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Telegraph.co.uk

Georgia president claims Russians are now within artillery range of Tbilisi
The Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, has urged the West to take
immediate action against Moscow after accusing Russian forces of moving
their artillery to within range of the capital city Tbilisi.

By Adrian Blomfield near Akhalgori
26 Aug 2008

Just hours before Russia escalated the crisis by recognising the
independence of two separatist Georgian provinces, Mr Saakashvili said
Russian forces had advanced to the strategic Akhalgori heights 10 miles from
Tbilisi.
He warned that Georgia would respond with force if its capital was attacked
and told the West to act more forcefully against Russian aggression.
"They are trying to take the heights of Akhalgori," he told reporters at a
briefing this morning. "This is the most worrying thing at the moment. They
would be within 20km of Tbilisi.
"We are in a very precarious situation."
The president said that the West now had to act meaningfully to stop
Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, from heightening the crisis
still further.
"Some people in the West have been in denial for a long time," he said. "Now
there can be no more denial.
"The West has to show that this will cost them – really cost them. You are
dealing with bullies here and bullies do not understand the tender message."
As the crisis has unfolded, Western governments have limited themselves to
strongly-worded statements condemning Moscow’s aggression and vague threats
of limited retribution if Russia does not end its occupation of Georgian
territory.
Mr Putin has openly mocked the West’s response.
"This is the guy who thinks that statements don’t mean anything and that the
West will always blink first," the Georgian president said of Mr Putin.
The West is nonetheless likely to be extremely concerned if Russia has used
the cover of a truce brokered by the European Union to advance unchallenged
to within shelling distance of Tbilisi.
It was not possible to verify whether a Russian military buildup around
Akhalgori was underway.
The town, which technically lies within the boundaries of the breakaway
region of South Ossetia, but has been under Georgian government control
since 1992, fell to the advancing Russians earlier this month.
Bearded South Ossetian militiamen, sporting rocket launchers and fake
designer sunglasses, manned a makeshift checkpoint outside Akhalgori this
morning and refused to allow The Daily Telegraph into the town.
A fighter, who claimed to be a battalion commander and identified himself as
Anatoly, denied there had been any Russian military build up in the town.
"It is the opposite," he said. "There was a large Russian military presence
here before but now there are just Russian peacekeepers."
Asked why western reporters were being denied access to Akhalgori, Anatoly
was vague.
"Actually there is no problem with you entering but we are going to do some
events here and we don’t want any journalists," he said.
As he spoke a Russian helicopter gunship swooped low over the road above
him, heading in the direction of the nearby town.
European military monitors who attempted to gain access to Akhalgori were
also turned back by the militiamen.
A few hundred yards down the road, at a Georgian police checkpoint, officers
said that Georgian residents of the ethnically mixed town had begun to flee
the previous evening after noticing a significant troop build up.
"They saw columns of headlights moving along the track from South Ossetia
towards Akhalgori," one officer said.
The development came as two US warships headed towards the Georgian Black
Sea port of Poti, which remains ringed by Russian troops in contravention of
the terms of the truce brokered by Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president.
While ostensibly on a humanitarian mission to deliver aid supplies, the
presence of an American destroyer armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles has
enraged the Kremlin.
The Russian cruise ship the Moskva, which had been deployed off the Georgian
coastline during the five-day war, was seen leaving the Crimean naval base
of Sevastopol, headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea fleet.
Early reports indicated that the Moskva was sailing south, possibly towards
Poti – " raising the possibility of a naval face-off between the United
States and Russia for the first time since the Cold War.
Mr Saakashvili said that the only way to halt Russian aggression was by
imposing visa bans on Kremlin officials to prevent them, and their families,
from entering Europe.
"All their money is in the West," he said. "They get very upset when they
can’t go to Courchevel."
The Georgian president also claimed that Mr Putin had threatened him with a
war over the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in a telephone
conversation nearly two years ago.
According to Mr Saakashvili, the Russian leader threatened to turn Georgia
"into Northern Cyprus." When Mr Saakashvili reminded his counterpart that
Georgia had a close relationship with Nato, Mr Putin’s reaction was
allegedly one of amusement.
"He said to me: ‘Do you really think that Nato is going to come and fight us
in the Caucasus?’" Mr Saakashvili said.
The Georgian president appealed to Western countries to think carefully
about participating in the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, which will be held in
Sochi, a Russian resort close to Abkhazia.
"If it takes place in these circumstances it would be a terrible thing," Mr
Saakashvili said, claiming that Abkhaz fighters had carried out "ethnic
cleansing" against Georgians just a few miles from Sochi.
"It reminds me of the 1936 Olympics. A month ago that would have seemed a
wild thing to say. Now it doesn’t."

RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION BECOMES PREVALENT
Gevorg Haroutyunyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
26 Aug 2008
Armenia

Interview with ARMEN ROUSTAMYAN, Head of the NA Committee on Foreign
Relations

"Mr. Roustamyan, judging by all, the Russian Federation may, in the
near future, officially recognize the independence of South Osetia
and Abkhazia.

What may be the impact of this factor on our efforts towards achieving
the international recognition of the NKR independence?"

"Any new event in the geopolitical developments imparts new shades
to the issue of recognizing the independence of the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic.

Taking into consideration all this, we should constantly consider
as a starting point the fact that the recognition of the NKR is
fully substantiated only on for Armenia but also on international
levels. There are all the grounds for recognizing the NKR independence.

Today, a number of nations declare their independence on the basis of
the right to self-determination. In comparison with all these cases,
the existing bases required for the recognition of the NKR independence
are on a much higher level. And the current geopolitical developments
are an additional occasion for voicing this fact from all the high
international tribunals once again.

In case of declaring its independence, the country should actually
comply with the well-known four criteria of the Montevideo Agreement,
which define the fact of the state being accomplished. The Nagorno
Kharabakh Republic definitely complies with all those criteria because
it has its state borders, permanent population and authorities elected
legitimately and democratically and has proven many a time that
it is capable of conducting international relations on an official
level independently."

"Is the parliament of our country ready to discuss the issue of
recognizing the independence of Artsakh in the current geo-political
situation? What should be done for that?"

"The issue of recognizing the NKR independence should be the principal
trump-card of our country’s diplomacy in general. In the meantime,
it is necessary to constantly consider all the circumstances for
using that trump-card, i.e. when and how it is proper to do that.

The precise choice of the moment is, in my opinion, determined by three
factors. First, the recognition of the independence should be initiated
by the NKR itself. And the process should be coordinated between the
Nagorno Karabakh Republic and Armenia. The step should also be made
in such a way and in such circumstances that will enable the Armenian
sides to strengthen their positions in the context of international
negotiations through recognizing the independence of Karabakh. And
last but not the least, we must be able to attain such results that
we’ll help us prevent the possible aggression by Azerbaijan.

In this contex t, I consider it necessary to introduce precision in
the existing misperception that the recognition of the independence
of Karabakh will be enough for preventing Azerbaijan’s bellicose
ambitions. This is not absolutely right because such step is necessary
but not enough.

And in order to have sufficient guarantees it is first of all
necessary for Armenia and Karabakh to announce simultaneously on
their intention of forming a military-political alliance. This step
will enable Armenia to obtain the status of the guarantor of the
independence and security of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic in the
context of the settlement of the conflict.

Armenia possesses that right. We must now be able to state the fact
on the international level.

The National Assembly is always ready to discuss the issue of
recognizing the independence of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. However,
it is again necessary to take into consideration the issue of choosing
a proper moment.

After all, the recognition should be achieved by the agreement of
the two presidents and citizens. It should be the product of united,
consolidated work."

"Mr. Roustamyan, what changes did the recent developments introduce
into the ratio of the geopolitical forces?"

"If we view of those changes from a little bit broader perspective,
it will be possible to record two new precedents. The first was
the Kosovo precedent which definitely showed that the right to
self-determination is accepted by the international tribunals as a
primary approach and principle.

Moreover, it is this approach that is recognized as the only right
way towards the settlement of the conflict peacefully, through
negotiations.

The second precedent concerns the security guarantees. The recent
developments showed quite clearly that all the hot-headed politicians
who believe that it is possible to settle the conflict by the use of
force not only demonstrate short-sightedness but also create a new
tension in the geo-political atmosphere which is fragile as it is.

And that is always fraught with the danger that the ongoing war will
not only be restricted to the direct parties to the conflict but
also involve the geo-political forces supporting them. The front-line
confrontation of the parties can, in such cases, create preconditions
for inciting a global war. "

ARMENIA VIEWS RUSSIAN MILITARY BASES AS COOPERATION SYMBOL

RosBusinessConsulting
Aug 25 2008
Russia

RBC, 25.08.2008, Yerevan 15:09:55.Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan
believes that Russian military bases in the republic symbolize
efficient cooperation between the two countries, rather then hegemony,
the ARKA information agency reported today.

Sargsyan pointed out that Armenia stood on principle of sovereignty,
adding that at the moment such sovereignty included participation
in efficient international and regional security systems. He also
reiterated that one of the main principles of the Collective Security
Treaty Organization (CSTO), which Armenia had made a decision to join,
was that an attack on one of its members meant an infringement on
all members.

>From Yahoo! Sports

g/news?slug=3Dap-wre-abrahamian&prov=3Dap& type=3Dlgns

Court: Wrestler who dropped medal was right
By (AP) 32 minutes ago

BEIJING (AP) – It turns out that the Greco-Roman wrestler who was
stripped of his bronze medal for dropping it in disgust on the mat had
reason for being angry, according to the Court of Arbitration for
Sport.

Ara Abrahamian of Sweden complained to CAS that a penalty in the
second round of his 84-kilogram bout on Aug. 14 against Italian Andrea
Minguzzi wasn’t assessed until after the round ended. Once factored
in, Abrahamian automatically lost the match. Minguzzi went on to win
the gold medal.

Abrahamian’s coach was then denied a request for a video review, then
the wrestling federation – the International Federation of Associated
Wrestling Styles, or FILA – refused to consider a protest.

The 28-year-old Abrahamian had to be restrained from going after
matside officials following his loss to Minguzzi. He stormed away from
the area where interviews are conducted and slammed a door to the
dressing rooms.

After he was given his bronze during the medals ceremony, Abrahamian
walked off the podium, went over to mat and dropped it in disgust and
walked away. On Aug. 15, the International Olympic Committee
disqualified Abrahamian and stripped his medal for violating the
spirit of fair play during the medal ceremony.

The Armenian-born Abrahamian – who also lost a 2004 Olympic semifinal
match on a disputed call – initially wanted judges in the bout tossed
out and his medal restored. But in the end, he only wanted CAS to
verify that the lack of an immediate appeals process is a loophole
that needs to be fixed. It also was referred to as a violation of `the
Olympic Charter and FILA’s own rules about fair play.’

Judges said Abrahamian was right.

`We limit ourselves to ruling that FILA must, consistently with the
(Olympic) Charter and general principles of fairness, establish for
the future a jury of appeal to determine the validity or otherwise of
complaints of the kind ventilated by (Abrahamian),’ the judges wrote.

Elsewhere in the 20-page ruling, judges noted several times that FILA
did not appear at a hearing.

Xinhua, China
Aug 23 2008

Medal-dropping Abrahamian was right, said CAS

2008-08-24 00:20:16

BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) — Swedish Greco-Roman wrestler Ara
Abrahamian who was stripped of Olympic bronze medal for dropping it in
disgust on the mat during the victory ceremony had the right to be
angry, according to Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Abrahamian complained to CAS that his penalty in the semifinal of
men’s Greco-Roman 84kg bout on Aug. 14 against Andrea Minguzzi of
Italy, who finally won the gold, wasn’t assessed until after the bout
was over.

The International Federation of Wrestling (FILA), the governing
body of world wrestling, then denied Abrahamian’s coach’s request for
a video review and refused to consider a protest.

Silver medallist in Athens 2004 Games Abrahamian, 28, was stopped
from going after referees following his loss. He stormed away from the
mixed-zone and punched a door to the dressing room.

He went to the repechage matches after some friends’ persuading
and won a bronze. But Abrahamian walked off the podium and dropped his
medal on the mat and walked away. He declared that he retired.

The International Olympic Committee stripped Abrahamian’s bronze
for violating the spirit of fair play on Aug. 15.

The Armenian-born Abrahamian initially wanted referees in the bout
punished and his medal back.

"We limit ourselves to ruling that FILA must, consistently with
the (Olympic) Charter and general principles of fairness, establish
for the future a jury of appeal to determine the validity or otherwise
of complains of that kind ventilated by Abrahamian," wrote the judges.

Judges of CAS said Abrahamian was right, who also noted several
times that FILA did not appear at the hearing.

Editor: Xinhuanet

Interfax, Russia
Aug 22 2008

NATION’S RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION CANNOT BE IMPEDED BY FORCE

Any attempt to use force in order to impede the exercise of self-
determination by the people of South Caucasus may have serious
military and political implications.

The tragic events in South Ossetia have shown that any attempt to use
armed force to suppress the desire for self-determination in the South
Caucasus may have serious military and political consequences,
Sargsyan said at a meeting with defense ministers of the CSTO
(Collective Security Treaty Organization) countries in Yerevan, the
Armenian president’s press office told Interfax.

Such conflicts must be settled on the basis of free will of the people
fighting for self-determination, he said.

Otherwise, we will witness acts of ethnic cleansing and violation of
international humanitarian law, said the Armenian president.

Yerevan has repeatedly pointed to the danger of unprecedented military
build-up by some countries in the region and attempts to use force in
resolving conflicts, he said.

The military way of conflict resolution has no prospects, and the
events in the South Caucasus will have a sobering effect on those who
still foster illusions about forceful resolution, the president said.

Sargsyan welcomed the joint initiative of the Russian and French
presidents on the six principles of the South Ossetian conflict
resolution.

Weekend Australian
August 23, 2008 Saturday
5 – All-round Review Edition

Return to Armenia, in search of meaning

THURSDAY, AUGUST 28
by Jill Rowbotham

Family Footsteps: Armenia

8.30pm, ABC1

THIS intriguing story’s dark background is the Armenian genocide of
1915. This is the genocide denied by its alleged perpetrator, Turkey.

Joanna Kambourian’s family is one among millions for whom the
repercussions continue.

The graphic artist from coastal NSW is the troubled subject of the
first episode in the new series of Family Footsteps. She is the
daughter of a Dutch mother and an Armenian-American father. But it was
her Armenian great-grandfather on whom events turned. As conditions
deteriorated around him he had to choose between saving his family by
betraying his culture or accepting the high risk of their very cruel
deaths.

He chose life. Now Joanna wants to return to Armenia to see if time
has changed the harsh judgment.

“The worst thing about going to Armenia would be that the Armenian
people do not forgive my family for the past,” she says.

Her father is encouraging. “Here’s a culture you are part of, kid, go
do it,” he says.

Two weeks in the village of Ohanavan is every bit the cultural
bootcamp you may imagine, although she is warmly embraced by host
Tehmineh, a teacher; her husband Ara, an orchardist; and his mother,
Jemma, also a teacher.

Joanna struggles to contribute by working in the bakery, making lavash
bread using centuries-old techniques, eats unpalatable local
delicacies and even allows a rooster to be sacrificed for her host
family to confer a blessing on her.

In fact, this is only one of their gifts; the other is their
hospitality and care for her, signified by assigning her Jemma’s room,
the warmest in the house, being next to the stove.

Joanna’s winter visit inevitably means we see Armenia at its bleakest
and it’s hard to resist a shake of the head when she joins in a
celebration in Tehmineh’s classroom, staged because heating has been
restored to the school after two years.

The more conventional upsides are learning to dance with the women,
touring the market of the nearby capital, Yerevan, and visiting the
vicinity of Mt Ararat, where Noah’s ark landed, according to the Bible
story. Beyond it lies the village from which her family came, today
part of Turkey.

It’s all part of the search for her Armenian identity and some comfort
to take back to her father, so her visits to the genocide museum and a
local historian are powerful moments.

“I owe it to my family, my ancestry, to find a way to put a lot of
their feelings of grief and shame and loss to rest, but I’m not sure
how that is going to go,” she says.

The family could not have chosen a better emissary.

ARMENIA LOSES CHANCE TO BOOST EXPORT OF WINE TO RUSSIA

ArmInfo
2008-08-22 13:13:00

ArmInfo. Armenia lost the chance to boost export of wine to Russia
after Russia embargoed Georgian wines, Chairman of the Union of
Winemakers of Armenia Avag Haroutiunyan told ArmInfo.

‘We should have been acted immediately, but we didn’t. Quite on the
contrary, export of Armenian wines began sagging’, he said. ‘We did
not occupy the niche of Georgia in the Russian market, and we couldn’t
do that since Georgia exports about 40 million bottles of wine to
Russia annually and Moldova – 230-240 million bottles. The whole our
capacity is 7-8 million bottles of wine annually. We have at last
reached the level of 1 million bottles of wine annual export. Russian
market potential is 500,000 bottles of wine annually and several
millions of bottles are not significant for it>, A. Haroutiunyan said.

He is sure that the key problem of Armenian winemaking is lack of
necessary mechanisms for advertising in abroad. Although the Union
of Armenian Winemakers has repeatedly applied to the government for
assistance in organization of advertising in the territory of Russia,
it was not received relevant response, he said.

NKR PRESIDENT’S CONGRATULATORY ADDRESS TO THE ARMENIAN CATHOLICOS

Azat Artsakh Daily
22 Aug 08
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]

On 21 August President of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic Bako Sahakyan
sent a congratulatory letter to Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II
in connection with the birthday of the Supreme Patriarch. In the letter
the President underlined the following: "Please, accept my heartfelt
congratulations and best wished in connection with Your birthday. Your
patriotic work directed for the of glory of the Motherland, for
the development and prosperity of Mother See oh Holy Etchmiadzin,
for deepening and strengthening the state-church relationships, for
cementing unity of the world-spread Armenians deserve the highest
appreciation. Your have had a substantial contribution to spiritual
revival of Artsakh. Let me once again congratulate You on your
birthday and wish good health and prosperity for the bright future
of the Motherland and the Armenian people."

REPORTER, EDITOR DEFEND SMOKING-BAN ARTICLE
By Jason Wells

Glendale News Press
Aug 22 2008
CA

Writer of Pasadena Weekly story insists corrected version reflects
what Dave Weaver told him.

NORTHWEST GLENDALE — The Pasadena Weekly reporter who touched off a
furor three weeks ago, when it came to light that his June 26 article
had incorrectly attributed comments about Armenian smokers to Mayor
John Drayman, appeared live on cable television Thursday to defend
his work.

The reporter, Carl Kozlowski, was unassuming in his defense on "The
Larry Zarian Show" on Thursday while discussing an error in which
he incorrectly attributed to Drayman comments Councilman Dave Weaver
allegedly made about Armenian smokers and the influence they may have
in opposing Glendale’s upcoming smoking ordinance.

The cover article was widely circulated at City Hall about five weeks
after it published and set off what has been an ongoing protest of
Weaver by the Armenian community, especially the Armenian National
Committee Glendale Chapter.

"I certainly didn’t want to cause a rift in the community," Kozlowski
said.

But he did not back down from Weaver’s accusations that the Pasadena
Weekly had distorted his comments and had fabricated some of the
indirect quotations in the article.

Councilman Bob Yousefian, who has remained relatively silent on the
controversy, called into the live question-and-answer portion of the
show Thursday to ask Kozlowski point blank if he would, under oath,
affirm the veracity of his corrected attribution of the comments
to Weaver.

"Absolutely. Absolutely," Kozlowski replied.

Pasadena Weekly editor Kevin Uhrich also appeared with Kozlowski
to defend the magazine’s integrity against Weaver’s accusations of
journalistic philandering.

The pair reiterated Uhrich’s version of events laid out in a Pasadena
Weekly column that published Thursday, in which Kozlowski repeatedly
asked Weaver if he was talking about Armenians in his comments about
the smokers.

Uhrich said Weaver offered only "a growl" in one response, and silence
in the other.

Then, in a subsequent conversation, Uhrich said Weaver confirmed
to Kozlowski that he was talking about the city’s "substantial and
politically influential Armenian community."

Weaver — who declined an invitation to appear on Zarian’s show as
a politically futile effort — refuted Uhrich’s assertions before
the show Thursday and said Kozlowski was bent on leading him to draw
certain conclusions about Glendale’s smoking community.

He also loathed the ongoing effort by some in the community to insist
on drawing out a "divisive issue."

"This is all politics, and it’s aimed at me," Weaver said.

The matter, at least before the City Council dais on Tuesday, had
appeared to fade, with only one staunch critic of Weaver blasting
the article and the councilman’s apparent unwillingness to issue a
full apology.

A week prior, Councilman Ara Najarian said he was satisfied with
Weaver’s explanation that his comments were taken out of context
and that he never tied opposition to the coming smoking ordinance to
Glendale’s "substantial" Armenian smoking population.

Najarian again affirmed his position on Tuesday, arguing that to draw
it out without any new evidence would be to carry on a controversy
based on hearsay.

Even with Kozlowski’s defense and Yousefian’s call-in, it appeared the
"he said, he said" standoff would remain for the time being.

"Somebody’s got to not be telling the truth," Zarian said.

As far as Uhrich and Kozlowski were concerned, it wasn’t them.

"We can’t make up what people say, and that’s the tragedy here,"
Uhrich said.

He went on to say that the purpose for appearing on the show was to
defend the reputation of the Pasadena Weekly and his staff.

"Our integrity is everything to us," he said.