Author: Emil Lazarian

ANDONIAN TAKES OUTSIDE SHOT WITH EVANS TIRE
By: Andrew Peterson – For The North County Times
North County Times, CA
Nov 23 2006
ESCONDIDO — In the scramble and scrap of schoolyard basketball,
quickness and drive can nullify the advantages of size and height
— a good thing for someone like John Andonian, who stood 5 feet 5
inches tall when he played guard for Hoover High in Los Angeles in
the early 1970s. Then as now, what he lacked in height he made up
for with desire.
“I had some basic talents and then my ambition to win,” Andonian,
chief executive officer of Evans Tire Co., said by phone recently.
“My strength was my quickness and my defense. I (also) had a good
outside shot.”
More than 30 years later, Andonian still prefers the David role to
that of Goliath. Defying the odds and tire industry giants such as
Costco and Firestone, he has grown revenues at Evans from $9 million
to $22 million in six years.
A family-run business based in Escondido, the company’s fortunes were
sagging when Andonian took the helm. He was, in effect, buying the
nine-store chain from himself, as Evans was owned by AKH Discount
Tires, which was run by Andonian and his brothers.
The franchise was a fixer-upper.
“Even though we had been in the market for almost 20 years, the name
identity was very low,” he recalled.
He found the stores in need of remodeling and the work force in need
of motivating.
He made other changes, too — such as a bold new purple and yellow
color scheme for the stores, which now number 16, and a higher
marketing profile in print and radio. But Evans needed more to draw
attention to itself in the competitive San Diego market. Andonian
realized that it couldn’t just be price.
“If it’s just about price, you’ve got the Wal-Marts of the world and
the Costcos, and you just can’t compete with them,” he said.
The differentiator, he saw, was customer service, or “value-added
programs.” Evans offers free alignment on purchases of selected tire
brands, as well as free tickets to such places as the San Diego Zoo
or Legoland California.
In recent years, the tire business has changed, he said, with customer
demand pushing auto companies to offer more tire options for their
cars. “Ten to 15 years ago, 20 tire sizes hypothetically covered 60
percent of the market,” Andonian said. “Now, you need maybe 40 or 50
sizes to cover 40 percent of the market.”
Some things haven’t changed. Evans is still very much a family
enterprise. Andonian, married 20 years to his wife, Cynthia, says
all three of their children have shown an interest in working in
the business — particularly his son Alex, 20, who attends Southern
Methodist University in Dallas: “My theory is go to school. Graduate.
Go work somewhere for a couple years — then let’s talk about it.”
It’s an attitude Andonian’s parents would recognize and respect. “My
parents wanted more for their kids,” said Andonian, whose Armenian
family immigrated to the United States in 1969.
For his part, he has thrived and prospered on the slopes of uphill
battles. He said stepping in to run an already-successful company
wouldn’t be the same.
“Keeping the status quo would be OK,” Andonian said. “But certainly
fixing (a company) and growing it would be more challenging for me. I
like to run companies, I like to make them successful. I like to make
them winners.”
ESCONDIDO — In the scramble and scrap of schoolyard basketball,
quickness and drive can nullify the advantages of size and height —
a good thing for people like Evans Tire CEO John Andonian, who stood
5’5″ when he played guard for Hoover High in Los Angeles in the early
70s. Then as now, what he lacked in height he made up for with desire.
“I had some basic talents and then my ambition to win,” he said by
phone recently. “My strength was my quickness and my defense. I (also)
had a good outside shot.”
More than thirty years later Andonian still prefers the David role
to that of Goliath, defying the odds and tire industry giants like
Costco and Firestone by growing Evans revenues from $9 million to
$22 million in six years.
A family-run business based in Escondido, Evans Tire’s fortunes were
sagging when Andonian took the helm, in effect buying the nine-store
chain from himself, since Evans was owned by AKH Discount Tires,
which in turn was run by Andonian and his brothers.
The franchise was a fixer-upper.
“Even though we had been in the market for almost 20 years, the name
identity was very low,” he recalled.
He found the stores in need of remodeling and the workforce in need
of motivating.
He made other changes too — like a bold new purple and yellow color
scheme for the stores (which now number 16), and a higher marketing
profile in print and radio. But Evans needed more to draw attention
to itself in the competitive San Diego market. Andonian realized it
couldn’t just be price.
“If it’s just about price you’ve got the Wal-Marts of the world and the
Costcos, and you just can’t compete with them. They’re just too big.”
The differentiator, he saw, was customer service. To do this he used
what he called “value-added programs”.
“We include free alignments (on purchases of selected tire brands),”
he said. “And we’re always offering things like free zoo or Legoland
tickets OWe’re offering a one-stop shop where you can buy your tires
and brakes and alignments O
If you go to Costco or WalMart you’re just going to get the tires.”
The changes, while effective, took time to boost the company’s
bottom line.
“At the beginning of the second year, it started,” Andonian said.
In the meantime the tire business has changed; customer demand has
pushed auto companies to offer more tire options for their cars.
“Ten to fifteen years ago, twenty tire sizes hypothetically covered 60%
of the market,” Andonian said. “Now you need maybe 40 or 50 sizes to
cover 40% of the market.”
Some things haven’t changed. Evans is still very much a family
enterprise. Andonian, married twenty years to his wife Cynthia, says
all three of their children have shown an interest in working in
the business — particularly his son Alex, 20, who attends Southern
Methodist University in Dallas.
“My theory is go to school. Graduate. Go work somewhere for a couple
years — then let’s talk about it.”
It’s an attitude Andonian’s parents would recognize and respect.
Andonian’s family history includes his Armenian grandparents’ flight
from genocide at the hands of the Turks in 1915 into Syria. The family
immigrated to the United States in 1969.
“My parents wanted more for their kids,” said Andonian, who attributes
his competitive nature to his father, who passed away ten years ago.
For his part, he’s thrived and prospered on the slopes of uphill
battles. He said stepping in to run an already-successful company
wouldn’t be the same.
“Keeping the status quo would be okay,” Andonian said. “But certainly
fixing (a company) and growing it would be more challenging for me. I
like to run companies, I like to make them successful — I like to
make them winners.”

AZERBAIJAN TIPTOES TOWARDS NATO
By Jasur Mamedov in Baku
Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
Nov 23 2006
Baku’s cautious policy seemingly designed to avoid spoiling relations
with Iran and Russia.
Although Azerbaijan is moving closer towards NATO, it remains shy
of talking about full membership of the alliance, apparently out of
concern about the geopolitical implications of such a commitment.
On November 8, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliev visited NATO
headquarters in Brussels before flying to Moscow for talks with
President Vladimir Putin. The two stops on his trip illustrated the
delicate foreign policy Baku is pursuing with both NATO and Russia.
“Today probably marks the start of a new stage in this relationship,”
said Aliev in Brussels. “We think it’s very important for our country,
which is young but already has growing potential, to be a true and
reliable partner for NATO.”
Azerbaijan’s chief foreign ministry spokesman Tahir Tagizade told
IWPR that his government believed in gradual cooperation, “We don’t
claim that we’ll become a NATO member-state tomorrow, or in a year.
But we believe that the current framework of our partnership gives
enough scope for us to make moves in this direction. Azerbaijan is now
well aware that integration with Europe and Euro-Atlantic structures
will bring stability to the region.”
Some analysts see Azerbaijan’s deliberately cautious policy as designed
to avoid spoiling relations with its big neighbours Iran and Russia.
“Over the last 10 to 15 years, integration with the West has been
a strategic priority for Azerbaijan,” said political analyst Leila
Alieva. “But the authorities are now saying that good relationships
should be built with Russia and Iran in order for the country to have
a normal existence.
“There’s a contradiction here: Azerbaijan can move closer to the West
only through democracy, through political and economic reforms. But
what draws us closer to Russia and Iran is being an authoritarian
regime.”
Another analyst, Elkhan Mehtiev, said Azerbaijan wanted to escape
the kind of Russian hostility Georgia has evinced by making its NATO
ambitions so plain.
“It’s no secret that all Georgia’s troubles started after it announced
its intention to join NATO and took radical steps in that direction,”
said Mehtiev. “No one wants to have a conflict with Russia over
this. Azerbaijan’s leaders understand that if they act like Georgia,
the troubles that await them will be even worse. NATO places a high
value on cooperation with Azerbaijan, but it isn’t going to be a
question of full membership.”
Some opposition figures argue that Azerbaijan is being too cautious
and should instead move full-speed towards NATO membership.
Sulhaddin Akber, president of the Azerbaijani-Atlantic Cooperation
Association and a leading member of the opposition Musavat party,
said, “It’s true that there are some internal and external problems
hampering Azerbaijani integration with NATO. But if Azerbaijan acted
in concert with Georgia, Tbilisi would not be left to cope with the
pressure from Moscow alone.”
Azerbaijan joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme in 1994
and is now implementing an Individual Partnership Action Plan, IPAP,
with the alliance.
Baku has been reforming its armed forces since 1997 to bring them into
line with NATO requirements. The country’s military education system
has undergone the most noticeable changes: with Turkish military
assistance, young officers are now being trained in accordance with
NATO standards.
Under its IPAP, Azerbaijan has been putting up new radar stations
with United States assistance in the southern region of Astara and
the coastal region of Khyzy.
“The primary aim of this is to allow Azerbaijan to control and guard
its borders,” said Jonathan Henick, public affairs officer of the
US embassy in Baku. “We believe that there is a threat from the
trafficking of weapons, drugs and people via the Caspian Sea. We
think that it’s in the interests of both the USA and Azerbaijan to
have these negative phenomena under control.”
Some Azerbaijani experts say the radar stations are primarily
intended to watch out for illegal traffic between Russia and Iran,
but Henick denied this, saying, “It’s not the USA’s aim to keep an
especially close watch on some particular route. Its aim is to develop
Azerbaijan’s controlling capacities.”
Despite the partnership plan, a number of experts say they see little
evidence that the Azerbaijani military is willing to undergo reform.
Alekber Mamedov, director of the Centre for Civil Control over Armed
Forces, said that the only areas where Azerbaijan was able to cooperate
with NATO effectively involved protecting the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
oil pipeline and counter-terrorism activities.
“I would like NATO to put pressure on the Baku authorities to undertake
military reforms in Azerbaijan. If it does not do so, any cooperation
with such corrupt officials will harm the reputation of a world-class
organisation like NATO,” he said.
Yildirim Mamedov, formerly a brigade commander and now a colonel in
the reserve, said that military reform in Azerbaijan was a mirage.
“Currently we can see no changes either in the minds of our military
leaders or in the technical and physical condition of the army,”
he said. “It’s pure pretence.”
Mamedov said there were big obstacles standing in the way of Azerbaijan
meeting NATO standards, but the alliance had at least helped the army
conduct professional exercises.
Uzeir Jafarov, a lieutenant-colonel in the reserve, said, “Over
the next five to 10 years, Azerbaijan won’t be able to fulfill its
commitments to NATO. Personally I don’t believe that under the command
of the corrupt generals in the defence ministry, any effort will be
made to aspire to NATO standards.”
Unlike in Georgia, NATO is not a subject of passionate debate in
Azerbaijan.
Taxi driver Ehtiram Tagiev, 40, only remembers that NATO once
confronted the Soviet Union. “I can’t say whether NATO membership
will be beneficial for Azerbaijan or not, since the organisations
Azerbaijan has joined up till now have done nothing good for our
country and haven’t brought a resolution to the Karabakh conflict
any closer,” he said.
Schoolteacher Azad Orujev, 30, said cooperation with NATO could only
benefit the country. He said soldiers should have higher wages and
their conditions of service should improve.
“But politically, membership in NATO cannot change anything in
Azerbaijan,” he said. “As long as we have oil, democracy will be
something we can only dream about.”
Jasur Mamedov is a journalist with Zerkalo newspaper in Baku.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERBAIJAN AMENABLE TO TALKS WITH ARMENIA REGARDING N.KARABAKH
Kuwait News Agency, Kuwait
Nov 23 2006
MOSCOW, Nov 23 (KUNA) — Azerbaijan on Thursday agreed on holding
talks with Armenia at the presidential level on the disputed Nogorno
Karabakh settlement.
Taha Taqi Zadah, an Azerbaijani spokesman,told the Russian Interfax
News Agency that his country informed the head of Minsk group which
belongs to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(Minsk) that his country would take part in talks on the disputed
Karabakh settlement.
Taqi described his meeting with Minsk’s representatives as positive
and fruitful.
The spokesman added that representatives from the European Union (EU)
showed determination to carry on efforts to bring closer stands and
peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERBAIJANI, ARMENIAN LEADERS AGREE TO BILATERAL MEETING TO DISCUSS KARABAKH PROBLEM
The Associated Press
International Herald Tribune, France
Nov 23 2006
BAKU, Azerbaijan: The presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed
to hold a bilateral meeting aimed at resolving the simmering conflict
over Nagorno-Karabakh, officials said Thursday.
Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous region in Azerbaijan that has been
under the control of Armenian and ethnic-Armenian Karabakh forces
since a 1994 cease-fire ended a six-year separatist war that killed
about 30,000 people and drove about 1 million from their homes.
The region’s final status remains unresolved, and years of talks
under the auspices of international mediators have brought few
visible results.
President Ilham Aliev’s press service said Thursday he has agreed to
meet with his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian on the sidelines
of a Tuesday summit of ex-Soviet republics in Minsk, Belarus.
Earlier this week, Russian officials involved in mediating the conflict
said Kocharian had also agreed to meet.
Both leaders last held bilateral talks in June and the meeting failed
to produced a breakthrough.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT MEETS OSCE MEDIATORS
Mediamax, Armenia
Nov 21 2006
Yerevan, 21 November: Armenian President Robert Kocharyan met the
Russian and French co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagornyy
Karabakh in Yerevan today.
The mediators are not going to hold a news conference on the result
of their visit to Yerevan, Mediamax reports.
The mediators will meet Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku
on 22 November.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CAUCASUS RESEARCH RESOURCE CENTERS RELEASES 2006 SURVEY RESULTS
ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Nov 21 2006
The Caucasus Research Resource Centers-Armenia released the results
of the 2006 Data Initiative Survey today, reports CRRC Armenia.
The regional survey is carried out across the South Caucasus and
interviews respondents from over 6,800 households, asking over 120
questions. The survey assesses knowledge, attitudes and practices in
all three South Caucasus countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia,
and paints an intriguing picture of behavior over time. Additionally,
2006 marks a watershed year for CRRC. Now in its third year, the Data
Initiative has been expanded to all regions of the South Caucasus.
The Data Initiative raises a host of fascinating questions that beg
further sociological and journalistic investigation. Why does Armenia
continue to have the most male smokers in the region? Although the
number of male smokers in Yerevan has dropped, it is currently 12%
higher than in Baku and 5% higher than in Tbilisi. What explains
Armenian and Azerbaijani ambivalence towards NATO membership, with
a large percentage of the population-41% and 35% in Yerevan and Baku
respectively-responding that they “don’t know” if their country should
join NATO?
The survey results also provide key indicators on economic
development. For instance, the percentage of households having personal
computers in Yerevan increased from 15% in 2004 to 21% in 2006. By
contrast, only 3% of rural households possess a personal computer.
The Data Initiative questions regarding social institutions also
provide contentious results for politicians and policymakers. In
Armenia, people distrust most social institutions. For instance,
in 2006, only 15% said they trusted the parliament.
The Data Initiative Survey contains blocks of questions on demography,
education, political attitudes/views, social institutions, migration,
crime, health and economic behavior. “The Data Initiative will improve
the quality and availability of up-to-date data in the region,”
states Dr. Hans Gutbrod, CRRC Regional Director. “Ultimately, the
CRRC data sets will enable local and regional social scientists and
policy practitioners to collaborate and engage in meaningful dialogue
about the ongoing transitions in their homelands”
CRRC are a network of resource and training centers established
in 2003, in the capital cities of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia
with the goal of strengthening social science research and public
policy analysis in the South Caucasus. A partnership between the
Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Eurasia Foundation and local
universities, the CRRC network offers scholars and practitioners stable
opportunities for integrated research, training and collaboration in
the region.

TURKISH MPS VISIT USA TO TRY TO PREVENT ARMENIAN RESOLUTION
Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
Nov 21 2006
“Turkish MPs reiterate sensitivity on so-called Armenian genocide”
Washington D.C., 21 Nov: A group of Turkish parliamentarians visited
Washington D.C. in a bid to persuade congressional leaders to halt
so-called Armenian genocide resolutions after Democrats seized control
of both the US Senate and the House of Representatives.
Nancy Pelosi, who is in line to become the speaker of the House, has
promised to support a so-called genocide resolution during her election
campaign, underlining fears in Turkey that the new Congress might
adopt such a bill which has been prevented by the Bush administration
since it came to power in 2000.
The group, headed by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
foreign policy adviser Egemen Bagis, held meetings with US legislators
as well as State Department’s counter-terrorism coordinator Henry
Crumpton and FBI’s New York director Mark Mershon.
Bagis played down adoption of a so-called genocide resolution at a
press meeting.
“The Armenian issue won’t be the first priority of the Democrat
Party. There are other issues,” he told journalists after an annual
session of the US Congress Turkey Working Group in West Virginia.
In September 2005, the House International Relations Committee
passed a bill recognizing so-called Armenian genocide. But Republican
Congressman Dennis Hastert, the outgoing House Speaker, did not take
the bill to a full House vote.
Bagis also said a joint effort was underway with Mark Parris, former US
ambassador to Ankara, and former Republican congressman Bob Livingston,
Turkey’s main lobbyist in the USA, against an Armenian resolution.

ARMENIA’S FOREIGN POLICY GUIDELINES
Eurasian Home Analytical Resource, Russia
Nov 22 2006
Vagan Shrikhanian, Former Vice-Prime Minister of Armenia, Yerevan
The pivotal task for Armenia today is survival of its nation.
The uncontrollable criminalization of power is a major obstacle to
solving this task. The problem is rather caused by external factors.
Some countries and international agencies were involved in corrupt
practices with the Armenian authorities. When the national interests
are replaced by personal or group interests, the manipulation of
Armenia and the achievement of the goals defined become easier.
As regards the abovementioned task, it vanished long ago from the
Armenian internal agenda as well as from the list of issues examined
at the Russian-Armenian summits.
The October visit of Armenian President Robert Kocharian to Russia
lends support to this fact.
The Armenian party was searching to strengthen its power, while
the Russian party wanted to expand its influence over Armenia. The
Armenian society perceives those goals as incompatible. The support
lent to Robert Kocharian by Moscow decreases the number of advocates
of the pro-Russian orientation of Armenia and creates more favorable
conditions for the pro-Western forces that already dominate Armenia’s
mass media.
After the visit of Robert Kocharian to Russia comments have appeared in
Armenia that Russia appropriated the telephony, that the gas pipeline
from Iran to Armenia and Armenia’s railroad will also become Russia’s
property, and that after all, Armenia will become Russia’s ‘province’.
This undermines Russia’s reputation in the eyes of Armenians and shows
that when supporting the Armenian authorities Russia tries to get
(in exchange for its support) the country’s strategically important
infrastructure as the only reliable tool for keeping Armenia under
its influence.
As for the prospects of Armenia’s mediation in the settlement of
the Georgian-Russian conflict, against a background of the existing
Russian-Armenian relations it is necessary to specify what political
forces in Armenia, Georgia and Russia will participate in the conflict
resolution.
If we are talking about the forces in power, there will be no problems
here. At a certain “price” it will be possible to arrange any deal
on any matter; but these arrangements will only be valid until more
lucrative proposals come from the USA, European Union, Turkey etc.
Evidently, there are such proposals now. Armenia’s mediation in the
Georgian-Russian conflict is relevant and even necessary. But the
current Armenian government is likely to shirk this mission like it
once shirked the peacekeeping operation in Lebanon.
So, no wonder that in the case of Iraq, Kocharian took up the call
of the USA at once, and Armenia has been participating in Iraq’s
destructive “democratization” up to now.
If we are talking about national consensus on Armenia’s mediation in
the Georgian-Russian conflict, it hasn’t yet been reached.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SENIOR REPUBLICAN SEES NO KARABAKH SETTLEMENT UNTIL 2012
By Ruzanna Stepanian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Nov 22 2006
A senior Republican Party (HHK) member thinks no solution will be
found to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem in the next several years.
Galust Sahakian, the leader of the party’s parliamentary faction,
told Armenian media on Wednesday that he sees no solution to the
Karabakh problem in the coming years, but added: “Some approaches
can be formed and certain results can be registered, but I see the
ultimate solution no sooner than in 2012.”
“At this point neither the international community nor any country
has expectations from us,” Sahakian explained.
After elections, according Sahakian, the newly elected president will
need time “to familiarize himself with the problem and get involved
in the negotiations.”
Sahakian sees a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem in 2012,
as at that time “a change of generation will take place and the next
generation will take the power.” And the new generation, according to
him, “will be less restrained” and will make “more resolute decisions.”
The same, according to the parliamentarian, concerns Azerbaijan.
Sahakian believes the new generation [of leaders] in Azerbaijan will
not be “that much interested in Karabakh”, which, he said, will be
favorable for the Armenian side.
“This is a natural way,” Sahakian said, adding that it does not mean,
however, that the current authorities thus want to shift the burden
on the generation to come.
As regards a possible return of lands during the settlement process,
the senior HHK representative said: “Our position is: first Karabakh’s
status and after that open negotiating processes.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CASTLEBAR GENEROSITY HELPS CHILDREN IN ARMENIA
By: Marian Harrison
Western People, Ireland
Nov 22 2006
A CONTAINER laden with 5,500 shoeboxes of goodies left Castlebar on
Friday evening last destined for children in Armenia.
Shoe boxes filled with toys, hats, gloves, colouring books, jewellery
and sweets will reach the children, many who would otherwise be without
a Christmas present, on January 6 after travelling by sea and land.
Ann Coleman and her elves have spent the past two weeks sorting
through boxes, wrapping presents and packing them away in the Old
Bargain Centre on Castlebar’s Main Street but all the hard work will
be worthwhile when the children open their presents, noted Ann.
This year is the fifth year of existence for the Shoe Box Appeal in
Castlebar and it wouldn’t survive without the help of local schools
and clubs, insisted Ann.
“I was visiting schools in October to tell them about the appeal and
a lot of students, teachers and clubs from the area got involved and
were a tremendous help and our location on the Main Street was great
for publicity with a lot of people calling in to find out what was
going on.” This year’s presents were even better than previous years
with hats, scarves, gloves and good quality toys being donated.
All the boxes collected in Castlebar wouldn’t fit in the container
and instead 2,000 boxes were sent to Westport where they will be
included in another batch to be sent abroad later in the month.
When the truck pulled out of Castlebar last week, Ann Coleman must
have felt a huge sense of pride but she’ll have to do it all over again
next year when she takes the job of Mayo co=ordinator for the appeal.
“I’m going on a distribution to Romania on December 8. It will boost
everyone for next year. I can bring back lots of pictures and hopefully
the appeal will be bigger and better.”
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress