Author: Maghakian Mike

Statesman Journal, OR
Salem Statesman Journal, OR
Jan 24 2007

In defense of the indefensible

Inside the First Amendment

By CHARLES C. HAYNES
Gannett News Service

January 24, 2007

If any speech should be a crime, denying the Holocaust would be at
the top of my list.

That’s why it’s easy to understand the motivation behind Germany’s
announcement Jan. 8 that it will push for legislation that would
criminalize "Holocaust denial" throughout the European Union.

Germany, France and eight other European nations already have laws
that make denying the Holocaust punishable by prison sentences. Last
year, British author David Irving was convicted in Austria under one
such law and sentenced to three years in jail. (He was released in
December and is now on two years’ probation.)

Germany’s move to expand the ban on Holocaust denial comes in wake of
Iran’s one-sided conference "debating the Holocaust" in Tehran last
month. By giving credence to some of the most deluded and bigoted
Holocaust deniers in the world, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
stirred outrage in Europe and elsewhere.

However well intentioned, Germany’s proposal is the wrong response to
this very ugly problem.

Criminalizing speech denying the Holocaust not only threatens free
speech – it gives power to the vile views it seeks to suppress.

Once Europe heads down the slippery slope of state censorship, where
will it stop?

Consider the French slide toward state censorship of speech. In 1990,
France passed a law punishing Holocaust denial with a year in prison
and a 45,000-euro fine. Last October, the lower house of the French
parliament added to the list of forbidden speech by passing a law
that would make it a crime to deny that Armenians suffered genocide
at the hands of Turks in 1915. The measure still needs Senate
approval.

While French Armenians celebrated the vote, Turkey reacted with
predictable anger – not in defense of free speech, but because Turkey
itself denies that any genocide against Armenians ever happened.

Turkey, which aspires to join the European Union, is already near the
bottom of the anti-speech slope. Not only can you go to jail for
calling the Armenian tragedy a genocide, but you also can be arrested
for any speech that insults the republic, parliament or any organs of
state.

In 2005, Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk was put on trial for
questioning the official version of the mass killing of Armenians.
After intense international pressure, an Istanbul judge halted the
trial.

Meanwhile in Sweden, the Rev. Ake Green was convicted of "hate
speech" for preaching a sermon against homosexuality. Although the
Swedish Supreme Court acquitted Green in 2005, his trial provoked
worldwide concern about the use of hate-speech laws to limit freedom
of speech and religion.

Although the United States prides itself on strong protection for
freedom of speech under the First Amendment, we are not immune from
the temptation to censor unpopular speech. This is especially true on
college campuses where speech codes and anti-harassment policies are
frequently invoked to punish student and faculty speech.

And in the land of the free, we have plenty of ugly, repulsive speech
that pushes the limits of public support for robust free speech.
Exhibit A is the Rev. Fred Phelps and his small band of followers who
have incensed Americans with their protests at funerals of soldiers
killed in Iraq. Carrying inflammatory signs with anti-gay messages,
Phelps and Co. declare that the soldiers’ deaths are God’s punishment
for the nation’s support of gay rights.

Thanks to Phelps, some 27 states and the Congress have passed
legislation limiting protests at funerals. Critics of these laws
argue that they go beyond constitutionally permissible limitations on
such things as noise level and disorderly conduct by imposing overly
broad and vague restrictions on free speech and assembly.

By giving the state the power to ban the offensive speech of a few,
we give the state the power to limit the fundamental rights of us
all.

Moreover, state censorship doesn’t work. Putting people like David
Irving in prison only makes them martyrs of the extreme right.
Attempting to silence people like Fred Phelps only makes them media
magnets and pushes them to more outrageous behavior.

After Irving’s conviction, historian Deborah Lipstadt, whom Irving
unsuccessfully sued for libel in 2000, put it this way: "I am not
happy when censorship wins, and I don’t believe in winning battles
via censorship. … The way of fighting Holocaust deniers is with
history and truth."

It’s never easy (or pleasant) to defend the indefensible. But for
Europeans, Americans and people in any nation that would be free, the
familiar battle cry of free speech still applies: Fight bad speech
with good speech – not with state power.

Charles Haynes is a senior scholar for the Freedom Forum First
Amendment Center, 1101 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22209. Send e-mail
to [email protected].

Turkish Press
Jan 21 2007

Letter Of Threat To Dink
Published: 1/20/2007

BURSA – No documents were submitted to judicial authorities in
northwestern city of Bursa after Hrant Dink reported a threatening
letter (mailed from Bursa) to Chief public Prosecutor`s Office in
Sisli district of Istanbul, sources said.
Dink wrote about a threatening letter in his article on January 10th.

"Memory of my computer is full of lines containing threats and rage.
I`m unable to determine whether they are real or not," he had wrote
in his article.

Panorama.am

18:40 20/01/2007

KHOREN PALYAN PASSES AWAY

Khoren Palian, honored worker of culture, passed away
this morning. He lectured at Yerevan State University,
philology faculty and headed Tohmik band. Palyan was
the husband of Lusine Zakaryan. In the course of the
last few years, he actively engaged in protest actions
organized by the opposition.

Source: Panorama.am

Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
Jan 18 2007

Turkish PM warns US’s Burns ties to deteriorate if Congress adopts
Armenia bill

Ankara, 18 January: "We hope that the action taking yesterday at the
Mahmur [Maxmur] Camp is the beginning of a serious effort to close
that camp and to make sure that the north of Iraq is not used by the
PKK to attack in Turkey itself," the US Under Secretary of State for
Political Affairs Nicholas Burns told reporters on Thursday.

After his visit to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Burns
said they had a good discussion with Erdogan on situation in Iraq,
Cyprus issue, Middle East and Turkish contribution in Afghanistan.

"On behalf of President Bush and Secretary Rice we thanked Erdogan
for our alliance and for the excellent work that we are doing
together in Afghanistan and in both of our efforts to try to be
helpful to the people of Lebanon and of course on the
Israeli-Palestinian issue," Burns said.

Burns stated he assured PM Erdogan that the US is entirely
sympathetic for the people of Turkey for the losses Turkish people
suffered because of the vicious attacks by the terrorist organization
PKK.

"What I told the Prime Minister on behalf of my government is that
the US will continue to act to support Turkey. We do not recognize
the PKK. We have acted to try to shut down the PKK offices all around
the world and used our influence. We are looking for a solution to
the problem of PKK attacks on Turkish soldiers and Turkish civilians.
We side with Turkey, we support Turkey," he said.

Asked about the situation in Kirkuk, Burns said they understand the
importance of the issue and how sensitive it is. Burns noted that
they will continue discussions with Turkish authorities on the
subject.

"But it is going to be most important for the Iraqi authority to deal
with this question in the first place," he added.

Commenting on his talk with Erdogan on Cyprus issue, Burns said "we
had a good discussion on the question of Cyprus. We hope that with
the arrival of a new Secretary General of the United Nations (UN),
international community led by UN can continue its efforts to find a
solution to the Cyprus problem. United States will continue to be
actively involved."

Meanwhile, according to sources, Turkish authorities told Burns at
the meeting that bilateral relations would be deteriorated if a bill
on so-called Armenian genocide is adopted in the US House of
Representatives.

Sources said Erdogan expects a clear attitude by the Washington
administration.

Nicholas Burns will continue his meetings tomorrow in Ankara,
including a visit to Turkish FM Abdullah Gul.

The New Anatolian, Turkey
Jan 19 2007

Prominent Armenian-origin journalist Dink assassinated

The New Anatolian / Ankara
20 January 2007

Font Size: default medium large

Armenian-origin Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, well known in Turkey
and abroad for having to defend his right to free expression in
court, was killed yesterday by an unknown gunman.

Dink, 53, was shot two times in the head while leaving the
headquarters of Agos, the bilingual Turkish-Armenian daily he edited,
on Halaskargazi Caddesi, Istanbul. The assailant fired four bullets
and two hit the journalist, said eyewitnesses. The gunman, described
as an 18-year-old male wearing a white jacket and hat, is said to
have immediately fled the scene in a car waiting for him on the
street.

The police instantly cordoned off the area, while teams were ordered
to cut off all escape routes. At press time, mobile police teams were
looking for the assassin.

Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Aykut Cengiz Engin arrived at the
area within minutes to examine the crime scene filled with police and
passers-by, where he said the gun used was a 9mm pistol. The gunman
brought the pistol with him, said the police.

A group of people, gathering at the crime scene after Dink’s body was
carried away by the police, shouted slogans condemning the murder.
Members of the group, whose affiliations are unknown, shouted,
"Hrants don’t die," "United against fascism," "The murderer state
will pay for this," and "Long live the fraternity of the people." The
police detained two people from the group.

Dink was one of the most prominent and outspoken voices of Turkey’s
Armenian community. His murder came at a very explosive time, when
pressure from countries in Europe, the Americas and elsewhere has
grown for Turkey to recognize the so-called Armenian genocide claims.

Last year Dink has faced several trials under Turkey’s controversial
Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 301, whose vague wording has led to
charges against journalists and authors and embarrassment for Turkey.

Legal prosecutions against him were often pushed by an
ultranationalist lawyers group led by Kemal Kerincsiz, who also waged
war against a handful of prominent writers, including 2006 Nobel
winner Orhan Pamuk.

Dink’s legal travails began with a column in his daily Agos in 2005
for which he was charged with "denigrating Turkishness." The
journalist was convicted in July and given a six-month suspended
prison sentence for a series of articles in which he called on
diaspora Armenians to stop focusing on the Turks and redirect their
attention to the welfare of Armenia.

The suspension was then quashed at the request of the public
prosecutor, defying an expert decision in favor of the journalist.

Dink, who said he could not stay in a country where he was unwanted,
expressing regret for some of his fellow countrymen’s hatred for him,
said after the decision he won’t hesitate to leave the country after
he exhausts all legal means, including the European Court of Human
Rights (ECHR).

He had received countless threats from ultranationalists, both via
phone and in and around courtrooms.

Hrant Dink (1954-2007)

The following is a brief biography of Hrant Dink, who was shot dead
on Friday in Istanbul:

Dink’s father was born and raised in Malatya’s Gurun district and his
mother, Gulvart, in Sivas’s Kangal district. After moving to Istanbul
in 1961 his parents got divorced, and Hrant and his two brothers were
accepted in an Armenian orphanage in Gedikkpasa. There, while feeling
both isolated from Turkish society and ostracized for not speaking
Armenian, he was, at the same time, raised in a way that made it
possible for him to adapt to Turkish society after leaving the
facility.

In his youth Dink was influenced by left-wing politics in Turkey and
became engaged in politics in a line similar to that of the illegal
Turkish Communist Party/Marxist-Leninist (TKP/ML). He got his name
legally changed to Firat to avoid people linking the group he was
involved with and the Armenian community, in case he was arrested.

After graduating from high school, he studied zoology at Istanbul
University. He married a woman named Rakel whom he had met at the
orphanage. Meanwhile, he became estranged from left-wing politics,
which at that time was becoming more associated with terrorism.

While working for the success of a publishing house and stationary
shop he co-founded with his brothers, he and his wife Rakel also
started to administer the Tuzla Armenian Children’s Camp, a facility
for poor and abandoned children. The camp was confiscated by the
state 21 years after its establishment. During his military service
in the Denizli Infantry Regiment, he wasn’t made a sergeant, unlike
his peers, and so he completed his military service with the rank of
private.

After his service Dink became began doing book reviews for Istanbul’s
Armenian community newspapers, and he also was known for sending
corrections of falsehoods to other newspapers. He suggested to the
Armenian Patriarchate that a Turkish newspaper be founded, arguing
that the community was a closed one and prejudices about Armenians
could only be dispelled if only society knew them better. He was the
founder, editor in chief and chief columnist of the Agos newspaper,
which began publication on April 5, 1996. Underlining that all ethnic
communities in Turkey should live in peace and harmony, Dink also
argued in his columns that the Armenian community should have a civil
center other than the patriarchate. Calling on the Armenian diaspora
to soften their attitude and not call the incidents in 1915 a
"genocide," Dink was sentenced to six months in prison in October
2005 on charges of denigrating Turkishness.

Immediate comments

Social Democrat People’s Party (SHP) leader Murat Karayalcin: The
bullet was fired at peace, fraternity and Turkey. We lost a
distinguished intellectual.

Former main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) General
Secretary and co-head of Muslim-Left movement Ertugrul Gunay: The
killing has wounded us. Dink was a valuable son and intellectual of
this country. The perpetrators oppose peace in this country.

German Ambassador to Turkey Eckart Cuntz: Dink was a staunch advocate
of the freedom of press and expression. I condemn the murder. I
believe Turkish authorities will find the perpetrators with great
determination.

Turkish Lawyers’ Association head Kemal Kerincsiz: We condemn this
damnable attack, which the Turkish people should firmly reject.
Killing a person because of his ideas, no matter how extreme they
are, is not acceptable; the struggle should be done through legal
means.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan: This attack was meant to damage
our stability as well as free thought and democratic principles, and
its timing is very interesting. I want to express my condolences to
his family, the press and the Turkish people. I condemn the bloody
hands behind this murder. We will do whatever possible to shed light
on the incident. All units of the state are on alert. I postponed the
Cabinet meeting and ordered all ministries to simply concentrate on
this issue. Beginning with our Armenian-origin citizens, Turkish
people will pass through this test successfully.

Foreign Ministry: We offer condolences to all press members, starting
with daily Agos staff, and to the Armenian community in Turkey as
well as Dink’s relatives. We condemn this criminal attack.

Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader Zeki Sezer: I condemn this murder,
which was meant to damage the country’s unity, democracy and freedom
of thought, and call everyone to use common sense.

Grand Unity Party (BBP) leader Muhsin Yazicioglu: Killing a person is
not acceptable. In my opinion this murder was meant to drive Turkey
into a corner and facilitate the passage of the genocide resolution
waiting at the U.S. House of Representatives.

Ankara Bar: We will be striving to shed light on the murder; the
state has to find the perpetrators.

Teachers’ Union: These bullets, shot by people wishing to see Turkey
suffering from darkness and chaos, were aimed at Turkish democracy.

Confederation of Public Employees Trade Union (KESK) head Ismail
Hakki Tombul: This attack is an indicator of how far the discussions
over Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 301 have gone.

Motherland Party (ANAVATAN) leader Erkan Mumcu: It’s not only Hrant
Dink but also the international reputation of Turkey which was shot.
This attack is a declaration by circles which have encircled Turkey
that they are tightening their grip.

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer: I feel great sorrow at the killing of
Hrant Dink in front of daily Agos. I condemn this heinous attack.
Such inhumane attacks will never reach their ultimate aim. All Turks
expect the perpetrators to be found soon. I offer my condolences to
Dink’s family, members of the media, and our people.

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal:
The assailants did the greatest damage to Turkey. This is savagery,
it was done to damage the country. But this isn’t enough to harm the
peace and tolerance in our country. I condemn this despicable attack.

EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee Co-Chairman Joost Lagendijk:
I’m shocked. He was also a friend of mine and a person I appreciate.
This is a dark day for Turkey because he was a man who fought for
freedom of expression. This incident showed politicians that they can
be killed over what they say or do.

Christophe Filori, advisor to EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn:
We’re deeply sad. We hope the perpetrators are punished soon. Now’s
not the right time to speculate on whether it was provocation.

True Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet Agar: This is a truly disturbing
incident. The government should find the perpetrators at once. Those
bullets were targeted against the unity of the country.

Hrant Dink’s lawyer Fethiye Cetin: He got threats; he was painted as
an enemy of Turks because of the case against him. He didn’t feel
safe. Now what we feared has happened. This serves nobody. He didn’t
ask for personal bodyguards, although he submitted the very last
threatening letter to the public prosecutor’s office.

Hrant Dink’s lawyer Erdal Dogan: He applied to the public prosecutor
of Istanbul’s Sisli district because of the countless threats he got.
For two years we could see this attack coming. The Turkish judiciary
couldn’t pass the test regarding his trial.

>From Dink’s final column

In the beginning I wasn’t worried about the investigation of me by
the Sisli public prosecutor on suspicion of "insulting Turkishness."
It wasn’t the first time this had happened. I was already familiar
with such a case from Sanliurfa. I had faced three years of trials on
the same charge, as at a conference in 2002 I said that in terms of
nationality I’m not a Turk, but an Armenian and a Turkey citizen.

I didn’t even know what was happening with the cases. I hadn’t the
slightest interest. Lawyer friends from Sanliurfa attended hearings
of the trial in my absence.

When I went to the Sisli prosecutor to give testimony, I was quite
unconcerned. I was confident in what I had written and my intent.
When the prosecutor evaluated the entirety of my column, not only
that specific sentence (which was meaningless in isolation), I knew
he would understand that I had no intention to insult Turkishness and
the comedy would come to an end. I was quite sure that after the
investigation, there would be no charges filed.

I was full of confidence, but incredibly, charges were filed.

Still, I didn’t lose my optimism.

I was so sure that, calling into a TV program one night, I told
(ultranationalist) lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz, my chief accuser, not to
count his chickens too soon, as I wouldn’t be sentenced in this case
and if I were, I would leave the country.

Just as an expert report of a commission of Istanbul University
scholars presented to the court said the same.

There was no reason to worry, I thought, they would realize their
mistake in this or that stage of the case.

But they didn’t.

The prosecutor demanded punishment, despite the expert report.

Afterwards, the judge decided to give me six months.

Every time they made me notorious, branding me the "enemy of the
Turks."

Fascists attacked me with racist curses in the courthouse.

They assailed me with insults plastered on signs.

The threatening phone calls, letters and e-mails went on for months,
and their numbers kept growing.

Asking God to give me patience, I bore this burden while waiting for
a verdict of acquittal.

When the verdict was announced, I thought, the reality would be
revealed and these people would be ashamed of what they did.

But then the verdict was announced, and my hopes fell.

I found myself in the worst situation a person could be in.

The judge decided his verdict on behalf of the "Turkish nation," and
so "insulting Turkishness" went down on my record.

I could bear anything, but bearing this was impossible.

(Editor’s note: The column continued.)

Aljazeera.net, Qatar
Jan 20 2007

Turkish-Armenian writer shot dead

Hrant Dink, a prominent voice in Turkey’s shrinking Armenian
community, has been killed by a gunman at the entrance to his
newspaper’s offices in Istanbul.

Dink, a 53-year-old Turkish journalist of Armenian descent, had been
tried many times for publicising the killings of Armenians by Turks
at the beginning of the 20th century.

Dink was the editor of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos
and a public figure in Turkey.

He was most recently convicted in October of "insulting Turkishness"
and received a six-month suspended sentence. He had received threats
from nationalists, who viewed him as a traitor.

Arrests

Muammer Guler, the governor of Istanbul, was quoted by the Anatolia
news agency as saying that three people have been taken into custody
in connection with Dink’s murder on Friday.

In previous interviews with the press, Dink had cried as he talked
about some of his fellow countrymen’s hatred for him, saying he could
not stay in a country where he was unwanted.

Turkey’s private NTV television earlier said police were searching
for the suspected murderer, believed to be a teenager wearing a white
hat and a denim jacket.

Dink’s body could be seen covered with a white sheet in front of the
newspaper’s entrance on Friday.

NTV said four empty shell casings were found on the ground and that
he was killed by two bullets to the head.

Strong condemnation

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, said the killing was
an attack against Turkey’s unity.

"I stress that the attack on Dink is an attack on us all – on our
unity, our integrity, our peace and stability," Erdogan told
reporters at a hastily called news conference.

"This is an attack against freedom of thought and our democratic way
of life."
Thousands of Turks took to the streets to protest against the murder.

Some 2,000 people gathered at Taksim Square, the main business and
entertainment centre of Istanbul, as hundreds of riot police looked
on.

"We are all Armenians, We are all Hrant Dink," chanted the
protesters, many carrying red carnations and pictures of Dink with
the inscription "My dear brother" in Turkish, Armenian and English.

One demonstrator waved Turkish and Armenian flags.

The protesters were marching to the offices of Dink’s newspaper in
the Sisli district, about three kilometers away, where hundreds of
others have kept a vigil since his murder.

In Ankara, about 700 people – trade unionists and human rights
activists – held a 30-minute sit-in in central Kizilay square, the
Anatolia news agency reported.

BDCEC5AA-A555-413E-8C0D-7D5EEB2D35C5.htm

Anatolian Times, Turkey
Jan 20 2007

Istanbul Governor Distributes Photos Of Suspect

ISTANBUL – Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler said secretaries of Agos
identified the suspect whose photos were distributed today.
At a press conference in Istanbul, Guler stated that investigations
are continuing into the murder of Hrant Dink, editor-in-chief of the
bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos.

"According to information from Dink`s secretaries, the suspect, whose
photos have been distributed, came to the office of the paper at noon
time and asked to talk to Hrant Dink. He introduced himself as a
student from Ankara University and said he had some questions to ask
to Dink. Secretaries said they had told him that Hrant Dink was not
at the office as they did not allow any meetings without
appointments, as a principle and this person left the office,"
Governor Guler said.

Noting that secretaries had seen the said man in front of a bank
office across the street as they were out of the office at 14.00
hours, Guler said, "secretaries identified the man in photos and
stated that he was the same person who came to their office and
wanted to see Dink."

Guler said nobody was under custody at the moment regarding the
incident.

Responding to a question about a found winter hat believed to be the
suspect`s, Guler said it was not true.

Agence France Presse — English
January 17, 2007 Wednesday 2:36 PM GMT

Football: North American soccer revolution hits France

Barnaby Chesterman

North American businessman Jack Kachkar is on the verge of buying
fallen European giants Marseille and potentially heralding a new era
in the troubled club’s history.

Marseille have long been a team in turmoil since their heady days of
the early 1990s when they became the first – and as yet only – French
team to lift the Champions League.

Rather than defending their title – claimed with a 1-0 victory over
AC Milan – a bribery scandal saw the team demoted to the French
second division and they have never regained their former stature.

Current owner Robert Louis-Dreyfus came in to apparently save the day
10 years ago but a decade on, Marseille are still far from reigning
supreme at home, let alone in Europe.

Two UEFA Cup finals in the last 10 years and an agonising last day
defeat in the 1998-99 championship race, when Bordeaux scored a last
second winning goal at Paris St Germain to snatch the title from
under Marseille’s noses, represents failure as far as the demanding
Marseille public is concerned.

And so enter a North American multi-millionaire to try to restore the
Mediterranean outfit to past glories.

Following hot on the heels of Malcolm Glazer at Manchester United and
Randy Lerner at Aston Villa, Canadian Kachkar is determined to dip
into the European football market.

But why is this Canadian of Armenian Catholtic origin – who was born
in Syria and raised briefly in Lebanon – planning to invest 115
million euros in the most popular team in France?

"First and foremost my family and I love France," he said. "In the
last five years we have spent every summer in the south of France.

"Hence, for a long time I have watched Marseille matches. It’s a
great club with enormous potential and incredible supporters."

Most mega-rich businessmen, such as Chelsea’s Russian owner Roman
Abramovich, seem to plump for the glamour and glitz of the English
Premiership, but Kachkar – whose original name was Kachkarian –
admits he does not operate in the same financial sphere as Abramovich
or Glazer.

"You know, Manchester United would cost one billion dollars (773
million euros). That’s too much for my wallet," he said.

"And then there’s my love for France and Marseille which tempted me
in this direction."

Despite bringing his millions to the club, providing the sale does
not hit any last minute hitches, there is still no guarantee that
Kachkar can deliver success.

Louis-Dreyfus spent 200 million euros during his 10-year tenure and
has not a single recognisable trophy to show for it.

Tellingly, though, he went through four different presidents and 15
coaches during that time, whereas dominant champions Lyon have had
just one president and three coaches in the same period.

Kachkar is determined not to make the same mistakes.

"I don’t intend to change things. Now would not be the right time
because the club is in a positive state and it is important to
conserve that. The management is good and I don’t like change for the
sake of change."

Marseille have had an inconsistent campaign, dazzling in the early
season to top the table after six matches but then hitting a
prolongued slump during which they won only twice in 10 league games.

However they have picked up again, winning three of their last four
and sit third in the table, only three points behind second-placed
Lens but a massive 17 points adrift of runaway leaders Lyon.

They came through the Inter-Toto Cup to reach the UEFA Cup proper but
were knoacked out early by Slovakia’s Mlada Boleslav.

Their return to form in the league has coincided with the return from
injury of on-loan Liverpool forward Djibril Cisse, who has scored
five goals in five games.

MEETING OF THE FIRST LADIES OF GEORGIA AND ARMENIA IS HELD IN YEREVAN

Yerevan, January 17. ArmInfo. A meeting of First Ladies of Georgia
and Armenia Sandra Elizabeth Roelofs and Bella Kocharyan has been
held in Yerevan today.

As RA Presidential press-service told ArmInfo, during the meeting
the sides discussed issues of public health care, social, cultural
and humanitarian spheres. The interlocutors touched upon the issue
of visiting a number of medical establishments to get acquainted with
the Armenian experience in health area. During the visit, S. Roelofs
intends to visit a number of cultural centers as well.

The Georgian delegation headed by Sandra Roelofs also held a meeting
with Minister of Health Care of Armenia Norair Davidyan in the
ministry. The Georgian delegation has come to Armenia with a three
day visit.

During the meeting the sides discussed issues of public health care,
reform in health care systems, they exchanged experience, planned
joint actions. Main focus was made on struggle against tuberculosis,
AIDS as Sandra Roelofs is the international ambassador of struggle
against tuberculosis and AIDS.

As Norair Davidyan said, "the visit will promote deepening of
friendship between two peoples, cooperation in the health care spheres
and development of contacts between two structures".

"There are 600 thousand people with tuberculosis in Armenia and
exchange of experience is of great importance as incipient diagnostics
and treatment may help to resolve the problem", the Minister of Health
Care of Armenia said.

According to him, tuberculosis is not only a problem for Armenia
and CIS countries, it is a world problem and it must be struggled
against jointly.

After the meeting with the first lady of Armenia Sandra Roelofs will
visit the medical center "Nairi", the Institute of Perintology,
Cyesiology aand Gynecology, the house-museum of composer Aram
Khachaturyan, she will also meet with Minister of Culture and Youth
Affairs of Armenia Ashnik Pogosyan, besides the reception will be
held in the Georgian Embassy.

NKR READY TO PASS AZERBAIJAN AZERBAIJANI ARMY SERVICEMAN TAKEN
PRISONER

STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 12, NOYAN TAPAN. NKR authorities are ready to
pass Azerbaijan 27-year-old Eldaniz Beyali oghli Nuriyev, serviceman
of Azerbaijani army. This was reported by NKR State Commission for
Issues of Prisoners of War and Missing.

Private soldier E.Nuriyev passed to Karabakh side at night of December
31, 2006, in the Fizuli sector of NKR and Azerbaijani armed forces’
contact-line and was taken prisoner by NKR defence army servicemen.

NKR State Commission for Issues of Prisoners of War and Missing
applied to the ICRC office accredited in NKR with the request to
assist them in the issue of passing E.Nuriyev to the Azerbaijani side.

During the period of Nuriyev’s stay in NKR ICRC representatives were
permitted to unimpededly visit E.Nuriyev.