Author: Garo Vardanian

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: FC PYUNIK 2 DERRY CITY 0 (FC PYUNIK WIN 2-0 ON AGGREGATE)
By Garry Doyle

The Mirror, UK
Eire Edition
July 26, 2007 Thursday

City lose Arm wrestle

MORAL victories – the curse of Irish football in the past – raised
its ugly face again yesterday.

In a defeat which resembled the dozens that have come for eircom
League sides in Europe before – Derry City crashed out of the
Champions League, citing missed opportunities and dodgy refereeing
as the reasons why.

Yet those weren’t the only factors explaining Derry’s downfall. The
cost-cutting but energy-sapping journey to get to Armenia, coupled
with the soaring temperatures in its capital Yerevan during yesterday’s
game, also explains their downfall.

As did some poor defending. The second Pyunik goal was a copy-cat
of the first – when a burst by Levon Pachajyan down the right was
followed by hesitancy in the Derry penalty area – and then by some
cool finishing.

Which was more than Derry could produce in either leg. Despite
dominating the home tie and despite creating six good openings
yesterday, Derry failed to take any of them.

And that’s the bottom line. Pyunik defended better, were tactically
cuter and then crucially, more ruthless in the opposing penalty area.

As a result, they go through and Derry go home. City boss John
Robertson, inset, said: "It’s hugely disappointing. I felt we deserved
more from the game. "There wasn’t much between the sides but when you
look back over the two legs, the fact remains that whatever breaks
there were, went Pyunik’s way. That’s not an excuse. That’s reality."

Derry came here knowing that the first goal of this tie would be the
decisive one. Yet despite creating the first chance of the game –
one that saw Kevin McHugh shoot narrowly over from 25 yards, Derry
found themselves behind.

And they can curse Pachajyan for that. The Armenian international
was a constant thorn in Killian Bren-nan’s side right through this
match – and raced right past him in the 28th minute before crossing
for Arsen Avetisyan. Avetisyan’s initial shot was superbly blocked
by Pat Jennings, Derry’s keeper, but no defender was alert enough to
clear the danger.

They quickly paid the price as Avetisyan swivelled on the six-yard-line
before firing the rebound in.

There and then you questioned the decision to omit those old warhorses,
Peter Hutton and Sean Hargan, from the Derry defence.

And as the game wore on and Derry tired, the logic of the club’s
decision to fly by commercial airlines rather than spend three times
as much money chartering a flight, also became a consideration.

Yet perhaps the biggest decision which cost them this tie was the
one made by the Slovenian referee, Robert Krajnc, who opted against
giving Derry a penalty on the stroke of half time after Ciaran Martyn
was clearly fouled by Rafael Nazaryan.

But, as Robertson said, the breaks didn’t go their way – not when
Sammy Morrow’s shot crept across the face of goal, or when Eddie
McCallion’s drive from 25 yards shivered the upright, or when Ken
Oman’s strike ended wide.

Instead, when this game was in the melting pot, Pyunik managed to
survive, showing decent composure in defence, which was something
Derry lacked.

And yet, their defenders – McCallion, Brennan, Oman and Darren Kelly
were all threats going forward.

And in the 60th minute the second decisive moment of the game arrived
when Kelly headed Brennan’s corner onto the Pyunik crossbar.

"A goal then would have given us the tie," said Robertson. "At the
very least we would have been in the driving seat."

Instead they were on their way out. For six minutes after coming
so close to an equaliser, Derry found themselves two goals behind,
victims of a classic counter-attack.

Again it came down the Pyunik right. Again Pachajyan was involved.

Again the defending was poor. Again the ball dribbled over the
goal-line – the only difference being that it was Gevorg Ghazaryan
who provided the finish this time.

And that was that. The concluding 24 minutes were played out – Derry
chasing an impossible dream, coming close to scoring again with
another Kelly header from another set-piece.

And so, for the first time since Shelbourne lost to Malta’s Hibernians
five years ago, there will be no Irish side in the second round of
the Champions League.

MEMBER OF RPA BOARD HAS DOUBTS WITH REGARD TO POSSIBLE NOMINATION OF
CANDIDATURE OF LEVON TER-PETROSIAN IN 2008 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

YEREVAN, JULY 20, NOYAN TAPAN. Samvel Nikoyan, an MP in the National
Assembly of the Republic of Armenia and a member of the RPA Board,
made a statement at the July 20 press conference: "The political
forces of Armenia should do everything possible for the presidential
elections to be held in a normal way and be admissable both for our
society and the world community, which should become convinced that
democratic processes in Armenia are irreversible."

He expressed conviction that "there will be no lack of candidates"
and the main struggle will be not between different ideologies but
between personalities. According to S. Nikoyan, the main intrapolitical
developments will start in September.

As for the possible nomination of the candidature of Levon
Ter-Petrosian, the member of the RPA Board stated: "I think that
our society understands that the institute of savers does not work
now. In addition to this, it appears that all his encirclement,
except him, is speaking about the nomination of the candidature of
Levon Ter-Petrosian. He is keeping silent all the time and, in my
opinion, he will go on keeping silent," S. Nikoyan declared.

Two quakes on Turkey-Iran Border

Arminfo
2007-03-27 11:02:00

An earthquake with magnitude of 4,1 happened on March 26 at 11:54 PM
by local time in a boundary area between Turkey and Iran at 23 km to
the west of the Iranian town of Selmas. The underground shock in the
epicenter was of force 5-6. At 11:46 PM the earthquake was preceded by
a weaker underground shock with magnitude of 3,6 of force 4-5, the
National Seismic Protection Service of Armenia told ArmInfo today.

Armenian Army is 15: Meruzhan Margaryan

ArmRadio.am
27.01.2007 14:37

On January 28 Armenia will celebrate the 15th anniversary of formation
of the Armenian Army.

When the national liberation war started, Meruzhan Margaryan was one
of the first to get involved in the struggle without any hesitation.

During the Armenian Genocide Meruzhan Margaryan’s father, Grigor, had
hardly escaped from Mkten village and settled in Ashnak village of
Talin, where Meruzhan was born in 1942. He was the youngest of the six
children. After leaving school he was drafted to Army. After
demobilization he graduated from the Yerevan Institute of Physical
Culture and started working at the Institute of Agriculture. Later in
Moscow he defended his dissertation. After returning from Moscow he
was appointed Deputy Head of the Chair of Physical Culture of the
Agriculture Institute. `Then came the year 1988, the start of national
revival,’ says Meruzhan Margaryan’s wife, Eleonora Kocharyan.

In 1989 together with Abik Samvelyan Meruzhan Margaryan created a
charity union in the Agriculture Institute. Here he was compiling
divisions comprised of students and sending to Artsakh.

In Hadrut region they participated in self-defense battles of several
villages. Later their division disintegrated and he returned to
Armenia. However, later he joined the volunteer division and again
departed for Artsakh.

On January 5, 1993 he was seriously injured, but no one managed to
convince him to return to Armenia. In just a few doctors did not
manage to save him after his two legs were cut as a result of mine
blast.

US CONGRESSMEN CONGRATULATED THE PEOPLE OF ARTSAKH

A1+
[08:22 pm] 13 December, 2006

Members of the US Congress Frank Pallone and Joe Knollenberg have
sent a congratulating message to NKR President Arkadi Ghoukasyan in
connection with the NKR Constitutional referendum, saying that they
will always support Artsakh.

"We congratulate the people of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
for reaffirming their commitment to freedom, peace, economic
development, and regional stability by democratically adopting a new
constitution. By establishing a market economy, holding free and
fair elections, and promoting human rights, the people of Nagorno
Karabakh have shown that they deserve an independent state free from
the oppressive Azerbaijani regime", they said.

A GOOD RUN, TOO BAD IT DIDN’T LAST
Daily Pilot, CA
Nov 12 2006
Comments & Curiosities:
Kind of sad, I think. The Balboa Village Market – an icon on the Balboa
Peninsula since 1938 – closed its doors last week, at least for now
if not for good. The world was a very different place in 1938, which
was, like, 68 years ago, give or take. I don’t remember a lot about
1938, but I do know there was no cable, cellphones were the size
of overnight bags, and there were maybe seven television stations,
which was ridiculous.
In later years, the Balboa market had a number of independent owners,
the latest being Bob and Scott St John, who are father and son but
no relation to Jill. The St Johns tried mightily to make it work over
the last five years, but, alas, it was not to be. They did everything
they could to revive the market’s storied past as a focal point for
the neighborhood, where locals would stop in every day for some fresh
coffee, fresh bread and fresh gossip, but the chemistry just wasn’t
there. “It just didn’t work out because the customer base has changed,”
Bob St John told the Pilot.
They even allowed kids to charge a soda or candy to their parent’s
account and offered free deliveries in a bright yellow golf cart
tricked up to look like a little panel truck. That’s the part of the
story that got my attention.
I could say I have a long history with the Balboa Village Market,
except that I don’t. But I sure have one with the corner market in
the Bronx neighborhood from whence I came.
When I was an annoying little nerd with glasses, which I still am
other than the little part, Sam’s – not Sam’s Grocery or Sam’s Market,
just Sam’s – was the glue that held our block together, and I am quite
pleased to report that it is still there, still open for business,
although it hasn’t been called Sam’s for years. I stop in whenever I
get back, just for a moment, but long enough to hear the voices and
see the faces of all the people who live in my head whether they are
still here or not.
~U THE BELL CURVE: Good news for U.S.; bad news for us
~U COMMENTS & CURIOSITIES: Election Day voting made easy
~U COMMENTS & CURIOSITIES: A good run, too bad it didn’t last
~U COMMUNITY & CLUBS: Interfaith service days coming up
Sam’s is small, considerably smaller than the Balboa Village Market,
but it’s as important to the people who live on the block as any fire
station or hospital. It has the same wood plank floors now as it did
then; at least one of the same coolers, which amazes me; and the same
two aisles that are almost impossible for two people to get through
at the same time.
What it no longer has – and I suspect there was a lawyer involved in
this somehow – are the wall shelves that were stacked to the ceiling
with boxes and canned goods.
Sam had a long pole with levers on the bottom and pincers on the top,
and he was a master at grabbing whatever a customer wanted off the
shelf and dropping it into his free hand – no small trick when you’re
catching a 1 lb. can of coffee and a 16 oz. can of tomatoes while
you’re holding a cereal box between your knees. advertisement
Sam, by the way, was Sam Arzoumanian, a pretty big name on the block
because he was the only Armenian in a sea of Italians and Irish. He
was forever talking about life back in Armenia, and not one of us had
any idea where that was. Someone decided, Tony Peccoraro I think, that
Armenia was an island off Australia. When we said how come, he said,
“Because they both start with an A and end with A.” Nobody came up with
anything better so we just went with that until we got to high school.
Like the Balboa Village Market, Sam’s had free deliveries, only it
wasn’t with golf carts, it was with us. Whenever Sam had an order
ready, he would stick his head out the door and shout “Delivery!” and
one or more of us would come running. You got a quarter from Sam,
which was not bad, and a tip on the other end, hopefully.
Most of the deliveries were to the apartment houses up and down the
block, which I wasn’t crazy about. The elevators were like phone
booths, only smaller, and the halls were long and dark and you could
smell everything everyone had cooked for the last three meals.
There was an old woman whose name I cannot remember for the life of
me who lived in a fourth-floor apartment that all of us dreaded going
to. In fact, for a long time, I was the only one who would go there,
even though I hated it. It was always dark as night, and she was always
really cranky, which is an understatement. Most customers would quickly
check their order then hand you a quarter or fifty cents, which meant
you scored 50 or 75 cents for five minutes work, which meant life was
good. Mrs. Cranketta, on the other hand, made you take everything
out of the box and line it up – cans with cans, boxes with boxes –
then carefully check everything against the hand-written receipt,
kvetching the whole time about, “This isn’t the size I wanted,” and
“Why did he send me this?”
I was always tempted to say “Because you’re a cranky old bat, that’s
why,” but I knew she’d turn me into a toad if I did.
The whole ordeal took about 10 minutes, which seemed like an hour
and a half. Why did I keep going back? Because when it was over
Mrs. De Grumpy would reach into her purse and, incredibly, toss a
dollar onto the table. That is a genuine, Federal Reserve, green,
picture-of-George Washington-on-the-front dollar we’re talking about.
It’s hard to explain what that meant in 1958. I could live for two
days on a dollar, and here I am with $1.25 in my pocket between my
base salary and Cruella’s tip.
That is when I decided that this is the greatest country on the face
of the earth.
So there you have it. Bob and Scott St John of Balboa Village Market,
we salute you for trying to make it work. We’re so bummed it didn’t.
Remember, time and tide wait for no man, any port in a storm, a watched
pot never boils, never up, never in, and, well, I guess that’s it.
I gotta go.
/columns/dpt-buffa12.txt

END OF AN ERA
By: Brittany Boyd
Loudoun Times-Mirror, VA
Nov 8 2006
Stepping foot inside Arthur’s Shoe Repair shop at 17 N. King St. in
downtown Leesburg is like stepping back decades to a time when life
was slower and simpler.
A bell attached to the front door jingles as customers enter the
weathered store brimming with reminders of the past.
At the back of the shop, Hartoun “Arthur” Varoujanian, 80, moves
slowly among the vintage equipment that’s helped him repair 15 pairs
of shoes a day for the past 34 years.
In shoe-polish-streaked khaki pants, he methodically hammers a new
stud into the heel on a pair of woman’s beige pumps. The shoes are
among the last he will ever repair.
On Nov. 30, Arthur’s Shoe Repair will close its doors for good,
marking the end of an era for a neighborhood shoe store where locals
once gathered for 15-cent shoeshines, and where famous athletes have
been spotted dropping off shoes from time to time.
The space has been a shoe shop since 1920, when Sicilian immigrant
Vincenzo Raneri arrived in Leesburg by the W&OD railroad. There was
no shoe shop in town, the story goes, so he decided to open one.
Varoujanian, an Armenian immigrant from Iran, took over the shop in
1972 and changed the name to Arthur’s, an anglicized version of his
first name.
He continued with Raneri’s tradition of full-service leather repair.
But the four wooden shoeshine chairs attached to a marble platform at
the front of the store have sat empty since he took over. He also put
an end to Raneri’s tradition of making shoes and boots, even though
he’s a second generation shoemaker by training.
“It’s hard to find the real bit of America,” said first-time customer
Linda Ross, eying the antique cash register and sign for “cash or
checks only.”
She dropped off a Cole Haan wallet and shoe, which she’s been meaning
to have repaired for months. “There’s no cobbler in Haymarket,”
she said. “I’m so sad he’s closing.”
After Nov. 30, customers will have to drive to Sterling or elsewhere
for shoe repairs. Arthur’s will be converted into office space.
Over the years, Arthur’s has seen many changes and withstood many
hardships, including the economic recession of the late 1980s, which
caused many shops in downtown Leesburg to close.
Ask Varoujanian why his shop has lasted so long, and he’ll tell you,
“Because I do good work, that’s why. If I’m no good, I no stay this
long anyway.”
Varoujanian moved to Fairfax County from Tehran in the early 1970s
to make a better life for his family. He’s lived in CountrySide for
the past 21 years.
His son, an architect, lives in Cascades, and his daughter, a bank
manager, lives in New Jersey.
For a man who began working at the age of 15, you wonder what he will
do with his free time.
“I’m not going to work anyway,” he said with a smile. He plans to
relax and spend time with his grandchildren.

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Oct 15 2005
FOREIGN MINISTER ELMAR MAMMADYAROV VISITS EGYPT
[October 16, 2005, 23:22:04]
Baku, 16 October (AzerTAj). Paying an official visit to Egypt Foreign
Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov met here with his
counterpart Ahmad Abu Al-Jeit on October 15. The parties discussed
ways of enhancing Azerbaijan-Egypt cooperation in political and
economic fields as well as within international organizations, and
exchanged views on the situation in the Middle East and international
security issues.
The Egyptian Minister said touching on the Armenia-Azerbaijan
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, he supported the efforts by the OSCE
Minsk group, as well as the talks between the leaders and foreign
ministers of the conflicting states aiming at peaceful settlement of
the problem. He expressed hope it would be settled soon in the
framework of territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Both Ministers
pointed out that the economic relations between Azerbaijan and Egypt
were not on a due level and stressed the importance of expanding
trade and economic cooperation between the two countries. They
welcomed the idea of opening the flight Baku – Sharm El Sheik- Cairo
that, according to them, would increase the tourist flows between the
countries, and intensify direct contacts among businessmen.
Informing his Egyptian colleague on the implementation of the
large-scale projects in Azerbaijan including the construction of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipelines,
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway as well as TRACECA, Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov expressed his wish that Egypt joined the latter in an
observer capacity.
Following the meeting, the two Ministers gave a press conference.
On the same day, Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with Chairman
of the National Assembly of Egypt Ahmad Fathi Surur, and made a
speech at the Egyptian Foreign Ministry’s Foreign Affairs Council.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

USAGE OF IT TO STIMULATE DEVELOPMENT OF WHOLE ECONOMY
Noyan Tapan News Agency
Oct 10 2005
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 10, NOYAN TAPAN. With a goal to stimulate usage of
products of the sphere of information technologies (IT) in economy of
Armenia, the Union of Information Technology Enterprises (UITE) will
organize a number of seminars for representatives of other spheres
of economy. Karen Vardanian, the UITE Executive Director informed
about this at the October 10 press-conference. According to him,
during the seminars, representatives of the spheres of health care,
bank, tourism, etc., will be presented such solutions which will give
opportunity to increase productivity of those specialists’ work.
According to the UITE Chairman Hovhannes Avoyan, at present computers
are mainly used only for games, are made use of office, as a best
variant, of accountancy programs. But, according to H.Avoyan, a wide
usage of computer programs can become a serious spur for development
of the whole economy.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EU ON PRECIPICE OVER STARTING TURKEY TALKS
By Marie-Louise Moller and Mark John
Herald News Daily, ND
Oct 3 2005
LUXEMBOURG – Britain said the European Union was on the “edge of a
precipice” on Monday over terms for historic membership talks with
Turkey, and the Muslim country accused critics of hindering a alliance
of civilizations.
EU president Britain said it was no longer certain the talks would
start at all on Monday. Austria was sticking to demands that the vast,
poor, Muslim country be offered an alternative to full membership
and Turkey raised a new potential obstacle.
Diplomats said British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw had told the 24
other EU foreign ministers upon resuming talks after only a couple
of hours’ sleep: “Yes, we are near (to a deal) but we are also on
the edge of a precipice.
“If we go the right way we reach the sunny uplands. If we go the
wrong way, it could be catastrophic for the European Union.”
After meeting Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik and speaking
by telephone with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, Straw told
reporters he was by no means sure the talks would start as planned
on Monday.
“We are at a difficult stage in these negotiations and I cannot say
what the outcome will be,” he said.
Turkey’s share index fell 2.3 percent from Friday’s close after his
comments. The lira and bonds also weakened.
In Ankara, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told a meeting of the ruling
AK party that Turkey was not prepared to compromise further on the
conditions for opening the long-awaited talks.
“Those in the EU who cannot digest Turkey being in the EU are against
the alliance of civilizations. What I declare is this: the costs
resulting from all this will be paid by them.” Turkey has frequently
portrayed its entry to the EU as a way of bridging a gap between
the Christian and Islamic worlds and easing tensions that may have
fostered Islamic militancy.
Diplomats said Turkey had raised new objections to a clause in the
talks mandate that stipulates Ankara may not block accession of EU
states to international organizations and treaties.
Turkish nationalists and the powerful military argued that might
prevent Turkey blocking a divided Cyprus from joining NATO , but
Straw and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana insisted the clause
could not impinge on sovereign defense arrangements.
EU officials said the planned 5 p.m. (1100 EDT) opening ceremony was
bound to be delayed, if it happened at all.
Diplomats said German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer told ministers:
“Time is running out. We have got to get this right. We seem so
close. We cannot let this opportunity slip away.”
Failure to start the talks could deal a blow to political reform
and foreign investment in Turkey, a NATO member which straddles
Southeastern Europe and the Middle East.
It would also deepen a sense of crisis in Europe, after referendum
defeats for the draft EU constitution in France and the Netherlands,
and an acrimonious failure in June to agree on a long-term budget
for the enlarged bloc.
“If there is no deal, my personal judgment is that we are increasingly
starting to look like a Union of failing states because we cannot make
any decisions,” Latvian Foreign Minister Artis Pabriks told Reuters.
Ratcheting up pressure on Austria, Straw postponed a planned review
of Austrian ally Croatia’s progress toward EU entry talks until the
Turkey issue was sorted out.
A Turkish official said nerves in Ankara were “extremely stretched
.. Every minute that passes is making things more bitter and it.
won’t be nice starting negotiations with all these bruises.”
With Austrian voters overwhelmingly hostile to Turkish entry,
Plassnik waged a lone battle on Sunday to demand that the EU spell
out an explicit alternative to full membership.
But diplomats said Vienna dropped its objection on Monday to a key
phrase that the shared aim of the talks was accession, and they hoped
Austrian concerns could be overcome by adding wording underlining
the need for the EU to be able to absorb Turkey.
WALK AWAY?
Fischer warned his colleagues that Turkey might walk away if the EU
watered down the terms on offer any further.
“If you want to open negotiations, you have to remember we have to
have someone to open them with,” a diplomat quoted him as telling
the meeting.
The European Parliament compounded Turkish irritation last week by
saying Turkey must recognize the 1915 killings of Armenians under
Ottoman rule as an act of genocide before it can join the wealthy
European family.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress