The Faculty of Physics of Yerevan State University has announced an admission with two new perspective specialties.

The “Data Processing in Physics and Artificial Intelligence” educational program will train staff for information technology centers, and the “Physics of Dual Technologies” specialization will train staff for military-industrial technology centers, enterprises, as well as civil scientific, engineering, technological and production organizations.

Mediamax spoke with Dean of YSU Faculty of Physics Rafik Hakobyan, Head of “Data Processing in Physics and Artificial Intelligence” educational program Martin Grigoryan and Head of “Physics of Dual Purpose Technologies” program Ashot Melkonyan about the need to introduce these specialties .

Why specialize in these areas?

One of the first missions undertaken by Rafik Hakobyan after being appointed Dean of YSU Faculty of Physics is to restore the interest in natural sciences in Armenia and to propagate the importance of exact sciences.

“I saw my main role in improving the scientific-educational policy. As it turned out, there is a great demand for artificial intelligence and data science specialists who know very good physics. Training personnel in this profession is important in two respects. “On the one hand, there is a demand for them in companies, on the other hand, the science of physics (astronomy, solid state physics, nuclear physics, etc.) also needs people who are good at data processing and machine learning,” says Rafik Hakobyan

The application of physics in the military industry and mastery of this science also has a very significant role, but, as the dean notes, there are no specialists in Armenia who know both physics and military technologies.

“20 years ago it was obvious that we need people who will be able to set and solve a defense problem in science. “These specialists will surely have high-paying jobs, they will always be in demand, and in the future they can choose both practical work and science,” says the dean.

How many students, how much tuition, how much investment?

Curricula have been developed, agreements on cooperation with a number of companies, technical means, provision of specialized lecturers have been reached, the main task remains the “promotion” of these professions among future students.

The Faculty of Physics has meetings in schools and educational centers. They expect to have more than 20 students in each specialty in the first year.

The university will provide 8 free places for each specialty, and the annual fee for paid places will be about 500 thousand drams.

Private companies, according to the agreements already reached, will not only be able to provide students with jobs, but will also make certain investments during their studies, in the form of paid internships, lectures by their specialists. Armenian scientists who have achieved success abroad, who are currently engaged in science and conducting research in leading areas, will also lecture at distance learning programs.

“The good thing is that the companies offer to support these educational programs. The companies realize that their future qualified employees will leave here, ”says Rafik Hakobyan.

The Dean attaches great importance to the involvement of young professionals in the educational process, as both the Faculty of Physics and the whole science need to be rejuvenated, and such steps can help young professors to devote some of their time to science and creating new knowledge. Another important issue is to involve Armenian scientists who have succeeded abroad, because, as program managers say, the Diaspora is our national force, and it would be a big mistake not to involve them.

“The principle is that not only the lecturers of the Faculty of Physics will give lectures, moreover, 80% will be the best specialists in the field from Armenia and abroad,” says Rafik Hakobyan.

The Faculty of Physics has preliminary cooperation agreements with the Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises (UITE), the Enterprise Incubator Foundation (EIF), Philip Morris Armenia, Instigate design, Xilinx Armenia, SADA Systems, Krisp and other companies.

Data Processing in Physics and Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Martin Grigoryan, the head of the training program, notes that the rapid development of IT in recent years is a requirement for the new discovery of many physical phenomena.

Read more: https://mediamax.am/am/news/education/43067/

Seven months have passed since the end of the catastrophic 44-day war, but no question of public concern has been answered in principle, which means that we are, in fact, dealing with time, which was wasted in ignorance, or clearly intentionally, in fact lost. The Union of NSS Reserve Officers issued a statement about this.

The announcement also says: “As for the criminal cases initiated on the occasion of this or that narrow episode, they are nothing but a triviality (imitation) of work, a way to the continuing uncertainty.

On the other hand, in case of pro-state action, as a result of the interested approach, a strictly professional operative-investigative group provided with appropriate material and technical means and financing would inevitably be formed, which would examine the cases in a common logic and in order to have a complete, clear idea of ​​what happened. It would allow to exclude disasters such as the 44-day war in the future և or, what we would like to emphasize, their possible planning and implementation.

Among the many unanswered questions that concern the public so far, we would like to single out the following:

1 ․ In recent years, in the post-war and post-war period, what secret negotiations have taken place between the Pashinyan and Azerbaijani-Turkish authorities? Who participated, what agreements were reached in the end?

2 ․ Were the authorities aware of the impending war? If so, what preventive measures were taken? Were they sufficient?

3 ․ Who is responsible for losing the war, from the Prime Minister to the command staff of the military units? In specific cases (for example, loss of human and military equipment, unjustified retreat, concession of positions, handover of territories, including Hadrut and Shushi), what mistakes did each of them make, what consequences did they cause?

4 ․ During the hostilities, what action did the Prime Minister and other officials take to provide proper support to Armenia by other states? Were these steps sufficient and purposeful?

5 ․ Aware of the RA Ministry of Defense, the General Staff, the NSS and other sources that the country is going to an inevitable defeat, why didn’t the RA Prime Minister stop the hostilities in October and go to negotiations, thus ensuring the deployment of Russian peacekeeping troops in Artsakh? The irreversible loss of about 2.5 thousand Armenians after October, the fall of Hadrut and Shushi.

In order to get the answer to these and many other questions, we consider that after laying the appropriate legal basis, in November, at the initiative of the authorities, an operative-investigative group consisting of at least 10 most experienced investigators and 15 operatives should have been set up. Two or three prosecutors-judges to carry out their functions related to the inter-judicial proceedings of this particular case, each of them would be provided with appropriate technical means, with a high salary exceeding one million AMD, clear deadlines would be set for the preliminary investigation, the group would be transparent, the group leader in the end, he would submit a public and, if necessary, secret report to the National Assembly.

For the sake of comparison, it should be noted that the state has already allocated more than eight billion drams for the creation of an incomprehensible anti-corruption body, which remains incomprehensible.

Except for the preliminary investigation body, any other structure, including fact-finding group, interested lawyers, NGOs, individuals, other associations and initiatives, not provided by the RA Criminal Procedure Code, the law on operative-investigative activities, can not provide in-depth professional examination. to give a complete picture of reality and a legal assessment.

Source: http://politik.am/am/da-tuyl-ktar-hetagayum-bacarel-44-orya-paterazmi-nman-axetnery-aats-pahestazori-spaneri-miutyun

Armenia is discussing with Russia the issue of starting a production of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a joint press conference with Armenia’s caretaker FM Ara Aivazian in Yerevan.

“We have discussed our joint efforts in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Russia has provided Armenia with several tens of thousands of doses of Sputnik V vaccine and currently the issue of acquiring another 1 million doses by Yerevan, as well as organizing its production in the territory of Armenia is being discussed”, Lavrov said.

The first batch of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine in 15,000 doses has been delivered to Armenia on April 8. A new batch for 14,000 people has been imported to Armenia on April 26.  

Russian FM Sergei Lavrov has arrived in Armenia on May 5 on a two-day visit.

The Reviving Armenia Party will run in the snap parliamentary elections—slated for June 20—in a bloc with the opposition ARF Dashnaktsutyun Party, and led by second President Robert Kocharyan. Reviving Armenia has issued a statement in this regard.

“Taking into account the catastrophic situation on the ground in Armenia and Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)], due to the need to act together with ideological and like-minded political forces, the Reviving Armenia Party has made a decision to run in the likely snap parliamentary elections with a pre-election bloc with the Armenian Revolutionary Dashnaktsutyun, and which will be led by the second President of the Republic of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan,” the statement reads.

AZERBAIJAN has been accused of war crimes after lawyers claimed that 19 Armenian prisoners of war had been tortured and executed today.

Artak Zeynalyan and Siranush Sahakyan, who represent the captives at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), said that they had filed a case there calling for Azerbaijan to be held accountable.

The Armenian soldiers were taken as prisoners last year during the six-week war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, a landlocked majority-Armenian territory inside Azerbaijan.

The bitter conflict saw accusations of war crimes, such as the beheading of civilians by Azeri troops. Amnesty International condemned the use of banned cluster bombs used on civilian targets, including in the regional capital Stepanakert.

A Russian-brokered peace deal led to anger in Armenia and mass protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who they felt ceded too much Armenian territory.

He stood down last month and called snap elections which analysts expect him to win, but with a reduced majority, possibly requiring a coalition to form a cabinet.

“During the Second Artsakh War, which was started on September 27, 2020, as well as after the signing of the tripartite agreement on November 9, 2020, Armenian civilians and servicemen continued to be taken prisoner by Azerbaijan,” a statement from the lawyers said.

“Nineteen of those prisoners of war, who have appeared in captivity, have been tortured and killed by the Azerbaijani servicemen, which is a war crime.”

Meanwhile two Syrian nationals, Muhrab al-Shkheri and Yusef al-Haji, have been sentenced to life imprisonment in Armenia on international terrorism charges for their role in the conflict.

The mercenaries were part of a number from the Free Syrian Army that were shipped in by Turkey to fight alongside Azeri troops.

They were accused of actions aimed at killing or seriously injuring civilians who were not involved in the hostilities.

Ankara recruited the jihadists from the battlefield of Syria, where they had been fighting alongside Turkish troops in the illegal invasion and occupation of Afrin, part of the Kurdish enclave known as Rojava.

Turkey has been accused of deploying jihadists in a number of arenas including Libya, where the militia helped swing its civil war in favour of the Government of National Accord.

The government of Azerbaijan was contacted for comment.

Source: https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/azerbaijan-accused-war-crimes-after-execution-armenian-prisoners

By Abdullah Bozkurt

The chatter among Turkish officials about Saudi Arabia’s alleged involvement in a 2016 coup attempt apparently led to serious action on the part of Turkish prosecutors, who secretly investigated Saudi officers deployed at a Turkish air base.

According to secret military documents obtained by Nordic Monitor, Turkish authorities looked into the movements of Saudi nationals who were assigned to Turkey’s İncirlik Air Base near Syria as part of the US-led global coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). In February 2016 Riyadh sent warplanes to the Turkish base to support the aerial campaign against ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq.

The documents indicate that Saudi citizens Lieutenant Colonel Ahmed S. Al-Amri, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed A. Al-Shamrani, Colonel Falah F. Al-Subaiy, Captain Talal A. Al-Faifi, Captain Annas A. Al-Quad’, First Sergeant Murdhi S. Alanaz and a civilian named Saud A. Mhzri were caught in the wide net cast by Turkish prosecutors.

The investigation confirms how Turkey and Saudi Arabia have become distanced from each other in recent years, with the pro-Iran and pro-Muslim Brotherhood regime of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan adopting anti-Saudi policies in the Middle East and North Africa region.

One document indicates that prosecutors obtained entry and exit records for İncirlik Air Base for July 14 and 15, 2016 and looked into names that appeared in the logs, which listed, among others, five Saudi nationals.

Although there has been no evidence uncovered to support the complicity of Saudi Arabia or other Gulf states that are critical of President Erdoğan’s policies, the Turkish government-controlled media has continued feeding an anti-Gulf frenzy and publishing conspiracies that involved wealthy Gulf nations.

In December 2019 Erdoğan publicly slammed the Egypt-Saudi Arabia-UAE-led bloc for what he claimed was the undermining of Muslims’ rise, unity and success; called them fools for snubbing a Malaysia summit held at the time; and accused them of stoking internal conflict in Muslim countries and of financing the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey. In October 2019 Erdoğan lashed out again at Saudi Arabia, this time accusing Riyadh of killing tens of thousands in Yemen and destroying the country. He called for Saudi Arabia to be held to account.

The bizarre and twisted articles and television series aired on government TV helped nurture anti-Saudi and anti-United Arab Emirates sentiment in Turkey while fueling hatred against Arabs in general. The campaign helped Erdoğan shore up his core Islamist base domestically and ensured the allegiance of his nationalist (milliyetçi) and neo-nationalist (ulusalcı) allies, who harbor strong anti-Arab views.

On the A-Haber TV network, which is owned by the family of President Erdoğan, morning news show presenter Erkan Tan claimed in March 2020 that “Zionist Jews and Evangelical Christians have seized governments in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and they want these countries to wage war  on Turkey.”

Dozens of names in the 48-page entry and exit log for the Turkish Air Force’s 10th Tanker Base Command at İncirlik were compiled by Selim Kayaalp, a lieutenant with the operations and training bureau.

Another document, stamped secret and signed by Chief Sgt. Erkan Boyaci, indicated that the records were handed over to a team authorized by the prosecutor’s office in Adana. The document, entered as evidence into the case file on October 14, 2016, reveals that not only the logs but also CCTV footage in and around İncirlik Air Base were turned over to the prosecutor.

It is not clear what happened to these logs and records in the end as the paper trail does not show how that evidence was assessed and factored into the investigation by Turkish authorities in Adana province, where İncirlik Air Base is located.

President Erdoğan has ratched up anti-Saudi rhetoric in recent years, accusing Riyadh of using petro-dollars to push policies in the Middle East and the world. In November 2018 he brought Qatari-based Egyptian cleric Youssef al-Qaradawi, a Muslim Brotherhood Ideologue, to Istanbul to have him speak on behalf of his government while bashing Saudi Arabia.

On October 1, 2020 Erdoğan went even further in a speech in parliament, saying that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other anti-Turkey Gulf states would likely be wiped off the face of the earth.

Turkish government officials have also alleged that the US was involved in the abortive putsch. Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu accused the US of orchestrating the coup on July 16 while events were still unfolding and nobody knew who was behind the limited military mobilization. He repeated the same allegation on a number of occasions, saying that vocal Erdoğan critic Fethullah Gülen lacked the capability of mounting such an attempt.

Part of the logs at İncirlik Air Base that show time-stamped entry and exit records for Saudi Arabian nationals: 

Read More: https://nordicmonitor.com/2021/05/turkey-investigated-saudi-arabian-military-officers-deployed-in-anti-isis-campaign-in-incirlik-air-base/

On the night of May 5, the body of former Azerbaijani political prisoner Bayram Mammadov was removed from the water in Istanbul. 

The police are investigating the causes of the death of the young activist.

Student protest action dispersed in Baku, several people arrested

Bayram Mammadov became famous in Azerbaijan in 2016, when he was detained together with Qiyas Ibrahim after they left an inscription ‘Happy slaves day’ on a monument to Heydar Aliyev on the eve of the ex-president’s birthday.

Later, the court sentenced both activists to long terms of imprisonment, accusing them of drug dealing. Bayram Mammadov and Qiyas Ibrahim were pardoned in 2019.

Several months ago, Bayram Mammadov went to Turkey, and in two days he was going to return to Baku.

His friends say the death was unlikely to be suicide.

“While in Istanbul, I visited Bayram the other day. We talked for a long time. He got into a master’s degree program in Europe. He was preparing for this program in Istanbul. He was busy, so he even closed his social media accounts. He had big plans for the homeland. He said that he would return to Azerbaijan after receiving a good education.

“So far, the details of the incident are unknown, but sites close to the government are already writing that it was suicide. But the investigation has not even begun yet.

“It is not known how Bayram ended up on the shore during a period when it is impossible to go outside in Turkey. On the other side where it all happened, there are usually a hundred policemen on duty. How did it happen that they did not stop Bayram, after all, it is forbidden to go out? There is not a single witness to the incident.

“What is the purpose of those who circulate the news of suicide? I talked with friends, tomorrow we will find out the details, ”Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli, now living in Germany, wrote on his Facebook page.

Egypt’s Defense Ministry confirmed today that it signed an agreement to buy 30 Rafale fighter jets from France in what an investigative group says is a $4.75 billion arms deal.

France’s government confirmed on Tuesday it will begin delivering the jets in 2024. Defense Minister Florence Parly said in a statement that the deal is crucial for France’s “sovereignty” and will create 7,000 jobs.

The France-based investigative nongovernmental organization Disclose reported on Monday that it had obtained documents outlining three contracts signed on April 26 with French defense companies. The agreement was confidential at Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi’s request, the group reported.

The deals include $4.5 billion (3.75 billion euros) worth of Dassault Aviation Rafale fighter jets, and $240 million (200 million euros) worth of avionics and munitions from France’s missile manufacturing conglomerate MBDA and Safran Electronics & Defense.

France’s government is guaranteeing the funds for up to 85% ($4 billion) via loans from Credit Agricole, Societe Generale, BNP and CIC banks, Disclose reported.

Rights advocates slammed the sale as enabling the Egyptian military during the country’s worst repression in decades.

Sisi, a former defense minister who came to power after overthrowing the democratically elected Muslim Brotherhood government of Mohammed Morsi in 2013, oversaw the alteration of Egypt’s Constitution two years ago to allow him to remain in power until 2030.

He also saw a brutal crackdown on dissent and suspected dissent of all forms in Egypt. Rights groups estimate some 60,000 political prisoners languish in Egyptian jails. The Egyptian military has also been accused of serious abuses amid its fight against Islamist insurgents in the Sinai Peninsula.

Benedicte Jeannerod, Human Rights Watch’s director in France, told Reuters that “France is only encouraging this ruthless repression” by agreeing to sell Cairo more arms.

In December, French President Emmanuel Macron said his government would not condition arms sales to Cairo based on human rights concerns, citing the Sisi government’s fight against Islamist terrorism.

Egypt’s defense ties have grown since the former US administration of President Barack Obama withheld major defense sales to Cairo following Sisi’s coup.

In 2015, Egypt signed a deal to purchase 24 Rafale fighters from Paris. That agreement left open the possibility of Cairo purchasing another 12 of the fighters.

The Sisi government has also courted Russia, agreeing to buy potentially dozens of Su-35 fighter jets and alarming policymakers in Washington who see arms sales as a means of leverage in the region amid competition with Russia and China.
Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/05/egypt-confirms-475-bn-fighter-jet-deal-france#ixzz6u10WYn7L