Armenian News Network - Groong: Week In Review Podcast

ANN Groong Week in Review - Episode 52 - Feb 28, 2021

Topics Covered:

- Wait, Did Armenia Use the Iskander to Blow Up its Relations With Russia?
- Wait, Was There a Coup?
- The Opposition Picks up Steam
- Wait, was The 737 Hijacked?

Guests:

- David Davidian
- George Tabakian

Your Hosts:

- Asbed Bedrossian
- Hovik Manucharyan

https://groong.org/podcasts/WiR-20210228.html

Episode 52 | Recorded: February 28, 2021

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𝐀𝐍𝐍 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝟓𝟏 - 𝐅𝐞𝐛 𝟐𝟏, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏

Topics Covered:

• President Sargsyan’s Interview
• Legislation to Criminalize Defamation of Government Officials
• Appointment of Acting Governors and Mayors during Martial Law
• Opposition Protests on Feb 20
• Govsagan, in the end

Guests

• 𝐀𝐬𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐊𝐨𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐚𝐧 @asbedk
• 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐚𝐧 @armoland
• @𝐄𝐦𝐢𝐥_𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐲𝐚𝐧

Your Hosts:

- 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐙𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐚𝐧 @alenzam99
- 𝐀𝐬𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧 @Qubriq

Episode 51 | Recorded: February 21, 2021

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𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐚'𝐬 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 - 𝟎𝟐/𝟐𝟏/𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏

Topics:
- Was it an Earthquake?
- Have Construction Codes Improved since 1988?
- Do Contractors Comply with Regulations?
- Is Armenia Ready for The Big One?
- Is there Earthquake Preparedness in Armenia?
- What Conversations are not Happening?

Guest:
- 𝐃𝐫. 𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐢𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐡𝐢𝐚𝐧 is a structural and civil engineering professor at UC Berkeley with research focus on earthquake engineering. He is a co-founder and was president of the American University of Armenia from 2014 until 2019.

Host:
- 𝐀𝐬𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧

Episode 50 | Recorded: February 19, 2021

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ANN/Groong Week in Review Episode 49 - February 14, 2021

Topics Covered:
- Syunik Confidential 
- Developments in Artsakh 
- Snap elections flip flop 

Guests:
- Emil Sanamyan
- Alen Zamanyan

Your Hosts:

- Hovik Manucharyan
- Asbed Bedrossian

Recorded: February 14, 2021

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𝐀𝐍𝐍/𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝟒𝟖 - 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏

Topics Covered:
- Lost in Artsakh, Thirsty in Syunik
- Amending the Law on Mass Media
- Update on the Political Scene in Yerevan
- Rising National Debt, Inflation and Interest Rates

Guests
- 𝐇𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧
- 𝐄𝐦𝐢𝐥 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐲𝐚𝐧

Your Hosts:
- 𝐇𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐤 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐚𝐧
- 𝐀𝐬𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧

Recorded: February 7, 2021

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𝐀𝐍𝐍/𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 - 𝐉𝐚𝐧 𝟑𝟏, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏

Topics Covered:
- Another Constitutional Amendment?
- Opposition Rising: New Bottle, Old Wine?
- Iran’s FM Zarif on a Tour de Six
- State of the Virus in Armenia
- Armenia Fund Used to Shore up the Dram?

Guests
- 𝐀𝐬𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐊𝐨𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐚𝐧
- 𝐇𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧

Your Hosts:
- 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐙𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐚𝐧
- 𝐀𝐬𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧

Episode 47 | Recorded on January 31, 2021

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Conversation with Ruben Muradyan - 01/31/2021

Experience being called up and participating in the war

Ethics of a security professional. What to do when a government member asks you to conduct greyhat (potentially unlawful or unethical) security?

On the 2nd day of the war Ruben was called up to the army as part of an infantry company. 

- Can you describe your experience?
- How were you drafted? And where did you serve?
- What specialty did you have in the army?
- What can you tell us about what you saw?
- Why did we lose the war?

Cyber Incidents During Artsakh War

All modern wars are accompanied by cyber-activities. Can we talk about what this looked like during the 44-day war?

Some major potential security incidents during the war: 

- Gov.am and Primeminister.am defacement
- MFA compromise (or maybe it's part of a larger thing)
- Metsamor NPP compromise

Out of tens of incidents registered by security experts, only a few were publicly acknowledged by the Armenian government and the results of such incidents were not published. Incidents varied and included defacement, denial of service attacks, leaks of personal information, as well as leaks of potentially sensitive data apparently from government agencies such as the foreign ministry and national security service.

What was the potential for offensive cyber-security operations by Azerbaijan to be leveraged to achieve results directly on the battlefield? How about radio-electronic warfare itself?
Is the lack of public response due to secrecy or is there a deeper issue such as being able to analyze incidents fully and understand their full impact.

Lessons Learned

Given Armenia’s need to restore military readiness especially in the areas of cyber-security, what are some key lessons for the Armenian side?

- Institutionalized CERT that is independent from government.
- Cyber-security divisions in all government institutions.
- Acceptance and implementation of widely accepted NIST standards
- Prioritize the most easy-to-implement steps first.


Guests
- Ruben Muradyan 

Your Hosts:
- 𝐀𝐬𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧
- 𝐇𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐤 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐚𝐧

Website: https://groong.org/podcasts/CoG-20210131.html
Episode 46 | Recorded on January 19, 2021

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𝐀𝐍𝐍/𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 - 𝐉𝐚𝐧 𝟐𝟒, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏

Topics Covered:
* Supreme Judicial Council Appointments
* Turkish-Azerbaijan Military Exercises in Kars Region
* Incoming US Secretary of State Tony Blinken on Armenia

Guests
- 𝐀𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐇𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧
- 𝐀𝐬𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐊𝐨𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐚𝐧
- 𝐄𝐦𝐢𝐥 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐲𝐚𝐧

Your Hosts:
- 𝐀𝐬𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧
- 𝐇𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐤 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐚𝐧

Episode 45 | Recorded on January 24, 2021

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𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬 - 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐇𝐊/𝐑𝐏𝐀’𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐲𝐚𝐧 - 𝟎𝟏/𝟏𝟗/𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏

Following the trilateral Karabakh ceasefire of Nov 9, all major political forces in Armenia (be that parliamentary or extra-parliamentary, except for the ruling party) condemned Nikol Pashinyan’s agreement to the deal.

The Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) has been in control of successive governments (sometimes through coalitions) for over two and a half decades. The party lost its prominence in the December 2018 elections but remained a vocal extra-parliamentary opposition.

Today we’re joined by:

𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐲𝐚𝐧, who is the vice president of the Republican Party of Armenia. From 2005 to 2007, Mr. Ashotyan was a member of the National Assembly, and chaired the Committee on Foreign Relations. From 2009 to 2017, Ashotyan served as Minister of Education and Science. In 2017, Ashotyan was elected to the parliament again and served there until the Dec 2018 snap parliamentary elections.

Topics:
- What took place in 2018?
- Why did RPA support Vazgen Manukyan as PM candidate?
- Nov. 9/10 ceasefire agreement & Jan 11 statement
- Is the RPA truly serious about removing Pashinyan? Why hasn’t the opposition mobilized more people onto the streets?
- Lessons learned from Dec. 2018 elections.

Your Hosts:
- 𝐇𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐤 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐚𝐧
- 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐙𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐚𝐧
- 𝐀𝐬𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧


Episode 44 | Recorded on January 17, 2021

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ANN/Groong Week in Review - Episode 43 - Jan 17, 2021

Topics Covered:
- Outcomes from Nikol Pashinyan’s trip to Moscow
- What is Azerbaijan’s geo-political situation after the war?
- Domestic politics in Baku
- Azerbaijan’s losses from the second war in Artsakh

Guests
- Edgar Elbakyan
- Asbed Kotchikian
- Emil Sanamyan

Your Hosts:
- Asbed Bedrossian
- Hovik Manucharyan

Recorded: January 17, 2021

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