Author: Harutyunian Christine

AUTHOR ELIF SAFAK UNDER INVESTIGATION
Erol ONDEROGLU

BÝA, Turkey
June 8 2006

Istanbul – Elif Shafak, one of Turkey’s best selling authors and a
social scientist with a Master of Science degree in Gender and Woman
Studies, is under investigation for her March 2006 published book
“Father and Bastard” that was originally written in English.

Shafak and the book’s Turkish publishing house Metis director Semih
Sokmen testified to the Beyoglu Prosecutor’s Office this week in
relation to an investigation launched under article 301/1 of the
Turkish Penal Code.

The allegation of “insulting Turkishness” was brought forth in a
criminal complaint filed by nationalist lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz from
the Jurists Union. It is the same charge that was levelled at Turkey’s
internationally acclaimed writer Orhan Pamuk.

In their statement to the prosecution, Shafak and Sokmen stressed
that the book subject to investigation was a work of literature and
that comments and remarks taken from the scripts of the characters
in the book could not be used to level allegations against the author.

They said the complaint was unjust and that counter to the allegation,
the book targeted to broaden a culture of peace between people.

They said that making the book an issue of trial would not only deliver
a blow to the democratic developments and process in the country,
but would damage the interests of Turkey abroad.

The prosecution will decide within this month whether to level charges
against Shafak and the publishing house or dismiss the complaint.

Kerincsiz, the lawyer who filed the complaint against the book,
is known for his interventions during the Pamuk case where he not
only demanded new charges be launched against the author but wanted
to be accepted as an intervening party in the trial itself. He was
also present as the intervening side in the case launched against
five Turkish writers who criticised a court decision postponing the
Ottoman Armenian Conference in Istanbul.

“Father and Bastard” which was published on March 8 is already on the
best seller list and the book is sold in Turkey. Originally written
in English, the book is in the publishing schedule of Viking/Penguin
publishing house.

Elif Shafak, a Turkish citizen, was born in France and spent her
childhood in Spain. After studying political science in Turkey, she
held teaching positions in the United Kingdom, Turkey, and the United
States and then took the position of Assistant Professor in the Dept.
of Near Eastern Studies at University of Arizona.

Her publications include both novels and essays, among them The Saint
of Incipient Insanities, which was her first book published in English,
Bit Palas, Mahrem, which won the Turkish Writers’ Association Best
Novel of the Year Award, and Sehrin Aynalari. She has also published
reviews in The Economist, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Boston
Globe, and The Washington Post.

–Boundary_(ID_KV+Vr8WwPCPI5EhJ4G9BgQ)–

AZERI-ARMENIAN TALKS FRUITLESS

AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
June 8 2006

Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Robert
Kocharian met in Bucharest for another round of talks on resolving
the long-standing Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict on Sunday. The
meeting, held at the Polish embassy in the Romanian capital, produced
no results.

The first part of the four-hour meeting was attended by the OSCE
chairman-in-office and Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht,
co-chairmen of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group Steven Mann, Yuri
Merzlyakov and Bernard Fassier, as well as the OSCE chairman’s special
envoy, Andrjei Casprzyk. The talks continued with a private meeting
between the two leaders.

Although the decision was made to continue the presidential talks on
the following day, something observers said gave hopes for a positive
outcome, the discussions turned out fruitless again. The presidents
did not sign a joint statement, as was previously planned. Armenian
President Kocharian left the conference hall first, followed by
Presidents Aliyev.

No information was provided to the press after the negotiations.

Kocharian explained this by what he described as “nothing to disclose”
about the meeting results.

In a joint statement released on Tuesday, the co-chairs said they
“regretted” the failure of the sides to reach an agreement on solution
principles.

The US Minsk Group co-chair Steven Mann told Radio Liberty that the
heads of state conducted a very intense discussion.

“The co-chairs will discuss the outcome of the talks in the coming
days on their own, plan further steps and inform the OSCE Permanent
Council of this at the upcoming meeting.”

Mann declined to disclose the gist of the presidential talks but said
they centered on “multi-faceted issues”.

Asked whether the talks marked any differences to the previous round
of discussions between the two leaders, he said: “I can only say
that we had very comprehensive talks. We are currently at the stage
of detailed and comprehensive discussions.”

The sides failed to agree on issues of principle during the talks
in the French town of Rambouillet in February, which was followed by
Azerbaijan’s threats to resort to military action.

Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said the key differences
between the conflicting sides concerned general principles.

“Azerbaijan’s stance remains unchanged,” he said.

Mammadyarov noted that he could meet with his Armenian counterpart
again if the need be. As for another meeting of the presidents,
he said this would depend on the prospects for further negotiations.

The head of the President’s Office international relations department,
Novruz Mammadov, said the two leaders had decided not to disclose
information to the media. He indicated, however, that the meeting
could be seen as a step forward and marked some rapprochement in the
positions of the parties.

The US Department of State Assistant Secretary for European and
Eurasian Affairs, Daniel Fried, stressed the importance of resolving
the Azeri-Armenian dispute and said there are opportunities for
achieving the goal. Reaching a possible accord depends on the Azeri
and Armenian presidents, the Russian media quoted him as saying.

Fried emphasized that the OSCE mediators had put forth a number of
proposals that could create a platform for solution. These ideas are
neutral and do not favor either of the sides, he said.

“As a representative of the United States, I would like to say that we
want as much territory as possible to be returned to Azerbaijan in a
short period of time. We also want refugees to return to their homes,”
the diplomat said. He added that each of the conflicting sides has its
own interests involved and various options for the conflict settlement.

Upper Garabagh, which is internationally recognized as being part of
Azerbaijan, has both Azerbaijani and ethnic Armenian population. It
was occupied by Armenia in the early 1990s, along with seven other
Azerbaijani districts, after large-scale hostilities which claimed the
lives of up 30,000 people and forced over a million Azerbaijanis out
of their homes. The ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but peace
talks have been fruitless so far and refugees remain stranded.

ILS DEVRONT CONTINUER A SE CACHER
Par Olivier Bertrand

liberation, France
mercredi 07 juin 2006

Immigration Alex, 10 ans, et David, 7 ans (Lyon)

Pour Alex et David, les propositions de Nicolas Sarkozy ne changent
rien. Arrives a Lyon en novembre 2005, ces deux ecoliers azeris ne
sont pas nes en France et ils parlent leur langue maternelle. Ils
restent donc expulsables. Leur mère, Samira, a fui l’Azerbaïdjan,
où ses origines armeniennes l’exposaient a des persecutions.

Ayant depose une première demande d’asile (refusee) en Allemagne,
ses garcons ne beneficient meme pas de la treve accordee jusqu’a
la fin de l’annee scolaire. Des parents et des enseignants cachent
donc la famille depuis cinquante jours. Hier, ce reseau restait
très mobilise. Les annonces du ministre de l’Interieur avaient
d’abord leve un vent d’espoir. “Beaucoup de parents nous ont appeles,
confiait Mireille Peloux, responsable locale du Reseau education sans
frontières. Mais nous avons fait les comptes et, malheureusement,
très peu de familles sont concernees.”

–Boundary_(ID_EuOjokHDS9TZmpI4uasH3 w)–

500 BOTTLES EXPORTED ANNUALLY FROM ARMENIA

Lragir.am
06 June 06

By the end of this year the law on wine will have been adopted. The
chair of the Association of Winemakers of Armenia Avag Harutiunyan
presented how the Armenian viticulture could benefit from it and how
satisfied the winemakers could be.

“We have presented a conceptual package. So far this branch has been
managed or guided by the Soviet standards, whereas Europe adopted
the law we have just introduced as long ago as 1909. For you to
understand what this is, let us try to realize the difference between
these two big policies. The personage of Celentano from a famous
film tells the place and time when the wine was produced. This is
a European approach. God created every area with its peculiarities,
and the wine of every area is different. The Soviet ideology says:
collective economy, collective vineyards, collective wine, and
everything is mixed up. Now we are trying to adopt the idea of wines
with geographical origin, i.e. the European approach. Common wine
will be produced in Armenia as well, which can be made of grapes
grown and bottled anywhere.”

“Today 500 thousand bottles are annually exported from Armenia.

We can export 5 million bottles without the quality affected. But
look what may happen above 5 million bottles. If the law is adopted,
in the production of common wines we may import wines and mix with
our wine; with a ratio standing at 49 to 51 it will be considered
Armenian wine. We can buy good wine from Argentina at 10 cents, Spain
for 20 cents, Italy for up to 40 cents, France for up to 50 cents,
Moldavia up to 60 cents, Georgia for 1 dollar, and mix with our wine.

Armenia may follow this path on the condition that corruption and
subjectivity are reduced to zero. “

ALIYEV MEETS WITH ROMANIAN COUNTERPART

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
June 5 2006

On June 4, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with President
of Romania Traian Basescu at the Presidential Palace in Bucharest.

During the meeting, the parties said that bilateral relations are
successfully developing in various fields. The Head of Romanian State
highly appreciated the fact that President Ilham Aliyev arrived
in Bucharest to partake in the Black Sea Forum for Dialogue and
Partnership.

The conversation between two Presidents focused on the ways of
resolution of Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

President Ilham Aliyev noted that the country did not change its
stance towards this matter and remains committed to settlement of
the conflict in line with territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

The meeting also focused on a number of issues of mutual interest.

Seconds Out
June 4 2006

Darchinyan stops Maldonado in 8, then calls out Arce

Vic “Raging Bull” Darchinyan hooks Luis Maldonado – Tom
Casino/Showtime

By Paul Upham: The pure power of IBF/IBO flyweight world boxing
champion Vic “Raging Bull” Darchinyan was evident when he defended
his titles against Mexican Luis Maldonado by 8th round TKO on
Saturday night. Elevated to main event status at the Thomas & Mack
Center in Las Vegas, USA after the cancellation of Corrales-Castillo
III, Darchinyan showed that even though he weighs in at only 112lbs,
he is among the hardest punchers in the world pound for pound.

“It was great. It is a very, very good feeling,” Darchinyan 26-0 (21)
said, after the win. “Today I was fighting as the main event and it
is a very good feeling. I am very happy with the win.”

Fighting in Las Vegas for the first time, 30 year-old Darchinyan’s
speed and left hand power was impressive, even though he may rely on
it a little too much.

“I have very good power in my left hand,” he said. “My trainer Jeff
Fenech, the three-time world champion, he was telling me not to rush
and go for the knockout punch, it will come. I know I have big power
and I am very proud of my left hand and I want to knock them out. I
want to knock them out with my first punch. With my left, I know and
believe that I can knock out anyone. It is inside of me.”

The southpaw called out popular WBC Interim flyweight champion Jorge
Arce from Mexico for a showdown at 112lbs.

“I want Arce,” he said. “I went to Mexico to challenge him. He told
me that of course he would fight me. Now he is saying that he is
moving up a division. What does this mean? Does it mean that he is
scared? Mexico has some great fighters, but Arce is a chicken. If he
doesn’t want to fight me, just tell me.”

If not Arce, Darchinyan said he is prepared to move up in weight, as
long as he is fighting for more world titles.

“I don’t have any difficulties making my weight at flyweight,” he
explained. “If anyone wants to fight me who has world title belts, I
am ready. From any weight. I want to fight and I want to fight for
world titles. I don’t just want to defend my titles, I want to win
new belts.”

Darchinyan, who is promoted by Gary Shaw, was in his crouching style
early in round 1 as he followed the 28 year-old Maldonado 33-1-1 (25)
around the ring. There were not many punches thrown in the opening
seconds until Darchinyan started to load up with his left hand.
Maldonado turned southpaw towards the end of the round and used the
stance for the majority of the fight. The Mexican countered to the
body after Darchinyan swung and missed wildly. “Throw your second and
third punch Vic,” trainer Jeff Fenech told him in the corner. “Don’t
go for the one big punch.”

After Darchinyan had done enough to win round 1, round 2 was much
closer with Maldonado from Mexicali, Mexico boxing on the outside
nicely. Darchinyan was still looking to land the one big knockout
blow. Maldonado jabbed nicely as he alternated stances. The two
boxers went toe to toe to end the round to the cheers of the crowd.
Maldonado was leading with his punches in round 3, which was his best
round of the fight. Darchinyan swung himself off his feet such was
the fury of his punches. Two good left uppercuts stung Maldonado. Two
more good left hooks at the end of the round cut Maldonado in the
corner of his right eye. Maldonado’s hand speed was slow compared to
Darchinyan’s and two straight lefts rocked the Mexican. Another left
hand, which landed directly on Maldonado’s eye cut, rocked him
backwards.

Maldonado, who is a protégé of the great featherweight Erik Morales,
was not running in round 5, but trying to box and counter from right
in front of Darchinyan. The round was slower, but then a big left
uppercut from Darchinyan hurt Maldonado and forced him back into the
ropes with a follow up left hand.

Two left hooks stunned Maldonado in round 6, who was dropped to the
canvas as he tried to hang on to the world champion. Beating referee
Joe Cortez’ count, Darchinyan swarmed all over the hurt fighter but
was unable to land the one clean blow he was looking for to finish
the fight. Maldonado’s sheer guts kept him in the fight and the two
stood toe to toe trading in the final ten seconds of the round.

A right hand from Darchinyan landed early in round 7. Maldonado was
trying to box his way back in, but a left hand high on the head
slowed him up again. A series of strong left hands from Darchinyan at
the end of the round saw Cortez go to the Mexican’s corner at the
bell. “If he takes more punches like that, I’m going to stop the
fight,” Cortez told Maldonado’s trainer. In Darchinyan’s corner
Fenech said, “Be tidy and be smart. Short punches Vic.”

The end for Maldonado came in round 8. Darchinyan was crouching and
jumping in from long range to land. A left, right, left combination
forced a hurt Maldonado into the ropes and referee Cortez waved off
the contest at the 1:38 minute mark.

The Armenia born Australian citizen had a large viewing audience
watching the world feed in both countries. “I am coming back and I
will show more and more power and win more and more belts,” he told
them. “I will show what I can do in the future and I know you will be
happy and proud of me.”

Also on the card, the Top Rank promoted Yuri Foreman from Brooklyn,
New York won a shut out points win over Jesus Valverde at junior
middleweight. Judges scored the fight for 25 year-old Foreman 100-89,
99-90 and 99-90.

Paul Upham
Contributing Editor
229&cs=19619

Weekend Australian
June 3, 2006 Saturday
All-round Country Edition

Chess

MATP

by Phil Viner

A SMALL country with a big chess tradition, Armenia, defeated a big
country with a shorter tradition in the international form of the
game, China, by 2.5 points to 1.5, to establish a clear lead after
the 10th round of the 37th Chess Olympiad in Turin, Italy.

The main contenders, with three rounds to play, are Armenia on 29
points (from 40 games), China on 27, Russia and the Czech Republic on
26.5.

Vladimir Kramnik, due to play Veselin Topalov later this year for the
reunified world title, is doing well as anchor man for the Russian
team, but this is not proving sufficient.

Here is the Russian’s fifth-round win over his Armenian opponent, a
positional masterpiece.

White: Kramnik. Black: Levon Aronian. 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2
Bb7 5.0-0 g6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Qxd4 Bg7 8.Nc3 d6 9.Rd1 Nbd7 10.Be3 Rc8
11.Rac1 a6 12.b3 0-0 13.Qh4 Rc7 14.Bh3 Qb8 15.Bg5 (A novelty.) Bxf3?!
(Surrenders the light squares.) 16.exf3 b5 17.Bxd7 Rxd7 18.Nd5! Nxd5
19.cxd5 Rc7 20.Rc6! Rxc6 21.dxc6 Rc8 22.Rc1! e6 23.Bd2 Qc7 24.a4! d5
25.axb5 axb5 26.Qb4 Rb8 27.Qa3 Bd4 28.Qa6 Be5 29.f4 Bd6 30.Ba5 Qc8
31.Qa7 Ra8 32.Qb6 Rb8 33.Qd4! b4 34.c7! Ra8 35.Qb6 Bf8 36.Bxb4 Bxb4
37.Qxb4 Qe8. Black resigned.

Australia has scored 21 points. Individual results: Ian Rogers 2.5/5,
David Smerdon 5/8, Zong-Yuan Zhao 5/8, Gary Lane 2/7, Aleks Wohl 6/7,
Nick Speck 1/6. Further match results: round five, v South Africa,
3.5-0.5; round six, Albania, 1.5-2.5; round seven, Luxembourg,
2.5-1.5; round eight, Qatar, 2.5-1.5; round nine, Egypt, 1.5-2.5;
round 10, Scotland, 1.5-2.5.

In the women’s Olympiad being played concurrently, Ukraine holds a
slender lead with 23/30 over Russia on 22.5 and China on 20.5.

The Australian women’s team has 14 points: Irina Berezina 4.5/9,
Laura Moylan 2.5/7, Arianne Caoili 3/7, Ngan Phan-Koshnitsky 4/7.
Further match results: round five, v Slovenia, 0-3; round six,
Algeria, 3-0; round seven, Vietnam, 0-3; round eight, Kyrgyzstan,
0-3; round nine, Guatemala, 2.5-0.5; round 10, Moldova, 0.5-2.5.

The massive oval at Lingotto, Turin, the site of ice-skating events
at the Winter Olympics, provides ample space for the players and
spectators as well as for ancillary events. It is linked to the
Olympic village by a long, hi-tech walkway over railway lines. The
village is a large administrative and residential complex, with
nearly 40 apartment buildings, most six storeys, housing the players
and officials.

The next Olympiad will be in Dresden, Germany, in 2008. So far there
have been four bids for the following event in 2010: from Latvia
(Riga), Montenegro (Budva), Poland (Posnan) and a now autonomous
Siberian region, Khanty-Mansyisk, which staged last year’s World Cup.

At the eleventh hour, Garry Kasparov has issued an open letter
supporting Bessel Kok’s bid for the presidency of FIDE, the
International Chess Federation. It is likely, however, that the minds
of most national federations have been made up.

The starting dates of forthcoming Myer Tan Grand Prix weekend
tournaments are: Foundation Day Open in Perth, today; Victorian Open
in Melbourne, NSW Open in Sydney, Tasmanian Open in Hobart and the
Queen’s Birthday Weekender in South Australia, all June 10.

* Last week’s solutions: (1) 1.Rb7 Kc8 2.Rb5 c1=Q 3.Rc5 Qxc5
stalemate. (2) Key 1.b8=N. If 1…Bxb8 2.Qc8 mate, Bd8/Kf8 Qf7X, Rf8
Qd7X, Rh5 Qg8X.

Cypriot parliament re-elects Speaker

Cyprus News Agency, Nicosia
1 Jun 06

Nicosia, 1 June: General Secretary of the left-wing AKEL party
Dhimitrios Khristofias was re-elected this afternoon president of the
new 56-seat House of Representatives following the 21 May
parliamentary elections.

Khristofias was elected with a total of 35 votes, 18 votes by the AKEL
deputies, 11 by the deputies of the centre-right Democratic Party
(Diko), five votes by the deputies of the Social-democrats Movement
(EDEK) and one vote by the deputy of the Movement of Ecologists
-Environmentalists.

Nikos Anastasiadhis, president of the right-wing Democratic Rally
(Disi) was also a candidate for the presidency of the House and the 18
deputies of his party voted against Khristofias’s candidacy.

The third candidate was president of the European Party, Dhimitrios
Sillouris who was supported by the three deputies of his newly formed
party that entered the House for the first time.

The 56 members of the new House of Representatives as well as the
representatives of the three religious groups, (Armenians, Maronites
and Latins) were sworn in at the start of the plenary session of the
House, presided over by the eldest deputy, Kostas Papakostas of AKEL.

ARMENIA SHOULD REACT TO KILLINGS OF ARMENIANS IN RUSSIA

Lragir.am
01 June 06

On April 22 skinheads killed 17-years-old Vigen Abrahamyants in
Moscow. On May 25 19-years-old Arthur Sardaryan was killed by skinheads
again in Moscow. These two murders have common features.

Both victims come from Armenia, both used to live in Baku but in
1988-1989 they had to move to Moscow for well-known reasons. It has
been said for a number of times that the skinheads are controlled
by some Russian governmental agencies. Can these assassinations be
considered an anti-Armenian policy or a government action involving
skinheads? Is it adequate and worthwhile that Armenia react to
these murders on a governmental level, president, government,
foreign ministry? The political forces of the parliament answer
these questions.

Hrant Khachatryan (Constitutional Right Union) In Russia, extremist
movements and groups have emerged along with liberalism, and the
Russian mass media offer an overall coverage of the activities of
such groups. It appears as if these groups do not have the direct
support of the authorities, Russia is a vast country, and there
can be groups, which are independent from the government, or gangs
connected with local authorities. It is more interesting to know
whether these incidents involving Armenians are connected with the
authorities on this or that level. It is difficult for me to answer
because even the Armenian media in Moscow put forward controversial
opinions. Racism and discrimination have been observed in Russia
over the past 15 years. Formerly, in the Soviet years these appeared
only in jokes and non-human relations. I have never lived in Moscow,
but my brother lives there and he told me not to go out after 8 in
the evening. He meant the appearance rather than nationality.

Tigran Torosyan (Republican) I think, there should be facts to speak
about an intended policy and purposefulness. On the other hand,
the content is the same in both an accident and a purposeful act.

Armenian young people were killed in Russia, and the statements that
these are connected with different disputes are not quite reasonable.

The facts are so forceful that the relevant Russian agencies have
to consider them. I do not want to say that it is an anti-Armenian
policy. But this phenomenon is reaching tremendous levels, and it
is a serious threat for Russia, it is evident. Although we should
first think about our compatriots. Facts and data are required for a
reaction on behalf of the government of Armenia to sound reasonable,
because this is a very subtle problem.

Galust Sahakyan (Republican) I do not think this is a purposeful
action. Dozens of people are killed in Russia daily. The
characterizations by our NGOs given for this specific case make
me think that the problem is a chauvinistic movement, and we have
victims. I do not think the government should respond officially. The
person killed recently was a citizen of Russia, and our embassy gave
a response, which is the standpoint of official Armenia.

Vahram Baghdasaryan (People’s Deputy) I think it is dangerous to make
suggestions on this case. This could be a mere coincidence.

Moscow with its size and population is like a country rather than a
city. The rate of murder can reach 100. If the investigation reveals
that this was purposeful, we must respond on a governmental level.

Victor Dallakyan (Ardarutiun) I can see anti-Armenian movements and
the phrase “Glory to Russia” uttered during the murder means that it
was intended. I guess all this is directed by someone. I would not
like to draw parallels, but when the accident involving an Indian
student happened, the Indians came together. Since, unfortunately,
these actions against Armenia are becoming frequent, we certainly need
to react. Our foreign ministry should react through diplomatic pipes.

ARA ABRAHAMYAN: MURDER OF YOUNG ARMENIAN IN MOSCOW – PROVOCATION ON EVE OF G8 SUMMIT

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.05.2006 19:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today leader of the Union of Armenians of Russia
(UAR) Ara Abrahamyan stated he considers the next murder of an
Armenian as a provocation by extremist forces on the eve of G8 summit
in Saint Petersburg, “It is apparently a provocation on the eve of G8
summit by dark forces, which do not want Russia to follow the way of
democratization and civilization.” However, Abrahamyan does not see
“a direct attack against Armenians” in that crime. “Fascists do not
choose people by nationality, they choose their victims by color of
eyes and that of skin. In his opinion, it is necessary to organize
a round table discussion over xenophobia issues with participation
of national public unions and representatives of the authorities,
first of all law-enforcement bodies.

Ethnic Armenian Artur Sardaryan, 19, is killed in Moscow. He was
attacked in a Moscow electric train near Klyazma station on May
25. However, it was known about the incident only now. Two persons,
who attacked him, stabbed him with a knife in his neck from behind,
cutting carotid artery, then stabbed 5 times in his chest in the
heart area. Then they stopped the train by means of the emergency
brake and fled, Russian media report.