Author: Jack Hunanian

CSTO chief Stanislav Zas visits Armenian Genocide Memorial

Jack Hunanian
Public Radio of Armenia
Dec 23 2021
, 14:58

 Less than a minute

On a working visit to Armenia, Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization Stanislav Zas visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial, accompanied by Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Armen Ghevondyan and Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the CSTO Victor Biagov.

The guests were greeted by the director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Harutyun Marutyan, who presented the history of the memorial.

Stanislav Zas laid a wreath at the memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide. The guests then laid flowers at the eternal flame and observed a minute of silence in memory of the consecrated martyrs of the Armenian Genocide.

Cabinet approves 128 million dram allocation for restoration of historical-cultural monuments

Jack Hunanian

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 12:03,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS. The government of Armenia will allocate more than 128 million drams for the restoration, reinforcement works and excavations of historical-cultural structures in the provinces of Lori and Tavush.

The works will be carried out in the Lori Berd, the Russian Church (Amrakits), the Tavush fortress and elsewhere.

Prime Minister Pashinyan said at a Cabinet meeting that the government must pay special attention to the issues of preservation of historical-cultural legacy, highlighting the preservation of monuments of identity and history.

US welcomes recent meetings in Brussels between Armenian PM and Azerbaijani President – State Department

Jack Hunanian

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 11:54, 17 December, 2021

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The United States supports the establishment of direct contacts between Armenia and Azerbaijan, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

“The United States welcomes recent meetings in Brussels between Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Aliyev. We strongly support future direct engagement to bring peace to the region”, the Spokesperson said on Twitter.

Report: Armenian government "likely" customer of Cytrox spyware

Jack Hunanian
PanArmenian, Armenia
Dec 17 2021
– 11:13 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian government is "likely" among the customers of the Predator spyware from North Macedonian developer Cytrox, Citizen Lab said in a fresh report on Thursday, December 16.

Researchers found that Predator was used to attack two people in June 2021. The spyware "was able to infect the then-latest version (14.6) of Apple's iOS operating system using single-click links sent via WhatsApp," according to Citizen Lab.

Given the abuse of WhatsApp for Predator targeting, the Citizen Lab shared forensic artifacts with Meta’s security team.

Meta has now taken an enforcement action against Cytrox, which includes removing approximately 300 Facebook and Instagram accounts linked to Cytrox. In total, Meta has removed more than 1,500 Facebook and Instagram accounts associated with seven outfits, including Cytrox, which the company said were used for reconnaissance, social engineering and sending malicious links to thousands of victims in over 100 countries.

The Meta report too states that they believe Cytrox customers include entities in Armenia, as well as in Egypt, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Vietnam, Philippines, and Germany.

Meta found a “vast domain infrastructure” associated with Cytrox, which it said was likely used in hacking campaigns that targeted politicians and journalists, including in Egypt and Armenia.

Armenpress: "My Step" faction of the Yerevan Council of Elders nominates Hrachya Sargsyan for the post of Mayor

Jack Hunanian

"My Step" faction of the Yerevan Council of Elders nominates Hrachya Sargsyan for the post of Mayor

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 21:19,

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. "My Step" faction of the Yerevan Council of Elders has launched the process of initiating motion of no confidence in Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan and nominates Hrachya Sargsyan for the post of the Mayor, ARMENPRESS reports the Civil Contract Party said in a statement.

According to the statement, Hayk Marutyan was elected Yerevan Mayor as a result of the citizens’ vote for “My step” bloc’s revolutionary mandate in September 2018.

“Hayk Marutyan, who ran in the above-mentioned elections as a candidate of the Civil Contract party and was the 1st number on the electoral list of "My Step" bloc, left the Civil Contract party and "My Step" bloc in December 2020 on his own accord, and during the decisive period for the democracy of Armenia reaffirmed with his activities his decision of not sharing any political responsibility with Civil Contract party or “My step” bloc.

Hayk Marutyan has not fulfilled and does not fulfill with sufficient efficiency the obligations of "My Step" bloc undertaken before the citizens of Yerevan enshrined in the pre-election program;

Hayk Marutyan has not sufficiently fulfilled and is not fulfilling the most important mission of eliminating systemic corruption in Yerevan Municipality;

The bloc cannot fulfill its obligations to the residents of Yerevan in a situation when the mayor has severed ties with the political majority of the Council of Elders, the "My Step" bloc.

The "My Step" faction has launched a process of initiating motion of no confidence in Mayor Hayk Marutyan. The bloc nominates the incumbent First Deputy Mayor Hrachya Sargsyan for the post of Yerevan Mayor”, reads the statement.

The faction thanks Hayk Marutyan for the joint work, wishing him success in his new political destination.

Armenia’s Pashinyan: We reaffirmed with Azerbaijan president agreement on restoration of railway

Jack Hunanian
News.am, Armenia
Dec 15 2021
03:16, 15.12.2021

During the trilateral meeting with President Charles Michel of the EU [European] Council and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, we reaffirmed with the president of Azerbaijan the agreement on the restoration of the railway. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia announced this on Facebook.

"According to that, the railway will operate in accordance with the internationally accepted border and customs rules, on the principle of reciprocity, under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the countries.

Armenia will get access by rail to the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation.

We also agreed to continue the contacts," Pashinyan added.

Legislature vice-speaker from opposition: Secret agreements can lead to new capitulation of Armenia

Jack Hunanian
News.am, Armenia
Dec 15 2021

16:43, 15.12.2021

The existence of secret, verbal agreements will lead to collapse, new losses, and new capitulation if the power in Armenia does not change. Ishkhan Saghatelyan, the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia deputy speaker from the opposition "Armenia" Faction, told reporters about this on Wednesday.

Saghatelyan noted that he expects nothing good from the meetings between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan. In his opinion, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev's statement about his readiness to set up a customs checkpoint at the Lachin corridor contains risks, and in response to that there was only one post on social media—and by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia.

The Armenian parliament vice-speaker from the opposition did not rule out that the processes that are currently observed in Syunik Province of Armenia may start in Tavush Province as well.

"Although the Armenian authorities constantly deny everything, we hear signals of positive shifts from Turkey," Saghatelyan added, in particular.

According to him, the fact that the foreign ministry of Armenia did not even condemn Turkey on the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide is a manifestation of the same policy by the Armenian authorities.

"The [Armenian] authorities bowing before the enemy, cannot negotiate in the interests of Armenia. When they are told about the [Armenian] captives [in Azerbaijan], they refuse in every way, but attribute their return to themselves. During the border escalation, the authorities refer to the Russians and simultaneously hand over territories by verbal agreement, then deny [it]. They take everything to that so as ‘wash their hands’ from both the [Armenian] prisoners of war and the Karabakh issue," concluded the NA deputy speaker from the opposition.

Former Armenian FM: ‘3+2’ format may be an attempt to cast a shadow over OSCE Minsk Group format

Jack Hunanian
Panorama, Armenia
Dec 14 2021

Armenia has always expressed a desire to launch a process of normalizing relations with Turkey without any preconditions, but for quite a long time there has been no dialogue with Ankara, former Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian told reporters at the Yerevan State University on Tuesday.

His comments came after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that Turkey and Armenia will mutually appoint special envoys to discuss steps to normalize ties.

“We positively assess the statement of the Turkish FM regarding the appointment of a special representative as part of normalization of relations and confirm that the Armenian side will appoint its envoy for a dialogue,” Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vahan Hunanyan said on Tuesday, responding to the statement.

Commenting on Yerevan's intention to appoint a special representative for talks with Turkey, Aivazian recalled the saying, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

"Naturally, there is a need to distinguish between the normal conditions and the current situation, especially Turkey's direct involvement in last year’s war and the preconditions set forth by it,” the diplomat said.

Aivazian believes it is extremely important for the Armenian Foreign Ministry to have an understanding of how to conduct negotiations with Turkey. In this regard, he underlined that the true goals of Baku and Ankara are well known.

"The spokesperson of the Armenian Foreign Ministry stated today that the negotiations are without preconditions. But on the other hand we see the launch of "3+2" format. I hope our diplomats are well aware of all the threats and challenges that may emerge during the further work in this format," Aivazian said.

He undermined that the signals coming from Ankara are far from positive. “On the contrary, we see persistent demands rather than any steps inherent in good neighborly relations. Thus, I am somewhat confused and doubtful about the objectives of the “3+2” format," the former minister explained.

"I have concerns that the “3+2” format may be an attempt to neutralize and cast a shadow over the format of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship," Aivazian said.

Constitutional Court announces decision on release of arrested MPs of opposition ‘Armenia’ parliamentary faction

Jack Hunanian
News.am, Armenia
Dec 9 2021
Constitutional Court announces decision on release of arrested MPs of opposition 'Armenia' parliamentary faction
22:38, 09.12.2021

Based on the application filed by at least one fifth of the total number of deputies of the National Assembly of Armenia, the Constitutional Court has announced its decision on determining the constitutionality of particular articles of the Criminal Procedure Code of Armenia.

According to the Constitutional Court, a person with the status of deputy in custody may not be kept in custody from the moment that he or she obtains the status of deputy.

Deputy of the opposition “Armenia” Faction Aram Vardevanyan wrote about this decision on his Facebook page.

“They kept our fellow deputies in custody in an embarrassingly illegally way for all these months, and now they are going to release them immediately. This time the Higher Court ensured constitutional justice,” he wrote.

The aim of the application was to release arrested deputies of the “Armenia” Faction Mkhitar Zakaryan and Artur Sargsyan.

Applicant Aram Vardevanyan had declared several times that they needed to be released from custody after being elected MPs due to parliamentary immunity.

Former Mayor of Meghri, deputy of the “Armenia” Faction Mkhitar Zakaryan was arrested on July 13 and is charged with abuse of official powers and official forgery.

Former Mayor of Sisian, deputy of the “Armenia” Faction Artur Sargsyan was arrested on July 18 and is charged with abuse of official powers and official forgery.

Deputy PM Matevosyan, Head of WB Armenia Office refer to preparation of 4th Public Sector Modernization Project

Jack Hunanian

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 19:38, 8 December, 2021

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Hambardzum Matevosyan met with World Bank (WB) Country Manager for Armenia Carolin Geginat on December 8. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Deputy PM, welcoming the guest, Matevosyan praised the cooperation between the Government of Armenia and the World Bank. Hambardzum Matevosyan expressed readiness to closely cooperate for the successful implementation of the ongoing programs and the initiation of new ones.

The head of the WB Armenia Office Carolin Geginat congratulated Hambardzum Matevosyan on his appointment as the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and wished him success in his new position. She reaffirmed the WB's readiness to cooperate with the Armenian Government and to expand that cooperation.

The interlocutors referred to the implementation of the 3rd Public Sector Modernization Project and the preparation works of 4th project. Within the framework of the 3rd project, great progress has been registered in the field of electronic systems: integrated security system for all e-administration platforms, digital signature and identification systems, unified citizen feedback portal, etc. The fourth project envisages expansion of state services, bringing the number of digital services to 350-400, modernization of tax administration systems, digitalization of services provided by local self-government bodies, road user awareness system, introduction of cyber security and related institutional mechanisms, establishment of a unified state data center, etc. Stressing the important role of the World Bank in the modernization of the public administration system in Armenia, the Deputy Prime Minister noted the need for close cooperation on social programs, development of community capacities and the existing infrastructure.

During the meeting, the cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the WB, the ongoing programs in various spheres, including infrastructure development, water use, energy, balanced development of communities, etc. were discussed.