Author: Boshkezenian Garik

AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT: "MOSCOW DECLARATION IS A GOOD GROUNDWORK FOR THE SOLUTION TO NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT"

Azeri Press Agency
Nov 5 2008
Azerbaijan

Ankara. Mayis Alizadeh – APA. The joint Declaration signed by
Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian Presidents in Moscow is a good
groundwork for possible peace agreement.

The main essence of the declaration is that the document covers the
international legal norms, supports the decisions and resolutions
passed within the framework of these norms and pays attention to
the solution to the problem by stages. I think that it can be a good
basis for the solution to the problem," Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev told the press conference after meeting with his Turkish
counterpart in Ankara, APA’s Turkey bureau reports. Ilham Aliyev
said that Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity recognized by the world
community should be restored, the lands should be liberated and over
one million Azerbaijanis should return to their native lands.

"I hope the new situation in the region and Turkey’s serious
interference in these issues, at the same time Russia’s giving impetus
to the mediating mission, the activeness of other co-chairs of OSCE
Minsk Group US and France – all the joint efforts will lead to the
solution to the issue," he said.

The president noted that Turkey-initiated Caucasus Stability and
Development Platform aimed to establish normal relations in the region,
solve the problems causing anxiety, end conflicts and ensure peace in
the region and added that in order to achieve this Armenia-Azerbaijan,
Nagorno Karabakh conflict should be solved first of all.

"We welcome Turkey’s activeness in these issues, and have great
expectations from official Ankara’s active participation in the
ongoing processes in the Caucasus. We consider that it may have
splendid results. We are witnessing the sings of the first pleasant
moments," he said.

Azerbaijani President also added that efforts should be continued
for the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

The head of state underlined that Turkey-Azerbaijan relations were
developing rapidly.

"We will keep this wonderful dynamics and strengthen the relations
in all spheres in future. We are satisfied with this cooperation,"
he said.

Azerbaijan’s President noted that the discussed issues would give
impetus to the prospects of bilateral relations and have a positive
influence on the situation in the region.

"Turkey-Azerbaijan relations have positive influence on the ongoing
processes in the region. All our joint initiatives aim to strengthen
peace, deepen cooperation and establish stability in the region,"
he said.

Ilham Aliyev added that Turkey-Azerbaijan relations had been enriched
with concrete projects.

"Energy and transport projects were implemented on our
initiative. Great efforts were made to achieve all this. We could do it
in the very complicated geopolitical situation. It shows that we solve
all the issues with joint efforts, will and basing on Turkey-Azerbaijan
brotherhood. These projects will offer new opportunities in future,
bring profit and give an impetus to deepen the cooperation in the
region. We have no divergence concerning these issues," he said.

Azerbaijan’s President noted that international issues had also been
thoroughly discussed during the meeting.

The President continues his visit to Turkey.

LEADER OF LIBERAL PARTY OF ARMENIA: I DO NOT ACCEPT DECLARATION SIGNED BY PRESIDENTS OF ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN AND RUSSIA

ArmInfo
2008-11-03 14:14:00

ArmInfo. ‘I do not accept Declaration signed by presidents of Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Russia, as first, signature of the Karabakh is not
under the document, and secondly, the talks will continue on the basis
of the Madrid principles, of which Armenian society has no idea’, –
the leader of the Liberal Party of Armenia Hovanes Hovannisyan said
at today’s press-conference.

‘The only thing acceptable for the Armenian party is that the
talks will continue within the frames of the OSCE Minsk Group’, –
Hovannisyan said and added the true start to the Karabakh conflict
settlement was given yesterday.

He also added at present the situation is worse than in 1997. ‘That
time we ceded 5 regions, keeping Lachin and Kelbajar and having the
land border to the NKR. At present according to the Madrid principles
we are ceding all the 7 regions. Moreover, not they say about returning
of refugees, whereas there was not such a point in 1997. Thus, one
can say that the present option is not better but in many points
even lag behind the option, which Levon Ter-Petrosyan agreed to’, –
Hovannisyan said.

He also said that when signing the Declaration Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev was stemming from the interests of his country. Asked
by ArmInfo correspondent, whose interests Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan was stemming from, Hovannisyan advised without evasion to
ask the president himself.

The Australian, Australia
Nov 2 2008

Vic Darchinyan becomes first Australian since Kostya Tszyu to unify a
division

November 02, 2008

VIC Darchinyan announced himself as his country’s newest boxing
superstar today.

Darchinyan has become the first Australian since Kostya Tszyu to unify
a division with a brutal knockout of Mexican glamour boy Cristian
Mijares.

Darchinyan’s stunning upset made him the the first man to unify the
super flyweight division, adding the World Boxing Council, World
Boxing Association belts to his International Boxing Federation title.

The Armenian-born power puncher knocked Mijares down with a vicious
uppercut in the first round, pummelled him over the next seven and
finished him off in the ninth with a powerful straight left.

The Home Depot Center, located in Los Angeles’ southern suburbs, was
packed with Mexican boxing fans screaming for Darchinyan’s blood, but
the stadium was left deathly silent by his demolition of the feted
Mijares.

The fight ended with Mijares flat on his back and a doctor rushing to
his aid.

The 27-year-old Mexican went into the fight as a short-priced
favourite, with bookmakers from Las Vegas to Alice Springs not giving
Darchinyan much chance.

The US media also wrote Darchinyan off.

A poll of 31 of America’s top boxing writers released on the eve of
the fight had just six willing to predict the Australian would win.

Darchinyan used it as motivation.

At a jubilant post-fight press conference Darchinyan, who had
predicted he would knock Mijares out, made the American press eat
their words.

`All the writers, did I keep my promise?’ a feisty Darchinyan, 32,
asked.

`Did I?

`I told you what I would do.

`I said I was going to destroy him and knock him out.

`I delivered.’

Mijares, a skilled technical boxer, could not match Darchinyan’s
power.

The upper-cut that first flattened him came with 20 seconds left in
round one, allowing Mijares to stumble to his feet and be saved by the
bell.

The bout-ending left also came late in the ninth, with just eight
seconds left, but this time Mijares was unable to get up.

Mijares was too dazed to give interviews after the fight, but managed
to walk from the ring.

Darchinyanfell in love with Australia while a member of the Armenian
boxing team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and became a citizen in 2004.

The last Australian to unify a division was Tszyu, who first won the
IBF, WBC and WBA light welterweight belts in 2001 with an equally
stunning knockout upset over then rising star, American Zab Judah.

The win gives Darchinyan a 31 win (25 knockout), one loss, one draw
professional record.

Darchinyan and his American promoter, Gary Shaw, said they may look to
higher weight divisions for big money fights.

Mijares, who had a 25-fight winning streak before today, now has a 36
win (15 KO), four loss, two draw record.

Earlier at the Home Depot Center, Darchinyan’s Sydney stable-mate
Victor Oganov suffered a controversial loss in his super middleweight
world title elimination fight against hyped American Andre Direll.

Russian-born Oganov protested angrily when referee Ray Corona stopped
the fight 30 seconds into the sixth round.

Oganov was hit with an upper-cut before the stoppage and had taken a
barrage of blows in the earlier rounds, but was still on his feet and
ready to continue when the fight was halted.

`The main thing is the safety of the fighter,’ Corona explained.

`He took some heavy blows.’

Oganov was also not given much of a chance of victory, with unbeaten
Direll, a bronze medallist at the 2004 Athens Olympics, the
overwhelming favourite and hyped as one of the division’s top
prospects.

The win gives Direll a shot at the World Boxing Organisation’s super
middleweight title.

AAP

story/0,25197,24589908-2722,00.html

Interfax News Agency, Russia
Oct 29 2008

Custody extended for two Armenian lawmakers suspected of attempting coup

YEREVAN Oct 29

The court of Yerevan’s Center and Nork-Marash districts has extended
the custody of parliamentary deputies Myasnik Malkhasian and Akop
Akopian by two months.

The two men stand accused of organizing mass disturbances and
attempting to seize power, Alina Yengoian, spokesperson for the
Armenian Court of Appeals, told Interfax on Wednesday.

The deputies we arrested after large-scale opposition rallies erupted
following the February 19 presidential election.

ARMENIA CAN’T BE IN THE STATUS OF AN AGGRESSOR
LILIT POGHOSYAN

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
01 Nov 08
Armenia

NA Vice-Speaker Hrayr Karapetyan and MP Michael Manukyan left for St.
Petersburg recently, to participate in the session of the Commission on
Defense and Security Issues of CIS Summit.

By representing some noteworthy details of the session, during the
press conference yesterday Hrayr Karapetyan particularly said that the
delegation managed to render harmless Azerbaijan’s efforts to make
certain emphases in the bill of the model law on the struggle against
separatism and extremism. By the proposal of the Azerbaijani delegation
it has been enshrined in the bill that any action against the
territorial integrity of any country is considered `extremism’. Our MPs
met with the Chairman of the Committee and as a result of the
negotiations the before mentioned problematic formulation was removed
from the bill.

Hrayr Karapetyan also touched upon the radical anticipations of
creating an atmosphere of panic and fear around the settlement of
Karabakh conflict: `Today our political atmosphere is filled with
panic, linked with the anti-Armenian settlement of Karabakh issue. It
can have a very bad impact on the settlement of that issue, it can have
bad impact on the people’s psychology it can create defeatist moods. It
is not a secret for anyone that at present we have lots of problems,
because of the existing economic, social difficult situation, so we
can’t say that Karabakh issue is number 1 problem for our people, as it
used to be in 1988. Unfortunately we have lack of national mentality
nowadays.

The NA Vice-Speaker believes these moods don’t have any materialistic
grounds: `Of course unlike the Azerbaijani President whose last speech
you have heard, our President is a rather modest person and he never
makes similar announcements, not to prevent the settlement of the
issue. But this doesn’t mean that tomorrow we will appear in such a
situation that Azerbaijan will have a more powerful army and will be
able to solve the issue in military way and that’s why we will have to
be ready for cessions. I don’t see similar prerequisites. But I saw
similar tendencies, similar analyses in our mass media, which is
terrible to read.’

The thing is Azerbaijan has more grounded reasons for concern. Our army
is efficient, completely ready to resist the attacks of the enemy. And
if Azerbaijan over again tries to use aggression against Karabakh they
will suffer bigger losses.

Moreover Armenian party can even continue its progress in Azerbaijani
territory right up to the sea and establish land communication with
Russia.

`I’m not joking. Let’s remember, before the Artsakh liberation struggle
who could think that Karabakh will be an Armenian territory together
with its neighboring areas. Only dashnaks and their supporters, those
who have national mentality. And who can guarantee that after 5-10
years we will not have what I said before and plus United Armenia.’

But the press belonging to LTP of course counterbalanced the precept of
not yielding to the defeatist moods. `How can our armed forces be more
powerful than the Azerbaijani army?’ They even mocked saying that if we
are so powerful why we don’t attack Azerbaijan.

In response to which Hrayr Karapetyan stated that Armenia has never
been the first to attack: `We were not the ones to start Artsakh war.
We were defending ourselves and staging national-liberation struggle.
Azerbaijan was the one to attack us. We can’t afford being in the
status of an aggressor. If the status quo is internationally enshrined
we will be quite satisfied. But we must also respond to all types of
bellicose announcements. People must know that we are really ready to
move forward if someone tries to erase Armenians’ from Armenia, when I
say Armenia I mean Karabakh as well.’

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
October 28, 2008 Tuesday

CIRCUMSTANCES OF AZERI POWS CAPTURE STILL UNCLEAR

An Azerbaijani soldier taken captive by Armenian armed forces on
October 8 near Azerbaijans Gazakh district was unconscious during his
meeting with representatives of the International Committee of the Red
Cross, the POWs family said. The ICRC informed the parents of 19-year
old Rafig Hasanov about this.

His mother, Rubaba Hasanova, said the ICRC employees first met with
her son a day after the capture. When they were registering the
captives in their list, they couldnt talk to Rafig, as he was
unconscious. On October 16, they called on him again. Then, my son
dictated a letter to them, and they wrote down what he said, Hasanova
said. The POWs family members also wrote a letter to the serviceman
and passed it over to the employees of the ICRCs Barda office. Rahman
Hasanov, the captives father, said his son was being mistreated by
other soldiers and sergeants during military service, and that he had
complained about this to the Gazakh military prosecutor. The
servicemen questioned at the prosecutors office in this regard
confirmed this, he said. As for the circumstances of his sons capture,
Hasanov said he had not been provided with any information to that end
either at the prosecutors office or the military unit where he was
serving. In the morning on October 8, a brawl flared up between Rafig
and the soldiers that were purportedly mistreating him. I went to the
military unit, and even to the checkpoint. One of the servicemen told
me there that my son had disappeared at around nine oclock, then he
heard three bullet shots, but he did not say where the sound came
from, Hasanov said.

HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER NOMINATES CANDIDACY OF VAHE STEPANIAN FOR PARTICIPATING IN WORKS OF FACT FINDING GROUP

ARMENPRESS
Oct 29, 2008

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 29, : The Armenian human rights defender nominated
the candidacy of the head of staff of the human rights defender Vahe
Stepanian for participating in the works of the fact finding group,
Armen Harutyunian, the human rights defender said today in the NA.

>From 1990-1996 V. Stepanian was Armenian Justice Minister.

Besides the member nominated by the human rights defender, two of the
members are being nominated by the ruling coalition, one by "Heritage"
party and one by the political force headed by Levon Ter-Petrosian.

Currently the four members are not known yet. They must be nominated
within ten days after the decree of the president which was signed
October 24.

FIRST FESTIVAL OF CHAMBER MUSIC OF YOUNG COMPOSERS TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN

ARMENPRESS
Oct 31, 2008

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 31, ARMENPRESS: The Union of Armenian Composers and
Music Critics will conduct November 2-9 in Yerevan the first festival
of chamber music of young composers with the support of the Armenian
Culture Ministry. The festival includes one work of 28 author-composers
aged till 35.

The chairman of the union, composer Robert Amirkhanian said that
the union has organized such festivals many times but this time in
collaboration with the ministry are trying to give a greater voicing
to the initiative. The goal is to promote the development of chamber
music in Armenia and make the works of young composers known.

The ceremony of awarding of prizes and diplomas will take place on
November 9 in Komitas chamber music house.

SIRUSHO TO LEMESOS FOR JUNIOR EUROVISION 2008

oikotimes.com
index.php?id=9695
dex.php?id=9696
Oct 30 2008
Greece

After the announcement of Dima Bilan to attend the 2008 Junior
Eurovision Song Contest in Lemesos, Cyprus, one more 2008 Eurovision
participant announced that she is coming to the show. Sirusho will
travel to Lemesos to support the Junior Eurovision entrant of Armenia
in the upcoming JESC event. Armenian Television confirmed that the
artist will be there to support Monika Manucharova, who will sing
"Im Ergi Hnchyune". Sirusho will not appear in the show though.

KURDS OF ARMENIA AGAINST TURKEY

A1+
[09:10 pm] 28 October, 2008

Waving the Kurdish and Armenian flags to and fro and with the pictures
of Ocalan on the flags, groups of Kurds organized a protest today
near the Shahumyan square to demand the release of head of the PKK
Abdullah Ocalan.

"We demand Turkey to release Ocalan. We condemn the Turks for that
act of terrorism and for torturing our Ocalan. As long as we live,
we are going to fight for our freedom," said Sevil Amoyan.

Kurdish leader Ocalan has been in the Imali prison for 10 years for a
conspiracy and has been treated violently. Recently, there are more
threats that the Turks are ready to exterminate him. As a state,
Turkey is no different from the prison. This time the violence is
aimed not only at one person, but also the Kurds, who have found
themselves as hostages and have rose to defend their leader from
possible encroachments," said protester Emij Elyan.

The protesters moved towards the UN office where they handed the
statement made by the "Kurdistan" committee of Armenia stating the
following:

"We call on all humanity, states and international organizations
to combine efforts and establish democracy in Turkey, eliminate the
threat of extermination of the Kurds and secure peace and justice in
the world."