2022 February 1

Daily news wrap-up

"Dragon Reaper" anti-UAV # Artsakh's new reservoir, TUMO, road to Arm # Bill to sanction firms on occupied lands # If Sarkissian is "illegitimate", what about his decrees & laws? # Central Bank on inflation, SWIFT, # Army major and contractor charged # Jesus is back # Nzhdeh update | Feb/1/2022 news
by ar_david_hh

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This is your 12-minute Tuesday digest in 3136 words.

update: programmer working on Vishapakagh (Dragon Reaper) optical drone detection system

Part 1 can be found in [Monday report](https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/shfrui/techies_working_on_drone_defense_economy_58_wage/). A programmer became an army Captain specializing in air defense systems. He decided to work on a new automated optical-detection system after leaving the army.

Founder continues: The war exposed our army's weak points. The traditional air defense systems used by Armenia required a great degree of human involvement. Some systems require 5-6 people. It increases the risk of human loss and error. Automation is necessary.

After leaving the army I decided to combine my air defense and programming skills to work on this project. The software development phase is complete. Now we're studying to purchase the right equipment.

Traditional radio-location techniques have difficulty detecting modern drones made of special composite materials that do not reflect radio waves. This stealth technique allows the drone to enter the target's "dead zone", making it impossible to destroy it in time.

Optical detection becomes the only solution. In layman's terms, regardless of what material is used, they can't be fully invisible. There are almost no "dead zones" in this case. The system can detect the drone at any visible distance.

Armenia needs an active defense system. When a kamikaze drone is directed at a target, it must be destroyed 50-100 meters from the target. Active defense is not designed to detect and destroy the drone at long distances. This is the last resort when your other defenses fail. Our proposed solution will blind/divert/destroy the enemy drone.

[Do you already have partnership offers?] I work at one of the IT firms in the military industry. The firm already provides various automated solutions to the army. The goal is to combine the new system with the existing solutions. Any patriot is welcome to help.

It's basically a system with special software connected to computers. Our IT industry has excellent specialists. The more people we involve, the faster we'll make this happen. There is also a need to import certain types of equipment. There are often problems with customs and special use permits. We need this process simplified. //

https://anchor.fm/armenpress-news-agency/episodes/Podcast-100-e1dmspb/a-a7as2a5

update on the investigation of November 16, 2021 Ishkhanasar border

Report: Battalion commander Major G.G. and deputy commander Major N.E. were tasked with carrying out the defense of the position. Contractor Private S.M. was the observer.

They violated the military order and the procedures to organize a defense. It allowed the enemy to enter the Armenian territory and capture a position with 21 soldiers, 13 of whom were captured as POWs. 2 bodies were later returned to Armenia. 8 were repatriated alive. 3 are still held in Azerbaijan.

Criminal charges are filed against Majors G.G. and N.E., and contractor Private S.M. The investigation against these suspects is over. The case is sent to court. //

There are other suspects as part of this incident. Some of them have since been freed by the court, pending their trial.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074415.html https://factor.am/470523.html

PHOTO: apartment keys were handed over to 35 more soldiers in Martakert, Artsakh

The Defense Army used a lottery system to pick the recipients. The apartments are in a newly built complex.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074401.html

IMAGE: here is what the new Armenia-Artsakh road will look like

The new route will be Stepanakert-Krkzhan-Charslu-Lisagor-Berdzor region-Armenia (Kornidzor village). Per 2020 agreement, the goal is to bypass Shushi and Berdzor towns. The latter has to return under Azeri control.

The new road starts from Stepanakert's southwest instead of east, travels north of Shushi instead of right next to it. It travels further towards Armenia through new territory. When it reaches Berdzor/Lachin town, it travels south of it, before connecting to Armenia.

Artsakh will build the Stepanakert-Hin Shen section, while Azerbaijan will build the Hin Shen-Armenia.

Artsakh has not yet launched the construction work because they are currently conducting geological studies.

Azerbaijan launched the construction of the Hin Shen-Armenia section. A bridge is partially built on the Aghavno river, to be used by the road.

https://www.aliqmedia.am/2022/02/01/46437/

VIDEO: Artsakh is building Patara reservoir on River Patara, one of the largest hydro structures in its history

Located in the Askeran region, the reservoir will have a usable 6 million m^3 capacity with a 57-meter wall. It's cost $32 million.

They are building the base right now. There will also be a 22km canal, the construction of which will finish soon. The whole project is expected to complete by 2025. It'll irrigate several settlements.

https://youtu.be/8_hmbguT5zo www.civilnet.am/news/648414/պատարայի-ջրամբար․-արցախը-կառուցում-է-ամենամեծ-հիդրոհանգույցը-անկախությունից-ի-վեր/

VIDEO: an angry Azeri lady allegedly tried to cross the border with Armenia

DISCLAIMER: her screams will give you a nightmare for the next ten days.

https://youtu.be/5dCMDoZRPg8?t=91

HR Ombudsman wants the army to be more welcoming to pregnant and married women

HRO: The law does not discriminate but since there are very few women in the military, gender-related differences aren't taken into account in practice. Not enough support for pregnant or married women (relating to childbirth and time away). No uniforms for pregnant women.

Few women in decision-making positions and higher ranks due to promotion barriers. //

HRO will send a reform package to Parliament and MOD.

More: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074416.html

three more TUMO Box tech centers will open in the Artsakh Republic

TUMO: There were 1,000 students in Stepanakert's TUMO before the war. Today the number is 600. We plan to bring the activity back.

Artsakh will have 3 new TUMO Boxes (mobile TUMO stations) in Martakert, Askeran, and Martuni. Each Box will provide tech & design education to 320 students every year. The Boxes allow students to receive an education without leaving their communities. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074400.html

Artsakh parliament prepared a sanctions package against companies that carry out projects in occupied territories without consent

All 5 parties co-signed the bill about occupied territories of Artsakh. It envisages bans and lawsuits against foreign organizations that operate on occupied territories without Artsakh government permission.

Co-authors: 1) Hadrut and other occupied regions, as dictated by Article 175 of the Constitution, belong to Artsakh. 2) We will warn foreign organizations and governments not to conduct activities without permission. If possible, we will use international courts and arbitration. //

They want to create a database of companies that violate the ban to sue them later when possible. The bill is yet to be approved.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074424.html

carpets from Shushi Museum need a new home

Director: 160 carpets were saved during the war. There were recently displayed in Alexander Tamanyan Architecture Museum but they don't have a permanent home yet.

The Education Ministry offered to move them either to Ethnography Museum or the Hovhannes Sharambeyan National Art Center. Neither is optimal because there isn't enough room and there are safety concerns.

We've also received an offer to move them to Artsakh. We'll agree if the museum receives the status of a state museum. Artsakh govt agreed but said the [some kind of verification process] will take time. It'll take 2 years for the museum to receive a state museum status.

We were also offered to store it in Artsakh's silk factory but it's private property, plus we don't want to endanger the carpets. The Ministry and Artsakh are working on other solutions. //

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074430.html

update: Supreme Court authorized the arrest of Judge Boris Bakhshyan

The context in [Monday report.](https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/shfrui/techies_working_on_drone_defense_economy_58_wage/) The prosecutors provided details today.

Prosecutors: Bakhshyan had presided over a criminal trial. One of the defendants (NM) said he was pressured to change his testimony. When the judge launched the trial, he learned that 2 of the 7 defendants were not present for valid reasons, including NM and his lawyers.

Instead of suspending the trial, the judge proceeded to discuss NM's pretrial status without proper legal representation for NM. The judge decided to change NM's pretrial status to arrest. During the same trial, the judge knowingly gave preferential treatment to other defendants.

After the illegal arrest, defendant NM was taken to jail where a group pressured him to change his testimony. The defendant decided to comply and not testify, after which judge Bakhshyan freed him during the second trial. [some legal jargon] //

Full: https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074464.html

government staff is being retrained

Pashinyan's chief of staff Arayik Harutyunyan (the sleepy one) met the representatives of USAID and International Republican Institute to mark the beginning of a joint 3-month project that will retrain media relations departments in state agencies.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074487.html

30% of the poultry consumed in Armenia was produced locally

The government and the poultry industry held a meeting today. They want to raise Armenia's self-sufficiency. They discussed developments in the global market, import-export issues, meat safety standards concerning the exporters, etc.

A new study was conducted about the poultry market. The details will be published soon.

https://factor.am/470584.html

PHOTO: foreign experts join the discussion about the possible construction of a massive Jesus statue in Armenia

You may recall BHK boss Gagik Tsarukyan's suggestion to build a big statue in Armenia. Local and foreign experts have prepared their ideas. Tsarukyan said he is diligently examining every presentation.

Architect Armen Samvelyan offered his design consisted of several components. There is a candle lighting section on the bottom with a museum above. The area will also have statues of 12 apostles.

Tsarukyan insisted for Jesus himself to be at least 33 meters tall - a symbolic number. The total height could be 3x taller if you add the museum and թաշախուստ.

Tsarukyan wants the discussions to be open to get public opinion. February 20 is when multiple architects will present their designs, followed by efforts to choose the statue's location.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074440.html

church leader visited the U.S. to meet donors

Garegin II is in the U.S. to meet donors to discuss humanitarian programs carried out by the church.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074421.html

Robert Kocharyan's bribery trial is delayed again

Kocharyan and his aide-turned-MP Armen Gevorgyan are accused of taking millions of dollars in bribes from a mining businesswoman. The trial was delayed last week because a defendant took a Covid test. It was delayed again today after defense lawyers reported feeling sick. The next episode will air on February 8.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074442.html

congratulations!

Congratulations were exchanged between Pashinyan, Boris Johnson, and Chinese officials on the occasion of the Chinese New Year and the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties. It was a 3-way congratulation.

three·some

/ˈTHrēsəm/

noun: a group of three people engaged in the same activity.

a golf match in which one person plays his or her ball against the ball of two others playing each stroke alternately

Examples: the threesome has been playing music together since all three were in high school

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074402.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074434.html

COVID stats

7.9k tested. 3.1k infected. 74 healed. 3 deaths.

only ~4% of Artsakh adults have been fully vaccinated

4,120 people as of 2021.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074410.html www.civilnet.am/news/648456/վերջից-առաջին-տեղն-ենք-պատվաստվածների-թվով-արցախի-առողջապահության-նախարար/

Armenia has a new acting president and parliament president

President Armen Sarkissian ragequited earlier amid complaints about a lack of power granted by the constitution, and citizenship problems.

Sarkissian did not take back his resignation letter so the parliament president Simonyan became the acting president. His deputy Arshak Karapetyan became the acting parliament president.

High-Tech & Industry Minister Vahagn Khachaturyan was officially nominated as the ruling party's presidential candidate. More on that in [Monday report](https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/shfrui/techies_working_on_drone_defense_economy_58_wage/).

Alen Simonyan revealed that 5 candidates were nominated during a party session, with one of them being a woman. The party decided to nominate Khachaturyan. "He has the experience and the politeness for the job."

Reporter: Why didn't QP nominate someone from its team? Why an LTP-era politician who was an ANC member?

QP MP: [There is a minimum age requirement] The vast majority of qualified candidates above the age of 55 were involved in politics during the LTP era one way or the other.

... what will happen to every law & decree signed by Sarkissian if he is found guilty of citizenship law violation?

The theories around Sarkissian's citizenship, which allegedly affected his health, were brought up last year after Sarkissian "sided with Pashinyan" in the firing of army chief Onik Gasparyan. The opposition representing the former regime accused Sarkissian of "treason" and called for authorities to investigate his citizenship record. The authorities did not.

Media outlets then released a report about his citizenship conflict, and the NSS launched an investigation. The opposition called for Pashinyan to be "brought to justice" for "intentionally ignoring" Sarkissian's citizenship problems.

If the citizenship claim is confirmed true, how would that affect Sarkissian's record? Would the decrees and laws signed by him be annulled? There are conflicting opinions.

Constitutional expert Gor Hovhannisyan (a rejected court candidate) believes that everything done by Sarkissian could be reversed, including all the laws, political appointment confirmations, etc. "Every decision made by the illegitimate body is by default illegitimate."

However, two principles clash in this case, said the expert. On one hand, you have the right to challenge decrees/laws made by the authorities (including illegitimate ones), but on the other hand, there is a reason why there are deadlines to challenging decrees. At some point, the decisions become permanent and not subject to change. It's about preventing chaos and the collapse of the system.

If this case reaches the Constitutional Court, it has to consider both principles. The expert believes the right decision would be to prevent the collapse of the legal system by not revoking everything done by Sarkissian. It might not even be possible. [Full](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndUm1tZzDjI).

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074403.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074406.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074456.html https://youtu.be/B2-KseW9uRU?t=125 https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/230370 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndUm1tZzDjI

Tags: #Sarkissian

Futsal friendly competition: Israel 2-9 Armenia

The second match is tomorrow.

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/230393

state statistics committee is undergoing reforms as part of AM-EU agreement

Representative: 10 projects were planned as part of the CEPA agreement. 5 are complete. It's about improving the mechanisms of production, processing, and presentation of statistical data of different departments and fields.

Stats on migration, employment, etc. need to have standards closer to European.

A lot of work has been done. There are 5 remaining fields where we need help, so we asked for expert assistance from the EU.

More: https://youtu.be/HCZilTlWdCY https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074435.html

update to the Garegin Nzhdeh movie story

Refer to [Monday report](https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/shfrui/techies_working_on_drone_defense_economy_58_wage/) for context. Yesterday the media reported that a movie presentation about Nzhdeh was canceled in Moscow because the prosecutors came and told the attendees to leave, citing "Nazi propaganda" laws. Some details of that story have been disputed.

Report from the Armenian community in Moscow: On January 28, the Armenian Community of Moscow organized the film event in honor of the formation of the Armenian army. The Community had informed ahead of time about the planned event, causing BIG MAD among Azeri circles and media, who attempted to portray the event as "Nazi propaganda".

After failing to cancel the event, one of them called the police and made a fake bomb report. The police, equipped with special gear, arrived only after the movie was successfully screened. They evacuated the guests to check the building. Nothing was found.

Sadly, some Armenian media outlets cited fake reports from the Azeri press claiming that the movie was never screened. //

https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/230378

Azerbaijan ‘laundromat’ – court orders Azeri official's family to hand over £5.6m brought into UK

A millionaire Azeri politician Javanshir Feyziyev and three family members will have to hand over $7.5m to British authorities. The funds were brought into the UK via [Azerbaijani Laundromat](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/04/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-azerbaijani-laundromat) [2017 investigation].

>The data showed that the Azerbaijani leadership, accused of serial human rights abuses, systemic corruption and rigging elections, made more than 16,000 covert payments between 2012 and 2014 – worth on average about $3m a day.

The authorities used an asset forfeiture law "without needing to prove the exact nature of the original criminal activity".

This isn't the first case against Azeri officials. Last year the authorities seized £4m from a London-based Azeri couple in connection with the laundromat scheme. Javadova agreed to hand over the money after admitting that it came into the country illegally.

Javadova is the daughter of oligarch Jalal Aliyev, an uncle of Ilham Aliyev.

https://factor.am/470405.html https://jam-news.net/british-court-confiscates-5-6-million-from-azerbaijani-mps-family/ https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/jan/31/azerbaijan-laundromat-court-orders-family-to-hand-over-56m-brought-into-uk

ECHR sides with pro-Kurdish opposition MPs in Turkey

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that 40 HDP MPs were stripped of their immunity illegally on 20 May 2016. Former HDP leader Selahattin Demirtaş believes that the case against him and fellow MPs must be dropped now, and they all must be freed. The HDP MPs were accused of collaborating with PKK.

https://factor.am/470606.html

Ukraine and Turkey to sign a free trade agreement

We are preparing to send a strong economic signal – to sign within these two days the free trade agreement with Turkey, said president Zelensky. They want to double the annual trade turnover to $10 billion.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074463.html

global wheat prices up & down amid tension between Russia and Ukraine

The two countries combined account for 29% of global wheat exports. The prices have skyrocketed in recent months. There was a downward trend today amid an optimistic analysis that there won't be a war.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-ukraine-tensions-drive-global-wheat-prices-higher-11643630790 https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074444.html

Central Bank: we're screwed if Russia is disconnected from the SWIFT global financial network

It'll affect our economy. If sanctions are against Russian individuals, that's one thing. But if it's against their financial system, there will be inflation in Russia and we will lose economic competitiveness. This is the least of our worries, though. //

CB raised the refinancing rate by 0.25%

To 8.0%.

CB expects food prices to grow at a slower pace this year

Food prices rose by 12% last year, mainly because of pressure from global markets. Had we not taken action, it would have been 20%.

7.7% inflation in Armenia last year. Had we not taken action, it would have been 15%.

7% inflation in the U.S., the highest since 1982.

8.4% inflation in Russia.

CB about inflation this year:

The pressure will continue from the foreign sector, but the 12-month inflation will gradually reduce to around 4%. The economic recovery of our trade partners continues, while energy prices remain high.

Another wave of Covid is spreading in Armenia but its impact on the economy is mild.

CB about loans & mortgages

Lending in Armenia has somewhat decreased but the growth of mortgage loans remains high (30%).

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074419.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074448.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074452.html https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074454.html https://www.panarmenian.net/arm/news/298208/

today in history

Few decades before Christ: Julius Ceasar reforms the calendar. Februarius becomes the second month with 28/29 days. In the Armenian calendar, it coincides with the festivities for Mihr, the god of the Sun. Temples dedicated to Miher were called Mehyan.

1411: [war ends](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish%E2%80%93Lithuanian%E2%80%93Teutonic_War) between Teutonic Order and Poland-Lithuania. The latter two win. Thorn treaty is signed. [Teutonic Order](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teutonic_Order) is in decline.

2003: NASA's space shuttle Columbia explodes while returning to Earth, killing 7 astronauts. The program was suspended for 2 years.

https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1074389.html https://www.space.com/19436-columbia-disaster.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish%E2%80%93Lithuanian%E2%80%93Teutonic_War

more

The news in русский (by Impossible-Ad-).

News archive: http://www.armeniapedia.org/wiki/Daily_Anti-Corruption_Reports Donations: soldiers' families, humanitarian aid, US tax-deductible donation.

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

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Link to original report and comments: https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/si7lts/dragon_reaper_antiuav_artsakhs_new_reservoir_tumo/