2021 December 17

Daily news wrap-up

News - Dec/17/2021: Smithsonian's digital project in Gyumri __ Lydian wants to dig __ Another spyware __ Yo boy Boris is arrested __ More details about Marutyan drama __ Fewer Covid mandates __ Cities elect mayors __ Neighbor news __ High treason charges __ TOC-1A missiles __ Where are PhDs __ more
by ar_david_hh

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This is your 11-minute Friday report in 2811 words.

Covid stats

7069 tested. 193 infected. 510 healed. 11 deaths. 6437 active.

Armenians don't have to wear a mask in open-air public areas anymore

Covid is retreating. The mask rules stilly apply in public facilities, transport, etc.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071006.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071050.html

Lydian Armenia gold miner wants permission to resume Amulsar project so it can pay "even more taxes"

Lydian had its mining permit suspended in 2018-2019 amid environmental complaints and a criminal investigation over alleged corruption during the permit process. The miner believes they should be allowed to operate.

Lydian: this year alone we paid $827,000 in land taxes to Jermuk, Zaritap, and Goyark, despite not being able to operate. The cash flow to local and federal budgets will multiply after the resumption of the Amulsar project. //

Authorities are still investigating land assessment-related shenanigans that took place under the previous administration. Pashinyan administration has said it's open to relaunching Amulsar if it isn't going to destroy the environment.

https://factor.am/454966.html

Smithsonian Institution and Armenian partners introduced the first interactive virtual exhibition "From Kumayri to Gyumri"

Kumayri is a historic district in Armenia's second-largest town Gyumri.

The e-Guide (bookmark to browse on laptop later) features the most renowned historical and cultural landmarks of Gyumri.

>It also introduces highly interactive 3-D and Virtual Reality maps, with dynamic analysis and nearby resource searching capabilities, rich visual content, and multilingual audio-listening options,

The e-Guide currently features 12 landmarks in the historical Kumayri district. Expect more content soon.

The project was funded by USAID and the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU).

https://avc-agbu.org/kumayri/ https://armenpress.am/eng/news/1071057.html

Remember Boris? He got arrested.

Read this for context about Boris Avagyan. TLDR: he was a public official from Artsakh who was fired by the Artsakh president earlier this year during a wave of anti-West sentiment prompted by members and allies of the Kocharyan regime.

Boris Avagyan had accused the British HALO demining agency of aiding Azerbaijan during the 2020 war. Artsakh government distanced itself from Boris and fired him. Boris also wanted Armenia and Belarus to be part of Russia.

He was arrested in Russia's St. Petersburg on Thursday under the suspicion of 1 million ruble fraud. He allegedly imported expensive items to Russia disguised as cheap construction materials.

F.

https://bavnews.am/ինչպես-են-ձերբակալում-բորիս-ավագյանի/ https://youtu.be/EardjTOB8pE

municipal councils elected mayors in several settlements after December 5 elections

QP received the most votes in Amasia settlement, and won in the most villages that are part of Amasia, but did not cross 50%.

The local incumbent mayor (2nd place) has formed a coalition with HHK (3rd). The decision led to protests. Local QP members organized a gathering and complained about some council members being "bribed". The ruling members also claim election laws were violated.

Opinion by protester Ruben Badasyan: according to the electoral code, new elections should have been scheduled [after QP members placed down their mandates]. There is a threshold you must cross before forming a council. They [opposition] failed to cross it, yet they are forming a coalition. //

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Ruling party QP won in Martuni and Talin. Their mayors will be Hovhannes Hoveyan and Tavros Sapeyan.

The ruling party's Ejmiatsin mayor Diana Gasparyan was reelected. She was first elected as mayor in 2018 to replace late General Manvel "tushonka" Grigoryan's son, amid corruption investigations against Manvel's family. Gasparyan is the first female mayor of Ejmiatsin.

Speaking of corruption investigations. Kocharyan-ARF-Serj MPs organized a protest today with demands to fire the general prosecutor. They believe ongoing corruption investigations' main purpose is to intimidate mayoral candidates.

In unrelated but still related news, Kajaran mayor Manvel Paramazyan will be able to post a ֏70M bail and walk free while the corruption trial continues. Earlier he was charged with embezzling property belonging to the Zangezur copper plant.

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Local incumbent alliances "Gurgen Martirosyan" and "Sargis Muradyan", which are named after their leaders, won in Gavar and Sevan. They will be the mayors.

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No one crossed the 50% mark in Abovyan but Gagik Tsarukyan will maintain his grip in the city. BHK Edward Babayan was elected mayor after narrowly edging QP's candidate by 2 council votes.

BHK received one vote from ARF, while QP received two from Aram Sargsyan's "Republic".

Here is how many mandates each party received during elections, and how many mandates each candidate received after the council vote:

BHK 13 (14 council votes)

QP 10 (12 council votes)

Republic 3

ARF 1

Yerevan mayor Marutyan's no-confidence vote will be held on Wednesday.

Read the Thursday report for details. Marutyan left the ruling party and is accused of not cooperating with council members. Council's opposition members expressed their support for replacing the mayor. LUYS opposition fraction will not vote to remove Marutyan, although one of their candidates supported the removal. A BHK councilman said yesterday that BHK will join QP members to replace the mayor. QP has enough votes to replace the mayor without the opposition's support.

Marutyan repeated today that he has never met Kocharyan. He is accused of cozying up to Kocharyan's top ally Seyran Ohanyan after the war, which led to the alleged meeting with Kocharyan. Marutyan said he doesn't plan to join any party if removed.

Yesterday Marutyan was accused by his colleagues of inflating his role and achievements in several ongoing city projects (bus & elevator).

Council member and ex-Property Management Committee chief Narek Babayan: I saw this coming. There were problems even before his exit from the party.

What Yerevan residents usually see is new buses and elevators, the purchase of which is actually going slowly because of Marutyan. But there are many issues behind the curtains. There were many complaints from businesses and construction firms.

Marutyan blamed the federal government for a number of issues and distanced himself. It became more difficult to work with him after the war. The ruling party can no longer carry the responsibility for Marutyan's shortcomings. He wasn't cooperating with council members. He selected a handful of allies in council and shunned the rest.

Marutyan has been absent from office for half of the year. Hrachya Sargsyan would carry out the duties in those days. [Hracha Sargsyan is the planned replacement. He's been the 1st deputy mayor since 2018].

Hrachya Sargsyan has shown himself to be very honest and experienced. He has never created problems.

Marutyan was great at PR. That's why the public views him as "kind mayor Marutyan". But there were many problems in the shadows.

We tried to work with Marutyan and even prevented him from resigning on multiple occasions. But when he quit the party a year ago, we asked him to resign. He refused, saying he would leave only if the Council votes him out. He found that scenario unlikely. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071003.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071041.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071051.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071068.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071073.html https://factor.am/454982.html https://factor.am/455021.html https://factor.am/455293.html https://factor.am/455366.html https://youtu.be/2A-QRfo0vcs https://factor.am/455476.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071033.html https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/227678 https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/227639

Nature Ministry will use round-the-clock patrols during whitefish spawning season in Lake Sevan

The Ministry inspectors will meet residents of settlements near the lake to raise awareness about the nature protection efforts. Catching Whitefish is illegal during the spawning season.

The inspectors have removed several fisher tents and fishing equipment. There will be checkpoints on roads exiting the province. Inspectors also plan to visit markets to catch the sale of illegal fish.

Nature Minister Simidyan: Our citizens must clearly realize that such regulations have the goal of restoring the ecosystem of Lake Sevan through the restoration of fish stock. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071082.html

UNESCO elections

Report: Azeri outlets recently boasted about Azerbaijan receiving "overwhelming support" during a UNESCO office election. In reality, they got elected pretty much because there was "no one else" to elect.

It's about the UNESCO Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. Any country, regardless of its policies, has the right to submit its nomination for a 4-year term.

There were 6 empty slots. 6 countries submitted a bid, with Azerbaijan being one of them. In "real elections" they might not have passed. Armenia recently beat Azerbaijan and other countries with the number of points during the UNESCO Executive Board elections in November (both made it).

Armenia could not submit a bid in this particular committee because it had already served for 8 consecutive years.

During the committee session on December 11, Armenia successfully lobbied for the introduction of rapid response mechanisms for the protection of cultural heritage in emergencies. As a result, the committee formed a taskforce that is currently deliberating on the proposed mechanisms.

The committee also adopted a statement about the need to send UNESCO delegation to Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding territories ASAP. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071034.html

neighbor news

The Turkish lira hit a new record low of 17 to the dollar. It was 7 earlier this year, and 3.50 in 2017.

Istanbul sock exchange suspended operations amid lira collapse.

>Turkey halted trades on the Istanbul bourse as this year’s second biggest selloff for the market triggered circuit breakers while the lira extended its drop to a fresh record low.

>Trading of equities, equity derivatives and debt repo transactions were automatically halted twice within an hour after the Borsa Istanbul 100 index fell as much as 7% on Friday.

Turkish opposition accused Erdogan of botching the economy amid reports that some food vendors are now selling half a simit (bagel) because of a drop in residents' purchasing power.

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A verbal fight broke out in the Turkish parliament between female MPs. Ruling MP called out the opposition leader during a speech. In response, the opposition MP asked the deputy chair for every opposition MP to be granted the right to give a 2-minute speech. It was granted. It eventually led to an escalation and a shouting match.

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US State Department criticized Azerbaijan for using "terrorism" as a pretense to oppress religious activists and political dissidents.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/rates-bonds/turkish-lira-trades-near-record-low-after-rate-cut-fuels-slide-2021-12-17/ https://www.duvarenglish.com/turkish-vendor-starts-selling-half-a-simit-in-protest-of-price-hikes-news-59676 https://www.urdupoint.com/en/world/istanbul-stock-exchange-announces-suspension-1429531.html https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-17/turkey-halts-equity-trades-on-borsa-istanbul-after-losses-deepen https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071043.html https://factor.am/455212.html https://factor.am/455363.html https://factor.am/455386.html https://factor.am/455470.html

Azerbaijan is still jamming cellphone signals in Artsakh

We learned earlier this month that Azerbaijan was jamming phone signals in Artsakh settlements near the border. They were earlier caught jamming FM radio signals. Artsakh authorities have contacted peacekeepers to stop cellphone jamming, which is still happening.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071024.html

Cytrox spyware targets found in Armenia

You may recall NSO Group's Pegasus spyware that was recently discovered in phones around the world. Seven other tools have since been uncovered by Facebook researchers. Facebook is warning 50,000 users in 100 countries (including Armenia) who were targeted by these tools.

One of the new tools in Cytrox. It was used against targets in Armenia. The research paper does not specify Cytrox's activities in Armenia, and whether it was the government or a private customer.

In related news, former spy agency chief Arthur Vanetsyan suspects his former colleagues at NSS have been wiretapping him with similar tools. Phones of Pashinyan's cabinet members were reportedly also targeted by Pegasus.

Back to Cytrox...

>[Facebook researchers:] We removed about 300 accounts on Facebook and Instagram linked to Cytrox. This North Macedonian company [with Israeli ties] develops exploits and sells surveillance tools and malware that enable its clients to compromise iOS and Android devices

>Our investigation identified customers in Egypt, Armenia, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Germany.

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>These companies are part of a sprawling industry that provides intrusive software tools and surveillance services indiscriminately to any customer

>This ecosystem works to provide powerful capabilities to its clients against victims who in most cases have no way of knowing they are being targeted. In a sense, this industry "democratizes" these threats, making them available to government and non-government groups

Armenia's spy agency has not yet commented whether it's them who is using these tools to spy on certain people. [sarcasm, maybe not]

Original doc: https://about.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Threat-Report-on-the-Surveillance-for-Hire-Industry.pdf https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-involvement-in-hacker-for-hire-industry-highlighted-in-latest-spyware-find/

two Armenians are facing high treason charges for allegedly spying for Azerbaijan before and during the war

Back in June the NSS revealed charges against two Armenians who allegedly spied for Azerbaijan. The suspects are Garun Babayan and Gagik Hovhannisyan.

Report: in 2018, a former Armenian military figure with "medals" and his friend decided to travel to Turkey to find work. They were recruited by Azeri agents while in Turkey. The two were offered material support in exchange for collecting and transmitting information.

Garun Babayan committed treason in 2020 again by collecting sensitive information for the enemy. //

The case has reached the court. They are facing up to 15 years in prison.

https://factor.am/455060.html https://armlur.am/1154258/

Armenia presents its experience with anti-corruption & asset forfeiture investigations during a UN summit

General prosecutor Davtyan and the Armenian envoy took part in the UN anti-corruption summit held in Egypt.

Prosecutors: [asset forfeiture] is a new mechanism in the Armenian legislation. In parallel with "criminal" mechanisms we have additional tools to recover illegal assets that would otherwise be impossible to recover within the framework of the criminal case.

We need international cooperation to make the fight efficient, which is why we joined the international CARIN.NETWORK in 2020 (Camden Asset Recovery Inter-agency Network).

We have already sent 7 inquiries and received 6 responses. Our international colleagues have contacted us for information on 4 occasions.

For the asset forfeiture process to be effective, we also need a dedicated professional anti-corruption court. The Supreme Court has appointed four specialized judges to handle these cases. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071031.html

Hexact diasporan high-tech startup finishes the year with 400% growth

Hexact is a data analysis company with users in 160 countries. "Data mining, analysis & machine learning solutions for business." They have three tools:

1) Hexomatic is a no-code, data extraction and work automation platform.

2) Hexometer provides 24/7 website monitoring to catch problems before they affect your business.

3) Hexowatch is a virtual recon drone, monitoring any page or website for changes.

They were founded three years ago. The number of employees has since tripled to 30. They are hiring.

Hexact recently closed the pre-seed round after investments from several ventures. They signed a 3-year agreement with Google Cloud and SADA.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071012.html

Security Council chief Armen Grigoryan's U.S. trip continues

Grigoryan met Atlantic Council think tank. They discussed the unblocking of regional communications, the development of democratic institutes, Armenia's foreign policy priorities, and climate change.

Grigoryan also met US State Secretary office officials.

https://factor.am/455018.html https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/227684

Armenian army held exercises with the use of TOC-1A heavy artillery systems

MOD: the ТОС-1А units were deployed and brought to combat readiness. Armored vehicles and transport columns were destroyed 1.5km away. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071086.html

someone tried to smuggle marijuana wrapped in tolma

A family member of an Armavir prison inmate tried to smuggle 161g marijuana but got caught with a RAPISCAN x-ray device.

It was wrapped very poorly. Even my grandma can do better.

https://factor.am/455311.html

fewer candidates defend dissertation amid stricter "quality" rules and crackdown on PhD plagiarism

Context: You may recall the anti-plagiarism fight that began in ~2019 when several high-profile university figures were accused of copy-paste without credit.

The number of annual Defenses used to be around 600. This year it was 171 (17 doctoral, which is up).

Reporter: is the drop because of lack of interest, or stricter rules?

Higher Qualification Committee chief Qeryan: there were some changes in 2016. After 2018 a new condition was set to have three scientific works published/cited in "Web of Science" or "Scopus" international databases, or 6 other papers examined by the Committee.

We're discussing with Education Ministry to increase the number of postgraduate positions to expand our army of scientists. We just don't want to negatively impact the quality. We'll conduct research to find the best option.

About plagiarism: primarily as a preventative measure, we need to introduce mechanisms to revoke the degree if plagiarism is detected years later. This proposal was included in the government's [2021-2026] plan.

In addition to the disqualification procedure, it is necessary to modernize the plagiarism detection system and use it more widely. //

Full: https://youtu.be/W26i_mFjVlk https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071055.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071060.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071060.html

They sent a probe to the Sun. It recorded a video as it entered the hot corona.

https://youtu.be/IQXNqhQzBLM

Armenian team wins more medals during the weightlifting world championship

Varazdat Lalayan won silver. Gor Minasyan won bronze.

Simonyan Martirosyan won bronze yesterday.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071065.html

today in history

1637: Shimabara rebellion begins in Japan. A local leader suppressed Christians and raised taxes to build a new castle. 37,000 rebels were executed in the end.

1903: Wright brothers test their flying machine

1989: The Simpsons is aired for the first time

1998: US and UK launch operation Desert Fox in Iraq

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1070990.html

top-10 bestseller translated books in November

5) Զուլալի, by Նարինե Աբգարյան

4) Մանյունյա, by Նարինե Աբգարյան

3) Լռակյաց հիվանդը, by Ալեքս Մայքլիդիս

2) Քամուց քշվածները, by Մարգարետ Միտչել

1) Ուտել, աղոթել, սիրել, by Էլիզաբեթ Գիլբերթ

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1071002.html

The accused are innocent unless proven guilty in the court of law, even if they "appear" guilty.

end of report

The accused are innocent unless proven guilty in the court of law, even if they "appear" guilty.

News archive: http://www.armeniapedia.org/wiki/Daily_Anti-Corruption_Reports

Donations: soldiers' families, humanitarian aid, US tax-deductible donation.

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Link to original report and comments: https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/ris10t/news_dec172021_smithsonians_digital_project_in/