Author: Vicken Chmshkian

Armenian News Network / Armenian News

Armenian News: Week in Review

ANN/Armenian News

September  27, 2020

• Asbed Kotchikian

• Marine Manucharyan

• Emil Sanamyan

• Hovik Manucharyan

• Asbed Bedrossian

Hello, and welcome to Armenian News Network, Armenian News, Week in Review. I’m Hovik Manucharyan.

This episode was recorded before Azerbaijani forces started a wide-scale attack against Artsakh and Armenia over the weekend, so we will not cover that important topic today. 

In this episode, along with Asbed Bedrossian, we’re going to talk about the following major topics:

1. The 29th Anniversary of Armenian Independence;

2. Armenia’s foreign policy; 

3. Azerbaijan war of disinformation; and lastly

4. Opposition trio rally and Tsarukyan’s arrest

To talk about these issues, we have with us:

Asbed Kotchikian, a senior lecturer of political science and international relations at Bentley University in Massachusetts.

Marine Manucharyan, president of the Civic Forum NGO. Her areas of focus include Artsakh, the Armenian Armed Forces, National Security and Foreign Policy.

And

Emil Sanamyan, a senior research fellow at USC’s Institute of Armenian Studies specializing in politics in the Caucasus, with a special focus on Azerbaijan.

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On Monday September 21, Armenia celebrated its 29th anniversary of Independence. A very long parade of congratulations rolled in from world leaders, from Russia to America, to China, Japan, Canada, Australia, the Arab world – even Saudi Arabia, around Europe and South America, Kazakhstan and Georgia. Many world landmarks were lit up in the colors of the Armenian flag, and Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser proclaimed September 21 as “Armenian Independence Day” in DC.

Thoughts?

One country we didn’t hear from on September 21 was from our neighbor Iran, and the press immediately went speculating what was going on. Finally, congratulatory letters arrived I think on the 24th, three days late. The letters were sent to Prime Minister Pashinyan as well as President Sarkissian.

What is Iran telling Armenia? 

For the past month Azerbaijan has upped the war rhetoric and ramped up its #FakeNews machinery to full gear. A constant stream of complaints about Armenian families relocating from Syria and Lebanon to Artsakh is now coupled with fake information that Armenia is relocating 60,000 PKK fighters there, on Friday they had included ASALA fighters.

There was a leaked internal Facebook memo a couple of weeks ago that singled out Azerbaijan as a major hub for fake accounts and profiles which their government uses against their opposition and Armenians. As usual they accuse Armenians of the same things that they’re accused of, in order to blur everything and drown the story in the noise. Is this a two-way street? Is there a lot of Armenian counter-Faking?

Where is all this disinformation leading to?

The BHK, ARF, and Hairenik party, announced that they will hold a rally in the Freedom Square on October 8, and said that they plan to call for snap elections in Armenia.

Bright Armenia’s leader Edmon Marukyan said that the LHK will not join the rally. They’re in favor of change, but through elections. On Friday, a Yerevan court authorized the arrest of BHK leader Gagik Tsarukyan on vote buying charges. Tsarukyan denies all wrongdoing and says that the charges are politically motivated because he called on PM Pashinyan to resign.

In reality the three parties seem to have divergent ideologies. What is uniting them today?

What can we expect to see between now and October 8?

• Armenia celebrated its 29th anniversary of Independence on Sept. 21, 2020. A very long parade of congratulations rolled in from world leaders, from Russia to America, to China, Japan, Canada, Australia, the Arab world, around Europe and South America, Kazakhstan and Georgia. Many world landmarks were lit up in the colors of the Armenian flag, and Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser proclaimed September 21 as “Armenian Independence Day” in DC.

• Meanwhile, Ilham Aliyev complained to the UN about Armenia, while a potential tragedy began unfolding in Azerbaijan: the colors of the Armenian national flag were 'detected' in school textbooks! 😯😂 (Here’s the text of the speech)

• Turkey warned Armenia against playing with fire after an Azerbaijani soldier was killed on the border.

• PM Pashinyan introduced Armenia’s All-National transformation strategy on Independence Day. A fundamental Tenet: 5 million population by 2050.

• GM Levon Aronian won the Bundesliga title with OSG Baden-Baden.

• Armenia’s athletics team returned home with three gold medals from the Balkan Athletics Championships held in Romania.

• Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Suren Papikyan discussed his concerns to IAEA General Director Rafael Grossi over the recent Azerbaijani threat to strike the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant.

• Armenia health workers fighting COVID-19 honored with Hero of Our Time special award.

• The Hairenik bloc: The Prosperous Armenia, Homeland and ARF parties announced that they will hold a rally in the Freedom Square on October 8, and say that they plan to call for snap elections in Armenia. The LHK will not join the rally. Edmon Marukyan has said that the party is in favor of change, but through elections.

• Composer and conductor Loris Tjeknavorian shares his memories of independence.

• Japan considers necessary to reform the UN Security Council because the system designed seventy-five years ago no longer delivers on the purposes of the Charter. 

• Azerbaijan’s militaristic rhetoric, accusations against Armenia show that Baku is preparing a ground for an attack, Editor-in-chief of Realist Arabic news agency, Amr Eldiib says.

• The Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction approved a motion on arresting former Armenian Ambassador to the Vatican Mikayel Minasyan. An arrest warrant has been issued.

• The ICRC visited 5 Armenian officers held captive as POWs in Baku.

• The Governor of Aragatsotn province has tested positive for COVID-19.

• Employees of a children’s home in Yerevan are under criminal investigation on suspicion of physically and psychologically abusing the children at the institution.

• Stepanakert called on Baku to abandon its policy of military blackmail and threats, and get back to a full format of negotiations.

• Healthcare Minister Arsen Torosyan held conversations with the Chinese ambassador, and the Russian Chief Sanitary Doctor about the state of COVID-19 in Armenia.

• A shooting at an Armenian school over the weekend in San Francisco has sparked a new hate crime investigation — the third hate crime against an Armenian establishment in San Francisco in the last two months. The SFPD is Investigating. 

• Azerbaijan has called army reservists for inspection and training, claiming that there has been a ‘serious deterioration of the situation on the front line’.

• A project funded by the European Union’s EU4Business initiative is helping to improve food safety in Armenia. The effort is being implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC).

• Elvir Klempic, the National Affinity and Ethnic Engagement Director for the Joseph Biden presidential campaign, has issued a statement on his role and position on the Armenian Genocide and related issues.

• Armenians, Syrian refugees in Turkey and Greeks are at the top of the list of groups targeted with hate speech by the Turkish media in 2019, according to the “Hate Speech and Discriminatory Discourse in Media 2019 Report,” published by the Hrant Dink Foundation.

• "My Step" faction MP Armen Pambukhchyan has been named deputy minister of emergency situations.

• Israel’s State-Run Aerospace Giant Contributed to Azerbaijani Laundromat, Leaks have Revealed.

• Gagik Tsarukyan has denied the allegations made in the recently published in Khodorkovsky’s Dossier.Center website, that he has secret ties to Russia.

• Armenia’s technology sector is continuing to grow rapidly despite the coronavirus pandemic, according to PM Pashinyan.

• Russia is advancing a draft law to ban the latest encryption technology to prevent internet users bypassing state-imposed blocks & filters.

• A 2.5 earthquake was registered 7km south-east from Armenia’s Ashotsk village.

• The SHANT 2020 nationwide military exercises will be held in Armenia from November 16 to 20.

• Two employees of the Cadastre Committee have died from the novel coronavirus.

• US-based SADA Systems plans to establish a Global Center for Technological Solutions in Armenia.

• Newly-built Chinese embassy in Yerevan shows China’s intentions for developing much deeper relations with Armenia.

• Alexander Lukashenko was sworn in as the Belarusian president on Wednesday.

• The new Ambassador of the Netherlands Nico Schermers presented his credentials to the President Armen Sarkissian.

• New ambassador of Armenia to Bulgaria, Armen Edigaryan, presents credentials.

• Russian MFA spox Maria Zakharova denied Azerbaijani reports that Russia advocated for the 'return of five regions surrounding Nagorno Karabakh to Azerbaijan' and that 'Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan impedes the Karabakh peace process.'

• Kansas, Armenian leaders talk military models in partnership exchange.

• Pianist Laura Galstyan won the 4th prize at the 5th Krystian Tkaczewski International Piano Competition in Poland and was recognized as one of the top six pianists.

• Yerevan will host the Armenia International Music Festival, with five classical music concerts at the concert hall of Karen Demirchyan Sport and Concert Complex.

• The Ministry of Education has expanded the funding for the teaching of Armenian and other Armenia-related subjects abroad. In the 2020-21academic year, the teaching will be expanded to ten institutions across eight countries.

• Putin awards three Russian Armenian doctors for great contribution to the coronavirus fight.

• Fruit prices rose by 30.2% in Armenia.

• Three employees of Yerevan orphanage were arrested over child abuse.

• Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin has expressed interest in visiting Armenia with the condition that he also be allowed to visit Gagik Khachatryan, a former finance minister who is in jail with charges of corruption.

• No congratulatory messages have arrived from Iran on Armenia’s anniversary of  Independence this year.

• Minister of Health Arsen Torosyan said that the increase in numbers since September 11 is conditioned by the increase of mobility and non-observance of the epidemic rules since the end of the emergency rule.

• The Asian Development Bank will provide a $2 million grant to Armenia for COVID-19 response.

• President of Iran Hassan Rouhani has sent congratulatory letters to PM Pashinyan and President Armen Sarkissian about Armenian Independence Day. The letter is 3 days late, and there has been much speculation about why it took so long.

• Former MP Artur Gevorgyan arrested in the US.

• Caucasus 2020: Armenian and Russian troops hold major live fire drills.

• California State University, Northridge (CSUN) has received an anonymous $3 million gift to support its Armenian Studies Program and provide scholarships to students.

• WorldBank: Financing Reforms are Critical for Better Health in Armenia.

• Venice is also an Armenian city: Italian exhibition opens at the President's residence.

• "Credit Holidays" granted to thousands of borrowers in Armenia can cause major damage to the banking system, Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Nerses Yeritsyan told a parliamentary inquiry.

• The Spanish Senate ratified the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on September 23.

• Bourg-les-Valence Mayor Marlene Mourier revealed in a Facebook post that she has received threats from Azerbaijanis in August this year.

• Reports that Turkey is transferring syrian Militants to Azerbaijan as hostilities against Armenia increases.

• Armenian champions Ararat-Armenia made it to the play-off round of Europa League after beating Celje (Slovenia) 1-0 at home in the third qualifying round.

• Arthur Gevorgyan, the son-in-law of former Republican MP and former Chief of Police Vladimir (Vova) Gasparyan, has been arrested in the US.

• Deputy Minister of Education and Science Grisha Tamrazyan has resigned.

• There has been a huge amount of #FakeNews disseminated by Azerbaijan’s secret services about Armenia and Armenians. Azerbaijan is well known and well documented by Facebook as a hub for fake accounts and fake news being used against their domestic opposition, as well as Armenians.

• The EU will provide Armenia with 60 million euros in fresh assistance earmarked to deal with the coronavirus crisis, reform courts and root out corruption.

• Sweden’s first resident ambassador to Armenia Patrik Svensson presented his credentials to President Armen Sarkissian 

• The U.S. Embassy in Armenia warned US citizens to avoid travel near the line of contact and the border, including the area to the east of the M4 and M16 Highways north of the Dilijan National Park and up to the border with Georgia in Tavush province, and Nagorno-Karabakh region.

• The Turkish Prosecutor General's office has launched the process to deprive Armenian MP Garo Paylan of diplomatic immunity. Paylan and seven other members are accused of making statements supporting “terrorists” in the developments surrounding Syria’s Kurdish-majority city of Kobani.

• An Armenian Spell Checker for iOS has been released. Nayiriboard works with apps such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, to productivity apps such as Pages, Notes and more.

• The ministry of healthcare won an award of the United Nations Interagency Task Force on the prevention and control of Non-communicable Diseases (UNIATF) during the Task Force meeting.

• Police Chief Vahe Ghazaryan and Indian Ambassador Kishan Dan Dewal discussed effective partnership between Armenia and India law enforcement.

• PM Pashinyan relieved the Deputy Minister of Education, Grisha Tamrazyan and Georgy Avetisyan, the Head of the Food Safety and Inspection Agency.

• Minister of education, science, culture and sport Arayik Harutyunyan met with the Ambassador of Lithuania Inga Stanytė-Toločkienė, where the latter expressed interest in establishing a TUMO center in Lithuania.

• The NSS warned about and denied #FakeNews being spread by Azerbaijani special services over “evacuation of the residents of Artsakh” in social networks.

• DM Tonoyan is in Russia attending the main stage of the Kavkaz 2020 (Caucasus 2020) Russian military drills in the Kapustin Yar shooting range. In Armenia it was held at the Alagyaz shooting range on September 24.

• My Step MP Gayane Abrahamyan has submitted a resignation letter. She has cited that “status has become an end, not a means”, and therefore that has crossed a red line for her.

• Referring to newly appointed Constitutional Court judge Yervand Khundkaryan’s candidacy to the presidency of the court, judge Vahe Grigorian said a different candidate should be considered. Later in the day Justice Khundkaryan failed the confirmation vote to become the President of the Constitutional Court. He was the only nominated candidate to become the chief justice.

• President Sarkissian visited FAST, the Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology, and familiarized with their ongoing projects, and referred to his ATOM presidential initiative on science development in Armenia.

• Seven Iranian prisoners in Armenia repatriated to Iran.

• U.S. lawmakers called on Library of Congress to adopt Armenian Genocide subject heading.

• Military expert Tigran Abrahamyan, the head of Henaket Analytical Center warned of a ‘sharp increase’ in security threats.

• Federal Member for the South Australian electorate of Spence, Nick Champion has affirmed his support for Australian recognition of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides by signing on to the Joint Justice Initiative of the Armenian-Australian, Assyrian-Australian and Greek-Australian communities.

• The world premiere of "Gate to Heaven" by Jivan Avetisyan will take place at the Moscow International Film Festival on October 1-8.

• A team of Armenian schoolchildren won a total of 4 medals at the 32nd International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI).

• Another group of Armenian servicemen has returned to Armenia after complying its peacekeeping mission as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.

• Azerbaijani, Georgian FMs meet in border demarcation talks, issue of arms transit to Armenia not discussed.

• Georgian logistics company Gzavnili has advised its customers not to use Armenian surnames when ordering parcels. A message on the company’s website blamed the Azerbaijani customs services for the policy, claiming that a new law in Azerbaijan allowed them to confiscate packages on the border.

• The AEF has awarded over 600 scholarships to students in Armenia.

• Aliyev lashed out at Armenia in a video speech delivered at a session of the UN General Assembly on Thursday. Meanwhile, PM Pashinyan slammed Turkey in his speech at the UN.

• A Yerevan court allowed investigators late on Friday to arrest Gagik Tsarukian, leader of the opposition Prosperous Armenia (BHK), on vote buying charges rejected by him as politically motivated.

• Armenia’s economic activity index declines by 6.4% in 8 months.

• Today marks the birthday of Komitas.

• Several hundred Syrian refugees have been recruited by Turkey to fight against Armenia in the disputed Karabagh region – writes the Jerusalem post, attributing it to Syrian sources.

• Mustapha Adib, Lebanon’s PM-designate has resigned after failing to form a new government.

• Catholicos of All Armenians will meet with Pope Francis in Rome.

• Turkish police have arrested the Kurdish mayor of Kars Ayhan Bilgen, and transported him to Ankara by plane.

• Six months after French Armenian politician Patrick Devedjian’s death, the Hauts-de-Seine department, of which he was president, paid him a strong tribute on Friday.

• Two resolutions in the US Congress, H.Res.452 and H.Res.190 regarding U.S.-Armenia and U.S.-Artsakh relations, continue to garner support,

• Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan partook on Saturday in Stepanakert's Circular Park in a solemn ceremony dedicated to the Day of the Capital.

• Libya starts implementing joint military programs with Turkey, defense minister says

• Turkey and the US presidential election

• Turkey bashes UN, EU and Armenia in latest statements

• Erdogan breaks with Trump over Israel deals and Iran

• India slams Turkish President Erdogan’s Kashmir remarks at UNGA

• Why Turkey is making friends in West Africa

• Greece said on Wednesday that it still expects the EU to approve sanctions against Turkey despite agreeing to restart talks on maritime boundaries.

Pianist Laura Galstyan won the 4th prize at the 5th Krystian Tkaczewski International Piano Competition in Poland and was recognized as one of the top six pianists.

That concludes our program for This week’s Armenian News Week in Review. We hope it has helped your understanding of some of the issues from the previous week. We look forward to your feedback, and even your suggestions for issues to cover in greater depth. Contact us on our website, at groong.org, or on our Facebook Page “ANN – Armenian News”, or in our Facebook Group “Armenian News – Armenian News  Network”.

Special thanks to Laura Osborn for providing the music for our podcast. I’m Hovik Manucharyan, and on behalf of everyone in this episode, I wish you a good week. Thank you for listening, and talk to you next week.

29th Anniversary Independence, Nagorno Karabakh, Azerbaijan, War

Additional: Emil Sanamyan, Asbed Kotchikian, Marine Manucharyan

Armenian News Network / Armenian News

Conversations on Armenian News: Telecommunications security in Armenia, evolution and future challenges

ANN/Armenian News

Table of Contents

Hello and welcome to Armenian News Network, Armenian News. I’m Hovik Manucharyan.

In this Conversation on Armenian News episode, we’ll be talking about security in telecommunications in Armenia. Our guest is an expert in security and has spent over 8 years as chief corporate counsel for one of the biggest telecommunication companies in Armenia.

Before we start, please help us increase our reach by subscribing and liking us on whatever platform you listen to us on, and help spread the word by sharing this podcast on your social media channels. Thanks in advance!

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• Hovik Manucharyan

• Asbed Bedrossian

Our guest today is David Sandukhchyan, who is a lawyer with 20 years of experience in telecommunications, cyber law, media and personal data protection. He was Chief Counsel for over 8 years at Beeline, one of the leading Armenian telecom operators, which operates Armentel. David is a certified ISO information security auditor, and works as an independent consultant out of Toronto, Canada.

Welcome and thanks for joining us again David.

Major milestones in development of Armenia’s telecommunications market:

• Armentel

• Orange

• UCOM

Let’s spend 5 minutes informing our listeners how we got to today. 

The telecommunications market in Armenia started with the monopoly of the incumbent operator ArmenTel owned jointly by the Greek state-owned company OTE (90%) and Armenian government (10%). The sale-purchase agreement granted ArmenTel (recently rebranded to VEON) exclusive rights to provide basic telco services including international Internet connectivity, mobile and fixed telephony. ArmenTel’s monopoly remained until 2005 when after a series of negotiations, the monopoly on mobile communication was abolished and the second operator entered the market. In 2007 OTE sold its shares to Vimpelcom, a Russian private company operated under the Beeline trademark. Shortly after that Armenian government agreed to sell Vimpelcom the remaining 10% of state-owned shares in exchange for liberalisation of all telecommunication markets. 2008 can be seen as the beginning of Armenia’s liberal telecommunications market. Today, Amenia has three major mobile service providers: two (VEON-Armenia and MTS-Armenia) owned by Russian businesses and one (Ucom) owned by a mixed capital of Armeian and Russian rich families. There are also three leading wireline operators: also, two Russian (VEON-Armenia and GNC Alpha also known as Rostelecom) and Ucom. One of the most recent development in Armenia’s telecom market has been Ucom’s intention to purchase VEON that failed due to criminal charges that were brought against one of its owners, Gurgen Khachatryan, the son of former head of state revenue service authority Gagik Khchatryan, who has been arrested and charged with misuse of the state budget and money laundering. The story did not stop there, but it’s outside of our scope here today.

Over the past few months we’ve seen a public tussle between Georgia’s regulatory commission and an Azeri company called NEQSOL which acquired 49% of Caucasus Online, a Georgian telecommunications company. How does this deal affect Armenia’s national security given that a significant portion of its internet traffic goes through Georgia (including Caucasus Online)?

• Georgian Authorities Seek to Block Azerbaijani Investment in Telecommunications Infrastructure

• Wouldn't want us to be exaggerating. Sale of 49% of Georgian internet provider shares to Azerbaijan will not pose a threat to Armenia's information security – minister

• Azerbaijani Press: Georgia’s Actions to Seize Foreign Company Disrupt Telecommunications Corridor Between Europe & Asia

External nation-state threats:

• Interception

• Traffic analysis

• Denial of service

In general, purchasing or controlling shares (for example by an Azerbaijani company) does not immediately result in substantial threats for Armenia in terms of information security. The company would remain Georgian and in the control of the Georgian government and unless major shareholders would want a corporate risk of illegal spying on Armenian data traffic it would not affect the security of international communication of Armenian citizens and government. A slide from corporate integrity to pervasive international cyberhacking that affects the Armenian citizens and government would not go unnoticed and there would be opportunities for Armenia to react. However, this doesn’t mean that the situation will remain comfortable for Armenia: risk of interception of both voice and data traffic will constantly need to be monitored, assessed and managed on an ongoing basis. But the news is a good trigger to think how Armenia should secure its connectivity with the world and what should be done to improve resilience of the country’s communications system. 

One of the solutions might be Armenian companies investing in trans-Georgian fiber-optic cable.  Georgia has relatively (compared with other countries of the region) liberal telecommunications legislation including enforceable infrastructure sharing regulation. The first step the Armenian government must take is to encourage investments in building such a cable system that both Armenian operators and Georgian businesses may benefit from. 

That concludes this week’s Conversation On Armenian News on telecommunications security in Armenia. 

We look forward to your feedback, including your suggestions for Conversation topics in the future. Contact us on our website, at groong.org, or on our Facebook Page “ANN – Armenian News”, or in our Facebook Group “Armenian News – Armenian News Network”.

Special thanks to Laura Osborn for providing the music for our podcast. I’m Hovik Manucharyan, and on behalf of everyone in this episode, I wish you a good week. Thank you for listening and we'll talk to you soon.

Additional:  David Sandukhchyan, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Artsakh, Karabakh, Russia, Turkey, Greece, Telecommunications, Caucasus, Armentel, Beeline, UCOM, Vimpelcom, VEON, Greece, OTE, Monopoly, FDI, Infrastructure, Investment, Cellular, Internet, Data, Fibre, Optic, Channel, Black Sea, Caspian, Cable, NEQSOL, fiber optic, Caucasus Online