Author: Badalian Vardan

ARONIAN BEATS ANAND
by Hari Hara Nandanan TNN

Times of India (Electronic Edition)
October 12, 2011 Wednesday

Chennai: World champion Viswanathan Anand must be happy that he is
not playing Levon Aronian in the title match next year.The champion
suffered his worst loss since he retained his crown against the
Armenian on Monday in the Bilbao Grand Slam Masters chess tournament
and slumped to the bottom of the table with a round to go.In
contrast,World No 1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway beat Vassily Ivanchuk of
Ukraine andcaughtup withhim on the points table.The last round should
be an exciting affair with Carlsen and Ivanchuk on level terms and
trying to get their hands first on the top prize.Ivanchuk and Carlsen
arefollowed by Aronian and Nakamura on 11.Vallejo Pons overtook Anand
on the points tally (10 to 9) after he scored his third win of the
tournament.Vallejo won a queen and rooks ending against Nakamura.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND 2-1 ARMENIA: DOYLE DISMISSAL DOESN’T STOP PLAY-OFF QUALIFICATION
By Paul O’Hehir

MirrorFootball.co.uk
Oct 11 2011

Ireland shrugged off the dismissal of striker Kevin Doyle to reach
the Euro 2012 play-offs last night.

Their job was made easier when Spanish referee Eduardo Iturralde
Gonzalez wrongly sent off Armenia keeper Roman Berezovsky after 26
minutes for handling a Simon Cox shot outside the box.

TV replays showed the ball hit Berezovsky on the chest – and that
Ireland striker Cox probably used his hand to control Glenn Whelan’s
through pass.

The visitors’ plight ­deepened a minute before the break when defender
Valeri Aleksanyan turned Damien Duff’s cross into his own net. When
Aston Villa’s Richard Dunne bundled home a second on the hour –
his first international goal in two years – from a cross by Aiden
McGeady that was flapped at by replacement goalkeeper Arsen Petrosyan,
the game looked to be over.

But Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s strike two minutes later ended Ireland’s
run of eight clean sheets and sparked a fightback.

The final whistle at the Aviva stadium was greeted with as much relief
as joy, but the victory was not enough for the Irish to top Group B
because Russia beat Andorra 6-0.

Doyle was harshly sent off nine minutes from time for a second yellow
– but the Wolves man would have missed the first leg of the play-offs
as a result of his first booking anyway.

West Brom striker Cox hailed the team as “heroes”. He said: “It’s an
­unbelievable night for Irish football. We needed to get six points out
of six, and we got them and gave ourselves the best possible chance.

“It’s the luck of the draw now and we’ll take whatever comes.

“We came out with the best mentality that we could find and played
like heroes. We got the right result.”

Two years ago, the ­Republic’s World Cup qualifying dreams were ended
by a handball decision – or rather a non-decision – as France scraped
past them.

Cox said: “We’ll go full steam ahead into the game and we probably
won’t even think about France or any other play-off defeat that
we’ve had.”

Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni was delighted his side battled past
a team he rated the best in the group.

“Armenia have scored many more goals than us,” said Trapattoni. “In
every position they have a strong team, their midfield is very quick
and fast, their attack is very dangerous. So I’m happy,”

Cox said of Berezovsky’s red card: “I thought it wasn’t a handball,
but we’ll take it. We’re just a little unfortunate we got one as well.”

IRELAND BEATS ARMENIA 2-1 TO MAKE EURO PLAYOFFS

Fox News
Oct 11 2011

DUBLIN (AP) – Ireland qualified for the playoffs for next year’s
European Championship after capitalizing on Armenia goalkeeper Roman
Berezovski’s disputed sending-off to win 2-1 at home on Tuesday.

Berezovski was red-carded in the 26th minute for handling an attempted
lob by Ireland striker Simon Cox outside his area, although television
replays suggested the ball hit the goalkeeper’s chest.

Ireland took full advantage, going ahead in the 42nd through Valeri
Aleksanyan’s own goal before center back Richard Dunne added a second
in the 59th.

Henrik Mkhitaryan replied two minutes later for Armenia, which would
have finished runner-up in Group B with a win in Dublin, before
Ireland striker Kevin Doyle was shown a second yellow card in the 80th.

The victory wasn’t enough for the Irish to top the group because
Russia beat Andorra 6-0, maintaining its two-point lead.

Armenia was attempting to reach the finals of a major tournament
for the first time but its hopes virtually disappeared when Spanish
referee Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez sent Berezovski off.

In addition to the fact that Berezovski may not have touched the ball
with his arm, Gonzalez should have whistled moments earlier because
Cox had controlled the long through ball from Glenn Whelan with his
outstretched right arm.

Ireland was on the wrong end of a referee’s handball decision two years
ago in a qualification playoff against France for the 2010 World Cup.

On that occasion, the official didn’t see France striker Thierry Henry
bring down a cross with his hand, before centering for William Gallas
to score the crucial goal in extra time.

Ireland also finished with 10 men after Doyle was dismissed for
elbowing his marker as he challenged for a high ball, but the damage
had been done by then for Armenia.

Aleksanyan’s own goal was completely avoidable, the defender glancing
the ball into his own net from five yards (meters) without an Irishman
near him after Doyle had failed to get anything on Damien Duff’s cross.

Dunne then scored his first international goal in two years, bundling
in a cross from Aiden McGeady that was flapped at by replacement
goalkeeper Arsen Petrosyan.

Armenia was given a flicker of hope two minutes later when Ireland
goalkeeper Shay Given failed to keep out Mkhitaryan’s curling shot
from edge of area.

However, Ireland survived without any further trouble and awaits its
playoff opponent in Thursday’s draw.

—

Lineups:

Ireland: Shay Given, John O’Shea, Sean St. Ledger, Richard Dunne,
Stephen Kelly, Damien Duff, Keith Andrews, Glenn Whelan (Keith Fahey,
76), Aiden McGeady (Stephen Hunt, 67), Kevin Doyle, Simon Cox (Jon
Walters, 80).

Armenia: Roman Berezovski, Sargis Hovsepyan, Karlen Lazarian, Marcos
Pizzelli (Edgar Manucharyan, 62), Edgar Malakyan (Arsen Petrosyan,
28), Gevorg Ghazaryan (Artur Sarkisov, 62), Yura Movsisyan, Hrayr
Mkoyan, Valeri Aleksanyan, Henrik Mkhitaryan, Levon Hayrapetyan.

FEARLESS ARMENIA TRANSFORMED FROM SIDE BEATEN IN YEREVAN
By Liam Kelly

Irish Independent
Oct 11 2011

ONE more step to clinch a Euro 2012 qualifier play-off for Giovanni
Trapattoni’s men, but who would have believed that little Armenia
would arrive with confidence high and neutral observers tipping them
to shock us in Dublin?

Four goals scored against Macedonia last Friday, and four against
Slovakia away in September, have bought one of Europe’s minnows some
serious street cred.

So should the fans who will throng the Aviva Stadium tonight get the
worry beads out?

Not if the Irish players perform to their capabilities, says former
international striker Frank Stapleton, who has twice scouted Armenia
for Trapattoni.

Stapleton first viewed Armenia v Uzbekistan (3-1) in a friendly back
in May 2010 before the qualifying series began, and he saw them in
Lithuania last August, when they won 3-0.

“They’ve got a decent work ethic and with the results they’ve achieved,
they demand respect,” he said.

“They’re not a big physical team. Obviously they’re playing with
the most confidence they’ve ever had and this is the best run in
their history.

“I would expect us to win but it won’t be comfortable because we’ll
never make it comfortable for ourselves.

“We’ve got to go out and play to our capabilities and keep our cool.

That’s the strength of the manager. He’ll calm the players and will
be very positive in what he wants from them.”

ARMENIA gained its independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991
and a year later its football federation came into existence.

History was made when they played their first international on October
14, 1992 against Moldova.

Their first venture into an international tournament was in 1994
away to Belgium — lost 2-0 — when Armenia opened their qualifying
campaign for Euro ’96. In September 1995, Macedonia were the first
country Armenia defeated in competitive football.

Since then they have settled in as part of the international football
family in UEFA and FIFA qualifiers without achieving the holy grail
of reaching a major finals.

They have eight clubs playing in the Armenian Premier League, but
their better players tend to operate mainly in Russia and the Ukraine.

Ian Porterfield, the former Sunderland star, managed the team from
2006-07. He is credited with improving the mindset of the international
team. However, he died in ’07 of cancer.

Present coach Vardan Minasyan was an assistant to Porterfield,
and took charge of the senior side in ’09. He is benefiting from
the ongoing development of good talent at under-age level to bring
Armenia to a new level.

THE Irish team went to Armenia in their opening Euro 2012 qualifier
and escaped with a 1-0 victory, courtesy of a 76th-minute goal by
Keith Fahey.

Since then, Minasyan has overhauled his team to the extent that
only six of the players who started against Ireland in September of
last year featured from the outset in their 4-1 win over Macedonia
last Friday,

They were goalkeeper Roman Berezovski, defender and captain Sargus
Hovsepyan, midfielders Karlen Lazarian, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Artur
Edigaryan and striker Yura Moysisyan.

Striker Marcos Pizelli, who scored against Macedonia, was an unused
sub in the game against Ireland.

Mkhitaryan (22) of Shakhtar Donetsk has since grown in stature and
has scored five times in the campaign — as has Gevorg Ghazaryan.

Another big threat comes from 24- year-old Moysisyan, who has notched
up four goals from 10 appearances, having made his competitive debut
against Ireland in Yerevan.

ANY team that can hammer Slovakia 4-0 away and get another four against
Macedonia must be respected, it’s really all about the Irish players
and their approach tonight.

The confidence which was clearly flowing through the players when
they gathered in Dublin last week should only be enhanced by the win
in Andorra.

Yes, it was only 2-0, but Russia didn’t do any better in the tiny
principality in the Pyrenees.

And before we make too much of Armenia, let’s realise they caught
Slovakia on the hop, with the Slovaks over-confident after emerging
from Dublin with a hard-fought draw.

It should be noted that Macedonia are in the early stages of new
management under John Toshack, and they had nothing to play for
last Friday.

Toshack doesn’t have much time to get to know his players and his
selection options, so that was a ripe opportunity for Armenia.

Credit to Armenia for justifying the respect they gained from the
Irish players after that 1-0 win back in September 2010, but they
need to be put firmly in their place at the Aviva Stadium tonight.

Three points please, and let’s march into the play-offs with heads
held high.

– Liam Kelly

BOZKIR: I FIND IT HARD TO UNDERSTAND SARKOZY’S RECENT REMARKS

Andolu Agency, Turkey
Oct 11 2011

Chairman of the Turkish Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee and
a Justice and Development (AK) Party deputy from the north-western
province of Istanbul, Volkan Bozkir, said Tuesday that he found it
hard to understand French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s recent remarks
on Turkey.

Speaking to the AA in Milan where he arrived for an international
conference, Volkan Bozkir said that he was disappointed by the remarks
Sarkozy made during a recent visit to Armenia.

Sarkozy’s remarks could hurt Turkish-French relations, Bozkir said.

Touching on Turkey-EU relations, Bozkir said that it was out of
question for Turkey to hold talks with the Greek Cypriot administration
during their EU term presidency in the second half of 2012.

We will not hold talks with an entity that we do not recognize just
because they have assumed EU term presidency for six months, Bozkir
also said.

FRENCH FORCED ARMENIANS OUT OF CILICIA IN EARLY 20TH CENTURY – HABERTURK

news.am, Armenia
Oct 10 2011

ANKARA. – Head of Armenian Studies Desk at Turkish Historical Society
Professor Kemal Cicek published a letter in Haberturk drawn from U.S.

archives and dated on October 4, 1920. The document contains
description of violence exerted on Armenians by French military troops
after the Treaty of Sevres.

According to the publication, the President of American Committee for
Armenian Independence Arshag Mahdesian wrote to U.S. President Woodrow
Wilson, attaching a letter of an Armenian priest from Izmir. American
Armenians complained that after the Treaty of Sevres the French have
deported 100 thousand Armenians from Cilicia and resettling Turks on
their lands.

“The French forced 14 thousand Armenians out of the refugee camps.

When the Armenian refugees refused to comply with the demand, French
officers threatened to turn machine guns on them. The Armenian
National Union intervened and the French postponed the execution of
their orders,” reads the letter.

The Turkish professor says Armenians and Frenchmen conquered Cilicia
together with the aim of creating an Armenian kingdom, however the
French turned their weapons against Armenians, forcing them disarm
and leave.

“In the course of history France used Armenians for its own ends. This
is true even for today,” said Cicek.

photo of document at

SARKIS G. SOGHANALIAN, ARMS DEALER DUBBED ‘MERCHANT OF DEATH,’ DIES AT 82
By T. Rees Shapiro

Washington Post
Oct 11 2011

Sarkis G. Soghanalian, 82, an international arms dealer known as “the
merchant of death” who sold French howitzers to Saddam Hussein and a
U.S. cargo plane to Moammar Gaddafi, and who also provided his unique
services to the CIA and FBI, died Oct. 5 at a hospital in Hialeah, Fla.

He reportedly suffered from heart disease; his death was confirmed
by his former lawyer, Mark Geragos.

Mr. Soghanalian had a gargantuan presence in the multibillion-dollar
arms market, both because of his heft – he weighed 300 pounds –
and because of his seemingly limitless abilities.

He moved about the world with near impunity because of his cozy
relationship with the U.S. government and its allies. He once dined
at the White House with President Jimmy Carter.

Although he was a felon several times over, no conviction kept Mr.

Soghanalian locked up for long. Geragos confirmed that Mr.

Soghanalian’s clients included the National Security Agency and the
U.S. Secret Service.

The longest stint Mr. Soghanalian served in prison was less than
two years – and even then he was “released under very secretive
circumstances” in the mid-1990s, Geragos said.

Mr. Soghanalian often said the key to his success was discretion
and efficiency. From his Miami-based office, he could procure tens
of thousands of AK-47 rifles, ammunition by the ton and missiles by
the pallet.

He considered himself a fastidious businessman and required proof
of his deadly wares’ delivery. Once, from Lebanese rebel fighters,
he reportedly accepted human ears floating in jars of formaldehyde
for assurance.

In addition to being an arms dealer, Mr. Soghanalian allowed the U.S
government use of his jet fleet. He provided the CIA with chartered
flights with no questions asked and once flew an American physician
to Iraq to examine Hussein’s bad back.

For his allegiance, Mr. Soghanalian was awarded lucrative contracts
with the United States and allied countries. At his peak, he earned
more than $12 million a year.

With such fortune came notoriety, and Mr. Soghanalian was eventually
dubbed “the merchant of death.” It was a moniker he nonchalantly
dismissed.

“I know deep in my heart I’m not doing anything wrong,” he told
the PBS program “Frontline” in 2001. “Alfred Nobel was called ‘the
merchant of death’ when he first made gunpowder, and then they named
it the Nobel Prize.”

Sarkis Garabet Soghanalian was born Feb. 6, 1929, in what used to be
Iskenderun, Syria, and which is now part of Turkey.

To escape persecution, his ethnic Armenian family fled to Lebanon,
where, as a teenager, he served in the French army during World War II.

After developing a fascination with weapons as a mechanic in a tank
division, he decided to pursue a career in the arms business. He
sold Jeeps and Land Rovers throughout the Middle East before moving
up to tanks.

He began working for the U.S. government in the mid-1970s. With the
outbreak of civil war in Lebanon, the CIA paid Mr. Soghanalian to
arm Christian militia fighters with surplus Kalashnikov rifles from
the Soviet Union. In return, the Palestine Liberation Organization
placed a bounty on his head.

Word of Mr. Soghanalian’s smooth operation led him to do transactions
with Gaddafi and to become Hussein’s main weapons supplier in the
1980s during the Iran-Iraq war. With tacit approval from the United
States, Mr. Soghanalian circumvented a U.N. arms embargo and sold
Hussein $1.6 billion in weapons, including advanced French artillery
and U.S. helicopters.

After the Persian Gulf War, Mr. Soghanalian learned that yesterday’s
friend could become today’s enemy. In the early 1990s, he was convicted
in a U.S. District Court in Miami of conspiring to sell 103 helicopters
to Iraq during its war with Iran. He was sentenced to six years in
prison but was released early for helping to dismantle a counterfeiting
operation that was pumping nearly perfect $100 bills into Lebanon.

Mr. Soghanalian said that he preferred to work with U.S. partners
and that he attempted to ensure that his weapons did not reach the
hands of rogues and tyrants – ultimately to little success. An Exocet
anti-ship missile that he sold to Argentina’s military junta sank
the Royal Navy’s HMS Sheffield in the Falklands War.

His marriage to Shirley Soghanalian ended in divorce. Survivors
include two children.

Occasionally, Mr. Soghanalian used his extensive resources for good
will. He sent 26 planes to airlift relief supplies to the Soviet Union
in 1988 when an earthquake killed about 55,000 people and left more
than 750,000 homeless, many of them Armenians.

For his humanitarian efforts, President George H.W. Bush said that Mr.

Soghanalian “strengthened the ties that unite mankind.” In a letter,
Mother Teresa wrote that God would reward the benevolence of Mr.

Soghanalian and his family “a hundredfold.”

EU ENVOY: ARMENIAN-TURKISH DEAL TO BE PROCESSING UNTIL 2015

Panorama, Armenia
Oct 10 2011

“The Armenian-Turkish protocols aren’t processing right now, though
they can change the life in the region. I think that the processes
round the blocked Armenian-Turkish border will start moving until
2015 when the 100th anniversary of Armenian Genocide will be marked,”
Onno Simons, the EU envoy to Armenia, said on Tuesday during panel
discussions held in Armenia.

The EU diplomat has stated that both Armenia and Turkey are to face
elections, thus any development related to the Genocide issue, should
be anticipated by 2015.

Panel discussions are being held in Armenia titled “Through great
border: Perspective of regional development beyond the closed borders.”

“Though the ratification process of the protocols is suspended”
they will do a favor to the both parties.

TURKEY’S ERDOGAN SLAMS FRANCE OVER ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Oct 11 2011

RFE/RL — Turkish Prime Recep Tayyip Erdogan angrily rejected on
Tuesday French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s calls for Turkey to
recognize the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire as genocide. Erdogan accused Sarkozy of playing the
anti-Turkish card to secure reelection and warned of serious damage
to relations between France and Turkey.

Visiting Armenia late last week, Sarkozy repeatedly reaffirmed
France’s official recognition of the genocide and urged Ankara to
stop denying a premeditated government effort to wipe out Ottoman
Turkey’s Armenian population.

“The genocide of Armenians is a historic reality that was recognized
by France. Collective denial is even worse than individual denial,” he
said after laying flowers at the genocide memorial in Yerevan.Sarkozy,
who will be up for reelection next year, also implicitly threatened to
enact, within a “very brief” period, a law that would make Armenian
genocide denial a crime in France. Armenia -French President Nicolas
Sarkozy and his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisian lay flowers at
the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan, 06Oct2011. â~@~Kâ~@~K”If
Turkey revisited its history, looked it in the face, with its shadows
and highlights, this recognition of the genocide would be sufficient,”
he said. “But if Turkey will not do this, then without a doubt it
would be necessary to go further.”

The Turkish government was quick to denounce those remarks and link
them with the French presidential election. Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu said Sarkozy is thus seeking to gain votes from French
citizens of Armenian descent.Erdogan condemned the French leader in
even stronger terms as he addressed the Turkish parliament on Tuesday.

“This is not political leadership. Politics, first of all, requires
honesty,” the AFP news agency quoted him as saying

.”There are 600,000 Armenians in your country but also 500,000 Turks.

You have relations with Turkey,” Erdogan continued, addressing
Sarkozy. “Bearing the title of statesman requires thinking about next
generations, not next elections,” he said.

The French parliament officially recognized the slaughter of some 1.5
million Ottoman Armenians as genocide with a special law adopted in
2001. Although the move strained ties between Paris and Ankara, Turkey,
remains one of France’s major trading partners outside the European
Union.Speaking at a news conference in Yerevan on Friday, Sarkozy
also described as “unacceptable” Turkey’s refusal to unconditionally
reopen its border with Armenia. He at the same time urged his Armenian
counterpart Serzh Sarkisian to “continue the dialogue with Turkey.”

Sarkozy spoke just days before the second anniversary of the signing
in Zurich of Turkish-Armenian agreements envisaging the normalization
of bilateral ties. Erdogan’s government has made their ratification by
Turkey’s parliament conditional on a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. Yerevan has rejected this linkage and threatened to formally
annul the accords.

Sarkisian hailed Sarkozy’s calls for genocide recognition in a weekend
speech delivered in Echmiadzin, a historic town 25 kilometers south
of Yerevan. Sarkisian said they disproved his critics’ claims his
Western-backed policy of rapprochement with Turkey will complicate
a broader international recognition of what many historians consider
the first genocide of the 20th century.

RUSSIAN BILLIONAIRE IVANISHVILI STRIPPED OF GEORGIAN CITIZENSHIP

Tert.am
20:57 ~U 11.10.11

The Georgian authorities have deprived Bidzina Ivanishvili, a
Georgian-born billionaire living in Russia, of his citizenship,
citing the nation’s ban on dual citizenships.

According to the RIA Novosti, the move came after Ivanishvili said last
week he was ready to sell his businesses in Russia and give away his
Russian and French passports in order to challenge incumbent Georgian
President Mikheil Saakashvili’s party in next year’s parliamentary
elections.

Bidzina Ivanishvili has been ranked 25th by Forbes in its list of
Russian businessmen with an estimated fortune of $5.5 billion.

The Georgian Justice Ministry issued a statement saying Ivanishvili
was granted French citizenship after receiving his Georgian passport
in July 2004.

“Proceeding from this, given the provisions of the Georgian
constitution and the organic law on Georgian citizenship, Bidzina
Ivanishvili’s Georgian citizenship has been suspended,” the statement
reads.

According to the Georgian constitution, a Georgian citizen cannot
simultaneously be a citizen of another state.

The document does not specify when Ivanishvili was granted his French
passport.

On October 7, Ivanishvili announced plans to set up a political
party uniting “healthy” political forces in Georgia with the goal of
achieving an absolute majority in 2012 elections.

The 56-year-old businessman said in a statement his decision was “due
to the total monopoly held by Mikheil Saakashvili and the recently-made
constitutional amendments which demonstrated Saakashvili’s desire to
stay in power regardless of all constitutional terms.”

The businessman said he was ready to assume the post of Georgian
prime minister or parliamentary speaker.