Author: Emil Lazarian

ARMENIAN AND BELGIAN MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS GET COOPERATION AGREEMENT
Noyan Tapan
Oct 23 2006
BRUSSELS, OCTOBER 23, NOYAN TAPAN. A conference dedicated to the
Armenian-Belgian medical cooperation took place on October 16 in the
hall of the Royal Academy of Science of Belgium, within the framework
of the events dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the independence
of Armenia. As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA Foreign Ministry’s
Press and Information Department, numerous famous doctors-scientists
participated in the conference organized by the Embassy of Armenia
to Belgium and the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium.
Ambassador of Armenia Vigen Chitechian and J.Fruhling, the
Perpetual Secretary of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium,
made welcome speeches. An agreement on cooperation with some medical
institutions of Brussels was got during the conference. Reference:
The Armenian-Belgian medical cooperation started just after the
1988 earthquake, when Belgian doctors were among the first ones to
show assistance to population of the disaster zone. The Neuphrologie
Armenie-Vlandeeren organization was founded on that basis. Belgian
doctors visit Armenia few times a year till now, implement surgeries
and pass their experience to Armenian young doctors who, owing to
the NAV, get possibility to undergo training in Belgian hospitals.

TYCOON SAVES ARMENIANS’ GOODS FROM AUCTION
Story By Patrick Nzioka
Daily Nation, Kenya
Oct 23 2006
A single telephone call was all it took to save household goods
belonging to the Armenian brothers from the auctioneer’s hammer.
A local tycoon paid Sh450,000 and an additional Sh100,000 as costs
in a matter of minutes to save the goods that were to be auctioned
off to pay rent for the house they lived in at Runda estate.
The two brothers were deported in June after they allegedly caused
a security breach at the city’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Prospective buyers who had gathered at the Pangani Auction Centre yard
on Saturday went home disappointed because they could not lay their
hands on the posh sofa sets, beds, fridges, mattresses, carpets,
tables, crates with bottles and ceramic tiles, advertised for sale
to recover rent arrears.
The owner of the house, Mr Sammy Musyoki, had sued Brotherlink
International Ltd, a company associated with the two men who claim to
be brothers – Artur Margaryan and Artur Sargsyan – to recover the rent.
Mr Joab Apopo, a lawyer for Businessman Raju Sanghani arrived at the
yard just before the auction started.
He called Mr Sanghani on his mobile phone to brief him on the
situation.
Mr Apopo was instructed to negotiate with the lawyer representing
the landlord to stop the auction on condition that he would be given
the money.
If that failed, he was told to bid for the entire lot at Sh450,000.
The money would be paid once the bid was accepted.
The auction had been delayed after another lawyer representing Ms
Shirfana Alarakiya who lived in the Runda home with the brothers,
negotiated with Mr Musyoki’s lawyer, Mr Richard Mutiso, on how to
pay the money.
Mr Mutiso rejected her offer of a Sh200,000 down payment, but left
with Mr Apopo for Westlands after agreeing to negotiate.
Mr Sanghani appeared before the Kiruki Commission that investigated
the activities of the two men. He said he had invited them to Kenya
believing they were investors.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

YAKUNIN NEGATIVE ABOUT RAILWAY BYPASSING ARMENIA
PanARMENIAN.Net
23.10.2006 14:31 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin has a
negative attitude to the idea of constructing a railway bypassing
Armenia, reports Echo of Moscow. Explaining his position Yakunin
said, “First, his destroys the unity of the network that remained
after the Soviet Union. Second, it’s is unjust to cut a country out
of communication.
Proceeding from my experience I can say that this is an attempt of
some countries to exert pressure of our friendly state.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RUSSIAN DUMA MEMBER: TURKEY OBLIGED TO ACKNOWLEDGE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
PanARMENIAN.Net
23.10.2006 15:27 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The resolution of the Armenian Genocide problem lies
in its acknowledgement by Turkey, President of the International League
of Human Dignity and Security Protection, Russian State Duma member,
General Valentin Varennikov said Monday in Yerevan. “I fully agree
with the statement Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II made during
his visit to Turkey. Turkey is simply obliged to acknowledge the fact
of Genocide, since there cannot be any other position on the issue,”
he said, reports newsarmenia.ru. When in Istanbul June 20-27 head
of the Armenian Apostolic Church Garegin II stated that the Armenian
Genocide must be recognized by Turkey and pointed out to irrelevance
of formation of committee of historians for the investigation of the
fact of Genocide in the Ottoman Empire.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DELEGATION HEADED BY PRIME MINISTER OF BELARUS ARRIVES IN ARMENIA ON OCTOBER 22
Noyan Tapan
Oct 23 2006
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 23, NOYAN TAPAN. Sergey Sidorsky, the Prime Minister
of the Republic of Belarus, and the delegation headed by him arrived in
Armenia on October 22, on a three-day official visit. According to the
information submitted to Noyan Tapan by the RA Government’s Information
and Public Relations Department, Valentin Sukalo, the Chairman of the
Supreme Court of Belarus; Victor Kamenkov, the Chairman of the Supreme
Economic Court; Nikolay Zaichenko, the Economy Minister; Alexander
Grigorov, the Sports and Tourism Minister; Valeri Kazakevich, the head
of the Ministers’ Council staff; Georgi Kuznetsov, the Chairman of the
State Property Committee; Sergey Gurulev, the Chief of the Armed Forces
Headquarters General of Belarus, the First Deputy Defence Minister;
Vasili Pugachev, the First Deputy Foreign Minister; Deputy Ministers
of Foreign Affairs, Industry, Deputy Chairmen of the State Customs,
State Security Committees, Valeri Tsepkalo, the Director of the “Board
of High Technologies Park” state institution; Vasili Grishchenko,
the Chairman of the Zhodino City Executive Committee are in the
delegation staff. Responsible officials of the Ministers’ Council
staff, heads of industrial companies and units, other representatives
of business circles are among those accompanying the Prime Minister
of Belarus. On October 23-24, during the days of the official visit,
Prime Minister of Belarus Sergey Sidorski will have meetings with
RA President Robert Kocharian, Prime Minister Andranik Margarian
and Karekin II Catholicos of All Armenians. The sides’ meeting in an
enlarged staff, joint signing of documents and press conference are
also envisaged after the Prime Ministers’ private conversation at
the RA Government. The delegation of Belarus will visit the Yerevan
Brandy and Jewelry Factories, “Viasphere Technopark” company, Armenian
Development Agency will participate in the round table dedicated to
the cooperation in the high and information technologies, will lay
a wreath to the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex to memory of the
Armenian Genocide victims.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FRENCH CONSTITUTED NUMEROUS GENOCIDES AGAINST THE ALGERIANS
Prof. Dr. Ali Al-Hail
Journal of Turkish Weekly
Oct 21 2006
* The French Definition of ‘Genocide’
No one, I suppose, would disagree with the French parliamentary
minority Socialist MPs’ definition of genocide as “the organized
killing of a people to end their collective existence.”
However, these MP’s, whose parliament building overlooks the Seine
river, seem to have a short memory about the Seine river graveyard.
Thousands of Algerians were reported to have been thrown into the
river, and left to be drowned during the late 20th century (Ahmed
Bin Billa, al-Jazeera TV, 2004). Isn’t that ‘genocide,’ an “organized
killing of a people to end their collective existence?”
The minority Socialist MPs, whose country traditionally favors art,
literature, theatre and poetry, should remember that those who
live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Beginning with banning
the hijab (a woman’s head scarf) in public places and schools, to
satirizing the Prophet of mercy for all humanity, Mohammed (pbuh),
to more recently considering any denial of the Armenian ‘genocide’,
as a crime, the French National Assembly, who the Statue of Liberty
to the United States, appears to have lots of memory lapses.
Long before the notorious alleged Armenian ‘genocide’ took place in
Turkey in 1915, the brutal and barbaric colonization by the French
constituted numerous genocides against the Algerians, both inside
Algeria and in France itself, from 1832 to 1962, when the Algerians
eventually achieved their independence. About seven million Algerians
were killed during French colonization in Algeria while resisting
French occupation (President Ahmed Bin Billa, al-Jazeera TV, 2004).
Despite requests and appeals from the Algerian president, Butaflieqa
recently publicly asked France to apologize for its horrendous
‘genocides’ in Algeria. France has not yet responded.
Although many Turks, including influential thinkers and politicians,
will not deny that hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed in
1915 during a relocation arrangement to other parts of the Ottoman
Empire, the issue of a ‘genocide’ was reported to have been conceived
as highly controversial. Some argue that those Armenians who died were
caught amid inter-communal warfare. Thus, it was not “the organized
killing of a people to end their collective existence.”
In other words, it was not a ‘genocide.’ A few others in Turkey and
beyond, however, would argue that it was conscious, and as such it was
a ‘genocide.’ Despite worldwide contentious differentiation regarding
the event, Socialists in the French Assembly National, apparently
for election reasons, are determined to legalize their mind-set.
Many in France make the case that sheer politics are behind the
minority Socialists initiative. As such, there are no ethics, good
merits, or otherwise genuine concerns about the Armenian ‘genocide.’
The minority Socialists, by proposing such a bill in order to push
for a law criminalizing denial of an Armenian genocide, aim to gain
Armenian votes during next year’s presidential elections.
One presumes, as do many, that the minority Socialists also aim
to spread anti-Turkish sentiment in order to make it impossible
for Turkey, as a predominantly Muslim country, to join the European
Union. That Turkey already has an appointment from the European Union
for 2010 to negotiate its membership must be kept in mind.
Since there are more or less six million Arabs in France, mainly
from Algeria and other north African countries, this would be an
opportunistic moment for the Socialists in France to push for a
law that considers Israeli occupation forces killings in Gaza and
other Palestinian lands as ‘genocide.’ Approximately 750 Palestinian
civilians, including women and children, were killed by the Israeli
occupation forces since Jan. 25, since Hamas was voted into office
democratically. More than 3,000 civilians, including women and
children, have been either injured or maimed since then.
Additionally, nearly 4,000 civilians, again including women and
children, were arrested. If these killings are not genocide, what
can genocide be? Isn’t this an “organized killing of a people to end
their collective existence?”
Instead of crying over controversial history, without, of course,
endorsing genocides against any human race, genocides in Palestine
are clearly committed daily by Israeli occupation forces, which escape
controversy and global documentation by satellite cameras, including
French TV, the press and media. Had the French Socialists been sincere
about human suffering, they would have assuredly considered Israeli
‘genocides’ against Palestinians since as early as 1948 as real
‘genocides.’ In addition, this would certainly bring them at least
three million votes by Arab French.

PICKING THE NEXT CHAMP
By David R. Sands
Washington Times, DC
Oct 21 2006
Having just settled the question of who is the real world champion,
we immediately move on to figuring out who will be the next world
champion.
Russian GM Vladimir Kramnik’s overtime win over Bulgaria’s Veselin
Topalov in their reunification title match in Elista, Russia, last
week was barely over when all attention turned to the next championship
cycle. The hopes of FIDE, the international chess organization, to end
the disastrous civil war in the game over the past dozen years may
hinge on its ability to organize and run a credible and competitive
process to determine Kramnik’s next challenger.
Right now, through a quirk in the qualifying process, Topalov isn’t
even in the field of candidates with a shot at the next title bout,
although it looks likely FIDE organizers will find a way to get him
a slot.
Many of the likely challengers were in action last week at the 2006
Europe Club Cup in the Austrian city of Fuegen, won on tiebreaks by
the Russian Tomsk-400 squad. Tomsk top board GM Alexander Morozevich
is one of four players automatically seeded into the next candidates
cycle, along with Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand of India and Peter
Svidler of Russia.
Brooklyn GM Gata Kamsky, the only American in the FIDE field, plays
France’s Etienne Bacrot in one of eight knockout matches for a chance
to play in the candidates tournament. Hungarians Peter Leko and Judit
Polgar (the only woman in the running) and budding Norwegian superstar
Magnus Carlsen are among the other hopefuls.
The darkest horse in the field may be Russian GM Vladimir Malakhov,
who was in action in Austria as a top member of the powerful
Ural Sverdlovskaya team, which lost out to Tomsk on tiebreaks. The
26-year-old Malakhov is not well known outside Russia and is a rarity
in elite chess these days in that he has a day job as a physics
researcher in Moscow.
Still, the part-timer flashed some solid form in the European club
event, as can be seen by his quality win over Artashes Minasian, a
strong Armenian grandmaster. Biding his time on the Black side of a
Maroczy Bind Sicilian, Malakhov times his break perfectly and batters
White’s king with some nice tactical shots.
By 19. g4 h6 20. Bd2 e6, Black has yet to advance a piece beyond
his third rank, but the bristly Hedgehog-like formation of his pawns
along the third rank is famously hard to crack.
An inaccuracy leaves Minasian open to a nasty counterpunch: 21.
Qe1? (a4 Qc7 22. Qe2 holds things together, although already Black is
at least equal) g5! 22. fxg5?! (giving Black the critical e5-square
too easily; seeking complications in lines like 22. Ned1 Nxg4 23. Qg3
Bd4+ 24. Kf1 f5 25. exf5 exf5 26. Nd5 was better) hxg5 23. Nc2 Nxg4
24. e5 Bxe5.
White’s hopes for a king-side attack are dashed on 25. Rh5 Bxh2+!
(clarifying and consolidating Black’s edge with minimal risk) 26.
Rxh2 Nxh2 27. Kxh2 Ne5, and Black’s liberated pieces flood the zone,
with tempting targets all around the lonely White king.
It’s over on 28. Be2 (see diagram) Rxc4! 29. Kg3 (Bxc4 Nf3+) Qf6
30. Qg1 Rxc3+!, and the rampaging rook removes another critical
defender. Since 31. Bxc3 (Be3 Qf4+ 32. Kh3 Qh4 mate) Qf4+ 32. Kh3
Qh4 is mate, White resigned.
Congratulations to West Pointer David Jacobs and the Army for winning
martial bragging rights for the next year at last weekend’s 47th Armed
Forces Open, held on the grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home
in the District.
Jacobs, a third-year cadet, won his third straight individual title
in the all-service event with a 51/2-1/2 score, a half-point ahead of
Virginia expert and Navy retiree Larry Larkins, whom Jacobs defeated
in their individual encounter in the penultimate round.
Among the eight players finishing in a tie for third with 41/2 points
were Air Force Lt. Col. Doug Taffinder, who chaired this year’s event
and held Jacobs to his only draw; and retired Air Force Maj. Zachary
Kinney, a prime force behind this tournament for years and a good
friend of this column.
Jacobs’ win also propelled the Army platoon to a narrow one-point
victory over the Air Force squadron in the interservice team
competition.
Some close-quarters maneuvering, followed by a quick artillery strike,
produced Jacobs’ best win of the event, a hard-fought victory over
Reserve Sailor Pete Andreas, a Class A player. Andreas’ Alekhine
Defense is a nice break for the parade of Sicilians and Petroffs we
see these days at the grandmaster level, and Black acquits himself
well in the early going.
But White’s powerful pawn center gives him a slight pull for most of
the game, and a moment’s lapse allows Jacobs to cash in: 28. d6 cxd6
29. cxd6 Ne4 30. Rd1 Rf6? (the queen is typically a poor blockader,
and here White uses a queen sacrifice to illustrate what Nimzovich
called the passed pawn’s “lust to expand”) 31. Qc4+ Re6 32.
Qxe6+! (ouch) Qxe6 33. d7, and Black resigned as it will cost him
his queen to stop the advanced White pawn.
22nd European Club Cub, Fuegen, Austria, October 2006 Minasian Malakhov
1. e4 c5 16. Rh3 Nf6 2. Nf3 Nc6 17. Bd3 Nbd7 3. d4 cxd4 18. Ne3
a6 4. Nxd4 g6 19. g4 h6 5. c4 Nf6 20. Bd2 e6 6. Nc3 d6 21. Qe1 g5
7. Nc2 Bg7 22. gxf5 hxg5 8. Be2 0-0 23. Nc2 Nxg4 9. 0-0 Nd7 24. e5
Bxe5 10. Bd2 Nc5 25. Rh5 Bxh2+ 11. b4 Nd7 26. Rxh2 Nxh2 12. Rb1 b6
27. Kxh2 Ne5 13. f4 Bb7 28. Be2 Rxc4 14. Be1 Rc8 29. Kg3 Qf6 15. Rf3
Ncb8 30. Qg1 Rxc3+ White resigns
47th Armed Forces Open, Washington, October 2006 Jacobs Andreas 1. e4
Nf6 18. Nc5 Bxc5 2. e5 Nd5 19. Bxc5 Rf7 3. c4 Nb6 20. f3 Nd6 4. d4 d6
21. Ra2 b6 5. exd6 exd6 22. Bf2 e4 6. Nc3 Nc6 23. fxe4 Nxe4 7. Be3 Bf5
24. Rae2 Nf6 8. a3 Be7 25. Rxe8+ Nxe8 9. b4 a6 26. c5 bxc5 10. Bd3
Bxd3 27. bxc5 Nf6 11. Qxd3 0-0 28. d6 cxd6 12. Nf3 Qd7 29. cxd6
Ne4 13. 0-0 Rae8 30. Rd1 Rf6 14. d5 Ne5 31. Qc4+ Re6 15. Nxe5 dxe5
32. Qxe6+ Qxe6 16. Rfe1 Nc8 34. d7 Black 17. Ne4 f5 resigns
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

U.S. OFFICIAL CRITICIZES FRENCH LAW THAT WOULD BAN DENIAL OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Steven Ross Johnson
San Diego Union Tribune, CA
Oct 21 2006
Associated Press
2:57 p.m. October 20, 2006
BRUSSELS, Belgium – A senior U.S. official denounced on Friday a French
bill that would make it a crime to deny the killings of Armenians in
Turkey during World War I was a genocide.
Turkey denies allegations that Turkey was responsible for the deaths
of 1.5 million Armenians during the war, contending that many died
as a result of fighting during the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried said the proposed law would
hamper Turkish-Armenian dialogue and also does not help EU-Turkey
relations. The bill was approved by lawmakers in France’s lower
house last week, but still needs approval from the French Senate and
President Jacques Chirac to become law.
“The job of outsiders is to encourage Turkish-Armenian dialogue,
not to take positions which make that dialogue harder,” said Fried,
who was in Brussels to discuss current tensions in the Caucuses with
officials from NATO, the European Union and the Belgian government.
“This legislation criminalizing discussion doesn’t seem to make any
sense,” Fried said. “We have certainly encouraged Armenians and Turks
to look at this issue honestly and painfully. Every nation that I know
of, including my own, has things in its past of which it is not proud.”
Fried said the U.S. had dealt with such events in its own history in
an “honest way” and encouraged Turkey to do the same. He said he did
not think the French legislation would encourage this process.
Tensions between France and Turkey have escalated since last week’s
vote in favor of the bill. It sparked a boycott of French goods and
a proposed blackout of French media by Turkish television stations.
The EU has taken the U.S. position in the matter, saying the French
move discourages dialogue and hinders possible Turkish accession into
the 25-member nation bloc.
Fried’s visit comes one day after a stop in Tblisi to meet with
Georgian officials and opposition party leaders. He is scheduled to
travel to Russia to speak with leaders there as a prelude to November’s
NATO summit in Riga, Latvia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FRENCH LAW TO RECOGNISE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CRITICISED
The Universe, UK
Oct 21 2006
By The Universe: Plans to introduce legislation in France which would
make it illegal to deny that the massacre of Catholic Armenians living
under the rule of the Ottoman Empire as genocide have been criticised
by a leading member of the Catholic Church.
The Catholic Apostolic Vicar of Anatolia, Luigi Padovese, said the law,
which was approved by France’s lower house of parliament last week,
has been engineered just to “humiliate Turks.” The bill still needs
to be passed by the upper house senate to become law.
“Even the fact that French president Jacques Chirac has taken a stance
against the bill is significant,” said Padovese.
“The Christian reality in Turkey is very complex. There are Catholics
– both Latin and Orthodox – there’s the [Orthodox] Ecumenical
Patriarchy [of Constantinople (Istanbul)] and the one in Antioch,
Armenian Catholics, Gregorians, Chaldeans Sirio-Orthodox and other
denominations that participate in our liturgy (services).
“There is a significant number of families who were originally
Christian, but out of necessity and for reasons of survival,
they renounced their religious identity, at least from showing it
externally,” he added.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

REFORMED CONSTITUTION CREATES NEW POSSIBILITIES FOR SOLUTION TO YEREVAN STATUS
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Oct 20 2006
YEREVAN, October 20. /ARKA/. The reformed Constitution creates new
possibilities for a solution to the issues about the Yerevan status,
the councilor of the Armenian president Seyran Avagyan reported Friday
at the seminar “European Experience in Local Governing”.
“The reformed Constitution gives new possibilities and resources
for solving this issue, and I believe that this solution within
the frameworks of the updated Constitution can yield good results,”
Avagyan said.
He reported that adoption of the law “On Yerevan” has been postponed
until the formation of a new legal field exactly for this reason that
we give a direct solution to the problem, but not look for difficult
solutions.
According to the provision 108 of the updated Constitution, Yerevan
becomes a municipality. The peculiarities of local government
and formation of local governing bodies in the city of Yerevan are
established by the law. The law can institute direct or proxy voting
for a Yerevan mayor.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress