Author: Jalatian Sonya

Current Digest of the Post-Soviet Press
June 23, 2004
ARMENIA COULD BE KICKED OUT OF THE PACE. —
Confrontation Between Opposition and Government Is Becoming
Permanent.
By Viktoria Panfilova. Nezavisimaya gazeta, May 28, 2004, p. 5.
Condensed text:
In Yerevan, the coalition of three parties — the Republican Party of
Armenia, Orinats Yerkir [Country of Law] and Dashnaktsutyun [the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation] — that control a majority of the
seats in the Armenian parliament has invited the opposition (the
Justice bloc and the National Unity Party) to resume talks. It may be
recalled that the first round of talks between the parties making up
the pro-Kocharyan coalition and the united opposition was
unsuccessful. . . . A statement issued by the coalition says, in
part: “Unfortunately, the opposition forces did not take a
constructive path that would offer a real possibility of jointly
resolving the tense political situation that has come about in our
country. In choosing to hold rallies instead of pursue dialogue, they
have refused to heed the Council of Europe’s call to solve the
problem by political means and without preconditions.”
For his part, Viktor Dalakyan, secretary of the opposition Justice
faction, said that the opposition is willing to reopen dialogue with
the government only if arrested opposition activists are released. He
also urged Armenians to attend a demonstration that the opposition
plans to hold in downtown Yerevan on June 4.
It may be recalled that, late last week, the opposition resumed its
protest demonstrations in the central part of the capital city to
demand the release of the arrested opposition members. . . . There
was also a crackdown on members of the Communist Party, the
Republican Party and the National Unity Party. At the same time, all
roads leading into Yerevan were closed again, and drivers on
intercity routes were told not to report to work. The authorities put
police throughout Armenia on alert.
Meanwhile, the US State Department recently published its latest
report on human rights, and the document is highly critical of the
Armenian authorities. President Robert Kocharyan has so far declined
to comment on the report, but he did give an extensive interview on
the results of his visit to Moscow, in which he said that he had the
full and unconditional support of the Kremlin. Moreover, Armenian
officials cite with great satisfaction a recent report issued by the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the political
situation in Armenia. It says that although the presidential election
was marred by many instances of fraud, they “did not have any
significant impact” on the outcome of the voting. The report thus
refutes opposition statements questioning the head of state’s
“legitimacy.”
True, everywhere else the lengthy document has extremely
unflattering things to say about the Armenian authorities, citing
regular and widespread violations of civil rights and freedoms. The
report says that the Armenian delegation’s credentials “may be
reconsidered” at the PACE’s upcoming September session.
It’s clear that, under these circumstances, the opposition is going
to step up the confrontation: It has now been announced that sit-ins
will be held in addition to the rallies in Yerevan. . . .

Harrison vs Abelyan: Cometh the hour cometh the man?
EastsideBoxing.com
June 18 2004
18.06.04 – Gavin Macleod: The true greats in every sport are the select
few, who in the face of their toughest challenge, can rise to the
occasion and produce their finest performance. Michael Jordan could
always find something special when playing in NBA Finals, Zinedine
Zidane finds his best form when playing in soccer’s biggest games
and Muhammad Ali dug deep into his bag of tricks to outfox George
Foreman in Kinshasa Zaire all that time ago.
To men like the aforementioned winning is everything, and they have
that special talent that can see them come through situations that
they are not expected to. This Saturday WBO featherweight champion
Scott Harrison is hoping to prove that against William “The Conqueror”
Abelyan, in the potentially toughest contest of his career, he can
rise to the occasion and produce a performance to elevate him into the
division’s upper echelons alongside men such as Juan Manuel Marquez
and Manny Pacquiao.
Hometown hero Harrison will be making the second defence of his second
reign as champion in front the adoring Scottish supporters at Glasgow’s
Braehead Arena, who as always will provide the strident support that
has become as much a feature of Harrison’s performance’s as his
relentless pressure and supreme strength. But this is no ordinary
fight for Harrison.
Having being delayed since last March, once due to Abelyan injuring a
shoulder and once due to Harrison damaging ligaments in his right arm
whilst doing pull-ups in the gym, this fight has had time to build
up into what has now become a must see contest between two fighters
that have spent the past three months having their respective digs at
one another. Not only that but the representative’s from both camps,
namely Harrison’s manager Frank Maloney and Abelyan’s manager Gary
Shaw. have also engaged in a war of words that has helped build up
the tension in the media on both side’s of the pond.
This is not usually a feature of Harrison’s make-up as he generally
makes comments to the effect of his fists doing the talking but on
this particular occasion it would seem that his opponent has genuinely
got under his skin. Now you couple that with the assault charge that
Harrison has just been cleared of and you have a champion with a score
to settle with his opponent and also with a renewed focus and drive,
having seen the threat of his title being revoked squashed by Sheriff
Rae Small’s not guilty verdict clearing him of any wrong doing.
American based Armenian Ableyan will be no soft touch however,
and has what many people believe to be the wrong style for the
champion being a southpaw and a “mover”. He has a slate of 23-4-1
(12) that could be misleading as three of these defeats came in
his first nine fights and one of them was a ten round points loss
against the former IBF featherweight champion Hector Lizarraga which
represents no shame at all. The fourth loss though does give cause
for concern. Back in January of 2000 Abelyan faced up to the always
tough and rugged Columbian Victor Polo, and was a step up for “The
Conqueror” but nobody would have expected him to be blown away inside
a round against an opponent who was never regarded as a big hitter.
Conversely, Abelyan’s form since that defeat has been something
to take note of as he has rattled of thirteen successive victories
against some well respected opponents. He outpointed the six time
world title challenger Jesus Salud over ten rounds in 2002 and also
stopped another hardened former world title challenger when stopping
Orlando Soto in the tenth round, four months later.
Undoubtedly his biggest win came in what was his biggest fight against
former WBC world champion Guty Espadas Jnr. Southpaw Abelyan came
in at four days notice and dropped his opponent in the sixth and
eighth round, which all went to bringing him a unanimous ten round
decision. More impressive was that it was not long after Espadas had
just lost a very close twelve rounder against the exceptional Mexican,
Erik Morales.
Harrison has never admitted his distaste for southpaws but it is a
common feature in all orthodox fighters to not enjoy fighting against
the games “lefty’s”. However, the five tough rounds he got in against
Abelyan’s March date replacement, Walter Estrada, will have aided
the champion’s preparations considerably. The Columbian seemed to
have come to fight and his power and shots from the southpaw stance
gave Harrison problems early on, as at times Harrison seemed to be
momentarily stunned by his opponents stinging shots through the middle.
Harrison, 21-2-1 (11) is a true warrior though and eventually got
out of his slow start to crank up a few gears, using his strength to
bully his opponent back and attack his body. This worked wonders as
in round five Estrada seemed to have lost interest in a fight that had
now swung firmly out of his favour. He did give the champion food for
thought and gave him invaluable experience against a tough southpaw
for five rounds and it will be experience that Team Harrison will be
hoping to utilise for the impending contest with the Armenian.
Abelyan in essence has the ability to give Harrison problems and has
shown against Espadas that he has a lot of ability and could well
be on his way to making strides in this division. His quick hands
and good jab will surely be used with an aim to stick and move on
Harrison as standing toe-to-toe with the Scot could prove suicidal
when thinking back to the Polo fight. Indeed I wouldn’t expect the
fight to go very far should the challenger follow through with is
claim of “going to war” with Harrison.
There are other negative sides to Abelyan. The Espadas victory
however should not be the sole focus Abelyan’s achievements as it
is not improbable that Espadas took the fight very lightly against
the then unknown Armenian. Abelyan won a majority ten round decision
against the tough Armando Cordoba but this is over-shadowed by latest
Harrison victim Estrada, who knocked Cordoba cold in three rounds.
Alarmingly in his second last outing, against Jose Luis Tula, Abelyan
was in major trouble and taking some hard shots in the final round
of a fight he won via a unanimous twelve round decision.
Harrison is a relentless come forward fighter, hence leading to
Abelyan’s labelling him “a robot” but his sheer size and strength
could see him be too much for Abelyan who is also hindered in this
fight by a one year absence from the ring. While Abelyan’s speed
and southpaw stance could be the key to unlock the Cambuslang mans
title belt from around his waist, there are question marks around
his punch resistance and stamina, both of which can not be doubted
when talking about Harrison. After taking his usual residence in the
Scottish mountains and rehabilitating his injured ligaments with some
underwater therapy in the Hampden Sports complex Harrison should be
in the best condition of his career as he now reaches his peak years.
The key to this fight will be Harrison’s ability to cut off his
opponent, trap him in a corner or on the ropes and then unloading
with his two handed, high volume punch combinations. I would expect to
see Abelyan pick off Harrison for the first four rounds, but holding
off Harrison is like using a sponge bat to fend off a wild bull and
hence I believe Harrison will begin to catch up with his man before
taking a firm grip on the contest and halting his man in or around
the tenth round.
One thing is certain though, that for Harrison to get the unification
mega fights that he has his sights set on, he needs to prove that like
the greats in every sport, he is capable of producing his finest when
the time comes.

Ex-Soviet Republics to Boost Cooperation
By BAGILA BUKHARBAYEVA
The Associated Press
06/18/04 17:16 EDT
ASTANA, Kazakhstan (AP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders
of several former Soviet republics agreed Friday to step up economic
ties and expand military cooperation, restoring some of the links
severed by the Soviet collapse.
Russia has been seeking closer military and security ties with several
Central Asian nations, apparently in response to the deployment of
U.S. troops in the region to back Washington’s anti-terror campaign
in neighboring Afghanistan.
“We are creating real instruments of integration. It’s not just talk,”
Putin said after summits of the Russia-dominated Collective Security
Treaty Organization and the Eurasian Economic Community.
Putin and the leaders of Kazakhstan, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan
and Tajikistan discussed regional security and agreed to intensify
military contacts, increasing the Collective Security Treaty’s rapid
reaction forces, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said.
The alliance now has nine battalions based in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan,
Kazakhstan and Russia and plans by 2010 to form a mobile force intended
to quickly respond to security threats to its members.
Nazarbayev said they also agreed on a mechanism for participation in
international U.N.-led peacekeeping efforts. He said it was “a new
area of cooperation,” but did not give details.
Last year, Russia opened a military base in Kyrgyzstan under
the Collective Security Treaty to provide air support for future
anti-terrorist operations.
The leaders of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan
also signed agreements on adopting unified laws, circulation
of securities and regulating banking activity among the Eurasian
Economic Community.
The group was created in 2000 to restore lost economic ties after
the 1991 Soviet collapse. Members plan to form a customs union by
2006 and are working on creating unified transport and energy systems.
The countries also agreed Friday to set unified railway tariffs
on transportation of grain and other goods through one another’s
territory.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Russia provided
information on its negotiations to enter the World Trade Organization,
breaking its silence on the issue – which would aid other countries
in their talks to enter the trade body.
Kyrgyzstan is already a member of the WTO, which regulates
international trade rules. Russia has sought WTO membership for years.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

U. S. Department of State
18 June 2004
OSCE a Champion of Media Freedom in Armenia, U.S. Says
Remarks by Charge d’Affaires Douglas Davidson to OSCE Permanent Council
The OSCE Office in Yerevan, under the leadership of Ambassador Vladimir
Pryakhin, has demonstrated an “outstanding commitment” to promoting OSCE
principles in Armenia, U.S. Charge d’Affaires Douglas Davidson told the OSCE
Permanent Council in Vienna, Austria, June 18.
Pryakhin has “rightly raised concerns with the authorities over violence and
harassment against journalists, as well as the loss of licenses of two
independent broadcasters,” Davidson said, adding that the United States has
raised both issues in bilateral discussions with Armenia.
Other issues that the OSCE Office in Yerevan has dealt with effectively,
Davidson noted, include freedom of assembly, monitoring alleged human rights
abuses, and fostering political dialogue between the government and the
opposition. He spoke after a presentation by Ambassador Pryakhin.
Following are Davidson’s remarks:
(begin text)
United States Mission to the OSCE
Vienna
RESPONSE TO THE REPORT BY OSCE HEAD OF OFFICE IN YEREVAN VLADIMIR PRYAKHIN
As delivered by Charge d’Affaires Douglas Davidson to the Permanent Council
June 18, 2004
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The United States is pleased to welcome Ambassador Pryakhin back to the
Permanent Council and we thank him highly for his comprehensive report on
the activities of the OSCE Office in Yerevan.
In less than a year since taking on the Head of Office position, Ambassador
Pryakhin has quickly and energetically engaged on a number of issues that
are important to the OSCE. We commend him and his staff for their
outstanding commitment to promoting OSCE principles.
There are, Mr. Chairman, too many areas in which the Office is carrying out
meaningful work for me to list them all or discuss them here. I would
however, like to take particular note of, and commend the Ambassador and his
staff for, the following particular items:
To begin, let me say that Ambassador Pryakhin has been a champion of media
freedom. He has rightly raised concerns with the authorities over violence
and harassment against journalists, as well as the loss of licenses of two
independent broadcasters. These are issues the United States has also raised
both bilaterally and here in the Permanent Council. His continuing
monitoring of media freedom and his coordination with the Special
Representative on Freedom of the Media demonstrates Ambassador Pryakhin’s
commitment and that of his Mission staff to OSCE principles in this area.
Ambassador Pryakhin is to be commended for playing a constructive and
neutral role in encouraging dialogue to resolve the political impasse
between the government and the opposition parties. It is our hope that all
parties will resume a dialogue soon.
The Office’s engagement on the issue of freedom of assembly has been
significant. We welcomed the National Assembly’s passage in April of the new
law on public gatherings, which was drafted at the suggestion of, and with
input from, the OSCE Office in Yerevan. While the law’s passage is a
positive step, we now urge the Armenian authorities to heed the Office’s
recommendations to revise the language in order to bring it fully in line
with OSCE standards.
The United States is pleased to see the Office is continuing to conduct
activities in the area of police assistance and judicial reform, which are
key to strengthening democratic institutions and respect for human rights.
The United States provides substantial bilateral assistance in these areas,
thus reinforcing the efforts of the Office.
We also appreciate the OSCE Office’s record on receiving and conveying
complaints on alleged human rights abuses. In his report, Ambassador
Pryakhin has noted the establishment earlier this year of an Ombudsman’s
office in Armenia. We very much hope that this institution will now take on
the role of receiving and handling human rights complaints.
We also appreciate the OSCE Office’s ongoing assistance to the Armenian
government towards the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution
1373, as well as other international counter-terrorism agreements.
In sum, Mr. Chairman, the United States wished to congratulate Ambassador
Pryakhin and his staff for the fine work they are doing in all three OSCE
dimensions. We wish him well as he continues to face a wide array of
challenges. We would like to say to the Ambassador and his staff, please
keep up the good work!
I thank you very much.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: )

Quick start not enough for Abelyan
By Bob Mee
Daily Telegraph, UK
June 19 2004
Scott Harrison faces a tricky defence of his World Boxing Organisation
featherweight title against No 1 contender William Abelyan at Braehead
Arena, Glasgow, tonight.
Injuries to both fighters have delayed this fight for three months
and Harrison has also had the distraction of a criminal court case.
The Scot was cleared of an assault charge in the last fortnight.
Harrison’s taciturn, single-minded determination should enable him
to put those issues aside but he could need all his discipline and
patience to wear down a swift, tricky, hit-and-run left-hander.
In the first half of the 12-round fight the champion could have
trouble pinning down Abelyan and might have to rely on a late stoppage
win. But Harrison has no doubts. “I don’t think this is a tough fight,”
he said. “I just see him running all night.”
The Armenian is full of confidence but to win the fight he has to
outbox Harrison, whose experience should tip it his way.

ROUND TABLE IN MOSCOW PRODUCED NO RESULTS
Azat Artsakh – Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
June 6 2004
Commenting on the results of the round table held in Moscow, NKR
president Arkady Ghukassian mentioned that the parties could not
achieve a mutual understanding. “Practically no agreement was made
on any question. For different reasons Nagorni Karabakh, Armenia and
Azerbaijan refused the initial offers presented by the mediators. But
I think that this is a quite normal phenomenon for this format of
work because there are no traditions of relationships. In particular,
we have been outsiders in these processes for 5 years. I think it
takes time to work out a constructive basis for the negotiations. I
also think that the conference will go on and there may be new
suggestions. In any case Karabakh is for constructive work,” said
Arkady Ghukassian. Answering the question of activation of European
organizations in reference to the Karabakh problem Arkady Ghukassian
particularly mentioned that controversial information is received
from different European organizations. “Therefore we start from
the fact that there is the OSCE Minsk Group which specializes in the
settlement of the Karabakh conflict. We think that taking into account
its experience and efforts in the negotiations the Minsk Group is a
more prepared organization for the negotiations and therefore there
will hardly be any meaning in looking for new formats,” mentioned
the president of NKR. He emphasized that the Karabakh authorities
welcome the efforts of all the European organizations favouring
the work of the Minsk Group. “It is a different problem that these
organizations are not prepared enough to make any suggestion in
reference to the Karabakh settlement. We think this work needs to
be coordinated because any organization will hardly achieve success
alone,” emphasized Arkady Ghukassian.
AA.

International Herald Tribune, France
New York Times
June 7 2004
Kerkorian takes old path in bid for rival
Andrew Ross Sorkin NYT June 07, 2004
Kirk Kerkorian just can’t stay away from the tables.
Kerkorian, the 86-year-old financier who owns the MGM Mirage hotel
and casino empire, took another gamble late Friday night by making
an unsolicited $4.5 billion bid to buy a rival farther down the Las
Vegas Strip, the Mandalay Resort Group.
But Kerkorian’s seemingly surprise pubic bid was not exactly a surprise
to insiders: the two companies had been knee-deep in private merger
talks last week, executives involved in the discussions said Sunday.
Those talks were sent into chaos, they said, when Mandalay’s share
price jumped $5.65, or more than 10 percent, to $60.27, adding hundreds
of millions of dollars to Mandalay’s value, after the company reported
that its first-quarter earnings had nearly doubled.
So late Friday, Kerkorian made what may be an especially clever
negotiating play: he immediately made his offer of $68 a share for
Mandalay public in an effort to keep its shares from going even higher.
The maneuver comes straight out of Kerkorian’s playbook: he did the
same thing in 2000 when he acquired Mirage Resorts from Steve Wynn
in a prolonged battle that began much the same way.
The purchase would give MGM Mirage ownership stakes in several
well-known casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, including the Luxor, the
Excalibur and the Monte Carlo, as well as properties in Mississippi,
Michigan and Illinois. The company, which already owns the Bellagio,
the MGM Grand and the Mirage, among others, would assume about $2.8
billion in Mandalay debt.
Based on Mandalay’s closing price Friday, the offer represents about
a 13 percent premium; it would have been a 23 percent premium if the
offer had been made Thursday.
The New York Times

BACKYARDS TO BE SOLD BY AUCTION
A1 Plus | 14:40:06 | 07-06-2004 | Politics |
Apartment blocks’ backyards in Yerevan are likely to be sold by
auction, Samvel Danelyan, the head of urban planning and architecture
department of the Armenian capital’s municipality said Monday.
Danelyan supposes underground garages will be constructed at the sold
areas and zones of rest will be created on the ground.
The municipality intends to tighten control over all construction
works in the capital, which will be carried out only in accordance
with its plans.

“‘Armenian criteria’ from France”
Cyprus Press & Information Office – Turkish Cypriot press review
June 4 2004
Under the above title Turkish daily MILLIYET newspaper (04.06.04)
reports that François Hollande, chairman of the French Socialist Party,
has said that the European Union should give Turkey a date for the
beginning of its accession negotiations, only in case it officially
recognizes the Armenian genocide.
Mr Hollande met yesterday at his party headquarters with the chairman
of the Armenian Tasnak Party, Murat Papazyan. The two leaders noted
that Turkey in addition to the Copenhagen Criteria must apply the 18
June 1987 decision of the European Parliament before getting a date.
They reminded that the above-mentioned decision provided for Turkey
to officially recognize the Armenian genocide, withdraw its occupation
troops from Cyprus and respect the human rights of the minorities.

Separatist Karabakh ready for talks with Azerbaijan “in any format”, leader says
Mediamax news agency
1 Jun 04
Yerevan, 1 June: Nagornyy Karabakh is ready for negotiations with
Azerbaijan in any format – “be it with Armenia or without it, with
the OSCE Minsk Group or without it”, the president of the Nagornyy
Karabakh Republic [NKR], Arkadiy Gukasyan, said in Stepanakert today.
Mediamax news agency correspondent reported from Stepanakert that
the head of the NKR said that Azerbaijan “will be obliged to sit at
the negotiating table since there is no other way”.
Arkadiy Gukasyan believes that the sides have not yet managed to reach
an agreement because there is no tradition or culture of communication,
which he thinks requires time. At the same time, he noted that the
“Karabakh side intends to work constructively”.