Series: COG

Opposition Talks: Edmon Marukyan of Bright Armenia Party (Ep. 36) [EP36]

Posted on Wednesday, Dec 23, 2020 | Series: COG

๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก Bright Armenia’s Edmon Marukyan

Following the trilateral Karabakh ceasefire of Nov 9, all major political forces in Armenia (except for the ruling party) condemned Nikol Pashinyanโ€™s agreement to the deal. While the dissatisfaction with the agreement is widespread, the opposition is not entirely unified on what to do next.

Weโ€™ll talk with the leader of one of the 2 parliamentary opposition factions, Bright Armenia about his, and his partyโ€™s vision and subsequent actions to be taken by Armenia.

What is Bright Armeniaโ€™s vision for post November, Armenia? Listen to this

 Read More

Opposition Talks: Arthur Khachatryan - ARF Dashnaktsutyun (Ep. 34) [EP34]

Posted on Saturday, Dec 19, 2020 | Series: COG

๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐€๐‘๐…โ€™๐ฌ ๐€๐ซ๐ญ๐ก๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Š๐ก๐š๐œ๐ก๐š๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ๐š๐ง

Following the trilateral Karabakh ceasefire of Nov 9, the Armenian opposition has nearly universally condemned Nikol Pashinyanโ€™s agreement to the deal. The largest opposition grouping, called Movement of the Salvation of the Homeland (ี€ีกีตึ€ีฅีถีซึ„ีซ ึƒึ€ีฏีธึ‚ีฉีตีกีถ ีทีกีชีธึ‚ีด in Armenian), composed of 17 political parties including the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), Prosperous Armenia, and the Republican Party, are demanding Pashinyanโ€™s immediate resignation and the appointment of their unified candidate, Vazgen Manukyan as interim PM.

This group has been

 Read More

The Role of The Humanities and Social Studies in Armenian Life - 12/13/2020

Conversations on Groong

Academia and academic work, especially in the fields of humanities and social sciences, has always been instrumentalized by various ideologies and/or political regimes. Moreover, various disciplines within each of those fields such as anthropology, art history, literature, etc., have a long tradition of being the middle children of academia and are rarely considered to have a role in shaping minds and trends in society. In Armenia the roles of humanities and social science have undergone

 Read More

On November 9, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia signed The Statement ending the war in Artsakh, known more commonly as Nagorno-Karabakh. Russia emerged as a major winner, by ending the violence, introducing peacekeepers, and upholding its historical role as the regional referee in the Caucasus. What are Russiaโ€™s interests in the region, and in this agreement?

๐๐ข๐ž๐ญ๐ซ๐จ ๐’๐ก๐š๐ค๐š๐ซ๐ข๐š๐ง helps us explore. He is a historian and a Ph.D. candidate in Russian History at the Ohio State University. His analyses on Russia, Armenia, and the post-Soviet space have appeared in several publications, including The

 Read More

Conversations on Groong

Soviet or Armenian? The Life and Times of Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan

Born in Sanahin, Armenia in 1895, Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan was the most prominent Soviet state figure of Armenian origin. A survivor, Mikoyan managed to weather every Soviet leader from Lenin to Brezhnev. He was once the #2 man in Moscow after Nikita Khrushchev, and his legacy is complex. Today on Groong, we will explore this extraordinary historical figure.

To help us unpack the historical legacy of Mikoyan, ๐๐ข๐ž๐ญ๐ซ๐จ ๐’๐ก๐š๐ค๐š๐ซ๐ข๐š๐ง joins us today from Cleveland. Pietro is a historian and a Ph.D. candidate

 Read More

Armeenia and Artsakh in the Arab Media (Ep #24) - 10/28/2020 [EP24]

Posted on Monday, Nov 2, 2020 | Series: COG

Conversations on Groong: Artsakh in the Arab Media - Oct 28, 2020

Since September 27, Azerbaijan has been waging an all out war on Artsakh, cluster-bombing towns and villages and killing civilians and destroying churches and cultural centers, with the aim to destroy and depopulate the region. The worldwide Armenian Diaspora has come together to fight this existential threat.

Weโ€™ve read much about the Diasporaโ€™s activities around most of the world, but what about the Arab world? This episode explores some of the challenges and opportunities that the Armenian communities in the Arab world face.

 Read More

Conversations on Groong - October 3, 2020

It has now been 7 days since Azerbaijan initiated a wide-scale attack against Armenia and Artsakh. The tragic news of deaths and destruction continue to stream in every hour.

In todayโ€™s conversation on Groong, we talk to Jirair Libaridian and Thomas DeWaal about the regional geopolitics that helped create a ripe environment for renewed fighting and various potential scenarios that may develop as a result of it.

Questions explored:

  • What was the path leading to the latest escalation?
  • Why has Turkey taken an active role in the conflict?
  • Was Russia caught
 Read More

Telecommunications Security in Armenia (Ep #15) - 09/15/2020 [EP15]

Posted on Tuesday, Sep 15, 2020 | Series: COG

Armenian News Network/Groong: ๐“๐ž๐ฅ๐ž๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐œ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐’๐ž๐œ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ง ๐€๐ซ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ข๐š - ๐’๐ž๐ฉ ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“, ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ)

Conversations on Groong

Background and formulation of the telecoms market in Armenia

Telecommunications market in Armenia started with the monopoly of the incumbent operator ArmenTel owned jointly by Greek state owned company OTE (90%) and Armenian government (10%). The sale-purchase agreement granted ArmenTel (recently rebranded to VEON) exclusive rights to provide basic telecommunications services including international Internet connectivity, mobile and fixed telephony. ArmenTelโ€™s monopoly remained till

 Read More

๐‰๐ฎ๐๐ข๐œ๐ข๐š๐ฅ ๐‘๐ž๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐ฌ, ๐ƒ๐š๐ญ๐š ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ญ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐š๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ฏ๐š๐œ๐ฒ - ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ—/๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ“/๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ

Conversations on Groong

Armenia has European grade laws in the areas of finance, business, data protection and privacy. What is preventing Armenia from achieving its full potential in foreign direct investment (FDI)? Why do many Armenian startups incorporate in foreign countries, and use Armenia as their offshore labor resource?

Our Guest is David Sandukhchyan is a lawyer with 20 years of experience in telecommunications, cyber law, media and personal data protection. He started his legal career as an Internet freedom advocate and

 Read More