2021 October 11

Daily news wrap-up

News - Oct/11/2021: Dogs & cats must be registered & vaccinated __ Fewer selective abortions __ Lake Sevan cleanup program __ Borders & Politics __ Trade route w/India; Indian weapons __ Bill to give guns to border residents __ Judge terminated __ Prominent suspect flees __ Plastic ban coming
by ar_david_hh

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Your 11-minute Monday report in 2899 words.

efforts increase to protect the quality of Lake Sevan and help surrounding regions

Gegharkunik governor met the representatives of the European EU4Sevan program tasked with protecting the areas near Sevan. It's co-funded by the EU and Germany.

It will monitor the quality of water that flows into the lake, promote water-efficient agricultural solutions, reduce sewage water inflow, raise public awareness living near the lake. It's scheduled to finish by 2024.

Governor: we have had many opportunities to discuss the issue of wastewater treatment, I am glad that today this issue is being addressed. //

Simultaneously, the government is working on a bill about installing bio-waste filters in businesses operating on Sevan shores. The law was approved on October 1. Thousands of businesses will install filters to prevent pollutants from reaching the lake. More resources will be provided for removing submerged trees and for installing drip-irrigation systems in nearby farms.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065238.html

Azerbaijan denied stationing Israeli soldiers near the Iran border

The allegation was made by the head of Iran's border guards. "The exact number [of Israeli soldiers] is unknown." He said they were stationed there to spy on Iran. The Azeri counterpart denied it and said Iranian officials should act "more responsibly while makings statements".

https://factor.am/426901.html

Iran's general prosecutor to visit Armenia for the first time since 2013

Their last meeting was in 2018 when the Armenian prosecutor visited Iran to sign a cooperation agreement. Armenia and Iran have extradition laws dating back to early 2000s.

Last month Armenia agreed to extradite Iranian nationals serving in Armenian prisons; the Iranian side sent a note of gratitude.

https://factor.am/426988.html

Artsakh civilian was killed from sniper fire on Saturday, authorities have evidence that can help identify the perpetrator

The farmer was working on land near Martakert city (northeast border) when the Azeri sniper, located a kilometer away, targeted him. The authorities said they will working with the peacekeepers to expand the security mechanisms in the LoC.

It was revealed that the farmer was initially hesitant to farm too close to the border but a Russian soldier encouraged him by sitting in the tractor for a few trips. The report does not say whether the peacekeeper was in the tractor at the time of the shooting.

Artsakh government called for the removal of Azeri military positions near civilian settlements. Russian peacekeepers confirmed the incident and launched an investigation.

Artsakh MFA: Azerbaijan has a far-fetching goal to disrupt Russia's peacekeeping mission. It's a manifestation of Azerbaijan's systematic anti-Armenian policy and another proof that the Azeri authorities' pro-peace rhetoric towards the people of Artsakh is an attempt to mislead the civilized world and weaken the vigilance of the Armenian side. We urge the OSCE co-chairs to take action against Azerbaijan. //

On Monday, Artsakh authorities announced they have obtained evidence that can confirm the identity of the soldier who committed the crime and the weapon that was used.

Artsakh authorities launched a felony investigation relating to murder based on ethnic/race/religious hatred, and said that the crime is a violation of the human rights convention signed by Azerbaijan.

Read more about Armenia's Hague lawsuit against Azerbaijan about its Armenophobia.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065173.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065200.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065202.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065224.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065251.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065310.html

TRADE ROUTE MAP: Armenia and India to discuss regional cooperation & trade routes / Indian weapon deliveries

Indian Foreign Minister will visit Armenia for the first time. He will meet ranking officials to discuss regional projects.

Meanwhile, the Infrastructure Minister met the Indian ambassador to discuss Armenia's North-South trade route. The ambassador said there are many Indian companies with the necessary experience that can help Armenia build the needed infrastructure.

The two discussed Armenia's participation as a transit state for Indian cargo that arrives in Iran's Chabahar port. The map shows the current trade routes. India has its own North-South project, a 7200km route stretching from Mumbai to St. Petersburg.

India recently said they want to connect the Indian Ocean to Eurasia through Armenia.

Armenian government said the trade route passing through Armenia can help boost India's and Iran's cooperation with the EAEU trade bloc.

Armenia recently purchased four units of SWATHI mobile artillery-locating phased array radar from India for $40 million, becoming the only other nation to have it. The weapon deliveries began earlier this year, according to Indian sites. "SWATHI can simultaneously handle multiples projectiles fired from different weapons at different locations."

https://factor.am/426554.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065159.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065177.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swathi_Weapon_Locating_Radar https://idrw.org/india-starts-delivery-of-swathi-weapon-locating-radars-to-armenia/ https://www.eletimes.com/india-starts-delivery-of-swathi-weapon-locating-radars-to-armenia

will residents living near the borders be allowed to possess weapons?

Earlier this year, the ruling party MP revealed that they are working on a bill to allow border residents to purchase rifles. Not just hunting ones, but things that are closer to combat rifles. Many border residents have long called for the relaxation of gun laws so they can feel safer living near the border.

The MPs are still discussing the benefits and risks, whether it should apply to border residents or everyone in Armenia. In any case, it would have strict gun training and other requirements, said the MP.

Last year, shortly before the war, the authorities approved the law to create the ashkharazor army, according to which Armenia's population would be trained and prepared for war, with different age groups and citizens having different duties. There was not enough time to finish the process. Its implementation continued during the war. Ashkharazor, too, had certain rules regarding weapon ownership. Ashkharazor member is given a weapon, uniform, and assigned a duty.

Gun laws are different in each country:

US: have a clean background.

Russia: get a hunting license, give a first aid exam, medical evaluation against drug use and mental illness, gun safety courses, background check.

Japan: gun handling classes and written exam that can take months, medical evaluation against illness and drug use, shooting exercise, explain why you need a gun, background check against gang membership and personal relations with neighbors/relatives, license for gunpowder (?), more gun handling classes, obtain gun details from the gun seller, get a hunting license if necessary, buy a safe to store the gun, call the police so they can verify you're storing it properly, more background checks. (whew)

In Armenia, gun laws are currently similar to Russia. A hunting license is necessary to obtain a gun, but it can't be "military-style" for the first 5 years.

VOMA leader Vova Vardanov supports easing gun laws: "If you don't have strategic [geolocation] depth, you must prepare your population to defend itself during a retreat in the event the nearby armed forces are crushed. At a bare minimum, the population must be armed." Vardanov believes the benefits outweigh the risks. "The vast majority of gun owners are law-abiding citizens."

Ex-MOD Seyran Ohanyan also supports the idea to allow border residents to arm themselves.

There is no clear deadline for when the bill will reach the Parliament floor.

https://youtu.be/cb_NmLBePB0?t=58

public surveys continue to show a bleak outlook for Turkey's ruling party

Last week a survey was published showing that if elections were held today, Erdogan and his nationalists would lose the Parliamentary elections. The latest survey asked residents whether they believe the ruling AKP will win reelection in 2023.

38% believe AKP will win.

66% of AKP supporters believe they will win.

55% of AKP ally MHP believe they will win.

83% of CHP (main opposition) believes AKP will lose.

80% of pro-Kurdish HDP (opposition) believes AKP will lose.

AKP has been in power for 20 years.

https://factor.am/427007.html

Turkish lira continues to depreciate against the dollar, setting new records

It's 9 lira for a dollar. The previous low was 8.95. The process accelerated last autumn when Turkey financed and transported terrorist groups to Azerbaijan, worsened its ties wither others, and began changing the Central Bank director like an underwear.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065315.html

Turkish court rules that Ministry of Interior must pay $119,000 compensation to late Armenian journalist Hrant Dink's family for negligence that led to his murder

https://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/296027/ http://www.agos.com.tr/tr/yazi/26271/hrant-dink-cinayeti-nde-icisleri-bakanligi-kusurlu-bulundu

three Azeris arrested in Russia for killing 32 residents with improperly-made alcohol

People began dying in Orenburg on Thursday.

https://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/296018/

Georgian Premier visited Armenia

Pashinyan and Garibashvili discussed the former's recent trip to Georgia and areas of AM-GE cooperation.

Garibashvili: we held productive talks with Pashinyan. Discussed bilateral cooperation, new peace initiative for the South Caucasus region, and Georgia's readiness to pursue active mediation to create more opportunities for sustainable peace and development in the region. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065199.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065221.html

Armenian officials will visit Russia

MOD Karapetyan visited Moscow on Sunday.

Pashinyan will meet Putin on Tuesday.

Church leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia will soon meet in Moscow to discuss events in the region.

Deputy Premier Papikyan will attend an energy-related conference.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065208.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065217.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065275.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065305.html

VIDEO: President Sarkissian met Pope Francis

They discussed local and international politics.

https://youtu.be/KEXvxZffgFI https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065285.html

some misinformation and fake news you might have encountered last week

Fact checker found:

Some outlets claimed that Turkey shut down all four border checkpoints for Iranian cargo trucks after Iran shut down its checkpoints. It was dismissed by sourced from the Azeri government, who said that only one checkpoint was shut down by Iran.

Kocharyan's 5TV claimed that Nikol opened Armenia's air for Azeri jets while Iran shut it down for Azeris. In reality, Armenia never kept its air closed for Azeris, and Iran did not ban Azeris (there were reports about a ban on military jets only but not civilians).

Serj's outlet circulated false rumors claiming that a prominent Chinese expert claimed that COVID cannot survive for much longer and that it will begin to die off within a month or two.

It was a misunderstanding when the media claimed that a combination of speeding and DUI will soon automatically land you in jail. In reality, the amendment aims to increase the minimum felony punishment for a drunken driver if the incident causes harm to someone.

Kocharyan outlet editor gave an interview to another Kocharyan outlet and claimed that Pashinyan plans to emigrate from Armenia because he sold his last property. They were likely referring to first lady Anna Hakobyan placing her apartment for sale in April of 2020. It hasn't been sold, per 2020 declaration. GOODBYE NIKOL!

https://fip.am/17226

municipal elections were held in four small villages of Artsakh

The turnout was between 51-70%. Overall 59.2%.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065227.html

Supreme Court terminates the second judge in a week, after complaints from Justice Ministry

A judge was terminated last week after the Corruption Prevention Committee found business ties incompatible with his duties.

Today the Supremes terminated the second judge after "significant ethics" complaints from the Justice Ministry.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065288.html

former HHK MP and Gyumri mayor Ghukasyan's son evades authorities after the court refuses to jail him pre-trial

Ex-mayor Ghukasyan's son was recently involved in a fight and allegedly made death threats towards cops. Prosecutors wanted to jail him for 2 months pending trial, but the lower court kept him free. The Appeals Court would later reverse the ruling and authorize the arrest, but it's too late because they don't know where the suspect is.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065270.html

ex-MOD Davit Tonoyan will not plead guilty

Tonoyan and his weapon supplier colleague Patron Davo were recently charged with purchasing useless weapons and embezzlement. The weapons did not work during the war, said the prosecutors.

Davit Tonoyan said he hasn't broken any laws and that he could have revealed details around the weapons deal to defend his name but the info contains secrets so he won't do it.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065242.html

update: Constitutional Court upholds the law that raised the upper limits of monetary penalties for defamation/libel

The law was approved in March. The upper limit of penalty for insult/libel tripled to $6,000/$12,000. The highest court has found it constitutional after President Sarkissian asked for a review.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/222715

driver arrested for offering a $20 bribe to Yerevan patrol police

He was stopped after violating traffic rules and arrested after offering 10k drams to officers.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065271.html

free stroke treatment is now available in Gyumri

The state-subsidized care was made available in Yerevan in 2019. Now Gyumri hospital will join the efforts after receiving approval from experts. Residents won't have to travel anymore. This could save time and lives. The chance of developing a disability significantly decreases when the stroke is treated within a few hours.

The efforts to make the treatment available in Gyumri began this year with the installation of an oxygen station and screening devices. This equipment can also be used to provide other medical services to nearby provincial residents, eliminating the need to travel all the way to Yerevan.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065209.html

COVID stats

5814 tested. 601 infected. 891 healed. 26 deaths. 16997 active.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065243.html

new bill will allow employers to fire their unvaccinated workers if they refuse to present PCR test results

Healthcare Ministry's "PCR or vaccination, you choose" decree can be used to issue fines to unvaccinated workers who refuse to submit PCR, but it does not have the legal power to terminate employment. The new bill will "fix that".

If approved, employers can refuse to pay salaries and prevent workers from visiting the workplace.

Not showing PCR results for 30 days, or twice in a row in this case, will allow the employer to terminate the contract.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065267.html

more people have died from COVID last week than from road incidents in the entire 2020

https://youtu.be/eKgUSGYuDwg

Moderna vaccine became available in clinics on Saturday

For anyone above 18.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065163.html

Alexander Lazaryan wins gold medal in Youth World Weightlifting Championship

89kg category.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/222718

World Cup 2022 qualifiers

Armenia 1-1 Iceland. Both teams have 12 points in the group.

The team will play against Romania today. A victory is needed because the group's #2 team Iceland will likely defeat Lichtenstein. As of writing this, Romania is still winning 1-0.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065149.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_%E2%80%93_UEFA_Group_J

tech cooperation discussions between Armenia and Sweden

High-Tech Minister and Swedish ambassador met today to discuss digitization in Armenia and turning the country into a high-tech industrial state. The ambassador found Armenian women's participation in the tech sector "impressive".

The two agreed to discuss cooperation in the startup ecosystem and to exchange experience.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065301.html

dozens of Yerevan apartment buildings now have solar panels on their roofs

It's an EU program that aims to connect 90 large buildings to solar. 40 have been wired already. The program helps residents save on electricity bills and installs more lighting in backyards and buildings.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065254.html

pets must be registered, chipped, and medically treated beginning November 1

... in Yerevan, after the recent decree approved by the municipality. Pets must receive certain veterinary services to protect the public.

It aims to reduce the homeless dog population and return the lost ones.

To receive permission to keep a pet, the owner has to present veterinary paperwork that confirms the existence of necessary vaccinations and the pet's identification.

The identification is done through a chip size of a rice grain, or a tattoo with a code, as it's done in developed countries.

The ID data will be added to a database. Within a few years, the capital expects to see a reduction in the homeless pet population. The agency will cooperate with foreign colleagues.

Owners won't have to pay to receive pet permission for the next year. Once the requirements become mandatory, there will be a penalty for not registering the pet. Those who adopt pets will receive some benefits.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065284.html https://youtu.be/sMI0dXVvjZE

Tags: #PetLaw

selective abortions are on the decline in Armenia

The UN says the normal ratio is 100/106 for girls/boys. Here are the stats for Armenia...

2008-2012: 100/115

2019-2020: 100/110

2021: 100/108

Healthcare Ministry said it's a result of efforts with the help of international colleagues to change public perceptions and medical practices.

https://factor.am/426975.html

Georgia's first female pilot is 29-year-old Armenian Nadezhda Benklyan

She's employed by Georgian Airways.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/222807

plastic bags are banned from January 1

In particular, the ones that are thinner than 50 microns. The law was approved in 2020 and gave time for businesses to adapt.

Exceptions are sacks used for wrapping, and sacks and bags made from secondary raw materials, says a 2020 report.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/222776 https://en.armradio.am/2020/04/17/armenia-to-ban-single-use-plastic-bags-from-2022/

photo exhibition opened in Yerevan as a tribute to WW2 veterans

Great-grandpas gathered in the Dvin hotel to tell their WW2 stories. The Russian ambassador was present. The weeklong event is organized by the Russian and Armenian organizations. A photographer traveled to 50 settlements and took photos of hundreds of veterans.

The event launched on October 9, the day when the Soviet army defeated Hitler in the fight for the Caucasus.

October 9 also marked the 2803rd anniversary of the capital Yerevan.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065215.html

VIDEO: Yerevan municipality is still bulldozing illegally built structures in the capital

Including what appears to be a house.

https://youtu.be/tA1LJVKXEUg

Armenia participated in Europe's largest food & beverage expo

Anuga 2021 is being held in Germany. Armenia is represented by several companies that present herbal tea, dried fruits, and canned food.

Armenia is participating as part of the EU's eastern partnership program "EU4Business".

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1065235.html

2021 Aurora Prize is awarded to Julienne Lusenge of Congo

She has been helping victims of wartime sexual violence for years.

The Aurora Prize is granted by the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative on behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and in gratitude to their saviors.

https://youtu.be/vSIIppFxBtU https://factor.am/426561.html https://en.armradio.am/2021/10/09/julienne-lusenge-awarded-the-2021-aurora-prize/

Christian Dior appoints French-Armenian Francis Kurkdjian as perfume creation director

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/style/dior-perfume-creation-director-francois-demachy-francis-kurkdjian-1235028670/

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/q64f0j/news_oct112021_dogs_cats_must_be_registered/