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06/05/2006
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1) Kocharian, Aliyev Discuss Karabagh Conflict in Bucharest
2) Armenians Protest Racist Killings in Russia
3) Armenian Men’s Chess Team Wins Turin Olympiad
4) DON’T FORGET TO VOTE TODAY!
1) Kocharian, Aliyev Discuss Karabagh Conflict in Bucharest
(RFE/RL/Armenpress)Armenian President Robert Kocharian and his Azeri
counterpart Ilham Aliyev concluded a second round of talks aimed at resolving
the Karabagh conflict, but no progress was reported.
Monday’s talks were the second time that Robert Kocharian and Ilham Aliyev
met
on the sidelines of the Black Sea Summit in the Romanian capital, Bucharest.
The talks were also attended by the French, Russian, and American
Co-Chairs of
the OSCE Minsk Group, which has overseen the peace negotiations since 1992.
Kocharian and Aliyev already had a protracted meeting on Sunday, June 4, at
the Polish embassy in Romania. OSCE Chairman in Office Karel de Gucht, the
OSCE
Minsk Group Co-Chairs, and the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan
also
attended the meeting. Afterward, the presidents met one-on-one.
The first round of negotiations lasted for over four hours.
American co-chair Steven Mann said that the meeting took place in a “very
good
atmosphere” but gave few details about the nature of the talks.
“The co-chairs still believe that 2006 is the window to reach an agreement
regarding Karabagh, and I don’t want to characterize exactly where we might be
in that process,” Mann said.
Mann also said that the mediators believe that the Karabagh conflict can
still
be resolved this year. “The co-chairs still believe that 2006 is the window to
reach an agreement regarding Karabagh,” he said.
Asked whether Aliyev and Kocharian made any progress towards a peace deal,
the
American diplomat replied, “I would only say that we have had very, very
detailed discussions.”
He said that he and his two counterparts expect progress in the talks every
time Armenian and Azeri leaders meet to explore ways for ending their dispute
over Karabagh.
These meetings in Romania are the second time that Kocharian and Aliyev have
met this year. The previous talks, held near Paris in February, failed to
yield
any agreement.
The Armenian and Azeri leaders also brought up the Karabagh conflict as they
separately addressed a high-level forum of Black Sea nations at the summit on
Monday.
“The people of Nagorno-Karabagh have implemented in practice the right to
self-determination,” declared Kocharian. “It was done fully in line with the
requirements of international law.”
“We believe that there is a need for effective efforts for a full-scale
integration of the [Mountainous Karabagh] Republic into the international
community,” he added.
2) Armenians Protest Racist Killings in Russia
YEREVAN (RFE/RL/Armenpress)Several dozen people staged a demonstration outside
the Russian embassy in Yerevan on Monday to protest racially-motivated
killings
of Armenians and other non-Slavs in Russia.
The protesters, most of them representatives of several Armenian civic
groups,
accused Moscow of connivance and even complicity in the xenophobic violence
widely blamed on tens of thousands of neo-Nazi skinheads operating across
Russia.
The demonstrators presented a statement to embassy officials, saying that in
2005 there were about 402 attacks and 28 murders of non-Slavs in Russia. In
2006 alone, 6 ethnic Armenians have been killed in Moscow.
“The citizens of Armenia and Armenian non-governmental organizations condemn
the activity of raging nationalistic organizations in Russia and the
negligence
of Russian law-enforcement bodies to detect perpetrators and punish them. We
demand that Russian authorities take speed measures to arrest murderers and
punish them,” the statement said.
The protest was sparked by the fatal stabbing of a 19 year old Russian
citizen
of Armenian descent, Artur Sardarian, by a group of youths on a train in a
Moscow suburb.
Simon Tsaturian, who represents the family of another ethnic Armenian
killed in Moscow in April, cited witnesses as saying the murderers were
chanting “Glory to Russia” while stabbing Arthur Sardarian. The attackers then
stopped the train by setting off an alarm and escaped.
Few of the perpetrators of these racially motivated killings have been
arrested and brought to justice.
A case in point was the St. Petersburg trial of seven teenagers, who were
convicted of stabbing to death a 9 year old Tajik girl but were sentenced only
between 18 months and five years in prison last February.
Protestors also denounced the Armenian Government’s reluctance to bring
Russia
to task over the killings. They marched to the Armenian Foreign Ministry to
condemn its failure to publicly criticize the Russian authorities for their
failure to stop the violence. Armenia’s ambassador in Moscow and other
diplomats say they regularly raise the issue with Russian officials. But the
organizers of the protest insisted that Yerevan is scared of openly
challenging
its closest ally.
“I am convinced that if the Armenian authorities took a tougher line the
situation would not be so grave,” said Ishkhanian.
“The Armenian authorities are not doing anything to stop the killings,”
charged another protester, Arsen Kharatian. “Their failure to speak out is a
crime in itself.”
Sardarian’s violent death came in the wake of an uproar caused by the killing
of another young Armenian. The 17 year old Vigen Abramiants was stabbed to
death on a Moscow subway platform on April 22.
3) Armenian Men’s Chess Team Wins Turin Olympiad
YEREVAN (Armenpress)The Armenian Men’s team won the gold Sunday at the 37th
Chess Olympiad in Turin.
The Armenians, going into the final round 2.5 points ahead of the field, had
agreed to a quick draw against the Hungarians. This secured them Gold less
than
an hour after the start of round 13.
Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margarian announced Monday in Parliament
that
the Armenian Government will organize a reception for the team when they
return
home and will award the champions.
Other winners in Turin included the Ukrainian Women’s team, which won the
women’s tournament by 2 points. China beat the Netherlands 2.5:1.5 to take
Silver, two points behind the winners. The US team demolished Norway 3.5:0.5,
while Israel beat a lackluster Russian team 3:1. Both USA and Israel had 33.0
points, but the Americans took Bronze on tiebreak scores.
4) DON’T FORGET TO VOTE TODAY!
The Armenian National Committee Political Action Committee urges all
Armenians
to vote for the Following Candidates:
CHUCK POOCHIGIAN
for Attorney General
JACKIE KANCHELIAN-SPEIER
for Lt. Governor
PAUL KREKORIAN
for State Assembly (43rd District)
JOHN CHIANG
for State Controller
LELAND YEE
for State Senate (8th District)
ANTHONY PORTANTINO
for State Assembly (44th District)
MARTY SIMONOFF
for State Assembly (72nd District)
LEE BACA
for Los Angeles County Sheriff
MIKE CARONA
for Orange County Sheriff
To find your nearest polling station, visit
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