Ashotian told reporters at the start of campaigning for the December 9
parliamentary elections.
“When we were in power we were holding those big rallies and they [Nikol
Pashinian and his allies] were engaged in house-to-house visits,” he said. “The
situation has changed. They are now in power and they are the ones who hold big
rallies today, while we do house-to-house campaigning. And we are not ashamed
of that.”
Ashotian insisted that the former ruling party is not afraid of “contacts with
the public.” It simply believes that they must not take the form of “meetings
with the masses,” he said.
“We must now stand alongside people and be much more attentive to the problems
of concrete citizens, rather than use the collective presence of people for
campaign videos,” added Ashotian, who served as education minister and held a
senior parliamentary position during Sarkisian’s decade-long rule.
Another senior HHK figure, Vahram Baghdasarian, similarly told RFE/RL’s
Armenian service last week that the Republicans will put the emphasis on
television appearances and media interviews in the parliamentary race. He
denied that they fear hostile public reactions or poor attendance of their
rallies.
The HHK was for years accused by its political opponents and media of forcing
public sector employees to attend his election campaign rallies led by
Sarkisian.
Observers believe that the HHK, is now too unpopular to make a strong showing
in the December 9 elections. Some of them have predicted that it will fail to
win at least 5 percent of the vote needed for having seats in the new
parliament.
Dashnaktsutyun Criticizes Armenian Government
November 26, 2018
Armenia - Armen Rustamian, a leader of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation,
speaks at an election campaign rally in Yerevan, November 26, 2018.
A leader of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) launched
stinging verbal attacks on the government as his party began its parliamentary
election campaign on Monday.
Armen Rustamian said Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government may be trying
to “replace old political and economic monopolies with new ones.” Rustamian
also claimed that Pashinian is reluctant to limit sweeping prime-ministerial
powers which he strongly criticized before coming to power in May.
Pashinian voiced the criticism during Armenia’s controversial transition from a
presidential to parliamentary system of government initiated by former
President Serzh Sarkisian. He said that constitutional changes will give the
prime minister too many powers at the expense of the ruling cabinet.
“We have still not abandoned what they described as a ‘super-prime-ministerial
system,’” Rustamian said at a campaign rally held by Dashnaktsutyun in downtown
Yerevan. “We also don’t have guarantees that if [Pashinian and his team] try to
reinforce their power that will not lead to the super-prime-ministerial
system’s transformation into a super-presidential system.”
Rustamian went on to accuse the new government of courting “oligarchs” that
enjoyed privileged treatment by the Sarkisian administration. “It turns out
that they are not oligarchs anymore,” he said. “It turns out that they are
simply rich people, successful entrepreneurs. Probably because they have become
allies [of the new government.]”
Armenia - The Armenian Revolutionary Federation holds an election campaign
rally in Yerevan, November 26, 2018.
Rustamian further claimed that those tycoons retain their “dominant positions”
in lucrative sectors of the Armenian economy contrary to Pashinian’s assurances
that all economic monopoliesin the country have been broken up. “It is claimed
that there are no monopolies, probably because those monopolies are now showing
their loyalty and are ready to serve the new authorities,” he said.
Dashnaktsutyun was officially allied to Sarkisian during the last two years of
his decade-long rule. A power-sharing agreement signed in 2016 gave it three
ministerial posts in the former government.
Dashnaktsutyun reached a similar deal with Pashinian after mass protests led by
him forced Sarkisian to resign as prime minister in April. The de facto
coalition collapsed in October, with Pashinian accusing Dashnaktsutyun and
another partner, the Prosperous Armenia Party, of collaborating with
Sarkisian’s Republican Party.
Dashnaktsutyun holds seven seats in Armenia’s outgoing parliament. Analysts
believe that its main objective in the December 9 snap elections is to win at
least 5 percent of the vote needed for being represented in the new National
Assembly.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org
His Eminence Archbishop Khajak Parsamyan has been appointed as representative of the Catholicos of All Armenians to the Vatican.
“By the Pontifical Order of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; His Eminence Archbishop Khajak Parsamyan, member of the Brotherhood of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, has been appointed to serve as Patriarchal Delegate of Western Europe and representative of the Catholicos of All Armenians in Vatican (residence in Rome),” the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin said.