Author: Kajoyan Gevork

TWO FOURTH PLACES FOR CUBA TODAY
Juan E. Batista Cruz

Periodico 26
Aug 12, 2008
Cuba

Beijing-2008

The Tunas, Cuba (August 12, P-26). – Two fourth places in judo and
rising of weights, it was the best result that got the Cuban delegation
in Tuesday’s journey in the Olympic Games of Beijing-2008, the less
productive one until the moment, mainly because it was expected more.

The legendary Driulis Gonzalez could not achieve medal in his fifth
Olympics, in spite of the fact that she carried out an extraordinary
effort in the division of the 63 kilograms of the feminine lid of
judo, before falling for bronze in front of the player of Holland,
Williborde, when it was penalized by passivity, in extra time.

Driulis overcame for chuy to the olympic subchampion Heil,from Austria
and later to Tang Wei of China Taipei by means of wazari advantage,
but it lost for ippon in front of the Japanese Tanimoto.

The experienced of the creole judoca was about to equal the feat of
the Japanese Ryoko Tani that it won the fifth medal in appointments
accomplishes each four years, for what increases the merit of this
fourth place in a tournament to which all that worth and shines of
this millennial martial art in the world, attended.

The other fourth position of Cuba during this fourth day of the Games
of Beijing, got it the rising weight of the 69 kilograms, Yordanis
Borrero who achieved its best historical result with a biatlon of
328 kilos (148 in outburst and 180 in the envion.

Two fifth places achieved the fighters of the classic style: Yagnier
Hernandez, in the division of 55 kilograms, overcome in the dispute
of the bronze, by the Armenian Roman Ameyan and Roberto Monzon,
one of the main Cuban hopes of medal who fell in its case with the
kirguizio Tiomanbaev.

In another result of the representatives of the Island of the Freedom,
Tamara’s couple Larrea and Dalixia Fernandez, suffered her first defeat
in the competition of volleyball of sand in front of the double one
North American, with partial of 15-21 and 16-21.

ANALYSIS-GEORGIA REBEL CONFIDENCE RISES AFTER FIGHTING
By Conor Sweeney

Reuters
Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:48am EDT

MOSCOW, Aug 13 (Reuters) – Georgia’s efforts to bring the breakaway
region of South Ossetia to heel have backfired so drastically that
it may have lost control of both it and rebel-held Abkhazia for
good. Western diplomats and analysts said Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili has little hope of reasserting his authority in the two
regions after his failed invasion of South Ossetia.

A ceasefire agreement to end nearly a week of fighting between
Georgian and Russian troops has given a new sense of confidence to
the separatists in Abkhazia, and in mountainous South Ossetia and
Abkhazia, which hugs the Black Sea.

Sergei Shamba, self-styled foreign minister of Abkhazia, told Reuters
that Georgia should now accept it is a separate country.

"We have held talks with Georgia for 15 years and now we will only
talk with them after recognition of our independence," Shamba said.

"There have been several drafts and they rejected them all. It’s
clear to me that it’s pointless talking to them."

Self-styled South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity made similar
independence demands on Wednesday, Russian media reported.

Georgian troops struck at pro-Russian South Ossetia last Thursday
to retake it from separatists but the action provoked a massive
retaliation from Moscow, whose troops drove the Georgian forces back.

At the same time, fighters in Abkhazia pushed back Georgian forces
from their last stronghold there.

The result is a new power balance in the region.

"Militarily, Russia has achieved its strategic goal. It has
demonstrated its ability to strike," wrote stratfor.com in an analysis.

"Russia ejected Georgia completely from Abkhazia and South Ossetia
and has largely destroyed Georgia’s war-fighting capability.

"And with talk of ‘partial demobilisation’ as a condition for peace,
Georgia could be hobbled for quite some time."

Moscow may take different approaches to the two regions, said the
editor of Russia in Global Affairs, Fyodor Lukyanov.

Neither should be directly compared with Kosovo, which unilaterally
declared independence from Serbia this year with the backing of many
Western countries.

"The difference between Abkhazia and Kosovo is that the U.S. was
able to mobilise 40 countries to recognise Kosovo but Russia can’t
expect any single country to do it — not even Belarus or Armenia,"
Lukyanov said.

CONFLICT COULD REMAIN UNSOLVED

One scenario would be for South Ossetia to achieve independence
eventually before being absorbed into Russia, though Abkhazia may look
to countries like ex-Yugoslav Montenegro, as an example for its future.

"Abkhazia is weak but a de facto state whereas South Ossetia is not
self-sufficient, Georgia is not an option anymore so it can exist
only as part of the Russian Federation," Lukyanov said.

Although Abkhazia is belligerent towards Tbilisi and says it has
now taken full control of the Kodori gorge — the one district of
its territory Georgian forces had held – Shamba took a softer line
towards the United States.

"Against America, we have no problems, they did not give these weapons
to be used against us. This is a geopolitical question," Shamba said.

The United States has been Tbilisi’s strongest Western ally since
the 2003 "Rose Revolution" brought Saakashvili to power.

But following Kosovo’s independence — which Moscow opposed on the
grounds it would set a precedent for other frozen conflicts — both
the Abkhazians and South Ossetians redoubled diplomatic efforts.

Despite its financial and political support, Moscow has never said
it will recognise their independence.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov compared Georgia to Cyprus,
suggesting frozen conflicts could remain unresolved for decades,
as on the divided Mediterranean island.

Western diplomats think Moscow has more to gain by maintaining the
uneasy situation than resolving it.

"It’s clear that there has never been a great incentive for Russia to
solve these problems as it keeps Georgia dangling," said one Western
diplomat familiar with French peace efforts. (Additional reporting
by Oliver Bullough in Sukhumi; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

GEORGIE : L’ARMENIE DEMENT APPORTER UNE AIDE QUELCONQUE A LA RUSSIE
Emile Danielian

Fédération Euro-Arménie
Armenialiberty
13 aoÃ"t 2008
Belgium

***

Traduction G̩rard Merdjanian Рcommentaires

La position de l’Arménie reste très délicate dans ce conflit.

D’un côté elle comprend très bien la position des Ossètes du Sud
qui comme celle des Abkhazes, est en conflit larvé avec le pouvoir
central géorgien. L’analogie avec le conflit du Karabakh vient bien
sÃ"r a l’esprit.

Elle ne peut non se mettre a dos Tblissi en prenant fait et cause
pour les provinces dissidentes ou en soutenant ouvertement les
revendications des Arméniens du Djavaghk. Pas plus d’ailleurs sur
l’activité de la Russie dans ce coin du Sud-Caucase. Il y va, et de
son économie et de son ouverture vers le monde extérieur, hélas. Le
bon fonctionnement de ses liaisons commerciales est directement lié
a la fin des hostilités russo-géorgiennes.

Reste a souhaiter que le Président Saakashvili ne réitère pas ses
pulsions militaires. Pulsions dont son voisin occidental concernant le
Karabakh, est très souvent sujet. La notion d’intégrité territoriale
est a manier avec prudence et parcimonie.

Mais a quelque chose malheur est bon. Les événements de ces derniers
jours montrent qu’en cas de reprise des hostilités par l’Azerbaïdjan,
l’accord militaire arméno-russe risque de jouer un mauvais tour
a l’assaillant.

***

Le ministre de la Défense Seyran Ohanian a assuré mardi a un haut
diplomate géorgien que la Russie n’a pas et n’utilisera pas le
territoire arménien pour ses opérations militaires en Géorgie,
condamnées par l’Occident.

L’Arménie a des accords de défense avec la Russie et accueille
une base militaire Russe a Gumri de plusieurs milliers d’hommes et
disposant d’une douzaine de chasseurs MIG-29.

Le Ministère de la Défense arménien dément catégoriquement
les informations parues la semaine dernière dans les médias
azerbaïdjanais et géorgiens qui suggéraient que des bombardiers
russes avaient décollé de terrains d’aviation militaire
arméniens. Un porte-parole du ministère a rejeté ces allégations
les qualifiant de "provocations" azerbaïdjanaises concues pour
dégrader les relations entre la Géorgie et l’Arménie. Il a fait
remarquer que les MiG-29 ne sont pas des chasseurs-bombardiers et
donc inefficaces pour des frappes aériennes.

L’ambassadeur de Géorgie en Arménie, Revaz Gachechiladze, a commenté
les allégations, non repris par le gouvernement géorgien, lors d’une
réunion avec S.Ohanian. Une déclaration du Ministère de la Défense
indique que Gachechiladze a confirmé que les avions militaires russes
stationnés en Arménie n’ont pas été impliqués dans les attaques.

La déclaration précise que : "Pour sa part, S.Ohanian a assuré
l’ambassadeur que le territoire arménien ne sera pas utilisé comme
tremplin militaire pour des hostilités contre la Géorgie, exprimant
l’espoir que des moyens seront trouvés pour normaliser la situation
en Géorgie". Ohanian a également fait part de sa sympathie pour les
"victimes innocentes" des combats de ces derniers jours.

La déclaration indique également que la rencontre a été sollicitée
par Gachechiladze afin de présenter au ministre de la Défense le
nouvel attaché militaire de la Géorgie a Erevan, le colonel Murtaz
Gujejiani.

L’Arménie reste très prudente sur le conflit Russo-géorgien,
compte tenu de l’importance des deux pays pour la sécurité
nationale. Vendredi, Le ministère des Affaires étrangères arménien
s’est dit gravement préoccupé par la reprise des combats en Ossétie
du Sud, mais a évité de blâmer l’une ou l’autre des parties,
au pire de la crise régionale, et ce depuis le début des années
1990. Erevan n’a pas encore réagi a l’avancée profonde des troupes
russes en territoire géorgien, avancée condamnée par toutes les
puissances occidentales.

Le gouvernement arménien a également réfuté qu’il ait autorisé un
avion chargé d’instructeurs militaires américains a destination de
la Géorgie, d’atterrir a l’aéroport international de Zvartnots. Le
Vice-ministre des Affaires étrangères, Kégham Gharibjanian, a
précisé que les seuls vols spéciaux de Zvartnots sont ceux qui ont
été envoyés par certains gouvernements européens pour recueillir
leurs ressortissants, évacués de Géorgie.

–Boundary_(ID_wnnJH9FKPNWKpN LPiso1Uw)–

SPEAKING OF INDIA, ARMENIA AND THOSE HERCULEAN AUSTRALIANS

Los Angeles Times
11:27 AM, August 12, 2008
CA

Even though Medals Per Capita trumps the fallacy of the standard Medals
Table (as seen on the right-hand side of this page) and rightfully
exalts smaller countries as a rule, let us take this opportunity to
applaud India.

This global colossus just harvested the first individual gold medal
in its Olympic history when Abhinav Bindra won the 10-meter air
rifle event, and while MPC certainly tilts toward the Lilliputians
in exquisite fairness, that doesn’t preclude some sympathy for a giant.

MPC fully realizes that India, working with a staggering population
of 1,147,995,898 — one of only two three-comma populations in the
world — has an unforgiving road in the MPC standings, especially for
a country that has never bothered with the Olympic oomph of China,
the other billion-plus population.

India finished 75th of the 75 countries that won medals at Athens
2004, and now stands 46th of the 46 countries that have won medals
so far in Beijing.

Still, it’s a giddy 46th at the moment, so let’s say "hooray."

At the other extreme, the gumdrop nation of Armenia won zero medals in
2004, thus finishing in a 127-way tie behind even India. Well, let’s
applaud Armenia, which just grabbed two bronzes and ascended from below
the charts all the way to No. 1 in the Tuesday MPC standings. Which,
as usual, beat the mulch out of the paltry and inexcusably lazy Medals
Table used in the Olympics.

The Medals Table had the United States first at 22 and then China
at 20, as if culling 22 medals from 303,824,646 citizens or 20 from
1,330,044,605 constituted some sort of big whoop-dee-doo.

After Tigran Gevorg Martirosyan’s bronze in the men’s 62-69kg
weightlifting, and Roman Amoyan’s bronze in the men’s under-55kg
Greco-Roman wrestling, Armenia had two medals among merely 2,968,586
citizens, or one for every 1,484,293 Armenians.

That surpassed even the Herculean Australians, who form arguably the
world’s most fibrous athletic nation, and already have pared their MPC
rating to 2,060,086, despite having only 20,600,856 citizens, with
the paring surely to persist. It also made the Armenians possibly a
recurring threat to both the defending runners-up Australians and the
defending champions the Bahamians (who tend to catch up when track
and field begin).

With a nod to another former Soviet republic, the sudden No. 4
Azerbaijan, and to Koreans both North and South, here is the Medals
Per Capita top 10:

1. Armenia (2) – 1,484,293 2. Australia (10) – 2,060,086 3. Slovakia
(2) – 2,622,375 4. Azerbaijan (3) – 2,725,905 5. Finland (2)
– 2,727,704 6. North Korea (7) – 3,354,156 7. South Korea (12)
– 4,102,737 8. Austria (2) – 4,102,767 9. The Netherlands (4) –
4,161,328 10. Croatia (1) – 4,491,543

(Some select bottom-dwellers):

30. United States (22) – 14,467,840 40. China (20) – 66,502,230
46. India (1) – 1,147,995,898

— Chuck Culpepper

Culpepper is a contributor to The Times.

Photo: Indian shooter Abhinav Bindra’s mother, Babli, left, and father,
A.S.Bindra, celebrate their son’s Olympic gold medal on Monday at their
residence in Zirakpur near Chandigarh, India. Credit: Associated Press

YOUTH TEAM STRUCTURE PUBLISHED

Panorama.am
20:37 11/08/2008

The headqurter of Armenian Youth Team leaded by Varujan Sukiasyan
has published the structure of the team which should compete for
the meeting with Turkish Youth team in the frames of Europe Youth
Tournament in 2009, reported the press service of the Armenian
Football Federation.

Remind that Armenia-Turkey meeting is to take place in "Hrazdan"
sport stadium at 21:00.

Associated Press Worldstream
August 9, 2008 Saturday 8:06 AM GMT

Saturday’s Olympic Shooting Results

Men

10m air pistol

Final

1. Pang Wei, China (586, 102.2), 688.2.

2. Jin Jongoh, South Korea (584, 100.5), 684.5.

3. Kim Jong Su, North Korea (584, 99.0), 683.0.

4. Jason Turner, USA (583, 99.0), 682.0.

5. Brian Beaman, USA (581, 101.0), 682.0.

6. Leonid Ekimov, Russia (582, 98.5), 680.5.

7. Walter Lapeyre, France (581, 99.3), 680.3.

8. Jakkrit Panichpatikum, Thailand (581, 98.0), 679.0.

9. Vigilio Fait, Italy (580), 580.0.

10. Tanyu Kiriakov, Bulgaria (580), 580.0.

11. Tan Zongliang, China (580), 580.0.

12. Norayr Bakhtamyan, Armenia (580), 580.0.

13. Julio Almeida, Brazil (580), 580.0.

14. Damir Mikec, Serbia (580), 580.0.

15. Dilshod Mukhtarov, Uzbekistan (580), 580.0.

16. Lee Daemyung, South Korea (580), 580.0.

17. Oleg Omelchuk, Ukraine (579), 579.0.

18. Joao Costa, Portugal (579), 579.0.

19. Tomoyuki Matsuda, Japan (579), 579.0.

20. Rashid Yunusmetov, Kazakhstan (578), 578.0.

21. Hans Joerg Meyer, Germany (577), 577.0.

22. Yury Dauhapolau, Belarus (577), 577.0.

23. Susumu Kobayashi, Japan (577), 577.0.

24. Wojciech Knapik, Poland (577), 577.0.

25. Franck Dumoulin, France (576), 576.0.

26. Kwon Tong Hyok, North Korea (575), 575.0.

27. Kanstantsin Lukashyk, Belarus (575), 575.0.

28. Pavol Kopp, Slovakia (575), 575.0.

29. Mikhail Nestruev, Russia (575), 575.0.

30. Kai Jahnsson, Finland (574), 574.0.

31. Sergey Babikov, Tajikistan (574), 574.0.

32. Daniel Repacholi, Australia (573), 573.0.

33. Christoph Schmid, Switzerland (573), 573.0.

34. Manh Tuong Nguyen, Vietnam (572), 572.0.

35. Ivan Rybovalov, Ukraine (572), 572.0.

36. David Moore, Australia (571), 571.0.

37. Roger Daniel, Trinidad & Tobago (571), 571.0.

38. Florian Schmidt, Germany (571), 571.0.

39. Yang Wang, New Zealand (571), 571.0.

40. Mauro Badaracchi, Italy (571), 571.0.

41. Nikola Saranovic, Montenegro (570), 570.0.

42. Samresh Jung, India (570), 570.0.

43. Stenio Yamamoto, Brazil (568), 568.0.

44. Iulian Raicea, Romania (567), 567.0.

45. Yusuf Dikec, Turkey (566), 566.0.

46. Philip Elhage, Netherlands Antilles (566), 566.0.

47. Mahmod Abdelaly, Egypt (563), 563.0.

48. Edirisinghe Senanayake, Sri Lanka (561), 561.0.

From: Robert Bedrosian <[email protected]>
Subject: Georgia: Reckless Saakashvili took on Russian Goliath Putin

/europe/article4500160.ece

>From The Times
August 11, 2008
Georgia: Reckless Saakashvili took on Russian Goliath Putin
Michael Evans, Defence Editor

Georgia’s attempt to seize control of the secessionist South Ossetia
region has been a gamble too far, reckless in its timing and founded
on a fundamental misjudgment.

President Saakashvili of Georgia thought that he had the West on his
side but he has been outsmarted by Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime
Minister, who now holds all the cards.

Although Mr Saakashvili has had American military personnel training
his army to serve in Iraq, there was never any question of Washington
taking on the Russians on his behalf.

The military adventure had all the hallmarks of rushed planning and a
fingers-crossed strategy, launched in the hope and expectation that
the Russians would not react, but that if they did, the Americans and
Georgia’s other Nato friends would come to his aid in one form or
another. With President Bush at the Beijing Olympics, was, perhaps,
the US eye off the ball when the Russians moved in?

After only three days, the Georgian leader has had to pull back,
partly because his troops failed to seal off the Roki tunnel, 2½ miles
(4km) long, that links South Ossetia with North Ossetia and provided
passage for dozens of Russian tanks and armoured vehicles. It was a
military blunder.

Five battalions of Russia’s 58th Army, which fought in Chechnya, drove
through the tunnel. With 150 tanks, heavy artillery and overwhelmingly
superior firepower, the Russian troops were able to seize control of
all the heights around Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia.

The 58th, which is based at Vladikavkaz in the North Caucasus military
district in Russia, was backed by ground-attack aircraft, presenting a
formidable fighting package. At the same time there were indications
that the Russians planned a second front, moving into Abkhazia. The
tiny Georgian Army never stood a chance.

It was also a classic misreading on Mr Saakashvili’s part of the
relationship between Washington and Moscow, and a misunderstanding of
what Mr Putin was prepared to do to maintain his image as the tough
guy in the region and on the world stage.

Mr Putin has on a number of occasions publicly dismissed any
possibility that the Cold War could return. But the decision by Mr
Saakashvili gave the Russian leader the opportunity he was waiting for
to stamp his authority over Georgia and at the same time to cock a
snook at the West. He knew that he could get away with pouring troops,
armoured vehicles and artillery into South Ossetia to "protect" the
majority Russian passport-holding inhabitants. All he had to do was
wait for Mr Saakashvili to make the first move.

The seeds of the Georgian misadventure were sown in Bucharest at the
Nato summit in April, where alliance leaders gave out mixed messages
about their enthusiasm for Georgia to join the US-dominated
organisation. Adroit diplomatic pressure by Mr Putin when he was
Russian President forced a split in the alliance, with President Bush
finding himself in a minority when he urged his colleagues to sign up
Georgia for Nato’s membership action plan, the key stage to joining as
a full member eventually.

Despite the summit’s declaration that both Georgia and Ukraine would
definitely, some day, join the alliance, Mr Putin would have realised
that Nato was not yet prepared to go all the way, fearing the damage
that it might cause to relations with Moscow.

Mr Saakashvili put on a bold front, despite his disappointment,
especially after Mr Bush had been so publicly in favour of Georgia
joining Nato, and, probably, at that moment, started thinking about
launching a military operation against the secessionists in South
Ossetia, and, if successful, possibly to move against Abkhazia, the
other separatist region. Perhaps he judged that Nato would then be
spurred into action.

However, with Russian troops never far away, it was always going to be
David versus Goliath. But this time a slingshot was not good enough.
He had Mr Putin to deal with and there was never any doubt who would
win that battle.

ARMENIAN REFUGEE CAMP TO BE DEMOLISHED
By Willy Lowry

The Daily Star
on_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=94885
Aug 8 2008
Lebanon

BURJ HAMMOUD: Sanjak camp is disappearing. The expanding Beirut
suburb of Burj Hammoud will consume the 20,000-square-meter area
within the next few years, and in the process eliminate one of the
last remaining Armenian refugee camps in Lebanon. Sanjak is being
demolished to accommodate the growing population of Burj Hammoud and
its busy shopping district.

The Burj Hammoud municipality plans to replace Sanjak with St. Jacques
Plaza, a commercial and residential center.

Vasken K. Chekijian of VKC Design and Planning is the architect in
charge of the project. He said that the plaza, which is the first
project of its kind supported by a municipality in Lebanon, will
consist of two eight-floor apartment buildings and one 10-floor
apartment building. The plaza will also have a landscaped area, he
added. It will also contain the first multi-storey parking garage in
Lebanon, he said.

Today, a large field of rubble and a few rows of dilapidated buildings
are all that is left of Sanjak camp. Streams of running water flow
through narrow walkways that are cluttered with debris. Personal
belongings such as sneakers and clothes lie abandoned in empty homes.

The camp was established in 1939, in response to Turkey’s annexation
of Alexandretta, an autonomous territory, within French mandated
Syria. Historian Vahe Tachjian wrote in an e-mail to The Daily Star
that approximately 15,000 Armenians lived in Alexandretta, which was
located at the northeast corner of the Mediterranean Sea, an area
that is now the Turkish province of Hatay.

According to information provided by Tachjian, the majority of the
Armenian population of Alexandretta fled the province in July of 1939,
just prior to its inclusion into Turkey. They migrated south to French
Mandate Lebanon. They settled in various refugee camps throughout the
country, which had been set up by the French High Commission. In the
fall of 1939 a small number of the fleeing Armenians settled inland of
an already established "quarantine" area – the present day Karantina –
along Beirut’s northern coast and next to Burj Hammoud, which at the
time was farmland.

The name "Sanjak" is Turkish for "district" or "province." It alludes
to the lost Armenian "Sanjak of Alexandretta," from which the camp’s
settlers originated.

Throughout the last half of the 20th century the camp gradually
expanded and its population diversified. The camp grew to include
several other ethnic groups, primarily immigrants from Syria,
Southeast Asia and Armenia, said Elyse Semerdjian, a professor of
Middle East History at Whitman College in the United States who took
up the history of Sanjak in a recent issue of the American publication
Armenian Weekly.

While immigrants from various parts of the region moved into the camp,
many of the original Armenians who could afford to move relocated to
Burj Hammoud. Raffi Kokoghlanian, the deputy mayor of Burj Hammoud,
said that just prior to the first phase of demolition, only 30 percent
of the people living in the camp were descendants of the original
Armenian inhabitants.

In recent years, as Burj Hammoud has expanded and prospered, the camp
has remained impoverished.

Kokoghlanian says that for the past several years the Municipal Council
debated what should become of Sanjak camp, which he said had become
"a slum and problematic."

The council, he added, decided to build "something that would improve
and increase the accessibility of Burj Hammoud’s shopping district
and create more middle-class living space."

According to Chekijian, the plaza will create 184 new apartments,
which will be affordable to the lower-middle class, and the parking
complex will add 950 parking spaces to the cramped suburb. St. Jacques
will also have 70 commercial shops.

Today, half the camp has been leveled. Semerdjian estimated that the
camp originally contained about 300 shops and homes that housed around
160 families, while fewer than 45 homes remain.

Semerdjian believes "Sanjak Camp lies at a crucial intersection,"
she wrote, "not only for the commercial vitality of Burj Hammoud, but
also for the moral consciousness of the greater Armenian community."

The Armenian diaspora has created a large and relatively affluent
community in Lebanon. They number roughly 150,000 and represent
approximately 4 percent of the country’s population. Many are
descendants of people who escaped the Armenian genocide, however;
some, like those who live in Sanjak, are the progeny of the roughly
15,000 Armenians who fled Alexandretta in 1939.

Today, the majority of Lebanese Armenians reside in either Burj
Hammoud or Anjar, a town in the Beqaa.

Although no census has been conducted in Lebanon since 1932, it
is believed that 150,000 people reside in Burj Hammoud, of whom 80
percent are Armenian.

According to information provided by Semerdjian, many of the original
Armenian refugee camps were still standing 20 years ago.

The increasing urbanization of cities and the need for more space,
which is something not unique to Lebanon, has led to the eradication
of important historic and cultural sites in countries throughout the
world, and this may become the fate of the Armenian refugee camps
in Lebanon.

Semerdjian used Tyro camp as an example. The camp, which was located
a few blocks away from Sanjak in Burj Hammoud, was recently leveled
and replaced by the Harboyan buildings, said Semerdjian.

For the moment, progress on the St. Jacques project has come to a
halt. The remaining residents are refusing to let the municipality
buy them out, saying that they are not being offered enough money.

Semerdjian wrote in her Armenian Weekly article that "most families
in the camp reported that they were receiving about $3,000-$5,000
compensation from the municipality."

"The municipality was paying more than the value of the current homes,"
Kokoghlanian said.

He added that he believes it is only a matter of time until the
municipality and the enduring residents reach an agreement.

Kokoghlanian said the construction of St. Jacques Plaza is an
"improvement that will help Burj Hammoud evolve and continue to
thrive."

The suburb, which is two square kilometers in size, is one of the most
densely populated areas in the Middle East, say several Web sites;
and the city block that Sanjak occupies is precious space.

The Armenian diaspora in Lebanon has made no significant attempt
to prevent the camp’s destruction. In reaction to their posture,
Semerdjian asked if the community "will continue to ignore the social
and economic factors that have contributed to the persistence of this
Armenian refugee camp for over 60 years?"

THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF MILLENIUM CHALLENGE ACCOUNT-ARMENIA SNCO MET, PRESIDED AT BY GC CHAIRMAN, RA PRIME MINISTER TIGRAN SARGSYAN

The Official Website of the Government of the Republic of Armenia
Aug 7 2008

The session discussed and approved the shortlist and the invitation
of bids for the Ararat valley drainage system design and construction
monitoring as part of the MCA-Armenia Irrigated Agriculture Project
Infrastructure Activity, the evaluation results of combined technical
and financial proposals on consulting services for the next stages
of survey of farming activities under the monitoring and evaluation
component of the MCA-Armenia Program. The above-stated shortlist,
the invitation of bids and the results of combined technical and
financial proposals on consulting services will be submitted for the
MCC approval.

The meeting has also reviewed and approved the MCA-Armenia SNCO
staffing plan and organizational structure. The decision on increased
level of staffing was said to stem from the requirements stipulated in
the reference note on the further activities of the MCA-Armenia SNCO
as discussed at the previous Governing Council meeting of July 23,
2008 in connection with the revision of the Irrigated Agriculture
Project Infrastructure Activity. In particular, the MCA-Armenia
is going to recruit design and construction engineers to ensure
implementation efficiency and quality supervision for the Irrigated
Agriculture Project Infrastructure Activity. Also, there will be hired
an organizational strengthening specialist and a number of experts for
environmental and social impact assessment, monitoring and evaluation
activities at the rate of one specialist per each activity. The
Governing Council-approved staffing plan and organizational chart will
subsequently be handed over to the MCC for endorsement. Upon receipt
of such endorsement, they will be forwarded to the Republic of Armenia
Government Staff for approval with the latter being MCA-Armenia SNCO
authorized representative under the compact.

TURKEY SUPPORTS NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT PEACE SETTLEMENT WITH MINSK GROUP’S MEDIATION: TURKEY’S FOREIGN MINISTER

arminfo
2008-08-05 13:47:00

ArmInfo. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ali Babajan stated his country
supports the mediation of Minsk Group on settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"We support peace settlement with the co-chairmanship of the United
States, Russia and France," Babajan said at a press conference in
Ankara on 4 August. Trend reports. Babajan did not answer whether
"ongoing occupation of Azerbaijani territory by Armenia" would affect
Turkey’s admission to the European Union. He mentioned there is another
format of settlement of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia,
i.e. Minsk Group’s work.

Minister said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s Serzh
Sargsyan negotiated in June. Babajan hoped for progress to result from
the negotiations. "Demographic structure of the region and the events
which has taken place in recent five- ten years must be taken into
account during settling of the conflict. We support peace settlement
of the Karabakh conflict with the mediation of the Minsk Group and
hope the countries will achieve an agreement," said Babajan.