Author: Basmajian Ani

Panorama.am

15:03 06/12/2008

AZERBAIJAN NERVOUS ABOUT ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONSHIP

Azerbaijan is nervous about the improvement of Armenian-Turkish
relationship, and Sabi Rusamkhanlin, a deputy of Azeri Parliament has
announced `We would not like to see strengthened diplomatic relations
with Armenia as it would be against our national interests. Moreover
Turkey should continue its policy which it adopted before.’

`Until Armenia takes out its troops from Azeri territories, Turkey
will not strengthen its relations with Armenia,’ announced the deputy.

But still one thing is obvious that Azerbaijan is not authorized to
prevent Turkey from making relations with Armenia.

Source: Panorama.am

ARMENIAN YOUNG PEOPLE DEMAND THAT GEORGIA STOP CULTURAL GENOCIDE TO ARMENIAN MONUMENTS

Noyan Tapan

Dec 5, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. On December 3, members of Armenian
student and youth organizations organized an action of protest in
front of the UN Office against destruction of Armenian monuments
in Georgia. A march to the Embassy of Georgia in Armenia was also
organized within the framework of the action. The march participants
were voicing "Don’t damage Armenian-Georgian Relations!," "Shame on the
Georgian government!," "No to cultural genocide!." They handed a letter
to the Ambassador of Georgia to Armenia, which read: "We, Armenia’s
student and youth organizations, demand that UNESCO undertake resolute
measures to prevent infringements on Armenian churches in the territory
of Georgia. Such an activity to constructions of historic-cultural
and especially religious significance and cemeteries in the 21st
century can only fit into the notion of a cultural genocide."

The Ambassador received the action participant delegates promising
them to convey their demand and open letter to the Georgian government.

FOREIGN MINISTERS AND DEPUTY MINISTER OF FRANCE, RUSSIA AND USA SIGN JOINT DECLARATION ON NAGORNO KARABAKH

ARMENPRESS
Dec 4, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS: Foreign ministers and the deputy
minister of the OSCE Minsk Group’s co-chairing countries signed today
a joint declaration on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The declaration
runs as following, "We, the Foreign Ministers and Deputy Minister of
the OSCE Minsk Group’s Co-Chair countries – France, Russia, and the
United States – call on the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
to build on the positive momentum established during the meeting of
the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Moscow on November 2,
2008. The Moscow Declaration signed that same day opened a new and
promising phase in our shared endeavor to expand peace in the South
Caucasus. In that declaration, the Presidents reaffirm their commitment
to advancing a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
in the framework of the Basic Principles developed by the Minsk Group
Co-Chairs in collaboration with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan
on the basis of their proposals advanced last year in Madrid.

We call on the parties to work with the Co-Chairs to finalize the Basic
Principles in coming months, and then begin drafting a comprehensive
peace settlement as outlined by those agreed principles. In keeping
with the Moscow Declaration, we call on the parties to work with
the Co-Chairs to develop confidence-building measures, beginning
with pulling back snipers from the Line of Contact to save lives of
innocent civilians and soldiers as our mediators already proposed to
the sides at the highest level during the last visit mid November. It
is urgent for the parties to work with each other, the Co-Chairs,
and the Personal Representative of the Chairman in Office to stabilize
the ceasefire through this and other measures. We reiterate our firm
view that there is no military solution to the conflict and call on
the parties to recommit to a peaceful resolution."

FIVE-SIDED MEETING IN HELSINKI
By Hakob Chaqrian

AZG Armenian Daily
03/12/2008

Regional

Principles of creation of "Stability and cooperation platform in the
Caucasus" to be discussed

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan left for Baku November 30. Later
he will visit Belgium and Finland.

Before leaving for Baku he gave explanations for the visits.

According to the Turkish Public TV, Babacan said that after the
anticipated OSCE Ministerial Council in Helsinki on December 4-5
the first five-sided meeting of the member countries of "Stability
and cooperation platform in the Caucasus" will be held. The meeting
of the Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Russian and Turkish foreign
ministers will be the start of the works on creation of the "Stability
and cooperation platform in the Caucasus". Principles of creation of
"Stability and cooperation platform in the Caucasus" will be discussed
at the meeting.

"At the same time, the negotiations continue in order similar relations
like Turkish-Armenian should be established between Armenia and
Azerbaijan", Turkish Public TV mentions.

While meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs in Helsinki in the
framework of the OSCE Ministerial Council the Armenian and Azerbaijani
foreign ministers will try to overcome the available issues between
the two countries.

After the mentioned meetings, Babacan will meet the Armenian and
Azerbaijani foreign ministers separately to assess the achievements
between the sides.

EXHIBITION DEDICATED TO THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF VAZGEN I CATHOLICOS
By Hasmik Haroutunian

AZG Armenian Daily
03/12/2008

Culture

More than 40 canvases of Saryan, Minas, Kojoyan and Hakobian were
presented at the "Academy" gallery on December 1.

The exhibition was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Vazgen
I Catholicos.

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian, Archbishop Navasard Kchoyan
and well-known artists and intellectuals participated in the event.

"Vazgen I lives in our hearts and souls. He sticks in our memories
as a patriot and wonderful person. He has created a sincere and
warm environment cordial to many of us. We bear a strong sense
of responsibility to keep up that beautiful picture", said Tigran
Sargsian.

"This exhibition is held appropriately. Vazgen I is one of the
most important and beloved persons of our history. There are only
few people that enjoy not only public love and estimation, but also
devotion and gratitude that change into cult worship", said Chairman
of the Union of Artists Karen Aghamian.

TURKEY PLANS YEREVAN-ISTANBUL DIRECT FLIGHTS?

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.12.2008 16:30 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey plans to schedule direct flights from Istanbul
to Armenia’s capital Yerevan in order to boost the recent process of
renewed relations between the two countries.

The progress of this plan is directly connected to Armenia’s attitude
toward Turkey and Azerbaijan, an unnamed source was quoted by Hurriyet
Daily as saying.

"Azerbaijan’s position on the issue will also be considered. No exact
decision has been taken as yet. The issue should be assessed as a
mental exercise," the source said.

Turkey closed the border with Armenia in 1993, as a token of solidarity
with Azerbaijan in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

FOREIGN MINISTRY OF ARMENIA DOES NOT CONFIRM INFORMATION ABOUT TRILATERAL MEETING OF ARMENIAN, TURKISH AND AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTERS

ArmInfo
2008-12-02 12:19:00

ArmInfo. Foreign Ministry of Armenia does not confirm the information
about the scheduled trilateral meeting of the Armenian, Turkish and
Azerbaijani foreign ministers, Head of the Mass Media Relations
Department of the Armenia’s FM press service Tigran Balayan told
ArmInfo when asked whether the relevant statement of the Turkish FM
meets the reality. To recall, Foreign Minister of Turkey Ali Babacan
said in Baku on December 1 that Ankara prepares a regular meeting
of the Armenian, Turkish and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, as well
as negotiations between the presidents. According to A. Babacan’s
statement, the meeting will allegedly held on December 4-5 in Helsinki,
while the ‘negotiations between I. Aliyev and S. Sargsyan will be held
till late, 2008, under mediation of Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul’.

To note, the session of OSCE Foreign Ministerial Council will be
held on December 4-5 in Helsinki. Within the frames of the event,
FM of Armenia E. Nalbandyan will meet his Azerbaijani and Turkish
counterparts Elmar Mammadyarov and Ali Babacan, as well as OSCE
MG cochairmen.

BABACAN: ALL COUNTRIES OF THE REGION SHOULD SIT AT BARGAINING TABLE

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.12.2008 12:35 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met
Monday with his visiting Turkish counterpart Ali Babacan to discuss
regional developments and the ways to resolve the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict.

"I briefed Mr. Babacan on Azerbaijan’s position on the Karabakh
problem. We also referred to the Caucasus platform, energy projects
and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars link," Mammadyarov told a news conference.

For his part, Mr. Babacan said Azerbaijan and Turkey enjoy a particular
relationship. "There are problems in the region and they are all
solvable. The current diplomatic activity should yield result. We
can’t leave our problems over to the future generations. The ongoing
Azerbaijan-Armenia and Turkey-Armenia dialogue can have a positive
impact on the situation," he said, Day.az reports.

Touching on the Caucasus platform, the Turkish Minister said all
countries of the region should sit at bargaining table.

Los Angeles Times, CA
Nov 30 2008

Armenia wins Olympiad again

The U.S. finishes third in the Dresden, Germany, event.

By Jack Peters, International Master
November 30, 2008

Position No. 6031: White to play and win. From the game Jovanka
Houska-Antoaneta Stefanova, Women’s Olympiad, Dresden 2008.

Solution to Position No. 6030: White wins with 1 Bh6! gxh6 2 Rf8+ Bxf8
3 Qg8 mate. If 1 . . . Bxa3+ 2 Kc2 g6, then 3 Rdd7 leads to mate. Also
1 Bf6 and 1 Rdd7 will win.

The 38th Olympiad in Dresden set new standards for attendance (146
teams) and excitement. The shorter schedule (11 rounds instead of 14)
and the glut of powerful teams helped to continually shuffle the
leaderboard.

The critical matches began with the seventh-round encounter between
the heavily favored Russian team and defending champion Armenia,
seeded only ninth. Armenia won, 2 1/2 -1 1/2 , but dropped back two
rounds later by losing to Israel, a team composed entirely of former
Soviets. Then second-seeded Ukraine, the steadiest superpower, knocked
out Russia and defeated Israel.

In the dramatic final round, Armenia beat China to take a clear first
place with nine wins, a tie and a loss. Israel defeated Netherlands
and finished second (+8, =2, -1). The U.S. team, seemingly out of
contention after an eighth-round loss to Russia, routed previously
unbeaten Ukraine, 3 1/2 – 1/2 , and finished third (+8, =1, -2) on
tiebreak.

Ukraine fell to fourth place. Tied for fifth were Russia, Azerbaijan,
China, Hungary, Vietnam, Spain and Georgia.

Gabriel Sargissian of Armenia achieved the best individual result,
scoring 9-2 on third board. Teammate Vladimir Akopian also excelled,
scoring 8-3 on second board.

Every American player performed slightly above his rating level. Gata
Kamsky, Hikaru Nakamura and Alexander Onischuk scored 6 1/2 -3 1/2
each on the top three boards. Yury Shulman (5 1/2 -2 1/2 ) and
Varuzhan Akobian (4-2) shared duties on fourth board.

Georgia won its final five matches to edge Ukraine on tiebreak to win
the gold medal in the 111-team Women’s Olympiad. Maia Chiburdanidze,
world champion from 1978 to 1991, scored 7 1/2 -5 1/2 on first board
for Georgia. China started 6-0 but finished with three ties and two
losses. The U.S. team of Irina Krush, Anna Zatonskih, Rusudan
Goletiani, Katerina Rohonyan and Tatev Abrahamyan upset Russia (the
top seed) and took third place on tiebreak over Russia and Poland.

Local news

The American Open concludes today at the Renaissance hotel at 9620
Airport Blvd. in Los Angeles. Spectators may watch the games and chess
videos for free.

The 2008 Bakersfield Open, a four-round tournament of 60-minute games,
will be held Saturday at the Clarion Hotel, 3540 Rosedale Highway in
Bakersfield. State champion Enrico Sevillano will compete. The
sponsoring Bakersfield Chess Club will also run a five-round
scholastic event. For all of the details, call Kenneth Poole at (661)
304-7468.

Chess for Success International will conduct a scholastic tournament
next Sunday at John Thomas Dye School, 11414 Chalon Road in Los
Angeles. There will be sections for students in grades K-5, K-8 and
K-12, with the first two finishing by noon. Registration at the site
closes at 8:45 a.m. For more information, call Ivona Jezierska at
(310) 740-0063.

Chess master Ron Hermansen will lead a tactical chess workshop
Saturday afternoon in West Hills. Call (818) 887-6227 for details.

The Exposition Park Chess Club plans its free monthly tournament at 1
p.m. Sunday. The club meets every Sunday afternoon in the public
library at 3900 S. Western Ave. in Los Angeles. See
chess.expoparkla.com for photos and advance registration. For more
news and a second game, see latimes.com/chess.

A1+

OVERDUE FLIGHT
[04:41 pm] 28 November, 2008

The plane flying from Vienna to Yerevan arrived at Zvartnots airport
with a three-hour delay. After an hour’s flight the crew had to return
to Vienna.

The airplane was due to land at 4:40 (local time) but the passengers
arrived in Yerevan at 7:20 by another plane.

`We were dining when the plane was announced to be taking a crash
landing. Surprisingly, no one panicked or screamed. We successfully
got to Vienna,’ one of the passengers told A1+ assuring that the
company had been very polite and careful to them and begged pardon for
the overdue.

After the plane landed, the passengers burst out applauding.

According to the Austrian Airlines the plane had to return to Vienna
because of some technical problems.