Author: Chmshkian Vicken

IVANOV COMMENTING ON SITUATION IN TRANSCAUCASIAN REGION
by Alexander Konovalov, Viktor Shulman
ITAR-TASS News Agency
May 31, 2006 Wednesday
The withdrawal of part of Russian armaments and military hardware
from Georgia to the Russian military base in Gyumri, Armenia, cannot
destabilise the military-political situation in the region, Russian
Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said here on Wednesday.
“Part of military equipment and hardware is really being withdrawn from
Akhalkalaki to the Russian military base of Gyumri. This cannot bring
about the destabilisation of the military-political situation in the
region, especially in view of the fact that the withdrawal does not
violate flank restrictions within the framework of the Conventional
Force in Europe Treaty (CFE),” he said at a press conference after
the end of the meeting of the CIS Council of Defence Ministers in Baku.
The most important thing is that “any scheme of the settlement of
the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, imposed from the outside, is not only
counterproductive, but also dangerous,” Ivanov continued. “A final
scheme of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement should be based on agreements
reached by Armenia and Azerbaijan. In this case the guarantor countries
will take any steps for ensuring the fulfilment of the agreements,
while a difference way, which is sometimes imposed on us, is a way
nowhere,” Ivanov said.
Explaining Russia’s official stand on the Nagorno-Karabakh problem,
Ivanov stressed that Moscow favoured its peaceful political
settlement. “Contacts between Armenia and Azerbaijan within framework
of the Minsk Group under OSCE, with the mediation of Russia, the
United States and France, are going on rather regularly,” he added.

DAY OF CHILDREN’S PROTECTION ALSO MARKED AT ARMENIAN CHILDREN’S HOMES
Noyan Tapan
Jun 1 2006
YEREVAN, JUNE 1, NOYAN TAPAN. On the initiative of RA Ministry of
Labor and Social Issues, on June 1, International Day of Children’s
Protection, charity festive events were held at all Armenian children’s
homes. As Noyan Tapan correspondent was informed from the Ministry’s
Public Relations Department, at present 8 state children’s homes
function in the Ministry’s system where in total over 950 children
live.

CUP VIEW FROM THE STREETS OF NEW YORK
By George Vecsey
The New York Times
May 31, 2006 Wednesday
Late Edition – Final
WE were having lunch outdoors the other day, the way one does on the
first warm afternoon in Lyon or Paris or New York, three cities where
Youri Djorkaeff has lived.
A stocky Argentine man, dining a few tables away, did a double take
when he spotted the alert dark features of the patron at the corner
table.
“It’s like talking to God,” the Argentine man sputtered in English,
as Djorkaeff accepted a hug and posed for a photo. “I know Maradona,”
the stranger continued. “He used to come to my house when he was
hiding out. Who do you think will win the World Cup this year? You
think my country has a chance?”
This question is being asked in 32 nations around the world this
week. Djorkaeff replied that Argentina and Italy are always good,
but in the end Brazil has so much talent.
“It’s like an exact science,” Djorkaeff said. “The same three, always,
and maybe France or England or Germany.” Reluctantly but civilly,
the Argentine man went back to his lunch, letting Djorkaeff get back
to his seafood salad and rose.
In 1998, in the World Cup final won by France, Youri Djorkaeff aimed a
corner kick toward the talented scalp of Zinedine Zidane, who headed
in a goal against Brazil. Now playing for the New York Red Bulls of
Major League Soccer, Djorkaeff, like billions of other people, is
preparing to watch the world’s most popular sports event next month,
on the tube from Germany.
“This will be my first World Cup,” Djorkaeff said the other day.
“I will sit on the sofa and watch, like a good fan. I am checking
the web to get all the information on the French team.”
Djorkaeff and his wife and three children are living in the Gramercy
Park section of Manhattan. As a proud Frenchman of Armenian and
Kalmuk ancestry, Djorkaeff is a little disappointed there is not
more of an Armenian presence in New York, but he loves the long
and mostly anonymous walks around this city. He also does not mind
being lionized at French places like Frederick’s Lounge at Madison
and East 65th Street, where he is one more sporting prince of this
international city where soccer is a thriving daily presence.
He was born to the spotlight, since his father, Jean, was captain of
France in the 1966 World Cup in England. When Djorkaeff was a child,
he played with a fuzzy replica of World Cup Willie, the mascot of
the English cup.
He became a star for Inter Milan, living close to the fabled Duomo.
(“Milan is an amazing city, but a lot of it is hidden. You open
a door, and there are these amazing courtyards and gardens.”) He
joined the French national squad after the breakup of the beautiful
underachieving team of the 1980’s.
In the sunlight on Madison Avenue, Djorkaeff pointed to goose bumps
on his arms as he recalled how the charismatic, multicultural French
team rolled toward the 1998 Cup.
“Half of us played in Italy,” Djorkaeff said, recalling those heady
days a decade ago, when Italy had the best league in the world. He
still marvels at how the French coach, Aime Jacquet, confided in 1997
that “everything is ready” to win the World Cup. Djorkaeff thought
Jacquet had gone mad, “Coach, are you O.K.?”
Exactly eight years ago, Jacquet assembled 23 superb individuals at a
rural camp. “Those little games in training, six men on a side, were
fantastic,” Djorkaeff recalled. “You ran a drill, the ball never went
out. But it’s not just you. It’s the other team. Your whole group. I
never saw soccer like this. On our team, if anything went wrong,
Jacquet had two or three solutions. Everybody was together.”
After the 3-0 victory over Brazil for the championship, Jacquet gave
the players two options: Celebrate in the City of Lights or go back
to the training base with their wives — “the last time we would all
be together,” Djorkaeff said in a hushed voice. The players chose
to go back to the chateau, while millions of fans celebrated along
the Champs-Elysees.
In 2002 in South Korea, Djorkaeff and his mates were older, more
brittle, and did not make it out of the first round. “It is harder
when you are champion,” Djorkaeff said. He retired from the national
team, and last season he chose to play in M.L.S. for the experience
of living in Manhattan.
“If you think about football in Italy or France, you would go home
in a week,” he said, respectfully, “but I am at a point where I want
to help build something here.”
He is busy on the phone these days, plugging his new book, “Snake”
— the English nickname by which he is known in France — written
with Arnaud Ramsay, and published only in French by Grasset.
The American league will soldier on during the World Cup, with the Red
Bulls playing a game the same day, June 17, the United States plays
Italy. Still Djorkaeff is marking off all the games he can possibly
catch. He has helped win a World Cup. Now it is time to watch one.

INDIAN GIRLS BEATEN BY ARMENIA IN CHESS OLYMPIAD
Hindu, India
May 31 2006
Turin, May 31 (PTI): Indian mainstay Koneru Humpy had a rare off
day as India suffered defeat, going down 1-2 against Armenia in the
Women’s Chess Olympiad here.
Humpy fumbled against Lilit Mkrtchian to encounter her first defeat
in the event and Woman Grandmaster D Harika also had a similar fate
in store. The saving grace was National Women champion and WGM Swati
Ghate who won an engrossing battle to thwart a whitewash.
Russian eves could manage only a draw with the United States, thus
giving a ray of hope to Ukraine who narrowed the lead once again to
just half a point after a 2-1 victory over Hungary.
As things stand, Russia on 19 points is followed by Ukraine on 18.5
while USA and China are a distant third with 17 points apiece.
After today’s debacle, the Indian team is struggling on 14.5 points
and share 18th spot with just five rounds to come.
In the next round, India is slated to meet Kazakhstan.
The Russian team rested its top player Alexandra Kosteniuk and in
her absence Tatiana Kosintseva took board one to beat Anna Zatonskih.
However, on the second board Russian aspirations suffered a setback
as Nadezhda Kosuintseva lost to Iruna Krush and a draw on the third
board between Ekaterina Kovalevskaya and Rasudan Goletiani led to
the sharing of honours.

TURKISH LOBBY PRESENTS BILL TO BRITISH PARLIAMENT FOR BELGIUM TO RECOGNIZE CONGO GENOCIDE
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
June 1 2006
The England Turkish Dialog Committee lobby organization in Great
Britain has drawn up a bill on the Belgium government recognizing
the genocide it committed in Congo (APA).
The bill was signed by British parliament members and has been
included into the agenda for discussions. The bill is about the facts
on massacre of millions of people in Congo, colonized by Belgium,
by government forces in 1885-1908. The bill demands the Belgium
government to apologize to Congo people and the international community
for the genocide.
This month, Belgian parliament is going to pass a law on sentencing
persons refusing to recognize the so-called “Armenian genocide”
to one-year in prison. The bill that the Turkish lobby submitted to
British parliament is a response to this step taken by the Belgian
parliament. The England Turkish Dialog Committee stated that the
Belgian parliament should either refuse passing this law or recognize
the genocide it perpetrated in Congo and apologize to the international
committee for having massacred millions of people.
The bill presented by the Turkish lobby was signed by Bottomley Peter,
Conservative Party member, Lin Brown, Martin Katon, David Cheitor,
AndrewDismor, David Drew, Cliv Grogan, Helen Johns , John McDonnel,
Alan Mill from Labor Party and Andrew Georg and Poll Holms from
Liberal-Democratic Party.

NDTV, India
May 30 2006
Chess: Anand draws with Georgiev

Tuesday, May 30, 2006 (Turin):
Indians had a mixed outing in the eighth round of the 37th Chess
Olympiad.
The men scored a 2.5-1.5 victory over Bulgaria, while the women
suffered defeat from Armenia.
Viswanathan Anand played out his fifth draw on the trot, settling for
peace with former world junior champion Kiril Georgiev of Bulgaria.
National Champion Surya Shekhar Ganguly suffered went down against
Alexander Delchev.
It was only thanks to a late onslaught by Krishnan Sasikiran and
Sandipan Chanda against Ivan Cheparinov and Vasily Spassov
(respectively) that the Indian men were able to get past unscathed.
Fumbling down
Indian mainstay Koneru Humpy fumbled against Lilit Mkrtchian and
suffered her first defeat in the event as the Indian women lost to
Armenia by a 1-2 margin.
D Harika also went down while the lone saving grace was Swati Ghate
who won an engrossing battle on the third board to thwart a
whitewash.
At the top of the tables, the Armenian men yet again proved that they
are the frontrunners this time with a comprehensive 3-1 victory over
Cuba.
The Russian men could only manage a 2-2 draw with Czech Republic
which meant that Armenia took a two point lead over their nearest
rivals.
In the women’s section, Russia drew with Czech Republic raising
Ukraine’s title hopes. The result narrowed Czechs’ lead to half a
point. The Ukrainians cruised to an easy 2-1 victory over Hungary.
(PTI)

ARMENIAN MEN’S TEAM LEADING IN THE WORLD CHESS OLYMPIC GAMES
ArmRadio.am
29.05.2006 12:16
Armenian men’s team is leading in the 37th World Chess Olympic Games
held in Turin. The team has gained 21 points in 7 rounds. In the 6th
round the Armenian scored 2.5:1.5 against Uzbekistan and in the 7th
round played 3:1 with the Dutch. With 20 points the Russian team is
the second. The team of Cuba is in the third place with 19.5 points.
In the 8th round today the Armenian chess players will meet the team
of Cuba.

NATO parliamentarians briefed on Turkey’s stand on Armenian genocide claims

Anatolia news agency, Ankara
27 May 06
Paris, 27 May: Justice and Development Party (AKP) MP Aziz Akgul explained
the NATO member parliamentarians the realities of Armenian issue during the
NATO Parliamentary Assembly meetings, sources said on Saturday [27 May].
Akgul distributed a booklet to the assembly member MPs rebutting the
allegations regarding the so-called Armenian genocide.
The booklet that was written in British [as received], German, French and
Turkish, explains why Armenian relocation was not genocide.
The book “Armenian issue and realities” includes information pertaining to
Armenian problem and documents.
Akgul also delivered a keynote speech in economic and social affairs
committee meeting of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and gave information to
parliamentarians on the issue.
The meetings will end on Tuesday [30 May].

Russian TV sees revitalized GUAM as possible threat to CIS

BBC Monitoring Service – United Kingdom; May 26, 2006
Sources as listed,compiled in English 0001 gmt 26 May 06
The GUAM summit which brought together the leaders of Georgia,
Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova in Kiev on 23 May was generally seen
by Russian TV channels as an attempt to revitalize the organization so
it would become a Russia-free alternative to the Commonwealth of
Independent States. Gazprom’s NTV played down the threat to the CIS,
while Moscow-government-owned Centre TV saw the renewed GUAM as
potentially viable, particularly if plans for a Caspian-EU energy
corridor came to fruition. State channel Rossiya (RTV) viewed the
organization as a US-funded attempt to counterbalance Russia’s
influence in the former Soviet Union area.
Although the Russian Foreign Ministry issued statements saying it did
not view GUAM as an anti-Russian coalition, prime-time TV news reports
on the summit generally took the view that an element of anti-Russian
feeling was involved. NTV Segodnya news programme on 23 May raised
concerns about the summit’s pro-Western focus, but then played down
the possibility the organization would pose a threat to the CIS.
“In Kiev today there was criticism of the CIS and calls to move closer
to NATO and the European Union”, presenter Aleksey Pivovarov said. The
ensuing report featured comments by Ukrainian President Viktor
Yushchenko that full European integration was GUAM’s main aim, while
correspondent Roman Sobol cited a survey that showed that more than 60
per cent of Kiev residents believed that GUAM was an anti-Russian
organization.
However, Sobol went on to say that the majority of those involved in
the summit did not view the end of the CIS as imminent. “Although
GUAM is called an alternative CIS, here they prefer somewhat less
strident wording: not a replacement for the CIS but in parallel with
the CIS,” Sobol said, pointing out that only Georgian President
Mikheil Saakashvili had categorically expressed a wish to leave the
commonwealth.
The report suggested that the four member states were fundamentally
incompatible and hinted that this may well hinder the organization’s
progress. “The Georgian and Ukrainian president’s are old friends and
leaders of colour revolutions. But often the question arises: what
links them to the Moldovan Communist Voronin and Azerbaijani leader
Aliyev?” Sobol asked. Centre TV the same day also asked similar
questions about the viability of GUAM, but was less quick to dismiss
the possibility the organization could be successful.
Introducing the report presenter Nikolay Petrov highlighted the
fundamental differences between the GUAM member states. “GUAM is now
called the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development. True,
it is not entirely clear exactly what Communist Vladimir Voronin and
crown prince Ilham Aliyev have to do with democracy,” he said
pointedly.
Correspondent Aleksandr Ogorodnikov noted that “it seems shared
grudges against Russia unite the four presidents more closely than
their common goals”, but added that Aliyev had made a point of
stressing Azerbaijan’s good relations with Russia. However,
Ogorodnikov warned that if GUAM’s proposed Caspian-EU energy corridor
“which threatens to take the bread from Russia’s mouth” became a
reality, then conflict between Moscow and Baku would be unavoidable.
Nevertheless, the report saw the energy plans and the agreements on
creating of a free-trade zone as a good basis for the future of “GUAM
mark-II”, especially as it has US support. “So, GUAM, which nearly
disintegrated six years ago, now seems to have a real chance of
success,” Ogorodnikov said. He went on to suggest that expansion to
include Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and Lithuania might even be on the
cards.
RTV’s Vesti on 23 May saw the plans for an energy corridor as the main
aim of GUAM, which it suggested was nothing more than a US foreign
policy tool.
Presenter Mikhail Antonov introduced the report with claims that the
organization was funded by the USA. “GUAM’s main task is to create a
counterbalance to the CIS and provide an energy corridor from the
Caspian to Europe, bypassing Russia. The people who thought up this
plan and are willing to finance it can only be found far beyond the
boundaries of the former Soviet Union,” he said. He added that because
of this the abbreviation GUAM is particularly apt, as Guam is also the
name of the American military base “from which the USA put political
and military pressure on those it disliked”.
The ensuing video report featured comments by political analysts which
supported this view of the USA’s role. Mikhail Pogrebinskiy, director
of the Kiev-based Centre for Policy and Conflict Research, described
GUAM as “an instrument for implementing US policy in the former Soviet
area”. Director of the Political Research Institute Sergey Markov
insisted that the organization was entirely dependent on US funds. In
a fuller version of his comments, broadcast in the later Vesti Plyus
bulletin, Markov described GUAM as an attempt “to shut the Russian
bear up in its Siberian lair and isolate Russia from Europe”.

PanARMENIAN.Net
Serge Sargsyan Not to Participate in CIS Defense Ministers’ Meeting in
Baku

26.05.2006 17:16 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Defense Minister Serge Sagsyan will not
participate in the meeting of the CIS Defense Ministers to be held in
Baku, RA Defense Minister’s Spokesman, Colonel Seyran Shahsuvaryan
told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
To note, earlier, the Azeri Defense Ministry confirmed that the
Armenian MOD head will not take part in the summit, which will be in
all attended by Defense Ministers of 10 states.
The agenda has not been ratified yet, though the target is to
strengthen cooperation and exchange of experience between the Defense
Ministries of the CIS member states.