Month: October 2006

COUNCIL OF EUROPE LEADER SAYS FRENCH ARMENIAN ACT NOT TO AFFECT TURKEY’S EU TALKS

Anatolia news agency, Ankara,
28 Oct 06

Gelibolu, 28 October: The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly
(PACE) president, Rene van der Linden, who is visiting Gelibolu town
of northwestern city of Canakkale, said that even France reacted
to the decision of French National Assembly regarding so-called
Armenian genocide.

Replying to a question on effect of the bill criminalizing denial of
so-called Armenian genocide that was approved in the French National
Assembly to Turkey’s EU accession process, Linden indicated, "Turkey is
a part of Europe but this process can take a long time. The decision
made by the French National Assembly will not make a negative impact
on Turkey’s EU accession process because even France reacted to this
decision. It was not approved in many European countries, either."

Stating that PACE had a positive stance regarding Turkey, Linden
underlined that Turkey has been playing a significant role in works
and efforts of the EU for a long time.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THERE IS NO PROBLEM CAPABLE OF VIOLATING AZERBAIJAN-RUSSIA TIES
by Sevindzh Abdullayeva, Viktor Shulman

ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
October 29, 2006 Sunday 06:42 AM EST

Russia and Azerbaijan achieved pushing aside all unsettled problems
in their relations, claimed President Ilkham Aliev. "There is no
single problem now which can darken our relations. On the contrary,
we have very good achievements in developing cooperation in the
economic, political and cultural spheres," the president said in an
interview with members of the foreign mass media, the text of which
was circulated in Baku on Sunday through official channels.

Aliev noted that Russia is one of the three co-chairmen of the Minsk
OSCE Group, having a mandate of a mediator in settling the Karabakh
conflict. He called as "positive experience of work with Russian
officials and their policy on settling the Karabakh problem".

"We see tht the Russian government takes sincere efforts at a peaceful
settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict," the president said,
noting that the period of tension between the two countries which
was present in the 1990s, is over. Aliev noted that Year of Russia
in Azerbaijan is nearing completion, and the year 2005 will be Year
of Azerbaijan in Russia.

He does not believe that good relations with Armenia prevent Russia
from having similar good relations with Azerbaijan. Replying to
reporters, Aliev also said that tension between Russia and Georgia
"has not influenced and will not influence" Baku’s relations with
Moscow and Tbilisi. "The two countries are our neighbors. We have
good relations with both of them, which are relations of strategic
partnership," he said in conclusion.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TO MOSCOW TO DISCUSS GAS SUPPLIES, REGIONAL SECURITY

ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
October 29, 2006 Sunday

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan will arrive in the Russian capital
on a two-day working visit on Monday.

His meeting with President Vladimir Putin, the fourth one this year,
"will be continuation of the active political dialogue between Russia
and Armenia that matches the strategic character of Russo-Armenian
partnership," a representative of the Kremlin administration told Tass.

According to the source, "the agenda of the meeting will center on
issues of bilateral relations, new opportunities of economic ties,
and cooperation in the fields of energy, transport, investments,
and real economy." He also stressed that "there will be a detailed
discussion of prospects of cooperation in the natural gas sector."

Trade between Russia and Armenia reached US$278million in the first
eight months of 2006, a 60-percent increase from the same period last
year, he said.

"Russia is the most important trade partner of Armenia and one of
major investors in its economy," he said.

"It is planned that in the course of the visit, the parties will
exchange opinions on the most important international and regional
problems: including coordination of efforts to improve the situation
in the Caucasus," the official said.

VNESHTORGBANK MAY INCREASE STAKE IN ARMENIAN VTB TO 100%

SKRIN Market & Corporate News
October 30, 2006 Monday 1:49 PM GMT

Vneshtorgbank may increase its stake in VTB (Armenia) to 100%,
Kommersant quoted Senior Vice President of Vneshtorgbank Vasiliy Titov
as saying. Vneshtorgbank holds a 70% plus 1 stake in Armsberbank,
which is operating under the Bank VTB (Armenia) brand.

Mikhail Bagdasarov, owner of a 30% stake in Bank VTB (Armenia),
is conducting talks on sale of the stake to Vneshtorgbank.

COMSTAR UTS ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF ARMENIAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS GROUP

SKRIN Market & Corporate News
October 30, 2006 Monday

Comstar UTS announced the acquisition of 75% plus one share in the
Armenian transit operator CallNet, which also owns 100% of Cornet,
an ISP with an extended corporate customer base, Aton Capital said.

According to a company press release, Cornet provides Internet services
to 76% of the Armenian banking sector and is the sole provider of
WiMax services in the country. The purchase price was not disclosed,
but with $4.3mn in consolidated 2005 revenue for Callnet and Cornet,
Aton estimates it could be around $15mn. Comstar-UTS also has an
option to acquire the remaining 25% stake in the group.

Aton sees the acquisition of telecommunications assets in the CIS as
positive news for Comstar-UTS: since the IPO in February, investors
have waited for expansion outside Russia.

TO WHOM ARE MILITARY EXERCISES IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH ADDRESSED?
by Nurani
Translated by Pavel Pushkin

Source: Echo (Baku), October 26, 2006, p. EV
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
October 30, 2006 Monday

Saber Rattling Against The Background Of Negotiations;
Azerbaijani Observer Is Afraid Of Armenia’s Provocations In Nagorno-Karabakh;

Negotiations of foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Paris
are accomplished.

Despite that the ministers agreed to continue the dialog in Brussels
on November 14, many observers hurried to announce that negotiations in
Paris were fruitless. Really, the region already heard more than enough
conversations about "constructive meetings," "interested discussion"
etc but there was no real progress in the dialog.

At any rate, another thing is more possible. During the days of the
latest round of negotiations in Paris dedicated to resolving the
conflict and held at the level of foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and
Armenia, Senor Asratyan, press secretary of the Defense Ministry of
self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic announced that the army
of Nagorno-Karabakh was conducting preplanned tactical exercises
"aimed at improvement of interaction between the branches of armed
forces and troops formations in the course of counterattacking and
defensive combat operations and improvement of skills of personnel
and commanders." Representatives of the separatist regime developed
impressive media activeness around these military exercises.

Practically simultaneously with the meeting of the ministers in Paris
it was announced in Yerevan that between October 30 and 31, President
of Armenia Robert Kocharjan would visit Russia and a significant
part of the agenda would be again dedicated to military and military
technological cooperation. Such unambiguous readiness of Russia for
"asymmetric" military cooperation in the region definitely pushes
Yerevan towards a new "dance with sabers" against the background
of negotiations. Yerevan also drew unambiguous conclusions about
the stance of another co-chair – France too. Whereas Paris states
that disagreement with the thesis about "genocide of Armenians"
is a crime that Yerevan may not be afraid of harsh reaction on the
part of Paris. Against this background apprehensions about possible
provocative actions of Armenia are far from being ungrounded.

ARMENIAN LEADER TO VISIT KAZAKHSTAN 6-7 NOVEMBER

Interfax, Russia
Oct 30 2006

Astana, 30 October: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan will pay an
official visit to Kazakhstan on 6-7 November.

"Armenian President Robert Kocharyan’s official visit to Kazakhstan
will take place on 6-7 November. He will hold meetings with the
country’s leadership," the Kazakh Foreign Ministry’s spokesman,
Yerzhan Ashikbayev, said at a news conference in Astana today.

During the visit, a number of bilateral documents are expected to
be signed and a round-table meeting, attended by the two countries’
business circles, is due to be held, Ashikbayev said.

TURKISH TRADE MINISTER CRITICIZES EU "DOUBLE STANDARDS"

Anatolia news agency, Ankara, in English
30 Oct 06

Essen, 30 October: "Abatement of Turkish public’s interest in EU
membership is because of implementation of double standards towards
Turkey," Turkish Industry and Trade Minister Ali Coskun said on Monday
[30 October].

Speaking at inauguration of a symposium organized by the Turkish
Studies Centre in Germany’s Essen city, Coskun pointed to the
importance Turkey attaches to relations with EU.

"Turkish government will continue to carry out works on the way to
EU membership with patience and tolerance," Coskun indicated.

Coskun said EU’s double standards could be seen in stance of France
and at Cyprus question, noting that, "the Greek Cypriot party who voted
`No’ in the referendum in Cyprus was awarded with EU membership. Also
adoption of the bill on criminalizing denial of so-called Armenian
genocide by the French national assembly caused very big reactions
in Turkey."

"Such kind of double standards has certainly negative impacts on
Turkey," he added.

"With a trade volume exceeding 23 billion dollars, Germany is the
biggest trade partner of Turkey. Turkish enterprises in Germany are
also successful," Coskun stated.

Coskun will leave Germany for Turkey in the evening.

17 YEAR OLD INTERNATIONAL MASTER ZAVEN ANDRIASIAN OF ARMENIA WINS WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP

The Washington Post
October 30, 2006 Monday
Final Edition

Seventeen-year-old International Master Zaven Andriasian of Armenia,
playing before his home crowd in Yerevan, won the World Junior (under
20) Championship this month, scoring 91/2 points in 13 games. The
top-finishing American, IM Robert Hungaski, ended in 46th place with
61/2 points.

Andriasian is progressing fast. Last year, he won the Boys’ Under 16
European championship in Herceg-Novi, Montenegro. He was only the 29th
seed in Yerevan but won the event convincingly. His victory against
IM Maxim Rodshtein of Israel in the Tarrasch variation of the French
defense reveals an outstanding opening preparation and maturity.

Andriasian-Rodshtein

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Ngf3 cxd4 6.Bc4 Qd6 7.0-0
Nf6 8.Nb3 Nc6 9.Nbxd4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 a6 11.Re1 Bd7 12.Bg5! (The most
aggressive approach.) 12…Qc7 (Black’s position is already not easy to
play. After 12…Be7 comes 13.Nf5! Qxd1 14.Nxg7+, followed by 15.Raxd1
and white is better. Castling long 12…0-0-0 seems to be the safest,
although in the game Asrian-Wang Hao, Taiyuan 2006, the rook lift
13.Re3 caused black problems after 13…Kb8 14.Rb3 Rc8 15.Qf3 Bc6
16.Nxc6+ Qxc6 17.Bxf6 gxf6 18.Qxf6 Rg8 19.Bf1 Rg6 20.Qxf7 and white
later won. Andriasian was more likely aware of another queen move,
12…Qc5?!, with a double-attack on white’s bishops and control of
the fifth rank. It can quickly draw fire: 13.Bxe6! fxe6 14.Bxf6 gxf6
15.Nxe6 Bxe6 16.Rxe6+ with powerful pressure, for example 16…Be7
17.b4! Qxb4 [17…Qf5 18.Qe2!] 18.Rb1 Qc5 19.Rxb7; or 16…Kf7 17.Qd7+
and now 17…Kg8 18.Rxf6 Qh5 19.Re1! h6 20.Re5!

wins; or 17…Kg6 18.Rae1 Qf5 19.R1e3 Bh6 20.g4! wins; or 17…Be7
18.Rae1 Rae8 19.Qxb7, threatening 20.b4, white has a clear advantage.)

13.Bxe6! (The bishop sacrifice works also in this position. White
is not risking anything, having a draw by perpetual check at hand.)
13…Bxe6 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Nxe6 fxe6 16.Rxe6+ Kf7 (After 16…Be7
17.Qh5+ white’s attack is decisive either after 17…Kd8 18.Qf7
Bd6 19.Qxf6+ Kd7 20.Rd1; or after 17…Kf8 18.Rae1 Re8 19.Rxf6+
Bxf6 20.Rxe8+ Kg7 21.Qg4+ Kf7 [or 21…Kh6 22.Re3!] 22.Qe6+ Kg7
23.Rxh8 Kxh8 24.Qxf6+ winning.) 17.Qd5! Kg7 18.Qf5 Qf7 (The point of
black’s 12th move: The black queen can help on the kingside. After
18…Be7 19.Rae1 Rae8 20.R1e3 white’s heavy artillery outmaneuvers
black’s pieces, for example 20…Qd8 21.Rg3+ Kf7 22.Rd3 Qc7 23.Qh5+
Kf8 24.Rg3 Rd8 25.Qg4 Qc5 [or 25…Ke8 26.Rxe7+! Qxe7 27.Re3!] 26.Qg7+
Ke8 27.h3! Rf8 28.Rc3 Qb4 29.Rc4! wins.) 19.Rd1 Be7 (After 19…Qg6
20.Rd7+ Kg8 21.Qd5! wins.) 20.Rd7 Rhe8 21.g3 (Black is in a bind and
does not have many useful moves. White simply improves his position
and slowly creates a dangerous passed pawn on the queenside.)
21…Rab8 22.h4 h5 23.c4 b6 24.b4 Rbc8? 25.Rexe7 Rxe7 26.Rxe7 Qxe7
27.Qxc8 (White is winning easily.) 27…Qxb4 28.Qxa6 Qe1+ 29.Kg2 Qe4+
30.Kh2 Qd4 31.Kg1 Kh6 32.Qa4 Kg7 33.Qb3 Kg6 34.a3 Kg7 35.Kg2 Qd6
36.Qb5 Kh6 37.a4 Qd4 38.Qd5 Qc3 39.Qd6 Black resigned.

Remember the Chinese girl who dreamed of beating the best woman ever,
Judit Polgar, and of buying real estate in Paris? Twelve-year-old Hou
Yifan is on her way to fulfilling her dreams. She tied for first in
the girls’ section of the Junior World Championship in Yerevan with
her countrywoman Shan Young, Salome Melia of Georgia and Mongontuul
Bathuyag of Mongolia. They each scored nine points in 13 games, but
the 18-year-old Shan won the title on a tiebreaker, just edging Hou.

American Tatev Abrahamyan finished 14th with 71/2 points. Hou’s
one-sided victory over Vietnamese women’s grandmaster Hoang Thi Bao
Tram in the Caro-Kann defense is very impressive.

Hou-Hoang

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Ng5 Ngf6 6.Bd3 e6 7.N1f3 Bd6
8.Qe2 h6 9.Ne4 Nxe4 10.Qxe4 Qc7 11.0-0 b6 12.Qg4 Kf8 (You have to
have Anatoly Karpov’s great defensive skills to hold this position.)
13.b3 c5?! 14.dxc5 Nxc5 15.Bb2 e5 16.Bf5 Bxf5?! (Usually black plays
16…h5 17.Qh3 Ne6, but now instead of 18.Bxe6, the current women’s
world champion, Xu Yuhua of China, tried successfully 18.Nh4 against
Liu Pei in Wuxi last year, and after 18…Kg8 19.Rfe1 Nf4 20.Qf3
Bb7 21.Be4 Bxe4 22.Qxe4 Re8 23.Nf5 f6 24.g3 Ne6 25.h4 Kf7 26.Rad1
was clearly better and won in 43 moves.) 17.Qxf5 Re8 18.Rad1 Kg8
(After18…e4 19.Nh4 Kg8 20.Qh3 black is still tied up.) 19.Rfe1
(Mobilizing the last piece and attacking the pawn on e5 gives white
an overwhelming advantage.) 19…f6? (Surrendering the light squares,
but after 19…e4 20.Qg4 Bf8 21.Nd4 black is playing without the
rook on h8.) 20.Nh4! Rd8 21.f4 (The move order 21.Ng6 Rh7 22.f4 is
more precise.) 21…exf4 22.Ng6 Rh7 23.b4 Nb7 24.Re7! (Playing for
24…Bxe7 25.Qe6 mate.) 24…Qc4 (24…Bc5+ is met by 25.Bd4.) 25.Rd5
(After 25…Bc5+ 26.bxc5 Qxd5 27.Re8+ Kf7 28.Rf8+ Rxf8 29.Qxd5+
wins.) Black resigned.

Solution to today’s study by F. Lazard (White: Ke3,Rh8,Ba7,P:a6,d3;
Black: Kg1,Rd6,Nd7,P:h2): 1.Ke2+ Kg2 2.Rxh2+ Kxh2 3.Bb8 Nxb8 4.a7
wins; or 1…Nb6 2.Bxb6+ Rxb6 3.a7 Rb2+ [3…Re6+ 4.Kd2 Ra6 5.a8Q Rxa8
6.Rxa8 h1Q 7.Ra1+ wins] 4.Ke3 Ra2 5.a8Q Rxa8 6.Rxa8 h1Q 7.Ra1+ wins.

GEORGIA’S FOREIGN MINISTER TO MEET RUSSIAN COUNTERPART IN MOSCOW

RIA Novosti, Russia
October 30, 2006

TBILISI, October 30 (RIA Novosti) – Georgia’s foreign minister
will meet with his Russian counterpart in Moscow at a session of an
economic alliance of Black Sea countries, to be held November 1-2,
Georgia’s Foreign Ministry said Monday.

The 11-member Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization comprises
Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova,
Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.

Gela Bezhuashvili’s talks with Russia’s Sergei Lavrov come in the midst
of an intense diplomatic standoff between the ex-Soviet neighbors,
which has led several countries to urge the sides to ease tensions
before the situation gets out of control.

The crisis began when Georgia detained four Russian officers last
month, and accused them of spying. Russia responded by suspending
postal and travel links with Georgia, shutting down casinos and
restaurants owned by Georgians, and deporting hundreds of Georgians
who had allegedly been living in the country illegally.