Author: Kamalian Hagop

SERZH SARKISYAN: THERE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN MEETINGS IN ARMENIA AS THEY ARE THE COMPOSING PART OF DEMOCRACY

arminfo
2008-06-13 23:51:00

ArmInfo. Today Armenian President Serzh Sarkisyan met leadership of
Armenian Police

As ArmInfo was informed from press-service of the president, Serzh
Sarkisyan said in his speech that meetings have always been and will
be in Armenia as they are the composing part of democracy.

"We are constructing the democratic state where there should be room
for the mass measures and protest actions and as well… But this
does not give the right to permissiveness. We should act in such
a way so that everything happen within the frames of the law>, –
the president said.

If mass measures are beyond the frames of the law, the police will be
fully responsible for that. "Nobody has a right to hide his criminal
intentions under the slogan of democracy. All violations of order
should be stopped strictly but not toughly>, – he said.

According to the president, all the actions of the police should be
only within the law. Otherwise, it is impossible to gain law and order,
he stressed. Speaking o the March 1 events, the president noted that
it was not only the fault of the opposition, but also the fault of
the state, particularly, the police. He emphasized that on March
1 the Armenian police came across a specially prepared program of
disorders for the first time, and if the police’s actions had been
more professional, it would have been possible to avoid both victims
and injured.

In his speech Sarkisyan touched upon the traffic police’s work. He said
that its is inadmissible that "the traffic police ignore the violations
of the holders of foreign-made cars with cool numbers and find fault
with simple drivers". He also stressed that settlement of social
problems of policemen is in the focus of the RA leadership’s attention.

An agreement was reached at the meeting to hold similar meetings
regularly.

ANDRANIK SIGNS!

cle.asp?a=112368
Vitalfootball, UK
June 12 2008

The Club have announced today the signing of 25-year-old
Armenian-Iranian defensive midfielder Andranik.

In August 2006 he signed a two-year deal with Bolton Wanderers,
for an undisclosed fee, before joining Fulham on a free transfer.

The player joins Fulham on a two-year deal until the summer of 2010.

This is a very interesting signing, he had a good run in the Bolton
side couple of season’s ago and I thought he looked pretty good. I
guess he’s just brought in to add depth to the squad.

What do you think? Good signing?

NOT JUST ANOTHER REMATCH
Mark Staniforth, PA Sport

Sportinglife.com, UK
June 11 2008

Some rematches just have to happen, and the only surprise for anybody
fortune enough to witness one of the most ferocious world middleweight
title fights in recent years in Germany in 2006 is that this one has
taken so long.

Arthur Abraham fought eight rounds with a grotesquely swollen jaw to
overcome the then unbeaten, come-forward Edison Miranda and retain
his IBF title by unanimous decision. Miranda, who lost five points
for various infringements, cried foul.

Both fighters went their separate ways. The heavy-handed, Armenian-born
Abraham followed up with four concussive knockout victories to
establish himself as a legitimate middleweight champion on both sides
of the Atlantic.

Miranda earned a WBC title eliminator against Kelly Pavlik, which he
lost in round seven amid weight-making concerns before deciding his
future lay at the 12st limit, moving up with two early wins.

Now Abraham and Miranda are taking the second instalment of their
wild rivalry across the Atlantic to the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in
Florida, where they will clash in a non-title fight on June 21.

Both feel they have points to prove after the lingering controversy
of their first contest. Unbeaten Abraham (26-0, 21KOs) believes his
victory would have been more conclusive had he not been badly hampered
by injury.

"I could not show my true potential in my first fight because of
my broken jaw," said Abraham. "I will make up for that this time
out. Miranda had better prepare himself for a tough battle.

"It is an advantage for me that I already know Miranda. I know how
I will fight against him and that is why I know how to prepare. It
gives me even more security.

"I know that I have to be more active from the first bell on. It is
also important to stay concentrated. Miranda is a guy who makes you
pay for mistakes. But I will not give him the chance to do so."

Miranda’s extraordinary story has been well-documented. He was
abandoned by his parents when he was one month old and spent his
childhood labouring in back-breaking jobs in the Colombian plantain
fields.

He held a full-time job in construction at the age of 12 and also
worked as a butcher before reaching adulthood. Beginning his boxing
career at the age of 16, Miranda made up for lost time as he clambered
quickly to the top.

He contests the result of the first fight, insisting his series of
supposed infringements, which resulted in him being deducted two
points on two separate occasions, were designed to gift the fight to
the home favourite.

Miranda told 15rounds.com: "There is far from any love lost between
us. I respect him for staying on his feet when I kept beating him up,
but he knows he was given a gift that night.

"He is no more than a baby inside a crib in Germany. He has balls
the size of a gorilla to come here and fight me.

"I never thought he would step into the ring with me again, so I
respect his courage. But courage won’t win him the fight."

Abraham’s reasons for leaving his comfort zone back home are
obvious. While America still raves prematurely about Kelly Pavlik,
the 28-year-old is keen to claim his own slice of trans-Atlantic
superstardom.

A similar outcome against Miranda will certainly enhance his bid to
rise to the top of a 12st division still searching for its natural
successor to Joe Calzaghe, who has underlined his intention to remain
at the 175lbs limit.

Mikkel Kessler, who turned down a fight against Miranda, has to claw
his way back to the top, while Britain’s Carl Froch is still looking
for the kind of defining fight to establish himself as the division’s
number one.

Abraham can steal a march on both of them against Miranda by exhibiting
the kind of explosive, hard-hitting style that is sure to prove a
big hit with American fight fans.

Abraham’s long-time coach, Ulli Wegner, said: "I expect a very
interesting fight and I am very optimistic. Arthur showed in the
first fight how big his heart is and I am sure he will prove it again
in America."

Photo: Abraham – won with swollen jaw.

y_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=boxing/08/06/11/BOXING_Column .html

ARMENIA DEFENSE MINISTRY TO MEET NATO LEADERSHIP IN BRUSSELS

Interfax News Agency, Russia
June 10 2008
YEREVAN

An Armenian delegation led by Defense Minister Seiran Oganian will
leave for Brussels on June 11.

The delegation will take part in a meeting of NATO defense
ministers from countries participating in the Kosovo mission at NATO
headquarters on June 12, press secretary of the Armenian Defense
Ministry Col. Seiran Shakhsuvarian told Interfax.

Oganian will also meet with the NATO leadership, the official said.

GRANDMASTER, CHESS OLYMPIAD WINNER KAREN ASRIAN DIES SUDDENLY

Noyan Tapan

Ju ne 9, 2008

YEREVAN, JUNE 9, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian chess school has suffered
a heavy loss. International Grandmaster Karen Asrian died suddenly
on June 9 – at the height of his powers, at the age of 28.

He was born in Yerevan, graduated from the Armenian State Institute
of Physical Culture, was a champion of Europe, champion of the World
Chess Olympiad, and winner of numerous prizes. K. Asrian was awarded
a Movses Khorenatsi medal.

A1+

AUTHORITIES -INDIGNANT AT- OMBUDSMAN’S REPORT
[08:00 pm] 06 June, 2008

-If the country’s leadership had solved the existing
problems, the March 1 events wouldn’t have occurred,-
Human Rights Defender Armen Harutiunian said at the
HZhK office on June 6.

The Ombudsman says his report was aimed at bringing up
the urgent problems and finding their solutions to
alleviate public tension.

Armen Harutiunian says he is well aware of his
liabilities and powers and has never exceeded his
authority as the Prosecutor General says.

Harutiunian says he didn’t make judgments, he simply
posed questions. -For instance, three people died
because the police had taken up obsolete arms against
people. Doesn’t a human rights defender have a right
to know the reasons? Why did the policemen take the
guns thrown on the grass ungloved? They were to prove
that the weapons belonged to the demonstrators,
weren’t they?

-Unless these questions remain unanswered people will
keep on circulating rumours as freedom of expression
and impartial investigation serve guarantees for the
establishment of a democratic country.-

-We come across cynicism at every pace in Armenia. But
I cannot understand the Prosecutor General’s cynicism
when he said the report had exited him to the bottom
of his heart. Ten people died on March 1. An action
was to have been taken on each case,- said HZhK board
member Ruzan Khachatrian.

Asked why the authorities, especially the Prosecutor
General and the Minister of Justice, -got indignant-
at the Ombudsman’s report, Armen Harutiunian said,
-Probably, I had raised right questions.-

E. NALBANDYAN: ARMENIA NOT AGAINST UNESCO MISSION VISIT

Panorama.am
22:13 04/06/2008

Armenia is not against that UNESCO carries out research in its
territory on cultural monuments, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs
of Armenia Edward Nalbandyan in a meeting with the journalists today.

"We are not against receiving the experts of UNESCO both in Armenia
and Karabakh. But Azerbaijan every time creates some obstacles to the
implementation of the mission," said the minister and added that the
issue has been discussed many timers either with UNESCO authorities
or other high ranking bodies.

The minister said that the question of whether the mission arrives in
Armenia or not is not certain. "The mission should visit Azerbaijan
also but for that they need to make arrangements with them. That is
the point why Koishiro Mazooro the director of UNESCO is so careful
in his expressions," stated Nalbandyan.

"The problem is that Armenian cultural heritage is being destroyed
and thousands of them have been destroyed before. This is not the
middle age when we should sit calmly and watch how our heritage is
demolished and no initiative is taken," he said.

Remind: thousands Armenian khachcars (cross stones) have been
demolished under ground or broken and poured into Araks river.

SANT BHINDRANWALE’S MEMORY LIVES ON

SikhSangat News
ews/Sant_Bhindranwale_s_memory_lives_on1234.shtml
June 5 2008
Canada

Moga, June 4: Even after 24 years of the operation Blue Star launched
by the Indian Army on the Golden Temple complex at Amritsar, Sant
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale is still seen as a ‘hero’ of the community,
particularly in his home turf in Moga district.

Rode, the native village of Bhindranwale, is just 20 km away from
the district headquarters here. Although his wife along with her
children had shifted to her parental village near Badhni Kalan but
his brothers are still living in the village.

These days, the posters of Bhindranwale had flooded the markets of
Moga and other small townships in the district.

Not only this, sun protection screens for cars have also come up with
the posters of Bhindranwale and are easily available in the markets.

Sikh youths could be seen carrying posters of their ‘hero’ openly
during all common religious functions – birth anniversaries of the
gurus and other important religious occasions.

Simranjit Singh Mann, former member of the Lok Sabha and president of
the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), who was the senior superintendent
of police at Amritsar when the Indian Army attacked the Golden Temple
complex, while talking to The Tribune, said the Sikh community could
never forget the incident because the union government did nothing
to heal the wounds of the community.

Mann, who had friendly relations with Bhindranwale, quit the job under
protest on the day the Golden Temple complex was attacked and fled away
from the city. But later, he was arrested from the Indo-Nepal border.

Demanding from the Parliament to apologise for the operation Blue Star,
Mann termed the attack as genocide committed on the community.

He said that it was no less than that of the ‘Armenian Genocide’. It
was an attack on the Sikh community as a whole, Mann added.

Karnail Singh Peer Mohammad, president of the All India Sikh Students
Federation, was of the view that the attack was pre-planned with an
aim to suppress and wipe out the community.

The community was targeted in the operation Blue Star, in the riots
after the death of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, and during
the two decades of militancy that, according to him, claimed the
lives of over two lakh Sikh youths.

In reply to a question, he said the demand for a separate homeland
for Sikhs had never left the minds of the community and it could be
judged well from the fact that Joginder Singh Vedanti, jathedar of
the Akal Takht, the supreme temporal authority of the Sikhs, had also
openly advocated for it during his recent visit to the US.

Bhai Mohkam Singh, who was a close confidant and spokesman of
Bhindrawale, while talking to The Tribune on telephone, said
Bhindranwale was still alive in the hearts of all the Sikhs.

"Bhindranwale will always look young in his photographs/posters and
will never die but will inspire the coming generations of the Sikh
community for ages," he added.

It was learnt from sources that many Sikh organisations have planned
to honour Jathedar Vedanti during the ‘ghallughara divas’ being
celebrated at Amritsar on Friday for extending support to the demand
for a separate Sikh homeland.

All the political and religious organisations of the community,
irrespective of whether they were hardliners or moderates, were
celebrating the ‘ghallughara divas’ in the memory of those who lost
their lives while trying to convey a message to the world that on the
issue of attack on the Golden Temple complex, they all were united,
irrespective of their ideology.

YEREVAN WILLING TO CONTINUE KARABAKH TALKS BASED ON MINSK GROUP …

Interfax News Service
June 4 2008
Russia

Proposals by the OSCE Minsk Group co- chairmen could serve as a
basis for continuing the talks on settling the conflict over Nagorno-
Karabakh, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said at a press
conference in Yerevan on Wednesday.

"The proposals have for the first time been expressed in a documentary
form, that is true. Sure, the document is not yet a treaty, not all
of its provisions have yet been agreed upon, and it has not yet been
signed, but, no matter how we call it, a document or proposals,
I can confirm Armenia’s willingness to continue the negotiating
process based on these proposals," he said.

The proposals are included in a document that was offered to the
Armenian and Azeri foreign ministers in the presence of the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairmen, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov,
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, and a U.S State. Department
official, he said.

The proposals have been a result of longstanding efforts by both the
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen and the negotiating parties themselves,
Nalbandian said. "We are not talking about new proposals today. There
are proposals, and they serve as a basis for negotiations. We
are prepared to continue them, and all is needed is Azerbaijan’s
willingness to continue the talks based on these proposals," he said.

GEORGIAN MUHAJIRS WERE PRIVY TO MASS KILLINGS OF ARMENIANS AND GREEKS IN OTTOMAN EMPIRE

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.06.2008 14:50 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Georgian muhajirs were privy to mass killings of
Armenians and Greeks in the Ottoman Empire, a Turkish historian said
at "Georgian Muslims and the Ottoman Empire. The end of the 19th –
the beginning of the 20th centuries" conference in Tbilisi.

"Leader of Georgian Muslims Ali-Pasha Tavgerizade was involved in
forming armed groupings," Oktay Ozel said in his report titled "The
emigration of the Muslim population of Adjara to Anatolia and the
Russian-Ottoman war of 1877-78."

Touching on relations between Georgian Muslims and Christians in Asia
Minor, Dr Ozel said that Georgian Muslims were privy to mass killing
of Armenians and Greeks in Ottoman Empire. "It’s hard to say when
Georgians were fulfilling the orders of the Ottoman government and
when they were driven by their bellicose spirit but they were killing
along with Cherkess and other muhajirs. Most likely, they wanted to
demonstrate their loyalty to the Sultan," he said.