Month: October 2008

TURKS PICK OBAMA OVER MCCAIN FOR US PRESIDENT

Today’s Zaman
23 October 2008, Thursday
Turkey

Turks are widely indifferent toward the outcome of the upcoming
presidential election in the US, but those who care overwhelmingly
favor Democratic candidate Barack Obama over Republican John McCain,
an international survey has revealed.

Twenty-two percent of the Turks polled said they wanted to see Obama
elected as US president in next month’s election, while only 8 percent
supported McCain, according to a Gallup poll of 70 countries conducted
between May and September. Seventy percent of the Turks surveyed did
not state an opinion.

The results closely parallel findings across the globe. The poll,
published on Tuesday, revealed that around the world respondents
favored Obama four to one over McCain. Among the nations polled,
representing nearly half of the world’s population, 30 percent
of respondents say they would personally rather see Obama elected
president of the United States, compared with just 8 percent who say
the same about McCain. At the same time, 62 percent of world citizens
surveyed did not have an opinion.

People outside of the US seem more divided over whether the outcome of
the US election makes a difference to their country, with 31 percent
saying it does and 21 percent saying it does not. Nearly half of
those surveyed did not have an opinion. In Turkey, 32 percent said
the election outcome would make a difference, while 33 percent said
it would not. Thirty-four percent did not state an opinion.

Senator Obama is popular amongst Turks, but some are concerned
that relations with the United States could suffer a blow under his
presidency given his firm pledges of support for Armenian claims of
genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire, charges categorically
denied by Ankara. Obama also caused concern when it emerged that he
referred to Turkey as an "invader" in a letter to a Greek-American
group. McCain, on the other hand, is perceived as a follower of the
policies of the unpopular George W. Bush, and his hawkish stance on
Iran’s nuclear program raises fears of a clash between Washington
and Ankara over sanctions on Tehran.

Overall, people in Europe are the most likely to state a preference
for the next president of the United States and to think the election
makes a difference to their country. Sixty-four percent of French
respondents favored Obama, while only 4 percent expressed support for
McCain. In Britain, 60 percent favored Obama as opposed to 15 percent
for McCain. More than 70 percent of respondents in the Netherlands
and Norway picked the Democratic candidate.

In Asia, respondents turned out to be the least likely to state a
preference for the next president of the United States or to think
the election makes a difference to their country. In individual
countries, only Georgia, which fought a brief war against Russia over
the breakaway region of South Ossetia in August, Cambodia, Laos and
the Philip-pines prefer McCain to Obama.

In Canada, 67 percent chose Obama and 22 percent picked McCain. Also,
75 percent of Canadian respondents said the presidential election
would make a difference to their own country. The Democratic nominee
also enjoyed levels of support higher than 60 percent in Australia,
Ger-many, England and Japan, where the US election was viewed as
having a global impact.

ERIC ARMIT’S WORLD VIEW
by Eric Armit

BritishBoxing.net
Oct 22nd 2008
UK

This is a changing world and in many ways for the better. When I was
a lad there were certain things that had a stigma attached to them
which are accepted today. Some of those were social (illegitimacy,
homosexuality) but some were sporting (being an East Fife supporter).

For instance, in boxing there was a huge stigma associated with
being a southpaw. It may sound impossible now, but I can assure you
that any southpaw entering a gym in the late 1950’s or early 1960’s
could expect one of three things to happen. He would be thrown out,
he would be given a bucket and mop, as that was all he was useful for,
or he would be converted to what we described as "orthodox".

After having a tough time with Kenny Lane in a title defence "Old
Bones" Joe Brown vowed never to fight another southpaw and Sugar
Ray Robinson once declared that all southpaws should be strangled
at birth. In those days southpaws were avoided, very few received
title shots and very few won world titles. For instance a 1977 list
of southpaw world champions numbered only 22 in the history of boxing
up to that date. Boy, have things changed.

Recently two southpaws – Chad Dawson and Antonio Tarver – fought for
the IBF light-heavyweight title. Almost every division has a southpaw
champion or former champion. Working through the divisions we have
Ruslan Chagaev, Sultan Ibragimov, Wayne Braithwaite, Firat Arslan,
Joe Calzaghe, Lucien Bute, Raul Marquez, Cory Spinks, Daniel Santos,
Sergiy Dzinziruk, Paul Williams, Zab Judah, Carlos Quintana, Manny
Pacquiao, Joel Casamayor, David Diaz, Edwin Valero, Steve Luevano,
Steve Molitor, Juan Manuel Lopez, Daniel Ponce De Leon, Gerry Penalosa,
Hozumi Hasegawa, Cristian Mijares, Vic Darchinyan, Omar Narvaez and
Ivan Calderon. All champions or former champions.

I don’t remember any "southpaw liberation parades" or any
non-discrimination legislation, but suddenly southpaws seemed to be
outing themselves shamelessly and now they are everywhere. I can even
see the PC police banning the use of the word "orthodox" as it would
suggest that being a southpaw was somehow abnormal. I guess I will
have to learn to live with this changing world.

When is this sport going to stop marching backwards? Vitali Klitschko
returns at the age of 37 and regains the WBC heavyweight title and then
43-year-old Bernard Hopkins beats Kelly Pavlik. Two of the biggest
attractions in the next few weeks will feature the 39-year-old Roy
Jones (Junior!) against 36-year-old Joe Calzaghe and in the other
we have a 35-year-old Oscar De La Hoya, still the sports major money
spinner.

What I want to know is "Where have All The Young Men Gone". At least
Canada has a good selection of young prospects coming along (none
of them southpaws), and in Montreal on October 4 four of them came
through with inside the distance wins. In the main event Antonin
Decarie retained his NABO welterweight title with a twelfth round
stoppage of Hector Munoz. Not a big puncher, the WBO’s No 7 had
Munoz down twice and halted the American with 18 seconds to go. The
25-year-old has 20 wins. At light-welterweight Dierry Jean made it 15
wins by putting Mexican Fabian Luque down three times for a second
round stoppage. Luque was halted in four by Martin Gethin in Las
Vegas in December. Welterweight Phil LoGreco moved to 16 wins as he
kayoed Jose Corona in the first round and light-middleweight David
Lemieux put Lance Moody down for the count in round one with a body
shot. Lemieux, only 19, is making waves as he now has eleven straight,
all inside the distance and only one going beyond round two.

On the same night, but down in Hermosillo, Mexico, southpaw flyweight
Hernan "Tyson" Marquez moved to 21 wins as he halted Carlos Rodriguez
in one round. Fifteen have come inside the distance but the opposition
has been somewhere between awful and worse.

Another Mexican to watch is welterweight Norberto "Demonio"
Gonzalez. In Monterrey on October 10 he outpointed useful Antonio
Arras to go to 16 wins, twelve inside the distance. The 27-year-old
was a top amateur winning a silver medal in the Central American
Games. Alejandro Sanabria is another good Mexican prospect . The
21-year-old super-featherweight moved to 17 wins as he kayoed Daniel
Aguillon in the twelfth round of their fight for the WBC Fecarbox title
in Polanco on October 15. Unfortunately, Aguillon did not recover. He
was rushed to a hospital and underwent an operation. Whilst he is
alive at the time of writing, the doctors have declared him brain
dead, but the family are hoping for a miracle and have not agreed to
his life-support system being turned off.

Both Gennady Martirosyan and Attila Kovacs had scored wins over Steve
Conway and had good records, so it was an interesting match-up in
their October 4 middleweight fight in Vyborg, Russia. Armenian-born
Russian Martirosyan came out on top with a points win after ten rounds
to improve his record to 14 wins in 15 fights. Hungarian Kovacs
was unbeaten in his last 22 going in, but the 34-year-old "Viper"
is now 24-2. The experienced Azeri cruiserweight Ali Ismailov scored
a good win in the other ten round bout on the show as he decisioned
the 22-year-old American Max Alexander.

Unfortunately most of the 34-year-old Ali’s experience came in a long
amateur career and he is 14-1-1 as a pro with the loss being to world
rated Vadim Tokarev in his fifth fight. Alexander lost to Sam Soliman
and Brian Vera in the Contender series but he drew with Rob Calloway
in his last fight and is 14-3-2.

Senegalese-born super-middleweight Muhamed Ali N’Diaye won the vacant
Italian title with a close points victory over Roberto Cocco in
Pontedera on October 10. Both fighters are relative novices. N’Diaye
has a 14-1 record and Cocco lost for the second time against just
nine wins. N’Diaye won a silver medal for Senegal in the African
championships as an amateur.

Veteran southpaw Kevin Kelley is just too old at 41 to keep up
with the youngsters. In Tucson on October 10 he had the skill but
not the strength and pace to match prospect David Rodela and lost
on points over eight rounds. The former WBC featherweight champion
has lost two of his last three, but is probably not ready to hang up
his gloves yet. Rodela, a super-featherweight from Oxnard, the same
town as Fernando Vargas, is 11-1-2 and unbeaten in his last ten. He
won a gold medal in the United States championships, a silver in the
National Golden Gloves and United States Juniors, but lost in a US
v England match to Steve Bell in 2001.

Four bouts came up with very mixed results on a show in Bloemfontein
on October 10. Two went the full twelve rounds and two ended in the
first round. At super-middleweight William Gare retained his WBF
title with a points win over Czech Jindrich Velecky. It was Gare’s
second defence and he boxed well. He is 34 and has a 24-14 record,
losing here to Steve Roberts for the WBF light-middleweight title in
2001. Jindrich falls to 14-5.

An excellent match-up saw Kaiser Mabuza retain his WBA Pan African
welterweight title and win the South African title as he took a
majority verdict over Sam Malinga. After a bit of a rocky period,
Mabuza is unbeaten in his last five in a 16-6-3 record. Malinga,
who stopped Colin Lynes and Ted Bami here, falls to 20-5-1. A fight
for the vacant WBA Pan African cruiserweight title was a farce as
South African champion Thabiso Mchunu kayoed Marciano Commey in the
first round. Mchunu now has five wins. Commey, who turned pro as a
welterweight in 1990 has won two of his last eleven, but the WBA do
not care.

The other first round win was scored by Bongani "Cyclone" Mwelase
who halted 38-year-old Juan Carlos Villarreal to win the vacant
WBF title. Southpaw Mwelase , the South African champion is a tall,
loose-limbed banger who has twelve wins, eleven inside the distance,
but he needs to work on finding a defence. Villarreal lost to Shea
Neary for the WBU light-middleweight title in 1998.

The former Commonwealth welterweight champion Ali Nuumbembe kept
himself in the picture as he beat German Daniel Kaefer on a fifth
round retirement in their fight in Windhoek on October 17. It was Ali’s
second win since losing his title to Craig Watson and takes his record
to 20-3-1. On the same show Bethuel Ushona, who beat Ali back in 2004,
outpointed Zimbabwean Mordechai Donga over six rounds. Ushona has 15
wins but was largely inactive in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

In Argentina Cesar Cuenca moved to 34 wins and one no contest as
he beat Ariel Burgos on a disqualification in the ninth round of
their fight in Chaco on October 18 and retained his Argentinian
light-welterweight title. Burgos was way behind when he blatantly
butted Cuenca and was thrown out. Only four of Cesar’s fights
have failed to go the distance. One was a no contest, one was a
technical verdict, one was, shockingly, a real stoppage and this
disqualification. Never mind a paper bag, Cesar could not punch his
way through wet toilet paper.

It has been a bad few weeks for French prospects . Ali Chebah saw
his 27 win streak snapped when he lost to Reyes Sanchez in Mexico
and now middleweight hope "Brigadier" Julien Marie Sainte has gone
the same way. On October 18 in Vireux-Wallerand Sainte was halted in
four rounds by the modest Venezuelan Jairo Alvarez and lost for the
first time after 17 wins. It looked easy on paper as Alvarez had lost
six of his previous seven, but who knows with these South Americans?

BARACK OBAMA THANKS ARMENIANS FOR OBAMA

armradio.am
23.10.2008 10:21

Senator Barack Obama personally thanked Armenians for Obama for its
far-reaching grassroots efforts and encouraged the growing nationwide
Armenian American movement in support of the Obama-Biden ticket to
escalate its voter outreach in the final days before the November
4th election.

In a letter sent today to Armenians for Obama, Senator Obama personally
expressed his thanks to the voter outreach organization, noting
that, from the beginning Armenians for Obama has "been one of those
grassroots groups – whether its canvassing in Nevada and Virginia or
calling from home in California and New York. I know your hard work
has made a difference in the past two years, and I know it’s going
to make the difference in these last few days."

Welcoming Senator Obama’s warm words of appreciation, Ibranossian said,
"On behalf of all our Armenians for Obama activists around the country,
I want to thank Senator Obama for his sincere expression of gratitude
to our grassroots organization and community. We are inspired by
his kind words to our team and take from them an added measure of
energy and devotion, in these last days, to engage in fieldwork, media
outreach, and get-out-the-vote efforts, to do our part to ensure that
Senator Obama wins a decisive victory on November 4th."

Separately, the campaign has issued a campaign certificate,
bearing the Armenians for Obama logo, in which the Armenian
American National Leadership Committee officially endorses the
Obama-Biden ticket. Serving on this select Leadership Committee are
U.S. Representatives Anna Eshoo, Jackie Speier, and Adam Schiff,
California Assemblyman Paul Krekorian, and former South Carolina
State Democratic Chairman Richard Harpootlian.

The full text of Senator Obama’s letter is provided below:

Dear Friends, I want to thank you for all you’re doing to build our
movement for change.

Grassroots groups have seized on the desire of ordinary Americans to
take back our country, and organized this energy and enthusiasm into a
strong, disciplined campaign. You’ve taken responsibility for reaching
out to your neighbors and fellow citizens to make the case for change.

>From the beginning, Armenian Americans for Obama has been one of those
grassroots groups – whether it’s canvassing in Nevada and Virginia or
calling from home in California and New York. I know that your hard
work has made a difference in the past two years, and I know it’s
going to make the difference in these last few days. Let me be clear:
we’re not there yet.

This race will tighten as we get closer to the end. And the difference
between the change we seek and more of the same is you.

We have asked a lot from our supporters, and you have taken ownership
of our movement, because you know that "change happens from the
bottom-up" is not just a slogan – it is the story of this campaign. At
every test, you have succeeded. With the final test just a few days
away, I have no doubt that you will rise to the occasion again. And
together we will succeed, and together, we will change America."

MINISTER NALBANDIAN PARTICIPATES IN THE SITTING OF BSEC FMS

armradio.am
23.10.2008 11:13

RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian is in Tirana, Albania, to
participate in the 19th sitting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of
the member stated of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization.

Minister Nalbandian is expected to make a speech at the sitting.

During the sitting of the Council of Foreign Ministers Armenia will
assume presidency of the Organization.
From: Baghdasarian

CONGRATULATIONS TO HOVIK ABRAHAMYAN FROM FRENCH AND BELGIAN COUNTERPARTS

armradio.am
23.10.2008 13:15

President of the French Senate Gérard Larcher sent a congratulatory
message to Hovik Abrahamyan on the occasion of his election to the
post of President of the National Assembly of Armenia. In the message
Mr. Larcher expressed confidence that the interparliamentary ties
will further develop in the spirit of cooperation existing between the
two countries. Mr. Larcher wished success to the Armenian Parliament
Speaker in his high mission.

President of the House of Representatives of Belgium Herman Van Rompuy
congratulated Hovik Abrahamyan, expressing hope that the relations
between the two parliaments will continue developing. He wished
success to Speaker Abrahamyan in carrying out his important mission.

–Boundary_(ID_9JHJHjay1lZyL2th9FNBLg)–

THE PARLIAMENT SPEAKER OF ARMENIA TO VISIT IRAN IN 2009

armradio.am
23.10.2008 14:58

On October 23 Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Hovik
Abrahamyan received the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran
to Armenia Seid Ali Saghaian.

Greeting the guest, Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan highly assessed the
cooperation between the two friendly countries, the gradually expanding
economic ties.

Speaker Abrahamyan asked to convey his greetings and good wishes to
the President of Parliament of Iran Ali Larijani and the Deputies and
invited the members of the Iran-Armenian Friendship Group to Armenia,
expressing confidence that the reciprocal visits and warm relations
between MPs will contribute to the development of relations between
the two countries.

Iran’s Ambassador Seid Ali Saghaian congratulated Hovik Abrahamyan
on his election to the post of President of the National Assembly
of Armenia, and conveyed an invitation to pay an official visit to
Tehran. According to his assessment, the relations between Parliaments
greatly promote the reinforcement of ties between the two states.

NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan highly assessed the neutral and balanced
position of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the Karabakh issue,
attaching importance to the development of relations with Iran in
all spheres of economy. Expressing gratitude for the invitation,
Mr. Abrahamyan assured he will plan a visit to Tehran in 2009.

GEORGIA TO QUIT CIS AUGUST 18, 2009

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.10.2008 12:30 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Georgia will formally quit the Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS) on August 18, 2009, said Nauryz Aydarov,
deputy chairman of the CIS executive committee.

"The committee has already launched the essential procedure," he said.

Georgia notified (on August 18, 2008) the CIS executive organs
of the unanimous decision of its parliament to leave the regional
organization, and according to the CIS Charter (sec. 1, art. 9) this
decision will come into force 12 months after the notification date.

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization
whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics. The
organization was founded on December 8, 1991 by Belarus, Russia,
and Ukraine, when the leaders of the three countries signed an
agreement on the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the creation
of CIS as a successor entity to the USSR. On December 21, 1991,
the leaders of eight additional former Soviet Republics – Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan,
and Uzbekistan – joined the Creation Agreement, thus bringing the
number of participating countries to 11. Georgia joined two years
later, in December 1993.

SENATOR OBAMA THANKED ARMENIAN AMERICANS FOR SUPPORT

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.10.2008 13:47 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Senator Barack Obama personally thanked Armenians
for Obama for its far-reaching grassroots efforts and encouraged
the growing nationwide Armenian American movement in support of the
Obama-Biden ticket to escalate its voter outreach in the final days
before the November 4th election.

In a letter sent to Armenians for Obama, Senator Obama personally
expressed his thanks to the voter outreach organization, noting
that, from the beginning Armenians for Obama has "been one of those
grassroots groups – whether its canvassing in Nevada and Virginia or
calling from home in California and New York. I know your hard work
has made a difference in the past two years, and I know it’s going
to make the difference in these last few days."

Welcoming Senator Obama’s warm words of appreciation, Chairman
Areen Ibranossian said, "On behalf of all our Armenians for Obama
activists around the country, I want to thank Senator Obama for his
sincere expression of gratitude to our grassroots organization and
community. We are inspired by his kind words to our team and take
from them an added measure of energy and devotion, in these last days,
to engage in fieldwork, media outreach, and get-out-the-vote efforts,
to do our part to ensure that Senator Obama wins a decisive victory
on November 4th."

PRIME MINISTER VISITED BERKADZOR COMMUNITY

NKR Government Information and Public Relations Department
October 23, 2008

On October 22, the NKR Prime Minister Ara Haroutyunyan visited the
community Berkadzor of Askeran region and got acquainted with the
local problems at spot. The most vital problem of the community is
dwelling deficiency. The Prime Minister informed that beginning from
2009 construction of new dwellings at the expense of state means,
which will be rendered to separate social groups of population included
into state programmes, will be started.

An issue of a new school construction for the community was also
discussed and the Premier has assured that its construction will
start in 2009 and in 2010 the community will have an up-to-date
educational hearth.

The Prime Minister promised to assist in equipping of the village
club; at the same time he had assigned the builders-specialists to
study perspectives for club’s further exploitation and to submit a
valid proposal.
From: Baghdasarian

MOSCOW AWAITING BAKU RESPONSE TO MEDVEDEV’S PROPOSAL

PanARMENIAN.Net
23.10.2008 14:24 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russia’s activation in the Nagorno Karabakh process
is conditioned by its regional interests, said Vasily Istratov,
Russia’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan.

"Moscow is awaiting Baku’s response to President Medvedev’s proposal
for a trilateral presidential meeting. The OSCE Minsk Group has worked
out a number of solutions, but they have not been accepted as they did
not satisfy all of the sides. There should be no competition between
the formats. They should complement each other," Amb. Istratov said.

"The situation in the Caucasus is complicated" he regretted. "This
means that we should seek for solutions and reach an agreement,"
he said, Trend Azeri news agency reports.

When in Yerevan, Dmitry Medvedev said, "I am hopeful that the sides
in the Karabakh conflict are ready to fix progress in the negotiation
process. The Presidents of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan will meet in
Moscow in the near future to discuss the issue. Russia will continue
search for mutually acceptable decision on Karabakh."