Author: Chmshkian Vicken

YEREVAN PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE RECEIVES EUROPEAN EXPERTS’ CONCLUSION ON FORENSIC EXAMINATION OF BODY OF LEVON GULIAN

Noyan Tapan
Nov 15, 2007

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 15, NOYAN TAPAN. Yerevan prosecutor’s office has
received the original of the European experts’ conclusion about the
forensic examination of the body of Levon Gulian who died on May 12
under unrevealed circumstances in the administrative building of the
RA police. The original was sent to be translated, NT correspondent
was informed on November 15 by Sona Truzian, spokeswoman for the RA
prosecutor general.

To recap, several months ago an electronic version of the conclusion
was sent to Armenia. However, the employees of the prosecutor’s office
investigating this case explained to experts that only the original
certified with signatures can be considered as evidence.

ABSENCE OF RELATIONS BETWEEN ARMENIA AND TURKEY IS "ABSURD"

armradio.am
15.11.2007 12:38

EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semenby said
it’s an "absurd" that Armenia and Turkey have no relations and their
citizens are deprived of the opportunity to cross the border.

"We think that every problem has its limits. We have several problems:
the issue of diplomatic relations, the historic issue and the question
of the historical committee Turkey suggests to establish. We do
not think that these issues must be solved in a certain order. The
situation when two important EU partner countries have no relations and
their citizens are deprived of the opportunity to cross the border is
absurd. We anticipate that in a certain stage this situation will be
regulated. It would also be useful to discuss the historical issues,
but I repeat that it should be done without linking the issues to
each other," Peter Semenby said.

WITH KARABAKH CONFLICT UNSETTLED, RESUMPTION OF WAR ISN’T EXCLUDED

PanARMENIAN.Net
14.11.2007 15:44 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Resumption of hostilities in Nagorno Karabakh is
not excluded, said Valery Naumkin, Dartmouth Conference Co-chair on
Nagorno Karabakh, Director of the Russian Center of Strategic and
Political Studies.

"Of course, the international community is interested in peace but war
can’t be completely ruled out. Either of the sides can be tempted by
a military resolution of the conflict under the influence of internal
or external factors. Superpowers may also try to get advantage in
the issue," he said in an interview with Argumenty i Fakty Armenia

VLADIMIR KARAPETYAN: FOR ARMENIA RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE AND COOPERATION WITH NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES ARE NOT EMPTY WORDS

armradio.am
14.11.2007 10:53

The Azerbaijani Press Officer offered quite an inappropriate
interpretation of certain segments of the Armenian Prime Minister’s
interview to the Los Angeles Times. Asked to comment upon this
interpretation upon the request of Mediamax agency, MFA Spokesman
Vladimir Karapetyan responded:

"It is very difficult to call that an ‘interpretation’.

It is also rather amusing that an official whose lies a local media
outlet recently exposed and who carries diplomatic rank, attempts to
pass judgment on one of the leaders of a neighboring country.

It is regrettable that the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson
has inherited both the style and the methods of his predecessor,
as well as the moral stance of his authorities. It would appear that
such an approach has become tradition for the Azerbaijani MFA. Perhaps
we can’t expect more of a country where intolerance and blind hate
towards national minorities and their cultural heritage has achieved
political heights. There are plenty of examples of this, including
the daily calls for war.

For Armenia, religious tolerance and cooperation with neighboring
countries are not empty words. Rather, together, they are our past,
our daily life, our daily relations and our shared future."

KIM KARDASHIAN: SPREADING OUT & GETTING PICKED UP AGAIN
By Karu F. Daniels, AOL Black Voices

The BV Entertainment Newswire Blog, NY
Nov 13 2007

Kim Kardashian sure knows how to make a whole lot out of nothing.

The alleged Hollywood socialite is gracing the cover of Playboy
magazine’s December issue, which hit newsstands this week.

On the outside of the magazine, the Armenian beauty and tabloid
mainstay is adorned in a red, stringy satin get-up accentuated by red
high heels – perfect tie-in for the holiday season. Inside, she strikes
a myriad of poses, which exposes her full and abundant endowments.

"It is not as revealing as some people might want," she said in a
recent interview. "I keep it classy … It was something that I was
really nervous about doing at first."Kardashian is the daughter of
late OJ Simpson attorney Robert Kardashian, and the ex-wife of music
producer Damon Thomas of The Underdogs. Since gaining popularity
as a "best-friend’ of over-exposed hotel heiress Paris Hilton, the
voluptuous pin-up girl, professionally known as a fashion stylist for
R&B stars, has been romantically linked to a slew of sought after
black celebrity bachelors, including football star Reggie Bush and
actor Nick Cannon.

The commercial release of ‘Kim K Superstar,’ her raunchy sex tape
with hip-hop soul crooner Ray-J, earlier this year, propelled her
into the stratosphere of quasi-celebrity scandal.

She sued adult video giant Vivid Entertainment and halted the sale
of the best-selling DVD.

On Oct. 14, E! Entertainment Television debuted ‘Keepin Up with
the Kardashians,’ a far-fetched reality series following on the
day-to-day dilemmas of the sexpot’s family dynamic. Surprisingly,
the story-line – which revolves around her over-the-top "momager"
Kris Jenner and mild-mannered, conservative step dad Bruce Jenner
trying to keep up with their son young son Robert and five outrageous
daughters – ranked as the number one show among women (ages 18 to 34)
in its Sunday night premiere timeslot.

After four weeks on the air, the series has reached more than 13
million total viewers, a network rep confirmed.

Today, E! announced the second season pick-up for the hit half-hour
reality series, which is produced by ‘American Idol’ host Ryan
Seacrest.

"Viewers have clearly fallen for the Kardashians," network Executive
Vice President Lisa Berger said in a statement. "This family’s
one-of-a-kind dynamics and hilarious antics has made the series a
fantastic addition to our prime time line-up."

007/11/12/kim-kardashian-spreading-out-and-getting -picked-up-again/

TERRY DAVIS DIDN’T SHOW ENOUGH DIPLOMACY IN ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
Analytical Department
10.11.2007 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In his speech made in Yerevan the Secretary General
thought it was worthy to teach Armenia how to build its relations
with the neighboring countries. "The example that occurs to me at
once is the one of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Unfortunately, the conflict of Nagorno-Karabakh still remains the
most essential obstacle on the way to peace, stabilization and
cooperation in this part of Europe. The resolution of this conflict
is of great interest to both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Another example
that comes to my mind is the relations with your western neighbor,
Turkey. The relations are not built on healthy bases because of the
events which took place not ten but a lot more years ago. I share your
grief. Everyone should confess that the history can be neither ignored,
not rewritten by order. We all know that many people died. However,
it is not only necessary to honor the memory of the victims, but also
realize that it is time to look ahead to the future.

The people of Armenia and Turkey should do so not only for themselves,
but for the sake of their children as well," said Davis in Yerevan.

The words themselves are kind of truthful, but there is one
"but". According to some unspecified data, Terry Davis has serious
personal interest in Azerbaijani oil which is in fact the reason of
the like announcements, which are to be answered by the official
Yerevan. Political scientist Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan mentioned,
that the present the Secretary General of the Council of Europe has
been involved in car spare parts’ sale. "As it may be observed, he
has still preserved his views of a trader in politics as well. In
this case Terry Davis doesn’t express his personal opinion, or the
opinion of the Council of Europe, but the viewpoint of his superiors.

But the Motherland is not a car and is not to be sold and such an
approach of the European official must be unacceptable for Armenia,"
emphasized the Armenian political scientist. In fact calling the nation
of Nagorno-Karabakh "separatists" in contrast to Kosovo Albanians,
"who fight for independence" is quite unacceptable.

The official Yerevan didn’t come out with an answer to the Secretary
General, instead the official Stepanakert did. According to the
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nagorno Karabakh Georgi Petrosyan,
the situation in Karabakh is indeed quite different of that of in
Kosovo in many aspects. "But Kosovo urges to become a full member of
international law as an independent state, just like Nagorno-Karabakh
does.

Terry Davis should be aware that the leadership of the temporary
institutions of self-government of Kosovo, established by the
temporary administration of the UNO has announced more than once
that the independence of Kosovo isn’t liable for any discussions,"
emphasized Petrosyan.

In its turn, the Commission of Nagorno Karabakh National Assembly
on foreign affairs is sure that "the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh,
having successfully fought the Azeri aggression, having the experience
of government administration and now striving towards the democratic
development, has more legitimacy to be recognized by the international
community, rather than the formation of Davis."

Most probably Davis understood that he went too far in Yerevan. This
is proved by his statement where he accused the Armenian Mass
Media of "misinterpretation of his words". "My last visit was
widely illustrated, but, unfortunately some of my words were
misinterpreted. No doubt the Armenian journalists have the right
to disagree and criticize my opinion on such an issue, like that
of Nagorno-Karabakh. Several magazines wrote that I compared
Nagorno-Karabakh elections with gay-parade. This is absurd. I said
that my viewpoint regarding the territorial integrity of the Council
of Europe’s Member States and consequently the right of the status of
Nagorno-Karabakh is quite clear and unchangeable. The fact that I do
not always react to the elections held in Nagorno-Karabakh, doesn’t
mean at all that my viewpoint on their competence has changed. I simply
drew a parallel between the elections and the limitation of freedom
of speech of the sexual minorities in European countries," said Davis.

It’s obvious; the excuses are lame and were made by force. But one
thing is sure; officials having the same viewpoint as Terry Davis are
heading institutions like the Council of Europe, the peace in South
Caucasus will not be long lasting unfortunately.

ChessBase.com

l.asp?newsid=4245

The European Chess Championships, reported by ;

original interview in Russian from

Teimur Radjabov: We all hate Armenians

12.11.2007 – Recently, at the European Championship, the team of Azerbaijan
got Bronze, behind the Russians and Armenians. The latter are historical
enemies of the Azeris, politically, culturally and in chess. One of the
stars of the Azerbaijan team, Teimour Radjabov, gives vent to his personal
feelings and how it affected the play of his team against the enemy in this
startling APA interview.

Teimur Radjabov: The enemy is the enemy – we all hate Armenians

The head of the Azerbaijani national chess team that won the bronze medal at
the European Team Championship, behind Russia and Armenia, Teimour Radjabov,
gave an exclusive interview to the Russian sports news agency APA. It
contains some very startling comments.

On the Bronze Medal win at the European Championship: This is of course a
great success. I think our players competed well – we should not forget that
European chess is the strongest in the world. I am sure that we will achieve
more success in future.

On the clash with Russia, after leading until round five: We lost to the
main favorites of the European Championship, the Russian team, and it had a
bad influence on me. We lost three games in round five, and one ended in a
draw. But this score does not reflect the potential of our players at all.
Before competing with the Russians we were thinking about defeating our
rivals. We were scoring well until that round. The Russians defeated us and
won the gold medals.

On the loss to Slovenia in round six: We did not think about losing to them.
We took risks and that led to our defeat, an unexpected defeat. I think we
are to blame, as we did not assess our opponents correctly. We thought that
we would win without any difficulty.

On the draw against Armenia in round eight: Of course we had chance to win
it. But the situation changed gradually. Vladimir Akopian offered me a draw,
after Shahriyar [Mamedyarov] and Rauf [Mamedov] had finished their games
with draws. I did not accept, because by then Vugar [Gashimov] had a bad
position. He lost, so I had to defeat Akopian to draw the match, and I
managed to do it.

On the team’s feelings before this round eight match: I will not deny that
we were very nervous. Regardless of where we meet, the enemy is the enemy.
We all have feelings of hate towards them. But you must try to suppress
those feelings and not let them interfere. Chess must be played with a sober
head.

On the atmosphere in the hall at the time: The Armenians had a lot of active
fans. The Armenian Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian had arrived there, and I
saw him in the hall during most matches. The President of our federation,
Elman Rustamov, also attended our match with the Armenians and supported us.
We understood the importance of the match and adhered to the principles of
the encounter.

On the roots of this first historical success for the national team: First
of all collective fight. Friendship in the team was one of the main factors.
We thought about the team first of all. None of the sportsmen fought to
improve his personal rating. This is very important. Our failure in the
previous competitions worried us, as we felt that we had the capability to
win medals.

On whether the team is capable of winning greater victories: I believe in
it. Though our team has been composed of teenagers, we are known in the
chess world. All teams fear and respect us. We are in the list of the
strongest national teams of the world. For the first time, we have two
Azerbaijani chess player is placed in the top ten in the world, which shows
that our chess occupies a high place. I do not doubt we will win greater
victories in future competitions. The world team championship is being
discussed at the moment. Our team is the bronze medalist of the European
Championship and so should also participate in this competition, which will
involve the ten strongest countries in the world. But I heard they want to
give the right to organize the competition to Armenia, and in this case, our
team will not be able to take part. If Armenia is commissioned to organize
the competition, our federation will appeal to FIDE.

On his your target at the World Cup in Khanti-Mansiysk, Russia: The
competition will start on November 24. I am still trying to rest after
European Championship. That’s why I will not participate in the Mikhail Tal
Memorial. As the World Cup is held according to the knockout system, one
defeat is decisive. That’s why I will do my best to be very careful and move
forward step-by-step. If I achieve it, I can expect success there.

MOTHER OF ZHIRAYR SEFILIAN, FORMER COMMANDER OF SHOUSHI SPECIAL BATTALION SERVING PUNISHMENT, PASSES AWAY

Noyan Tapan
Nov 12 2007

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 12, NOYAN TAPAN. Sima Taskalian, the mother
of Lieutenant-Colonel Zhirayr Sefilian, the Coordinator of the In
Defence of Liberated Territories public initiative, former Commander
of the Shoushi special battalion, passed away in Beirut, at the age
of 71. As Noyan Tapan correspondent was informed by the office of
the organization In Defence of Liberated Territories, S. Taskalian
was seriously ill lately.

It should be mentioned that Z. Sefilian, as well as another participant
of Karabakh war, V. Malkhasian, a member of the Homeland and Honor
party’s Political Board, were arrested on December 10, 2006. The
Investigation Department of the National Security Service instituted
a criminal case against them, on the signs of Article 301, RA Criminal
Code (public appeals for overthrowing the RA constitutional system by
force) and point 1, Article 235, RA Criminal Code (illegal keeping of
arms). Later, as a result of the judicial procedure, the accusation
brought to Z. Sefilian by Article 301 was withdrawn.

According to the sentence of the first instance court of Kentron –
Nork-Marash communities of Yerevan passed in July of the current year,
Z. Sefilian was sentenced to imprisonment of a year and a half and
V. Malkhasian to imprisonment of two years.

BULGARIA’S PRIME MINISTER TO VISIT ARMENIA

armradio.am
12.11.2007 13:38

On November 13th the Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria Sergey
Stanishev will arrive in Armenia on an official visit. The delegation
headed by the Prime Minister of Bulgaria comprises the Ambassador
of Bulgaria to Armenia Stefan Dimitrov, Chairman of the "Coalition
for Bulgaria" parliamentary group, Chairman of the Deputy Friendship
Group with Armenia Ruben Krikorian, Head of Prime Minister’s Staff
Phillipe Bukov, President of the State Agency for Sport and youth
Affairs Vesela Lecheva, Secretary for Foreign Policy Emil Vilev,
Deputy Foreign Minister Evgenia Koldanova, Deputy Minister of Economy
and Energy Yavor Kuyumjiev, other officials.

During the offciial visit Sergey Stanishev will have meetings with
RA president Robert Kocharyan, Speaker of the National Assembly
Tigran Torosyan, Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan and the Catholicos
of All Armenians Garegin II. The Bulgarian Prime Minister will visit
Tsitsernakaberd and will lay a wreath of flowers at the memorial to the
Armenian Genocide victims. In the Yerevan State University he will meet
with the faculty and students. Mr. Stanishev will visit the Armenian
Union of Cultural ties to meet with members of the Armenian-Bulgarian
Friendship Group and representatives of the Bulgarian community.

The Prime Minister will also visit Matenadaran, the secondary school
#131 after P. Yavorov, the Yerevan Brandy Factory, and the Treasury
and Cathedral of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

A new era of recognition

November 11, 2007

Kurdishaspect.com – By Raz Jabary

Deniz Baykal, the party leader of the Turkish CHP party, told media
yesterday that it is necessary for Turkey to improve its relationship
with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), and that the country
should consider diplomatic ways of solving political issues affiliated
with the Kurdish cause.

Last Wednesday Kenan Evren, the Turkish ex-general who was in charge of
the military coup in Turkey in 1980, said it was a wrong step to have
implemented the forbidden use of the Kurdish language in Turkey.
Earlier this year, Evren urged the implementation of federalism in
Turkey and the granting of equal rights to the Kurdish citizens.

Where the public use of the Kurdish language in Turkey was officially
forbidden until even the very end of the `90s, and anyone who would
have taken the word `Kurdistan’ for granted would have been considered
an affiliate of the PKK guerrilla movement, nowadays we can see clear
progress in the recognition of the Kurdish identity in Turkey.

In my opinion, two major events have been the cause of this fact,
namely the rise of the Kurdistan region in Iraq as a regional power
with its own military, flag, government and borders, and secondly the
arise of the Internet era that allowed the free spreading of global
reports where in certain places journalists and media were previously
restricted to take messages to the outside world. The Internet has
clearly also allowed for an increase in Kurdish nationalism and more
awareness of the Kurdish cause amongst non-Kurds.

Turkey cannot deny the KRG and the virtually independent status of the
Iraqi Kurds, along with the recognition of its own Kurdish population
and their rights because it is already trying to show the Kurds that it
does not look at them and the PKK with one eye, in an effort to try to
increase the gap between PKK militants and Kurdish citizens.

Iran, with its own Kurdish minority population and battle against PJAK
guerrillas who are fighting for Kurdish self-governance, recently
opened its consulate in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region in
Iraq.

A situation which clearly indicates the importance of the media in
politics is the issue of the Armenian genocide, which remains
unresolved and highly sensitive due to a lack of media reports back at
the time when it took place, where nowadays political issues are
brought out to the world immediately and it is impossible for a power
to commit crimes against humanity without the spread of public
awareness.

With all the respect, armed struggle has so far directly remained
indecisive in the Kurdish issue and all that the Kurds have achieved in
the last couple of years due to diplomacy in terms of building up an
autonomous region in Iraq and entering Turkish parliament in Ankara
makes up one of the very few success stories in Kurdish history and the
Kurds’ struggle for self-governance. If the Kurds were to achieve their
ultimate goal of having an own independent state, it would be in this
new era where recognition is the key to solving the Kurdish cause.

About the author :

Raz Najat Jabary is a Contributing Writer to Kurdish Aspect. He is a
prominent youth debater in Wales and was chosen one amongst the top-21
best national Welsh youth debaters in October 2006 by the CEWC-Cymru
debating board. He participated in several CEWC debates as well as in a
session of the European Youth Parliament in the Welsh National Assembly
in Cardiff, Wales.

To learn more about the author see: