2020 July 18

Daily news and anti-corruption report

Jul/18/2020 news: / Tavush Battles / Pashinyan's speech & Aliyev's plans / How to have "nuclear fallout" without nukes 101 / Armenian drones in action / Apricot Boycott turns into Armenian festival of support / Villages are rebuilding / Donations / Armenian diasporans march / + other topics
by ar_david_hh

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Tavush Battles / How did it start?

Context: July 12.... July 13…. July 14.... July 15.... July 16…. July17….

July 18th / Azeri drone is shot / Destroyed tank evacuated / Calm day

6:38am: Armenian army used an OSA-AKM, which was modernized by Armenian engineers, to shoot down an Azeri ORBITER-3 drone made in Israel. This happened in Artsakh, away from the Tavush battles. "This doesn't necessarily mean the battles have moved to Artsakh," said Army.

Drone photos: https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192962

https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192965 , https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192967

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Only a few irregular shots were fired across the borders today. https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192966

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Army denied reports about Azeris allegedly firing at UNESCO-protected Zangakatun church. "They fired towards trenches near Zangakatun, but not at Zangakatun." https://factor.am/270074.html

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Army released images showing an Azeri truck transporting a destroyed Azeri tank. 3 tanks were damaged with drones Made in Armenia. Photos: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1022300.html

Aliyev's plan / Israeli tech / The Mythbusters / Nuclear plant

PM Pashinyan speech: the Anvakh outpost that 100 Azeris tried to invade was within Armenian territory, and not in the buffer zone. This was a direct aggression.

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They placed their artillery inside Azeri Agdam village and used it to shell Armenian villages, so later they could claim that Armenians shelled Azeri villages when we silenced their fire.

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Why? For the past few months, Aliyev's rhetoric has been getting more militaristic and against OSCE negotiations.

Simultaneously, he was telling Azeri public how strong the army is to justify the billions of dollars he spent on the military instead of the public's well-being.

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Azeri military repeatedly stated, "we're just waiting for Aliyev's order". Knowing that the Artsakh army is ready to defend, they decided to attack at a place that they thought we wouldn't expect - the Tavush region.

The goal was to prove the myth about Azeri army's invincibility, cause moral damage to Armenia, then attack Artsakh.

However, not only did our army show exceptional effectiveness but also shattered their decades-long myth.

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Azerbaijan's actions also harmed Israel's reputation because we shot down Israel-made equipment that the whole world thought was impossible to do.

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Out of all this, the most astonishing thing is the lack of regard for their own soldiers' lives. They sent them to obvious suicide missions.

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In an attempt to hush their failures, they developed propaganda as if Armenia threatened their Mengichavur water dam, to portray us as aggressors. We have no such intentions. Our goal is to defend Armenia.

Days earlier an Azeri official directly threatened the Armenian nuclear power plant. Although Armenia can defend the NPP, the world should acknowledge these threats of crimes against humanity.

https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192976

Foreign response / Nuclear fallout without nukes

Armenia contacted the International Atomic Energy Agency. Its president said they'll respond soon. https://factor.am/270154.html

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Forbes wrote an article titled "Azerbaijan Threatens Chernobyl-Style ‘Catastrophe’ In Caucasus Drone War"

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2020/07/17/threat-of-chernobyl-style-catastrophe-in-caucasus-drone-war/#65e29ef47946

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PACE president says the "relevant committees" are monitoring the situation about Azerbaijan's threats against Metsamor nuclear plant. https://factor.am/270123.html

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Armenian MFA: Azerbaijan claims they're concerned about the safety of our nuclear plant so they want to shut it down. At the same time, they threaten to blow it up. This shows that their safety concerns are disingenuous. https://youtu.be/--UKG9xvBlg

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Uruguay's Broad Front political alliance condemned "Azerbaijan's aggression against Armenia, which also goes against UN's call for a ceasefire during COVID19." https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1022243.html

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Armenian-American singer Cher responded to Azerbaijan's threats against Metsamor nuclear plant, saying: "THEY HAVE BEEN KILLING ARMENIANS SINCE BEFORE I WENT THERE. WE TURN A BLIND EYE … THEY HAVE OIL." https://twitter.com/cher/status/1284248020477857792?s=21

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Chechen president Kadyrov: we know from personal experience that it's best to do everything to prevent war. Both countries are brothers to me. I'm ready to get on my knees and beg for peace from both sides. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1022291.html

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Second Ukrainian MP criticized the MFA for [continuous] support for Azerbaijan. "Ukraine should be neutral." https://factor.am/270202.html

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The rest of Kardashian family also joined the social media campaign. They urged for installation of OSCE's border monitoring technology to detect gunshots and de-escalate (Armenia agrees, Azerbaijan refuses).

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1022272.html

Discrimination against Armenian farmers in Moscow / Armenians respond by showing support

Yesterday we learned that Moscow's giant Food City market, run by a businessman from Azerbaijan, ordered Armenian agricultural trucks to be unloaded outside of the market. Farmers claimed it caused their goods to spoil.

The market owner also told Armenian sellers to remove their booth's logos/ads for a week. The owner claims this is needed to protect the Armenian sellers from possible targeted attacks by angry buyers. The sellers claim it's blatant discrimination.

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To show support for Armenian farmers, hundreds of Armenian residents of Moscow formed a long line to go straight to farmers' trucks. People were buying boxes of apricots without negotiating the price (unprecedented).

Photos & Video: https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192975

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Volunteers arrived and began giving food to those who were waiting in line to purchase apricots. Photos: https://factor.am/270137.html

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A big open-air party was thrown with live music and tashi-tushi. https://youtu.be/4wrBWHsAwXI?t=891

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Russian couple obtained a bunch of Armenian apricots and began selling it at the gathering. They'll use the rest for jam.

47:18: https://youtu.be/4wrBWHsAwXI?t=2838

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Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, the owner of Tashir Group, has decided to allocate space for Armenian farmers. https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192978

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Millionaire Gagik Tsarukyan has allowed Armenian farmers in St. Petersburg to use his space in his LeoMall market. https://factor.am/270144.html

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Armenian ambassador in Moscow shared info of other markets where Armenian farmers can sell their food. https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/192991

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MP Tunyan: Armenian officials should contact Russian colleagues and make sure the market's ethnic discrimination of Armenian farmers is addressed. https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192980

Donations

Soccer star Yura Movsisyan resides in Los Angeles, California. He invited local Armenians to visit a center to donate to the families of fallen soldiers. https://www.facebook.com/MovsisyanOfficial/posts/4780398581986456

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A group of kids from Gegharquniq also gathered dozens of tires to send them to frontlines. They're used as barricades.

The army earlier stated they have enough resources and that these donations should be brought after contacting the army first. https://www.facebook.com/sanosyangnel/posts/2344481395854099

Bordering villages begin rebuilding

The bordering villagers began repairing the damaged infrastructure. Photos: https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192985

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Tavush's regular road and water infrastructure upgrades have also resumed. https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192953

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Civilian Aramayis who was wounded from Azeri drone: we cannot be broken. This is our homeland. The world doesn't have soldiers like ours. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1668460553310626

Marches across the world

Armenians gathered in Munich with calls for peace. https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192981

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Turkish and Azeri protesters gathered in front of the Armenian embassy in London and chanted "Karabakh is ours".

In turn, Armenians marched on the London streets. A dozen Azeri protesters attacked Armenian protesters and a fight broke out.

Video: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=321274232242408 , https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192951

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Armenians gathered in front of Azeri embassy in the Netherlands to sing and dance in Armenian while chanting "Artsakh is Armenia".

Videos: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1022298.html

Fake account

Twitter removed an account that pretended to be an Armenian army spokeswoman.

https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192984 , https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192986

This is Tavush Province

Beautiful photos from Tavush mountains: https://www.civilnet.am/news/2020/07/18/Տավուշի-արևածագը-ֆոտոշարք/390524

NSS busts officials' infrastructure embezzlement

The report says: in 2016-2017, the government gave Gegharquniq officials $195k to repair water networks. No work was done, while the construction company colluded with public officials to forge documents and claim the job was done.

NSS is looking for more suspects. https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192968

Yerevan's irrigation network

In 2019 the capital began taking care of the irrigation pipes near sidewalks & parks. They said most of the pipes are damaged and old, and that water trucks will be used as a temporary substitute.

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The research concluded that only 90km out of 321km pipes are usable.

Ajapnyak district has the longest 53km pipes, from which only 5km are good.

Arabkir has the worst pipes, while Malatia-Sebastia's network is almost completely functional.

This year the city will replace 10km damaged pipes. The areas with dry grass will be prioritized to prevent fires.

Full graph: https://hetq.am/hy/article/119304

COVID stats

+461 infected. +631 healed. +15 deaths.

145,083 tested. 10,692 active. 22,492 healed. 620 deaths.

https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192964

Gyumri has a new kind of theater

The Theater of Thoughts is one of a kind in the city.

Founder Hovhannes Hovhannisyan: The visitor is presented with art, monologue, or conversation, which leaves room for imagination and thoughts. You start thinking about what you saw on your way back home.

More: https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192686

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You've read 1380 words.

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Link to original report and comments: https://old.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/htmblc/jul182020_news_tavush_battles_pashinyans_speech/

Disclaimer: All the accused are innocent until proven guilty by the court of law, even if they may sound as being guilty. Currency in Armenian Drams ֏ unless specified otherwise. Helpful overview of Armenia's media ownership and leanings.