Author: Alex Jidarian

OSCE mission monitors Karabakh front line – Armenian agency
Noyan Tapan news agency, Yerevan
12 Apr 05
STEPANAKERT
An OSCE mission held regular monitoring yesterday in the village of
Verin Chaylu of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic [NKR] on the contact
line between the Nagornyy Karabakh and Azerbaijani armed forces, the
press service of the NKR Foreign Ministry has reported.
Monitoring was carried out by the field assistants of the personal
representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office, Miroslav Vymetal (Czech
Republic) and Olexandr Samarski (Ukraine), from the positions of the
NKR Defence Army.
On the Azerbaijani side, the monitoring group was headed by the
personal representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office, Andrzej
Kasprzyk.
Representatives of the NKR defence and foreign ministries accompanying
the OSCE mission registered shooting from the Azerbaijani side north
of Verin Chaylu. Monitoring continued after the sides had once again
received security guarantees. Monitoring went ahead as planned.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenians fired at our positions in the direction of Goranboy and Aghdam
07 April 2005 [15:55] – Today.Az
Divisions of Armed Forces of Armenia from their positions in 3.2 km to
the east of the occupied part of the village Tapgaragoyunlu of Goranboy
region machine-gunned at the opposite positions of the Armed Forces of
Azerbaijan located in the that territory at 20.30 till 21.25 yesterday.
Armed Forces of Armenia again from their positions in 0.4 km to the
east of the occupied village Namirli of the region Agdam fired at the
opposite positions of Armed Forces of Azerbaijan in the territory of
that village at 00.10 till 01.35 and from the positions in 1.6 km tom
the south of the village Ahmadaghali machine-gunned at the positions
of Armed Forces of Azerbaijan located in that village at 04.00 till
04.10 on 6 April.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ROBERT KOCHARIAN AND HERMAN DE CROO EMPHASIZE NECESSITY TO EXTEND
ARMENIAN-BELGIAN POLITICAL DIALOGUE
YEREVAN, APRIL 5, NOYAN TAPAN. On April 5, RA President Robert
Kocharian received Herman De Croo, Chairman of the Belgian House of
Representatives, in his private house. The sides highly estimated the
level of Armenian-Belgian relations mentioning that the evidence of
this is also the fact that Belgium is Armenia’s main trade partner
among the EU countries. According to RA President’s Press Service,
the interlocutors attached importance to the necessity to extend the
political dialogue between the 2 countries, and the activization of
parliamentary cooperation may contribute to it. Issues concerning
Armenia’s integration to Europe, in particular, in the context of
European “New Neighborhood” policy, were also discussed. R. Kocharian
and Herman De Croo also touched upon regional problems and processes.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

fightnews.com
Harutyunyan tops Hayashida!
April 2, 2005
By Francisco Salazar at ringside
Photos: Marcus Lopez
For more photos,
visit
Eight months ago, Kahren Harutyunyan left the ring in disillusionment and
disappointment. He was in complete control and on his way to unanimous
decision victory when a cut over his eye caused by a punch prompted a
stoppage and a knockout loss against him.
Friday night saw a complete reversal of that outcome when Harutyunyan
controlled and dominated his way to a 12 round unanimous decision victory
over Tatsuo Hayashida before almost 1,100 at the Quiet Cannon in Montebello,
CA. With the victory, Harutyunyan wins the vacant NABO Junior Bantamweight
championship.
The bout headlined a six-bout “Battle of the Rising Stars” card, presented
by All Star Boxing.
It was an almost flawless performance by Harutyunyan, who boxed brilliantly
for the duration of the fight. Harutyunyan set the tempo of the fight by
landing strong combinations and getting in and out of Hayashida’s punching
range.
Harutyunyan scored a knockdown in the third round. Harutyunyan landed a
counter right cross that dropped Hayashida to the canvas. Undeterred,
Hayashida got up and fought on.
Hayashida turned up the pressure in the fifth round. He succeeded in landing
more punches and backing up Harutyunyan. However, it was not enough to
offset Harutyunyan’s offense.
The eighth round was the best in the fight. Harutyunyan put more pressure on
Hayashida and landed more vicious punches than he had in previous rounds.
Hayashida bravely fought back, despite the fact he suffered a cut over his
left eye from a headbutt.
After a right hand staggered Hayashida in the 10th round, Harutyunyan boxed
well until the final bell. Harutyunyan let up on the pressure, but did
enough to score to win the last couple of rounds.
All three judges scored the bout in favor of Harutyunyan, 120-107, 120-107,
and 119-108. Fightnews.com scored the bout in favor of Harutyunyan, 120-107.
Harutyunyan felt blessed with the support he had from family and friends who
were at the fight. It was great sharing a dream of becoming champion. Still,
he has higher aspirations.
“I am working hard to become a world champion,” said Harutyunyan, who has
contributed to Fightnews.com before. “I am a thinking person. I was ready to
go all of the way. I wasn’t content with a decision because I had him down.
I was going for the KO if it was there. But, my main focus was staying with
my game plan throughout the fight.”
Harutyunyan was down after the bout in August, which he was winning against
Gilberto Bolanos. A cut over his eye allegedly caused by a punch prompted
the ringside physician for that fight to stop it with a round to go, giving
Bolanos the victory over Harutyunyan.
Now, he is content. All of that hard work paid off and earned him a title.
“I was winning the Bolanos fight until they stopped it. But, my management
made this fight for me. I became more motivated and I put everything behind
me.”
Harutyunyan, from Glendale, CA by way of Yerevan, Armenia, improves to
12-2-3. Hayashida, from Tokyo, Japan, drops to 17-6-1, 8 KO’s.
In the co-feature, Super Welterweight Santiago Perez outworked Felipe
Santana over six rounds to win a unanimous decision.
Perez was the busier fighter who landed the more effective punches
throughout the fight. Perez was content to allow Santana to come towards
him, thus allowing him to counter Santana.
Santana was busier in the third and landed more punches than in previous
rounds. He was finally able to get in Perez’ range and land straight right
hands.
However, Perez controlled the action in the rest of the fight Santana
suffered a cut in the fifth round, prompting Perez to come straight at
Santana and land more punches in the round.
Perez finished the bout strong as Santana slowed down considerably. Due to
him not being in the ring for years, Santana rarely landed a punch and
allowed for Perez to press the action.
All three judges scored the bout 60-54 in favor of Perez. Fightnews.com
scored the bout the same for Perez.
Perez, from El Monte, CA by way of Copala, Guerrero, Mexico, goes to 9-0-1,
2 KO’s. Santana, from Yucatan, Mexico, falls to 2-1.
Super Middleweight Joey Aragon knocked down Chris Moorings once and settled
for a four round unanimous decision.
Aragon used angles throughout the fight to avoid any of Moorings punches.
Aragon would tie up Moorings as he would charge into him.
The stockier Aragon found a home for wide right hands to the head of
Moorings. One of those right hands was an uppercut that landed flush on
Mooring’s chin, dropping him to the canvas in the second round. Moorings got
up immediately and was not visibly shaken.
Moorings, a former kickboxing champion, came out more aggressive in the
third round. Moorings came straight at Aragon, but could not put his punches
together. Aragon still found a home with a right hand, with left hooks.
Moorings landed more punches in the fourth round. Aragon slowed down and was
able to clench whenever he felt Moorings would have had the upper hand.
All three judges had Aragon winning the bout, 40-35, 39-36, and 38-37.
Fightnews.com had Aragon winning 39-36.
Aragon, from Rosemead, CA, improves to 6-2, 2 KO’s. Moorings, from Long
Beach, CA, loses his professional debut.
Welterweight George Moreno scored an upset when he knocked down Francisco
Zepeda twice, the last one for good in the first round of a scheduled six
round bout.
A left hook to the head dropped Zepeda to the canvas. Zepeda got up and
fought back bravely. During an exchange, a right hand by Moreno dropped
Zepeda to the canvas again.
Dazed, Zepeda stood up, but referee Raul Caiz, Jr. stopped the bout at 1:38
of the first round.
Moreno, from Azusa, CA, improves to 3-7, 2 KO’s. Zepeda, from Los Angeles by
way of Michoacan, Mexico, drops to 3-3-2, 1 KO.
In other bouts:
– Super Featherweight Jorge Espinoza knocked out Shane Langford with a left
hook to the head at 18 seconds of the first round. Langford had gotten up
from the knockdown but fell in the arms of referee Tony Crebs. Espinoza,
from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, goes to 3-0, 1 KO. Langford, from Los
Angeles by way of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, drops to 1-7-1.
– In the walkout bout of the evening, Super Welterweight Aaron Martinez won
a four round decision over Salomon Tellez. Martinez, from East Los Angeles,
CA, goes to 2-0. Tellez, from Anaheim, CA, drops to 2-2.
Notes:
– Faces in the crowd: former world champion Bobby Chacon, Middleweight
Sergio Mora (also on NBC’s “Contender”), undefeated fighters Z Gorres and
Rey Bautista.
– All Star Boxing is back at the Quiet Cannon in Montebello on Friday, May
20th with another installment of “Battle of the Rising Stars.” To purchase
tickets, call All Star Boxing at (323) 816-6200.
– Harytyunyan is being trained by Freddie Roach.
– Ring announcer was Jim Fitzgerald.
Questions? Comments? Email Francisco Salazar
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PanArmenian News
March 29 2005
PHILIP KIRKOROV WILL TRY TO SMOOTH AWAY MISTAKES
29.03.2005 04:09
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russian singer Phlip Kirkorov considers the project
of performing Turkish songs to be a rash decision, press secretary of
the company-initiator of Kirkorov’s concert tour in Armenia Termine
Ayrumian stated. She reminded that these songs were performed 4 years
ago and it is a bit late to speculate in this subject. When
commenting on the incident with the Armenian journalist she said that
Kirkorov has already apologized to the young woman. Meanwhile,
Termine Ayrumian informed that Philip Kirkorov and his father Bedros
Kirkorov, who will arrive with him, are going to visit the Memorial
to Armenian Genocide victims and the Genocide Museum. Besides, Bedros
Kirkorov promised to make a surprise for the Armenian audience and
sing some favorite Armenian songs.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Arab tribal leaders pay tribute to Genocide victims
29.03.2005 14:27
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – A delegation of 12 Arab tribal leaders, accompanied
by National Assembly’s Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) faction
and theARF Armenia Supreme Body members, visited Tuesday the
Tsitsernakaberd Memorial to pay tribute to the victims of the Armenian
Genocide.
The delegation members prayed for the victims’ souls. Speaking to
reporters, they pointed out that no one can deny the reality of the
Genocide that is proven by numerous documents.
The Arab tribal leaders of the northern Syria are in Armenia to take
part in the events commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide. The trip has been organized by the Armenian community of
Syria.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Celebrate Persian New Year at Glendale College
Valley Sun, CA
March 24 2005
IN TRADITION – A Nowruz (Haft-seen) table is a display of seven
articles placed on the table representing life, health, happiness,
prosperity, love, joy and beauty.
The Glendale Community College Persian Club presents a Nowruz Baazar –
a celebration of the Persian New Year – on March 29 from 10 a.m. to
2 p.m. in San Rafael Plaza on the GCC campus, 1500 N. Verdugo Road
in Glendale.
The club will have several booths to represent the different aspects
of the Persian culture such as a Haft-seen table, a beautiful display
of seven articles with their names starting with S to represent life,
health, happiness, prosperity, love, joy and beauty; and a Chay Khaneh,
a traditional tea house that is a place to relax, eat, drink and talk –
mostly for men. The strings of history, philosophy, music, culture and
art are all attached to the walls of this cozy yet profound setting.
The Persian Club will also host Persian artist Badri Borghei for
the Nowruz Festival. In 1997, Borghei was recognized by the YWCA of
Greater Los Angeles and received a proclamation from former Mayor
Richard Riordan. Her artworks have been used in lectures by professor
Michael Hillman at Texas State University at Austin. More information
about her work can be found at
Displays of Persian musical instruments such as the tombak, tar, daf,
darieh and santoor will also be featured.
A display of Persian hand crafts, miniature frames, statues, Persian
rugs and samovar will also be featured.
Shiraz, one of the most beautiful and historical cities of Iran,
will have its own booth with a display of artwork, foods and pastries.
Books such as “Iran, the Ancient Land,” with beautiful pictures of
different parts of Iran, “Shahnameh” by Ferdowsi, in English and
biographies of great Armenian characters as Hafez and Khayam willbe
available.
Children are an important part of the Nowrus celebration. The
Persian Club will have Haji-Firuz, a disguised face character in
bright red clothes, singing and entertaining the children. His red
costume symbolizes the blood and tragic fate of the legendary Prince
Siavush and the rebirth of the god of sacrifice, while his happiness
and singing represent his joy at being reborn.
Persian foods will also be be sampled, such as Basmati rice with
safran, kabob, chicken, ashe-reshteh (traditional Persian soup),
ashe-balghoor, and more. For dessert, a traditional Persian ice cream
will be served as well as Persian pastries.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EDUARD ROSSEL SUGGESTED FOUNDING ARMENIAN TRADE CENTER IN SVERDLOVSK REGION
PanArmenian News
March 22 2005
22.03.2005 07:11
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margarian has met
with Sverdlovsk Russian region Governor Eduard Rossel, the Press
Service of the Armenian Government reported. In the course of the
meeting Margarian noted that active cooperation between Armenia and
25 administrative subjects of Russia was established recently,
agreements between the Governments of Armenia and Moscow, Leningrad,
Saratov, Astrakhan, Kirov regions and the Krasnodar territory are
signed. In his words, the commodity turnover between Armenia and
Russia grows constantly, also due to cooperation with the
administrative subjects. Eduard Rossel acquainted with the social and
economic situation in the Sverdlovsk region and development
prospects, noting that the region is the first one in Russia to
implement a long-term development program, one of its main components
being stimulation of cooperation with neighbor countries, including
Armenia and its regions. He suggested Armenia founding a trade center
in Sverdlovsk region, organizing an exhibition of the Armenian
production, creating joint ventures, as well as invited the Armenian
party to participate in an annual international economic forum.
Having accepted the Governor~Rs proposals, Mr. Margarian noted that
after the signing of the agreement it will be possible to use the
potential of the Commercial and Industrial Chambers of Armenia and
Russia, the Association of the Russian-Armenian Business Cooperation.
The interlocutors also noted that the Vladimir Putin~Rs coming visit
to Armenia and the official opening of the Year of Russia in Armenia
will be a new stimulus for further strengthening the Armenian-Russian
relations. At the completion of the meeting the parties signed a
Protocol on the outcomes of the visit of the Sverdlovsk delegation to
Yerevan, which notes the main directions of the commercial and
economic, industrial and humanitarian cooperation, as well as
emphasizes the need for signing an inter-governmental agreement for
the realization of the cooperation.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Miami Herald, FL
March 17 2005
Psst, pal, wanna buy some cheap guided missiles?
Any fan of Hollywood B movies expects a hot-tub scene. Our thriller
gets it out of the way early: Page 13 of the rousing 62-page United
States of America versus Armo, Tiko, Soso, Joe, Jabs, Spies, Nikush,
et al.
The FBI’s confidential informant, known only as CI, traveled to a
Brooklyn spa last spring to negotiate with some scoundrels with
nefarious ties to the international arms black market. The meeting
began “first in a sauna, then in a hot tub.”
The movie version, of course, would have added a couple of nearly
naked, beautiful women sloshing about as an arms deal simmered in
roiling water. No mention of skin in the federal complaint released
this week.
Our main villain, Artur Solomonyan, 26, asked as he soaked if CI’s
clients had ”dark skin,” meaning, of course, were they Arab
terrorists.
Solomonyan, an Armenian, and his partner, a 33-year-old South African
known as Spies (as Dave Barry would say, I’m not making this up)
assured the FBI’s own spy that they could supply him with land mines,
rocket- propelled grenade launchers, surface-to-air missiles,
including shoulder-launched Stingers, and a variety of machine guns,
all obtained from leaky armories in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia
and Chechnya. Solomonyan also mentioned enriched uranium that “could
be used in the subway system.”
CI intimated that he was the middle man for some very unsavory
clients, “specifically mentioning foreign and domestic terrorists.”
NO SCRUPLES
These were pure Hollywood-style evildoers, unburdened by
soul-searching, guilt, doubts or anguish. No complicated character
studies here. More like the one-dimensional bad guys on Fox TV’s 24.
“Spies responded that he did not care who purchased the
explosives.”
For more than a year, the FBI monitored 15,000 cellphone
conversations among the gang members. CI traveled from New York to
Los Angeles to South Florida, a place seen by the crooks as a
nurturing, low-risk climate for their criminal enterprise. “Spies
said Florida was a good place to do things.”
Two South Florida men were among those arrested Tuesday when the FBI
trap snapped shut on 17 alleged arms dealers. Joseph Colpani, 53, of
Hollywood, and Michael Demare, 50, of north Miami-Dade were captured
in their not-very-flashy neighborhoods after selling two AK-47s and
promising nastier stuff to come. I’m sure the movie version will
relocate the pair to Star Island.
PUPPY LOVE
The gang had their nicknames, a cinematic touch. And cute code names
for weapons. Machine guns and rocket launchers became toys, condos,
SUVs and puppies.
Can guys who love puppies be so bad?
The FBI’s CI purchased eight assault rifles during the course of the
investigation. What’s unclear is whether the other stuff promised was
so much smoke blown by low-rent hoods, who ran credit-card and
Medicare scams on the side.
Did they really have access to missiles powerful enough to take down
an airliner? Or enriched uranium? Or rocket grenade launchers?
The case is reminiscent of the so-called Russian mobsters who ran
Porky’s, a strip bar in Hialeah. In 1995, they tried to sell
undercover cops, posing as drug smugglers, a Russian submarine. It
was never quite clear how much of that was bravado, how much was a
real possibility.
Not that this latest batch of Soviet-bloc criminals weren’t sinister.
Solomonyan was taped saying he had something unsavory in mind for CI,
who he thought was ”playing with him.” Solomonyan said, “He’ll see
what it means to play.”
His threatening words were pure film noir.
He said the CI “won’t forget me for all his life. He’s gonna
remember me for a while. I’m not joking. You’ll see. I’ve got a
couple plans.”
The gang was nabbed before our tough guy could carry out his threat
— a perfect Hollywood ending.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Today.Az, Azerabaijan
Feb 28 2005
US State Department disappointed by the words of its own Ambassador
to Armenia
27 February 2005 [08:52] – Today.Az
Some news agencies based on armenian sources quoted US Ambassador to
Amernia as saying “Karabakh can not be given to Azerbaijan”.
He said this while speaking in Berkley University, CA to the members
of Armenian Diaspora. It is strange to hear these words from the
representative of US Administartion that has always made clear its
support to territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and never recognized
Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state.
The words of Ambassador John Evans should be considered as a “private
comment at a private party” said State Department official Steve
Pike, commenting on the odd statement of its Ambassador to Armenia.
“They do not reflect US official position on this issue. US policy on
Nagorno-Karabakh remains unchanged”, he added.
Azerbaijani Ambassador to US Hafiz Pashayev discussed this incident
with US officials, as well as with Laura Kenndey, Deputy Assistant
Secretary on Caucasus, Central Asia and Southeast Europe. According
to Hafiz Pashayev, from his conversations with US officials he
concluded that American side was disappointed with John Evans’s
statement. US officials once again reassured Azerbaijani Ambassador
that the United States supports the territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan and doesn’t recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent
state, nor it recognizes its authorities. (AzerTadj)
“This is an irresponsible statement to make on the eve of the next
meeting of Foreign Affairs Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia. John
Evans should give an explanation to his statement”, Azerbaijani
Ambassador added. “Every Ambassador tries to be particularly careful
in the statements and not use a word that might undermine an official
stance of his country in a certain issue. It seems, that an
atmosphere of two week long meetings in different states with
Armenian Diaspora influenced Ambassador Evans in such an extent, that
he didn’t adhere to this basic principle of diplomacy”.
URL:
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress