Author: Ekmekjian Janet

1490 OUT OF 37936 LEAVERS RECEIVE MAXIMUM, 20 POINTS IN ARMENIAN LANGUAGE, LITERATURE STATE FINAL EXAM

Noyan Tapan
Jun 22 2007

YEREVAN, JUNE 22, NOYAN TAPAN. The Center for Giving Marks and Testing
sent the results of state final exams in Armenian Language, Literature
(A level) held on June 1 to education departments of all regions in
established terms.

Center Director Vanya Barseghian reported at the June 22 press
conference.

In his words, in case of not agreeing to the results the leavers can
appeal against them until June 23, 18:00.

In V. Barseghian’s words, 35 out of 50 tasks included in the
examination test regarded Armenian language, 15 literature. 50
examination points were fitted to 20-point system.

V. Barseghian said that 37936 leavers took part in the final exam,
228 out of which received unsatisfactory marks. 1490 leavers received
maximum mark, 20, 557 leavers minimum mark, 8.

In V. Barseghian’s words, the average mark of majority of leavers in
united exams was 15-16, while in final exams 16-17 (7245 leavers).

It was mentioned that the number of pupils who missed final exams
for valid reasons, as well as received unsatisfactory annual marks
was 712. A centralized exam will be organized for them and for pupils
who missed united exams in July in Yerevan.

RA DEFENSE MINISTER RECEIVED THE AMBASSADOR OF GERMANY

ArmRadio.am
18.06.2007 15:58

June 18 RA Minister of Defense Michael Harutyunyan received the
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic
of Germany to Armenia Mrs. Haike Renate Peitsch, who is completing
her mission in our country.

At the beginning of the meeting the Ambassador turned to the work
carried out in Armenia during her tenure in office.

During the meeting the parties discussed the current state of bilateral
relations in the military sphere and the perspectives of deepening
these. In particular, reference was made to the expansion of ties in
the sphere of military education, i.e. training of Armenian officers
in military educational establishments of Germany.

Regional issues were also discussed.

At the end of the meeting Michael Harutyunyan thanked the Ambassador
for productive cooperation and wished success in her future activity.

THE FRESNO BEE, CALIF., KEN ROBISON COLUMN: LOCAL SCENE: TUNED IN TO LOVE FOR ALL THINGS NBA
Ken Robison

The Fresno Bee – California – KRTBN
Published: Jun 17, 2007

Connie Kirchberg was a 12-year-old in North Fond du Lac, Wis.,
in the late 1960s when she turned on her radio hoping to hear some
popular music.

What she got, instead, was a basketball broadcast.

Rather than tuning out, she tuned in to Eddie Doucette’s broadcast
of a Milwaukee Bucks game. Thus began a lifelong love of basketball
that has resulted in a book about basketball history.

"Hoop Lore: A History of the National Basketball Association" is
Kirchberg’s second book published by McFarland & Company Publishers
of North Carolina.

The first was "Elvis Presley, Richard Nixon, and the American Dream,"
published in 1999.

Writers who take on such an ambitious project as the history of the
NBA are either passionate or educated about their subject.

"Call me both," Kirchberg said, admitting that early Bucks broadcast
"drew me in and gripped me."

She still pays attention to the Bucks — and the Sonics, from living
in Seattle for 20 years. But today, after five years in Fresno,
Kirchberg is a fan of the Lakers and Warriors.

She described her husband Jody, owner of Granite Artwork, a granite
and marble outlet in Fresno, as "not as big a fan as I am."

"He makes the money," Kirchberg said. "And I write."

"Hoop Lore" was born from Kirchberg’s study of the game she loves.

"I was researching the history of the game on my own," she said. "There
were no books on the whole history of the game. So if there isn’t one,
I’ll write it."

Former NBA player Jim Barnett, now a television analyst for the
Warriors, delivers the forward:

"If you are specifically interested in basketball, particularly the
NBA, Connie Kirchberg’s ‘Hoop Lore’ is a must read. This story is the
most comprehensive I have read in all of my travels throughout the
basketball world. … ‘Hoop Lore’ is a history lesson, a compelling
story and a walk down memory lane told with accuracy and social
conscience."

Among Kirchberg’s favorite pieces of NBA history is the Boston Celtics
dominance led by legendary center Bill Russell.

"I don’t think [people] know what an innovator Russell was, what he
did racially for the league," she said. "When he got to the Celtics,
there were just a few blacks, but no real stars, no name players.

"He was responsible for ending racial bias in the league, then became
the [NBA’s] first black coach."

Kirchberg said "Hoop Lore" is available at Fig Garden Books and
online outlets.

For her next nonfiction work, Kirchberg might trade basketball shorts
for aprons and skirts.

"I’m playing around with an idea for a book on women in TV, how they
have evolved from June Cleaver to ‘Sex in the City,’ " she said.

"It’s in my head, not yet on paper."

Valley runners succeed

Three San Joaquin Valley runners earned All-America honors in the
steeplechase at the recent NCAA outdoor track and field championships
in Sacramento.

Colorado senior Billy Nelson (Taft) finished fourth at 8:33.33,
Arizona State junior Kyle Alcorn (Buchanan) finished seventh at
8:35.71 and Cal senior Kevin Davis (Clovis High) was 10th at 8:41.54.

Another Huebner title

Larry Huebner said his family has now accomplished the "Huebner Slam."

The veteran tennis player and retired professional watched his wife,
Gretchen, team with daughter Karin to win the U.S. Tennis Association
National Super Senior Mother-Daughter Indoor championship last weekend
in Vancouver, Wash.

They defeated Linda Hixenbaugh of South Lake Tahoe and Peggy Lucero
of Fair Oaks, the only other duo in the competition.

Karin Huebner, who played at UCLA and coached at USC, owns a national
father-daughter championship. Larry Huebner also owns national
father-son titles with John and Jim and a grandfather-grandson national
title with Chase.

"Now, everyone in our family has a gold ball," Larry Huebner
said. Winners of USTA national championships are awarded a gold ball.

Who, what, when, where

Fresnans Varoujan Der Simonian and Vatche Soghomonian will participate
in the fifth annual Bike for Hope charity bicycle ride beginning
Thursday in Armenia … Former Fresno State golfer Gunnar Avinelis
has been hired as Southern California representative for the College
Golf Fellowship, a Christian group … UCLA junior Kevin Chappell
(Buchanan) was named second team All-America by Golfweek magazine.

The reporter can be reached at [email protected] or (559)
441-6279.

;sub=u sual&nid=190

15.06.07 19:00

Case of woman ready for suicide reaches high court

Uznews.net – Following a number of trials of different levels and
self-immolation attempts a lawsuit filed by Irina Akopyan, a resident of
Karshi who was unlawfully deprived of her flat, has finally reached the
Uzbek Supreme Court, but will it produce any result?

After 11 months of bureaucracy in courts of various instances, Irina Akopyan
appealed to the Kashkadarya Region court for civil cases on 1 May 2007.
However, the court, first, refused to accept her lawsuit citing various
groundless reasons and accepted it only on 15 May.

Of course, Akopyan had to pay a state duty for this. The victim had paid
this duty five times over the 11 months and in vain. Over this period she
had spent $5,000 she had earned in Russian on legal costs, complaints,
lawyers and renting a flat.

Irina Akopyan lost her own flat on 30 May 2006 when her ex-husband
unlawfully sold her flat to a certain Dilafruz Pardayeva. Akopyan herself
was working in Russia then and when she returned to Karshi she literally
found herself on the street.

Since then she has been fighting for her flat, living in rented flats and
paying $50 a month on average.

"During all this time I have provided the authorities with evidence that a
notary and the head of the regional archive falsified documents and the
results of the expert examination of signatures which show that the
signature in the purchase-sale contract is not mine. As, you can see, all
this was useless," the woman said.

In March, Akopyan, having got tired of refusals and excuses, said that if
this lawlessness does not end she would commit self-immolation on Karshi’s
central square. The authorities promised then that they would take necessary
measure. However, nothing has changed since then.

And now the Kashkadarya Region court for civil cases sent her lawsuit to the
Uzbek Supreme Court against her will. Akopyan said that this had been done
so because the regional court had not been able to gather three judges to
decide this issue.

However, Akopyan is not able to shuttle to Tashkent to defend her interests
there, especially when she will have to pay state duties and fees to lawyers
again because she does not have any money left.

"Moreover, I do not believe anymore that it is possible to restore justice,"
Akopyan said with indignation. "All the courts are bonded with and cover up
one another in Uzbekistan. Another reason is I am an ethnic Armenian and I
think that the ethnic issue plays not the last role in this case."

And now Irina Akopyan has sent letters to nine top officials in the region,
including the governor, the head of the national security (SNB) department,
the head of the regional police department and the regional prosecutor,
warning them that she intends to stage an open-ended picket on Karshi’s main
square.

An Uzbek former lawyer said that the threat of self-immolation or picket
would have hardly any impact on the Uzbek authorities. In the country where
everywhere lawlessness rules it will be easy for the authorities to find a
solution to this situation.

"After a possible death of Akopyan they would be able to quickly issue a
certificate saying that she was insane and close the case. That is why the
best solution in this situation if she appeals to international
organisations and the Armenian community. In general, this problem can be
solved through other means," the former lawyer said.

However, the chairman of the Jizak Region branch of the Human Rights Society
of Uzbekistan, Bahtiyer Hamrayev, did not share the former lawyer’s view.
Akopyan’s desire to commit suicide or take other radical measures will not
be a single case in Uzbekistan, he believes. Over the past five or six
years, many Uzbek citizens have tried to solve their problems in this way
and the authorities would just ignore them.

"These measures cannot remain without attention and only when someone
decides to commit self-immolation the authorities start solving his
problem," Hamrayev said. "Although, they try to hide such information from
the international community, keeping it under their control."

PanARMENIAN.Net

In Azerbaijan there are people who realize that the war for someone
else’s territory is committed to defeat

`The image of the enemy’ is once and for all formed and if things go
on like this, perhaps the inner instability will lead to civil strife
like it had happened before Heydar Aliyev.
14.06.2007 GMT+04:00

The President of Armenia and the President of Azerbaijan didn’t come
to any common conclusion in Saint Petersburg just like it should have
been expected. However the meeting of the two Presidents gave grounds
for different announcements and discussion of the document about the
resolution, which according to the RA Minister of Foreign Affairs
Vartan Oskanyan, will firstly determine the status of Nagorno-Karabakh
and then will help find answers to the other questions.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In Baku immediately after the meeting the Karabakh
Forum with participation of deputies and political parties was
held. It launched with a scandal. On the list of the announced
organizers there was the name of the political scientist Ilgar
Mamedov, who, according to the articles, is against the radical means
put forward by Akif Naðý. Day. az has published the announcement
made by Mamedov, where he emphasizes; `The information about my
participation in organizing the Karabakh Forum is a complete lie. I
encourage practically all the initiatives of the public discussion of
the Karabakh Conflict and I always take very active part in their
works. However, I never agreed to become one of the organizers of the
mentioned Forum. That is why I am surprised and disappointed that the
Karabakh Liberation Organization has mentioned my name among the
initiators of this event, while I had agreed to participate in the
discussions only.’

But the matter is not in Ilgar Mamedov only, but that Baku seems to
have started to realize that sooner or later it will have to reach the
agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh status and only then solve the other
problems, such as territorial problems, the problem of refugees,
borders and so on.

`Karabakh Liberation Organization thinks that Azerbaijan should cancel
the idea of holding the referendum on determining the further status
of Nagorno-Karabakh,’ announced Akif Naði. The president of the
party of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan Ali Kerimli said in his
speech that `The international organizations strive to once and for
all tear away Nagorno Karabakh from Azerbaijan.’ According to him, in
case Kosovo gains its independence, Azerbaijan will have a rather
serious danger to face. Kerimli also said that it was very
unreasonable to hold the referendum on the status of Nagorno Karabakh
in Azerbaijan. The President of the oppositional National Democratic
Party Bozgurd Iskender Hamidov came forward with the idea of
discontinuing the OSCE Minsk Group’s activity, as well as demanded to
reject the implementation of the policy of `National Diplomacy’.

All the participants of the Forum are active supporters of the
conflict resolution by use of force, who for some unknown reasons
forget that as Agber Hasanov writes, `If on the streets of Baku there
is no one ready `to liberate’ Nagorno-Karabakh, in our opinion it
means that this land didn’t and doesn’t belong to
Azerbaijan’. Moreover, Baku will hardly dare to unleash any war, in
spite of all the preparations being held within and beyond of the
borders of the country. `The image of the enemy’ is once and for all
formed and if it goes on like this, perhaps the inner instability will
lead to civil strife like it had happened before Heydar Aliyev. Then
the President Aliyev will hardly be concerned about Karabakh, as he
will have to save his position by all means, even by war. The hope
will fall upon oil and gas supplies, yet, as it has already been
mentioned, war cannot be won by the help of growing military budget
only. Elmar Huseynov is one of the few journalists in Azerbaijan, who
paid with his life for his views, wrote in 1997 `We lost the war,
because we didn’t fight for our land. Our refugees do not want to
return, as it is not their land…’ These lines were published in the
newspaper `Monitor’, which was shut down by Heydar Aliyev. This was
and still remains the only truth. «PanARMENIAN.Net» analytical
department

ARMENIA, IRAN TO SIGN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
June 14 2007

YEREVAN, June 14. /ARKA/. Armenia and Iran are expected to sign an
agreement on free trade regime. The issue was discussed at a meeting
between RA Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan and Iranian Ambassador to
Armenia Alireza Khakikian.

The Public Relations Department, RA Government, reports that Premier
Sargsyan expressed hope that the meeting of the Intergovernmental
Commission scheduled for July will contribute to the development and
consolidation of economic relations.

Premier Sargsayan expressed satisfaction over successful implementation
of the programs under high-level agreements.

In his turn, the Iranian Ambassador pointed out the importance of
the planned meeting. He said that the Iranian side is making serious
preparation for the meeting.

Besides the free trade agreement, Ambassador Khakikian emphasized
cooperation in the petrochemical industry, as well as the construction
of a hydro-power plant on the Araks River. He stressed that the
energy to be generated by the hydro-power plant will contribute to
the development of a number of borderline regions, and the energy
surplus will be used in exchange with Iran.

The Ambassador also reported that a join commission is expected to
be formed to encourage investments.

During the meeting Ambassador Khakikian conveyed to Premier Sargsyan
congratulations on his appointment from the Iranian Vice-President,
as well as success to the Armenian Government and the entire Armenian
people.

Eurasia Daily Monitor

June 13, 2007 — Volume 4, Issue 115

RUSSIA DEMANDS A TOTALLY CHANGED TREATY ON CONVENTIONAL FORCES IN
EUROPE

by Vladimir Socor

The `Extraordinary Conference of States Parties to the Treaty on
Conventional Forces in Europe’ (CFE), under way in Vienna since June 11 at
Russia’s initiative, is developing in a wholly different way than had been
expected. Russia is proposing what amounts to an almost total rewrite of the
1999-adapted CFE Treaty, which has not been ratified and brought into force
since then. The version currently in force is the original 1990 CFE Treaty.

Only Russia and three other CIS member countries have ratified the
1999-adapted Treaty. The other signatory countries condition their
ratification on the withdrawal of Russian forces from Georgia and Moldova
(the 1999 Istanbul Commitments). Apparently, Russia deemed the treaty at
least acceptable to itself as recently as 2004 when it initiated that
ratification (hoping to generate pressure on the Baltic states to join a
ratified treaty). Now, however, the Kremlin seeks in fact to scuttle this
same treaty, the ratification of which it was urging upon the West until
mere months and even weeks ago. Moscow’s move is central to a comprehensive
challenge to the post-Soviet status quo on security in Europe.

Euphemistically dubbed `modernization’ of the 1999 treaty, Russia’s
goal is a complete re-negotiation of that treaty package. However, Russia
still wants the 1999 CFE treaty to be brought into force — largely in order
to restrict defense options in the Baltic states — and only then proceed to
re-negotiate the treaty with regard to other areas, in quest of Russian
unilateral advantages.

The Russian delegation’s chief, Anatoly Antonov, listed Russia’s
grievances and demands in his June 12 official introductory speech. The
salient points include:

1) The 1999-adapted CFE Treaty to be ratified and brought into force
quickly, or at least to be declared `temporarily valid’ by July 1, 2008.

2) Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to sign the ratified or at least
temporarily validated treaty, so as to fall under its restrictions.
Curiously, Moscow claims that the three Baltic states should `return to the
CFE Treaty which they quit in 1991,’ implying that the three states somehow
inherited the 1990 treaty as parts of the Soviet Union, which was still
occupying them at that point;

3) New `group’ limits to be negotiated on NATO armaments and military
hardware, so as to `compensate’ [Russia] for the accession of new member
countries to NATO and the U.S. military installations in Romania and
Bulgaria. Arms deployments and/or numerical ceilings to be lowered in most
of those countries.

4) A political decision to remove the `flank’ limits on Russian force
deployments in the North Caucasus and a part of Russia’s northwest. Russia
`cannot and will not fulfill the provisions of the obsolete treaty to the
detriment of its security’ regarding flank limits. This seems to allude
mainly to the northwestern flank, since Russia has for years exceeded the
CFE treaty limits on the North Caucasus flank, using a treaty escape clause
with full Western understanding.

If no agreement is reached on these and apparently also some other
Russian demands, Russia reserves the right unilaterally to `suspend the
validity’ of the treaty or even abandon it altogether, Antonov warned the
conference in his presentation. Suspension, he explained, would mean in
practice that Russia would exempt itself from the treaty’s quantitative
force ceilings and would quit the treaty’s system of mutual inspections and
information exchanges on forces and movements.

Russia takes the position that `suspending the validity is a means for
revitalizing the treaty.’ It expects other signatory countries to refrain
from `actions that would hamper the treaty’s revitalization’ during the
period of Russia’s unilateral suspension, should it come to that. Such
`hampering’ actions could lead Russia to abandon the CFE treaty, Antonov
warned. He called for dialogue on the basis of these conditions.

This argument seems legally nihilistic on at least three counts: a)
the treaty does not envisage any unilateral moratorium on obligations or
suspension of terms; b) Moscow wants the treaty to be ratified quickly — or
even `temporarily validated’ — in order to achieve its specific goal
regarding the Baltic states, but wants the same treaty to be `temporarily
suspended’ if Russia does not achieve its other goals; c) Moscow apparently
presumes to define itself what would constitute `hampering actions.’

Antonov, who is Russia’s top arms control official (chief of the
Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Security and Disarmament Department)
presented Moscow’s position to the closed-door conference, as reported by
Russia’s official media (Itar-Tass, RIA-Novosti, June 12). The delegation’s
deputy chief, Mikhail Ulyanov, elaborated on some of those points for
Western media (AP, Reuters, International Herald Tribune, June 12, 13).

Moscow’s agenda at this conference goes vastly beyond what the Western
allies and their partners had expected only days earlier. Generally they had
expected a relatively simple, largely familiar scenario: Russia would demand
ratification of the 1999 treaty, despite having only in part fulfilled its
1999 Istanbul Commitments; the Western allies would seek to square this
circle in a creative way, particularly regarding Russian troops in Moldova;
the door might then open for the Russia-desired accession of the Baltic
states to the adapted CFE Treaty. However, Russia’s strategic ambitions in
Europe seem to be outpacing even the pessimistic Western prognostications
(see EDM, May 25, June 8, 11).

–Vladimir Socor

AZEBAIJANI MPS SUGGEST TO DECLARE CURFEW

ArmRadio.am
13.06.2007 17:22

The Azerbaijani authorities must declare curfew within the frames
envisaged by the Constitution of the republic and take real steps to
restore the territorial integrity of the country, opposition Deputy
of Milli Majlis Panah Husein declared during the so-called Karabakh
forum, featuring representatives of the Azerbaijani political parties
and non-governmental organizations. "If the authorities establish
curfew, the opposition parties are ready to suspend their activity
and cooperate with the Government to restore the territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan," he underlined.

The suggestion was supported by the President of the "Musavat"
opposition party Isa Gambar, who declared his distrust in the OSCE
Minsk Group, declaring that "one should not expect real success from
the negotiations in the near future."

Presidnet of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan Ali Kerimli declared
in his speech that "international organizations are aspiring to finally
secede Nagorno Karabakh from Azerbaijan." In his words, "if Kosovo
gets independence, it will present a serious danger to Azerbaijan."

"It is necessary to provide some time to the Armenian side, during
which Yerevan should recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,
otherwise our country will launch activities to resolve the Karabakh
issue in a military way," declared hudrat Hasanghuliyev, member of
the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan.

EXPERT: USA IS CONSTRUCTING ITS OWN RADAR SYSTEM IN SOUTH CAUCASUS

Regnum, Russia
June 13 2007

"It seems to me that the proposal made by Russian President Vladimir
Putin to use jointly the Gabala radar system in Azerbaijan was
an invitation for a political dialog on wide range of issues in
international security," political analyst Karine Gevorgyan said in
an interview to a REGNUM correspondent.

"Vladimir Putin’s proposal was treated as a sensational one;
meanwhile, as early as on May 2, 2007, information from an unnamed
source in the Pentagon was seen in the internet that the United States
would appreciate it if Russia and Azerbaijan agreed for joint use
of the Gabala radar station. He alleged to express opinion of the
US leadership. So, the Russian president, possibly, reacted to the
proposal from the USA itself, where, as it seems, there had been no
unanimous opinion between the Department of State and the Pentagon
from the start," she said. Besides, according to Karine Gervorgyan,
Azerbaijani officials made no secret of the fact that the question
had been discussed during Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov’s
visit to Baku. Putin’s statement that he had had a discussion with
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who, according to the Russian
leader, said Azerbaijan would be happy to participate in the security
issues that concern Russia and the USA, confirms the fact of Russia’s
consultations with Azerbaijan, believes the expert. "I know from
official sources that in the frameworks of an agreement on military
cooperation signed by the USA and Azerbaijan the United States is
planning to include the radar station in Lerik and a radiotelephone
observation station in Agstafa into the Caucasnet radar net. Last year,
the USa deployed radars in two districts in Azerbaijan.

Besides, they modernized an air defense base in Kurdamir. On
this background, Russia is selling defensive weapons to Iran and
strengthening its positions in Armenia. The contract between Russia
and Azerbaijan for renting the Gabala Radar System expires in 2012.

Now it is not working to its full capacity," Karine Gervorgyan said.

According to the analyst, Iran’s position on the issue is the same
as it is on the issue of stationing two US radar systems, one of
which will be targeted for Iran. "Tehran has nothing against it,"
said Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Afshar Suleimani earlier. "Such
reaction is possibly caused by change of Iran’s defensive status,"
supposes the expert. At the same time, Karine Gervorgyan ruled out
a possibility of a connection between the Russian-US dialog on joint
use of the Gabala radar station and the process of Nagorno Karabakh
conflict settlement. Nevertheless, according to her, a "plot" between
Moscow and Washington about Karabakh is generally plausible.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Ankara `condemned’ resolution of Chilean Senate, which recognizes
Armenian Genocide
09.06.2007 14:51 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Expressing regret over the passage
of a resolution by the Chilean Senate recognizing the
Armenian Genocide, Turkey emphasized that the
resolution’s text is full of incorrect information.
`As is known, in his April 30 speech UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated that the UN does
not have official position regarding the 1915
incidents. We condemn and reject the resolution of the
Chilean Senate, which serves to distort history for
political purposes. We consider the Chilean Senate’s
resolution to be an attitude casting a shadow over
friendly relations between the two countries,’ the
Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a written statement
released on Friday, Zaman newspaper reports.

On June 5 the Chilean Senate unanimously adopted a
resolution, which condemns the Armenian Genocide of
1915 perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire and called
governments of all countries in the world to join the
1985 document by the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention
of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.