Author: Lilit Nahapetian

Los Angeles Daily News, CA
Oct 11 2004
A new gang problem
Russian-Armenian organized crime ‘like the 1930s New York mob’
By Jason Kandel
Staff Writer
GLENDALE — It wasn’t the price of cucumbers but murder that Eddy
Gyulnazaryan and his pals were talking about that day back in March
2001 in the backroom of his Atlas Pick pickle factory.
Rival Russian-Armenian gangs were at war and Gyulnazaryan, a beefy
40-year-old family man with the gift of gab, wanted some people
killed.
As he fired off several rounds into a stack of phone books,
Gyulnazaryan made an offer that couldn’t be refused — a $5,000
contract to “eliminate” a man who had gotten under his skin.
What Gyulnazaryan didn’t know was that one of the pals was wired. He
had turned and become a confidential informant working with an
organized crime task force that was able to use this information to
win convictions of the ringleader and five others on charges of
solicitation of murder.
At least 14 murders, 100 attempted killings and seven kidnappings
have been blamed on Russian-Armenian gangsters operating across the
San Fernando Valley region since 2000. The groups are fueled by
lucrative white collar frauds — including credit card, immigration,
auto insurance, cigarette tax evasion, identity theft, welfare and
health care.
“They’re very much organized criminals. They’re very violent. They’re
dangerous,” said Glendale police Sgt. Steve Davey, who heads the
Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force, comprising federal, state and
local authorities. “They’re not afraid of using violence to solve
their disputes. They shoot up homes and cars. It’s like the 1930s New
York mob.”
According to court documents and interviews, Gyulnazaryan wanted to
hire hit men to kill four unidentified men, two from Long Beach.
There also was a plan to hire jailed Latino gang members to kill two
of his rivals, Emil Airapetian 25, and Armen Sharopetrosian, 26, who
were also in jail.
Authorities said “there have been many documented shootings” between
the rival Russian-Armenian gangs in recent years.
Police said in court documents that they believed Gyulnazaryan’s
group was “heavily involved in credit card fraud, MediCal and
Medicare fraud, check fraud, drug trafficking, extortion and numerous
shootings, assaults and other violent crimes … and have access to
large sums of money obtained through their various criminal
enterprises.”
A break in the case The FBI got their break when Gyulnazaryan asked
one of his closest allies, with whom he had previously worked on auto
insurance fraud scams, if he would carry out a hit.
That man, who was not identified, had been an informant for the FBI
before. From then on, he agreed to wear a wire and secretly record
conversations among the group.
Offers of up to $20,000 were made to “eliminate” members of rival
criminal organizations. But the jailhouse killings proved too
complicated to carry out.
In March 2003, police raided the homes of Gyulnazaryan and his
associates Gayk Tadevosyan, 40; Gagik Galoyan, 55; Anthony Armenta,
25; Andranik Safaryan, 24; and Edgar Hatamian, 23. Gyulnazaryan
pleaded no contest Thursday to solicitation of murder charges and was
sentenced to 15 years in prison. The others pleaded no contest to
solicitation of murder charges and were sentenced to prison terms
ranging from three to nine years. Galoyan received a nine-year
suspended prison sentence and five years’ probation.
Galoyan had grown up with Gyulnazaryan in Armenia and went into
business with him at the pickle factory, which closed down two years
ago.
“These guys have come from Armenia. They have known each other for
years. They have grown up with each other,” said Galoyan’s attorney,
Fred Minassian. “My client is known in the Armenian community as an
elder statesman. In no way is he a mobster.”
Gyulnazaryan’s attorney, Michael Levin, said his client is not
violent and did not head up an organized crime ring.
“My client has got a big mouth. He likes to talk. But what the
(police) got on tape makes him sound like Tony Soprano,” he said.
“He’s a hard-working family man.”
Russian mob history Authorities said Russian mobs became more and
more prevalent in the United States in the 1990s as people from
former Soviet bloc countries began emigrating here. They settled in
New York, Brighton Beach, Fla., and Los Angeles. Up to 6,000 people
are connected with 15 loosely organized crime groups in the United
States that include Ukrainians, Lithuanians and, locally, Armenians.
In Glendale, where about a third of the 204,000 residents are
Armenian, police estimate that there are about 500 Armenian criminals
connected to organized crime.
Police have been challenged in trying to crack the rings because of a
lack of resources, a lack of familiarity with the culture and victims
too afraid to report the crimes.
Sukharenko Alexander, a senior fellow of the Organized Crime Study
Center of the Far East State University, said Russian-Armenian
syndicates are part of large international crime networks. They have
seemingly infinite resources and escape routes to countries with no
extradition treaties.
“This allows them to launder huge amounts of money, smuggle drugs and
stolen vehicles, and import criminals to carry out contract murders
and fraud,” Alexander said.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s Detective Alex Gilinets, who works the
Major Crimes Bureau, said the groups are not always bound by strict
rules or regulations like the old-time mobs and can be more violent.
“It’s, who can I make my next big buck with?” Gilinets said.
Sara Vinson, a criminal intelligence analyst with the state Justice
Department’s Eurasian Organized Crime unit, said victims are too
scared to come forward.
“Their fear of organized crime groups is bigger than their fear of
our criminal justice system,” Vinson said. “A lot of them have family
back home that they can’t protect, and they have that hanging over
their head.”
LAPD Detective Martin Pinner is having a hard time getting witnesses
to come forward from a murder in North Hollywood. Karapet
Ksadzhikyan, 50, was ambushed by two men in a suspected mob hit as he
walked to his bread delivery truck outside his home in the 13000
block of Archwood Street on Nov. 24.
“No one cooperates,” he said. “No one’s saying anything. No one knows
anything.”
Glendale police and city officials, including Mayor Bob Yousefian,
himself an Iranian-Armenian-American, has been pushing for more cops,
especially Armenian-speaking officers, to fight the scourge.
But they face an uphill battle. Many deny there is an organized crime
problem.
“We don’t have the manpower to dedicate officers to task forces,”
Yousefian said.
“We’re getting to the point that we have this huge elephant standing
in the middle of the room, and we all have closed our eyes. Everybody
is saying there is no elephant there. We have an issue. We need to
deal with it.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

POPULATION’S INCOMES INCREASED BY 16.7%, EXPENSES BY 17.2% IN JAN-AUG,
2004
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 20. ARMINFO. In Jan-Aug, 2004 the Armenian
population’s incomes increased by 16.7%, totalling 764.7 bln
drams. According to the preliminary data of the National Statistical
Service of Armenia, in Aug as against July the incomes increased by
0.9%. Expenses of the population totaled 769.2 bln drams, increasing
by 17.2% during the eight months of the current year, and they
increased by 0.3% in Aug as against July. In Jan-Aug 2004 AMD/USD
exchange rate was 549.08 drams against one US dollar.
The average monthly nominal wages in Armenia totaled 40,642 drams,
increasing by 31.0% as against the same period of last year, and in
Aug as compared with July 2004 it increased by 0.4%. The average
monthly wages of citizens employed in budget organizations was 25,925
drams (40.4% growth in Jan-Aug). The average monthly wages of citizens
employed in non-budgetary organizations totaled 52,898 drams (27.2%
increase). The wages of one employee in budgetary organizations and
non-budgetary organizations increased by 0.4% in Aug as against July,
2004. By the end of August of the current year the number of
officially registered unemployed persons was 113,300 people,
decreasing by 8.0% in Jan-Aug, and in Aug as against July it decreased
by 0.8%.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Opposition party insists on picketing French embassy
Assa-Irada
Sept 3 2004
Baku, September 2, AssA-Irada
The Mayor’s Office of Baku has not sanctioned a protest action that the
opposition Whole Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (WAPFP) schedules to
hold outside the French embassy in Baku on Friday. However, the party
insists on holding the protest action. The WAPFP intends to picket
some ministries and the embassies of NATO member states accredited
in Baku in protest against the arrival of Armenian officers in Baku
to attend NATO military training due in September. The police broke
up the party’s previous protest actions held outside the ministries
of Foreign Affairs and Defense as well as the US embassy in Baku.*
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian GDP up 9.3% in first 7 months
23.08.2004 09:48:00 GMT

Yerevan. (Interfax) – Armenia’s GDP increased 9.3% year-on- year to
788.3 billion dram in January-July 2004, a source in the National
Statistics Service told Interfax.
In July this year GDP increased 10.4% compared with June.
According to the statistics, industrial production in Armenia amounted
to 285.6 billion dram in the first seven months of the year, up 3.4%
year-on-year. Electricity production increased 15.4% year-on- year to
amount to 3.68 billion kWh in the reporting period.
Foreign trade increased 2.8% to $1.1 billion.
The average weighted exchange rate in the first seven months of the
year amounted to 553.58 dram to the dollar, the source said.
The official exchange rate on August 23 was 516.08 dram to the dollar.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games
Boxing
Men’s Light Welter (64kg) & Welter (69kg) 15 Aug. 2004
ATHENS, 15 August – It may be an indoor venue, but at the Peristeri Boxing
Hall today the stars shone brightly in the hotly contested Welter Weight
(69kg) category.
Making his return to Olympic competition after an eight year absence, Cuba’s
double World Champion Lorenzo ARAGON ARMENTEROS was devastating in his
destruction of local hope Theodoros KOTAKOS (GRE), the referee stopping the
contest midway through round three when KOTAKOS appeared defenceless, and
the Cuban led 34-14.
Vanes MARTIROSYAN (USA) made a solid start for his medal campaign, beating
Benamar MESKINE (ALG) 45-20 to set up what should be a fascinating clash
with ARAGON ARMENTEROS in the round of sixteen on Thursday, 19 August.
MARTIROSYAN will need to be at his very best to beat the Cuban, but going
into this tournament the Armenian born American was confident he could win
the gold medal.
Another Welter Weight to impress was Ruslan KHAIROV (AZE) who showed his
power against Canadian Adam TRUPISH.
A solid right cross at the start of round three opened a nasty cut on the
bridge of TRUPISH’s nose, and on the advice of the ring side doctor, the
referee stopped the fight.
World Championship silver medallist Sherzod HUSANOV started slowly against
Jean Carlos PRADA (VEN), but knocked the Venezuelan to the canvas twice on
his way to a 33-20 points decison.
Oleg SAITOV (RUS), who is chasing his third Olympic gold medal, was his
usual methodical self against Miloud AIT HAMMI (MAR).
He started slowly, but his experience told in the end and he scored a
comfortable points decision.
In the Light Welter Weight (64kg) division, the stand out performance of the
afternoon session came from stylish Bulgarian Boris GEORGIEV, who totally
outclassed Nasserredine FILLALI (ALG).
When the referee stopped the contest late in round two, GEORGIEV had taken a
20 point lead over the Algerian, enough to book a contest against Rock ALLEN
(USA) in the next round.
In the evening session Alexander MALETIN (RUS) was devastating in his
demolition of Saleh KHOULEF (EGY) and must be the boxer everyone in the
Light Welter Weight division fears most.
Willy BLAIN (FRA) was sharp and effective in disposing of Mohamed Ali SASSI
(TUN), but the Frenchman will have a more difficult job in his next round
clash with the ‘Russian Tank’ MALETIN.
Ukrainian hard man Viktor POLYAKOV has also come into medal contention,
after his slugging contest against Gerard O’MAHONY (AUS).
ONS nb/sad
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Agence France Presse
Aug 10 2004
Armenian-claimed enclave conducts military exercises

AGDAM, Azerbaijan (AFP) Aug 10, 2004
The armed forces of the self-proclaimed republic of Nagorno-Karabakh
Tuesday ended a military exercise on the borders of Azerbaijan that
Armenian Defense Minister Serj Sarkissian said was aimed at keeping
the peace.
Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave in the heart of
Azerbaijan, was the scene of a civil war in the 1990s that ended with
a ceasefire in 1994 that left the enclave in Armenian hands. The war
displaced a million civilians and left some 35,000 people dead.
Azerbaijan still claims the territory.
Sarkissian, who watched the maneuvers, said “these exercises are
aimed at keeping the peace.” He added it was important to keep a
regional power balance.
“The armed forces of Armenia are the guarantors of the security of
Nagorno-Karabakh,” he said. “It is nobody’s secret that the army of
Nagorno-Karabakh cannot assure the defense of the territory on its
own.”
The Nagorno-Karabakh armed forces mustered some 2,000 men and a few
helicopters and artillery pieces for the week-long exercise.
“The threat of war exists as long as the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh
is not resolved,” said Armenian army chief of staff Mikael
Arutiunian.
The exercises followed a statement by President Ilham Aliyev of
Azerbaijan that his country would make no compromises with Armenia
over the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.
The statement appeared to mark a hardening of Azerbaijan’s stance
over the conflict.
“We cannot react positively to calls on us to make compromises. On
questions of our territorial integrity we will never make any
compromises,” Aliyev said last month.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ArmenPress
Aug 10 2004
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ARMENIAN EDUCATION HELD
ANTELIAS, AUGUST 10, ARMENPRESS: Initiated by His Holiness
Catholicos Aram I and organized by the Armenian Catholicosate of
Cilicia an International Conference on Armenian education was held in
the Armenian Theological Seminary, in Bikfaya, Lebanon from 5-7
August 2004. The theme of the Conference was “The Armenian Education
in the Diaspora”. About one hundred people from different parts of
the world, from communities living in different political, cultural
and religious contexts came together to focus their attention on
issues pertaining to the Armenian-Christian formation today in a new
world setting.
In his opening address His Holiness Aram I identified the concerns
and challenges facing the Armenian Christian education in the context
of pluralistic societies. He addressed a number of critical issues,
and then posed two questions. What does it mean to be Armenian
Christian? How should we form the Armenian Christian for tomorrow?
His Holiness underscored the crucial importance of re-evaluating and
renewing our educational methodologies, strategies and programs by
making them more relevant and reliable. At the end of his address His
Holiness proposed that Armenia and Diaspora together engage in a
process of developing a Pan-Armenian educational policy with
particular emphasis on the worldwide Armenian Diaspora.
The agenda of the conference included the following topics: The
actual state of education in different continents where Armenian
communities live; the implications of globalization to education; the
role of the church in Armenian Christian formation; the family as an
important educational instrument; the impact of pluralistic societies
on Armenian Education; the use and misuse of technology in education;
the role of the textbooks and the extra curricula activities; human
resources: formation and training; the contribution of the Saturday
schools, Sunday schools and children’s camps to education; the
importance of new community schools for the Armenian communities
established in the West.
The conference addressed these and a number of related matters
through papers, panel discussions and hearings. The active
participation of young educators and women provided new perspectives
and dynamism to the discussion. They challenged the traditional views
and approaches and constantly reminded that in a new world context a
renewed perception and vision of education are imperative. They
echoed the challenge of His Holiness that in the present world of
globalization and communication and in a context of new societies,
our education must become more responsive and attractive.
His Holiness personally attended all the sessions and at the end
of each session he highlighted the emerging concerns and views.
The conference, which was an unprecedented event in the
contemporary Armenian history, summarized its findings in a
declaration where a particular emphasis was laid on the importance of
translating the Conference’s reflection into action.
In his closing remarks His Holiness Aram I identified three words
which should occupy a central place in our educational work:
“relevance, coherence and integrity”. He said “We are living in
different contexts. We must, therefore, develop different educational
procedures and strategies. We are citizens of different countries,
yet we are Armenians and part of the globalized world. We have our
own convictions, values and norms, but we are living in a new
environment. Hence, it is vitally important that we develop the kind
of educational policy that provides integrity, relevance and
coherence to our educational work, at the same time preserving our
distinct Armenian Christian identity. This is a great challenge
before us and we must take it seriously and responsibly”, said His
Holiness.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Le Figaro, France
19 juillet 2004
Dès son élection en 2002, Erdogan avait promis de s’attaquer
réellement à la corruption
Opération «Mains propres» à Istanbul
Istanbul : de notre correspondante M.-M. M.
[19 juillet 2004]
L’arrogance d’Alaattin Çakici, le puissant parrain turc arrêté la
semaine dernière en Autriche, a au moins le mérite de mettre au grand
jour ce qui n’était jusque-là qu’un secret de Polichinelle :
l’existence des liens occultes qui, pendant de longues années, se
sont noués, souvent pour le pire, entre certains cercles du pouvoir
politique turc et ceux du grand banditisme.
Aux policiers qui, après l’avoir intercepté, lui demandaient de
descendre de son véhicule, le parrain a d’abord adressé ses
félicitations, avant de s’étonner, tout de même assez naïvement, de
s’être ainsi fait prendre, lui qui croyait voyager incognito, protégé
par son passeport établi au nom de Faik Meral, un ancien membre du
MIT, les services secrets turcs, où il semblait avoir de nombreux
amis.
Placé en garde à vue au lendemain de l’arrestation de Çakici, Faik
Meral aurait livré certains aveux à la police, confirmant la
participation de son protégé à des opérations menées au sein des
services secrets, notamment sur le territoire français, à la fin des
années 1980, contre l’Asala, l’Armée secrète arménienne de libération
de l’Arménie. Militant de l’extrême droite turque, membre des
ultranationalistes Loups gris, Alaattin Çakici a le profil exact de
ces hommes de main qui ont d’abord rendu de nombreux services
occultes avant de devenir des amis encombrants mais difficiles à
écarter, car sans scrupule.
Alaattin Çakici a ainsi pu commettre de nombreux forfaits en se
jouant de la police et des lois grce à ses puissantes relations :
meurtrier de sa propre femme, d’un ancien associé et de trois autres
personnes, il n’a purgé jusqu’à ce jour que 5 années de prison au
total, jouant à saute-mouton avec les frontières et n’hésitant pas à
s’en prendre physiquement à un journaliste qui suivait ses affaires
d’un peu trop près.
Le parrain turc se croyait intouchable, protégé au plus haut sommet
de l’Etat qu’il n’a pas hésité cependant à déstabiliser, en révélant
notamment ses liens avec l’entourage de l’ancien premier ministre
Mesut Yilmaz.
Arrêté en France, en 1998, pour falsification de passeport, et jugé à
huis clos en raison des menaces de mort qui pesaient sur sa personne,
Alaattin Çakici avait déclaré avoir des liens avec les services
secrets turcs ainsi que certains dirigeants politiques de son pays.
Il n’avait pas hésité à donner des noms, notamment celui de Mesut
Yilmaz, avec qui il prétendait s’être entretenu par téléphone «au
moins une douzaine de fois», ce que l’ancien premier ministre a
toujours démenti.
Il n’empêche que cet éminent homme politique ainsi que son ministre
de l’Economie de l’époque, Gunes Taner, sont maintenant accusés de
malversations dans le cadre de la cessation au privé de la Türkbank,
vendue dans des conditions douteuses à un homme d’affaires lié au
milieu turc.
Ce genre de scandale, qui suscite une attention particulière en
raison de la notoriété des personnes impliquées, n’est pas rare en
Turquie. Selon un rapport de la chambre de commerce d’Ankara, le
crime organisé est impliqué dans une centaine de secteurs de
l’économie du pays et le marché noir brasse un chiffre annuel de 48
milliards d’euros. Dans le même temps, les faillites bancaires, qui
se sont multipliées ces dernières années, ont coûté cher à l’Etat
qui, pour protéger les déposants, garantit les dépôts et a dépensé
environ 35 milliards d’euros pour assainir le secteur et couvrir les
pertes.
Dès son élection en 2002, le premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan
avait promis de faire de la lutte contre la corruption l’une de ses
priorités. Au début de cette année, à l’occasion d’un autre gros
scandale bancaire, celui de la banque Imar, il avait mis en garde
tous ceux qui refuseraient désormais de respecter les règles.
Mercredi dernier, le Parlement turc lui a apporté son soutien en
décidant, à une très large majorité, d’envoyer Mesut Yimaz et son
ancien ministre Gunes Taner devant la Haute Cour de justice où ils
devront répondre notamment des accusations de corruption et d’abus de
pouvoir. Et s’expliquer sur leurs peu recommandables
fréquentations…
A la veille de cette décision parlementaire qualifiée d’«historique»
par plusieurs journaux turcs, les députés avaient déjà voté en faveur
de la comparution devant la Haute Cour de deux anciens ministres de
l’Energie, Cumhur Ersumer et Zeki Çakan. Ce dernier est accusé
d’avoir trahi les intérêts de l’Etat en réduisant le prix du gaz
naturel exporté, lors d’un contrat passé avec la Russie.
Toutes ces mises en accusation ressemblent fort à une opération
«mains propres» en Turquie. Et les nouveaux dirigeants du pays n’ont
pas l’air de vouloir perdre de temps. Dès le lendemain de
l’arrestation d’Alaattin Çakici, le ministre de la Justice, Cemil
Cicek a demandé son extradition «aussi rapide que possible».
La nouvelle harmonisation pénale qui vient définitivement de faire
disparaître la peine de mort de la Constitution turque devrait
faciliter les démarches entre l’Autriche et la Turquie et permettre
que le parrain soit enfin jugé pour tous ses crimes.

Russian premier informs Putin of rising industrial production
Radio Russia, Moscow
14 Jul 04
Russian President Vladimir Putin has conducted a working meeting with
Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov. Fradkov informed the president that
the increase in industrial production in the first half of 2004 was
7.4 per cent in comparison with the same period of 2003. Moreover,
Fradkov said that in June 2004 this index grew up by 9.2 per cent in
comparison with June 2003. Fradkov also informed Putin about the
results of talks with the Armenian prime minister Andranik Markaryan .