Author: Maghakian Mike

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.

Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:

PRESS RELEASE
January 11, 2007
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

ANCA WELCOMES SECOND HOLD BY
SEN. MENENDEZ ON HOAGLAND NOMINATION

"It is well past time for American diplomacy
to drop the euphemisms, the wink-wink, nod-nod
brand of foreign policy that overlooks heinous
atrocities committed around the world."
— Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ)

WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)
today welcomed a second "hold" placed by Senator Robert Menendez
(D-NJ) on the controversial confirmation of Richard E. Hoagland as
U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, reported the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA).

The New Jersey legislator’s decision comes just two days after the
Bush Administration re-nominated Hoagland, a diplomat whose denial
of the Armenian Genocide generated widespread Congressional
opposition and Armenian American community outrage culminating in
his first Senatorial "hold" in the recently concluded 109th
Congress.

"We join with Armenians from New Jersey and throughout the United
States in thanking Senator Menendez, yet again, for his steadfast
and principled stand in blocking the Hoagland nomination," said Ken
Hachikian, Chairman of the ANCA.

In a statement released earlier today, Senator Menendez explained
that, "given the circumstances and controversy surrounding Mr.
Hoagland’s nomination, I believe that the best way to move forward
would be for the president to nominate a new candidate for this
ambassadorship." Sen. Menendez denounced the policy of U.S.
complicity in Turkey’s denial of the Armenian Genocide, stating, "I
also believe that the State Department and the Bush administration
are just flat-out wrong in their refusal to recognize the Armenian
Genocide. It is well past time for American diplomacy to drop the
euphemisms, the wink-wink, nod-nod brand of foreign policy that
overlooks heinous atrocities committed around the world."

"If there is any sincerity behind the Bush administration’s
rhetoric about ‘liberty on the march’ – if ‘never again’ is to be
more than a bumper sticker slogan – then American diplomacy should
consist of nothing less than unvarnished honesty with our friends
and enemies alike. And we must call genocide by its name," noted
Sen. Menendez.

The Hoagland nomination faced bipartisan opposition in the 109th
Congress – and was ultimately blocked by a parliamentary "hold"
placed by Senator Menendez – after, in written statements offered
in response to questions posed to him during his confirmation
hearing, the nominee went far beyond the bounds of the
Administration’s already deeply flawed policy, actually calling
into question the Armenian Genocide as a historical fact.

A recent poll of Armenian Americans found that 97% opposed the
Hoagland nomination. Ninety-four percent of the respondents said
that they "strongly agreed" with the Senate’s opposition to his
nomination. An additional 3% noted that they "somewhat agreed"
with this opposition. One percent reported that they "somewhat
disagreed" with opposing Hoagland, and 2% indicated that they
"strongly disagreed" with the opposition to his confirmation.

In announcing his "hold" last September, the Sen. Menendez cited
the principled stand taken by former U.S. Ambassador John Evans,
who was fired for speaking truthfully about the Armenian Genocide,
underscoring his "great concerns that Mr. Hoagland’s confirmation
would be a step backward."

Citing the opposition of the Armenian American community and the
growing controversy within Congress surrounding the nomination,
Senator Menendez was joined on December 1st by incoming Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in calling on President George W.
Bush to withdraw the Hoagland nomination and propose a new
candidate to serve in this important diplomatic post. They
stressed that, in light of the broad-based concerns within
Congress, the extensive media coverage this issue has received, and
the strong stand of the Armenian American community against the
nomination, "it would serve neither our national interests nor the
U.S.-Armenia relationship to expect Ambassador-designate Hoagland
to carry out his duties under these highly contentious and
profoundly troubling circumstances."

On December 8th of last year, after the Senate failed to confirm
Hoagland, his nomination was returned to the President upon the
adjournment of the 109th Congress. With the expiration of the
Hoagland nomination, the President was free to offer a new
candidate for this diplomatic posting in the 110th Congress, but
chose instead to submit the same one, despite strong Congressional
opposition to his confirmation.

More than half of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and more
than 60 U.S. Representatives have raised concerns about the
Hoagland nomination and the State Department’s refusal to explain
the controversial firing of his predecessor, John Marshall Evans,
for speaking truthfully about the Armenian Genocide. The
Department of State has also failed to offer any meaningful
explanation of the role that the Turkish government played in the
Evans issue.

#####

From the website of Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
cfm?id=267461&

MENENDEZ PLACES SECOND HOLD ON HOAGLAND NOMINATION
Thursday, January 11, 2007

WASHINGTON – United States Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), a member
of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today placed a second
hold on the nomination of Richard E. Hoagland, the Bush
administration’s nominee to be U.S. Ambassador to Armenia. This is
the second hold Menendez has placed on Hoagland’s nomination since
last September.

The hold, a parliamentary privilege accorded to U.S. Senators,
follows the Bush administration’s re-nomination of Hoagland to
serve in this post – a move necessitated by the lapsing of
Hoagland’s previous nomination last year.

"By all accounts, Ambassador Hoagland is a distinguished career
Foreign Service Officer who has served America with distinction and
honor during his time at the State Dept.," Menendez said. "However,
given the circumstances and controversy surrounding Mr. Hoagland’s
nomination, I believe that the best way to move forward would be
for the president to nominate a new candidate for this
ambassadorship.

"I also believe that the State Dept. and the Bush administration
are just flat-out wrong in their refusal to recognize the Armenian
genocide. It is well past time for American diplomacy to drop the
euphemisms, the wink-wink, nod-nod brand of foreign policy that
overlooks heinous atrocities committed around the world."

"If there is any sincerity behind the Bush administration’s
rhetoric about ‘liberty on the march’ – if ‘never again’ is to be
more than a bumper sticker slogan – then American diplomacy should
consist of nothing less than unvarnished honesty with our friends
and enemies alike. And we must call genocide by its name."

Menendez and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) last month
wrote to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urging her to withdraw
the nomination of Richard E. Hoagland to be U.S. Ambassador to
Armenia. Hoagland’s nomination has been beset by controversy from
the outset. Menendez in September lodged a hold on Hoagland’s
nomination, using a parliamentary privilege afforded to U.S.
Senators that prevented the ambassador-designate’s confirmation by
the full Senate. Because of this controversy, Menendez and Reid
called on Secretary Rice to advance another candidate for
consideration.

The Ottoman Empire brutally tortured and killed nearly 1.5 million
Armenians from 1915 to 1923 and forced half a million Armenians to
flee their homeland.

PYUNIK STARS BOLSTER ARMENIA

uefa.com, Switzerland
Jan 10 2006

Four newcomers will replace some established stars as Ian Porterfield’s
Armenia prepare for a friendly game against Panama in Fresno,
California on 14 January.

Absent stars

With established stars Edgar Manucharyan, Romik Khachatryan, Karen
Dokhoyan, Artavazd Karamyan and Hamlet Mkhitaryan all being permitted
to stay with their clubs, goalkeeper Edgar Gasparyan, defender Hayk
Chilingaryan and forwards Henrik Mkhitaryan and Tigran Karabagtsyan –
all of whom play for domestic champions FC Pyunik – have been given
an opportunity to shine. The 22-man squad will take on Panama before
playing an exhibition game against a yet-to-be confirmed Major League
Soccer team.

Armenia squad

Goalkeepers: Gevorg Kasparov (FC Pyunik), Edgar Gasparyan (FC Pyunik).

Defenders: Hayk Chilingaryan (FC Pyunik), Robert Arzumanyan (FC
Pyunik), Sargis Hovsepyan (FC Pyunik), Valeri Aleksanyan (FC Pyunik),
Aleksandr Tadevosyan (FC Pyunik), Egishe Melikyan (FC Stal Alchevsk),
Agvan Lazarian (FC Pyunik), Armen Tigranyan (FC Pyunik).

Midfielders: Karen Aleksanyan (CSF Zimbru Chisinau), Agvan Lazarian
(FC Pyunik), Arman Karamyan (FC Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt), Levon Pachajyan
(FC Pyunik), Rafael Nazaryan (FC Pyunik), Artur Minasyan (FC Ararat),
Henrik Mkhitaryan (FC Pyunik).

Forwards: Armen Shahgeldyan (FC Mika), Aram Hakobyan (FC Banants), Ara
Hakobyan (FC Stal Alchevsk), Galust Petrosyan (CSF Zimbru Chisinau),
Tigran Karabagtsyan (FC Pyunik).

HENCEFORTH LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL TWO-SIDED VOICE COMMUNICATION TO BE CLASSIFIED AS VOICE SERVICE

Noyan Tapan
Jan 08 2006

YEREVAN, JANUARY 8, NOYAN TAPAN. At the January 8 sitting, the RA
Public Services Regulatory Commission made a decision to classify local
(within the sta te) and international two-sided voice communication
regardless of the technologies forming its basis (including the
Internet protocol), for which the RA public network is used fully or
partly, as a voice service.

Within 45 days after the decision’s comes into force, the ArmenTel
company must submit to the commission proposals on standards of quality
of transmission local and international voice services provided with
TDM and IP technologies, including proposals on network retardments
and their measurement methodology. Besides, within 30 days ArmenTel
must submut to the commission proposals on provision of voice services
with IP technologies by the post-payment system.

ARMENIA AND GEORGIA AGREE ON 110 KM SECTOR OF ARMENIAN-GEORGIAN BOUNDARY

Yerevan, January 8. ArmInfo. The process of delimitation and
demarcation of the Armenian-Georgian boundary is proceeding
efficiently, Vladimir Karapetyan, the acting press-secretary of the
Armenian Foreign Minister, told an ArmInfo correspondent.

As a result of the commissions’ fruitful work, the sides agreed
upon 110 km sector of the boundary. The sides decided to intensively
continue the process in 2007 and to complete it as soon as possible,
V.Karapetyan said. To note, the length of the Armenian-Georgian
boundary is about 235 km.

ARMENIA RECEIVES THE SECOND TRANSFER OF THE MCC INITIAL DISBURSEMENT

ArmRadio.am
28.12.2006 14:38

Early December the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) had already
made the first transfer of the initial disbursement to Armenia,
amounting $882 thousand. As it was envisaged, today the MCC-Armenia
received the second transfer, amounting to $507,635, Press Service
of the MCC-Armenia Office told ArmInfo.

The financial means envisaged in the compact signed between MCC
and the Government of Armenia will not be provided at once. The
disbursements are set for three months and are transferred to the
MCC-Armenia bank account.

TURKEY ASKS AZERBAIJAN TO EXPLAIN ALLEGED MISTREATMENT OF ETHNIC ARMENIAN MUSICIAN
By Suzan Fraser, Associated Press Writer

Associated Press Worldstream
December 26, 2006 Tuesday 7:29 PM GMT

Turkey has asked its close ally Azerbaijan for information on the
alleged mistreatment and expelling of a Turkish musician who is of
Armenian descent, a Foreign Ministry official said Tuesday.

Murat Bedikyan a pianist with Eurovision song contest winner Sertap
Erener’s band accused officials in Azerbaijan of mistreating him and
unfairly ousting him from the country on arrival for a concert Dec. 19,
according to the Anatolia news agency.

Bedikyan was forced to return to Istanbul and could not join his
band. He insisted he was singled out and mistreated despite his
Turkish citizenship, because he is a member of Turkey’s minority
Armenian community.

Turkey had formally requested information on Bedikyan’s allegations
from Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry, according to a Turkish Foreign
Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of rules
that bar civil servants from speaking to journalists without prior
authorization. A similar request had been made with the Azerbaijani
Embassy in Ankara, the official said.

The ex-Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia are at loggerheads
over the mountainous region of Nagorno Karabakh in Azerbaijan that
has been under the control of Armenian and ethnic-Armenian forces
since a 1994 cease-fire. The six-year separatist conflict killed
about 30,000 people and drove about 1 million from their homes,
including many of the region’s ethnic Azeris.

The region’s final status remains unresolved and years of talks
under the auspices of international mediators have brought few
visible results.

Turkey has close ties to Azerbaijan, with which it shares an ethnic
and linguistic heritage. It refuses to have diplomatic relations with
Armenia because of Yerevan’s unresolved conflict with Azerbaijan.

Relations are further complicated over the World War I-era killings of
Armenians. Armenians say that Ottoman Turks slaughtered 1.5 million
Armenians in a planned genocide. Turkey vehemently denies that the
mass killings were genocide, saying the death toll is inflated and
Armenians were killed in civil unrest as the Ottoman Empire collapsed.

Business Day website, Johannesburg,
22 Dec 06

COMMENTATOR SAYS TURKEY WILL REJECT SOUTH AFRICAN ARMS DEAL

by Gunvant Govinjdjee

"Why South Africa’s Rooivalk dreams just will not fly"

If Denel clinches the Rooivalk deal with Turkey, it will be a miracle
– and I do not believe in miracles.

A decision of the French lower house of parliament on 12 October, and
the Turkish government’s reaction to this decision, have virtually
ruled out any possibility of Denel selling the Rooivalk attack
helicopter to the Turkish air force.

Yet last month, Denel’s CEO was still putting a positive spin on the
deal. So what does the decision of the French parliament have to do
with the prospect of selling the Rooivalk to Turkey? On 12 October,
the lower house of the French parliament passed a bill making it a
crime to deny the Armenian genocide. The bill is unlikely to become
law as the French Senate is not contemplating proceeding with the
bill.

Nevertheless, the controversial decision of the French MPs was
sufficient to raise the ire of the Turkish government, which severed
military ties with France. The severing of military ties means that
Turkey will no longer purchase French weaponry. The Rooivalk relies
on French engines, and it is highly unlikely the Turks will be
prepared to buy a French arms component that comes via South Africa
in the form of a completed weapon system.

Denel and AgustaWestland of Italy have been the two short-listed
companies bidding for the tender to manufacture 30 attack helicopters
for the Turkish air force. Notwithstanding the draft bill of the
French parliament, AgustaWestland has the clear advantage over Denel
not only for technical reasons, but for political reasons as well.
One reason that AgustaWestland’s A129 Mangusta is a stronger
contender than the Rooivalk is that it carries the US-made Hellfire
missile, which Denel was unable to use for its attack helicopter
because of an apartheid-era spy scandal. But it is more likely that
political considerations will determine the outcome of the
competition between the two bidders.

Turkey has been seeking European Union (EU) membership for many years
and Italy has expressed itself as a strong supporter of Turkey’s
right to join the EU. Furthermore, signing the Mangusta deal with an
Italian company will be a continuation of long-established arms
industry cooperation. South Africa has yet to initiate any meaningful
cooperation in this field.

It is clear that Denel has already lost the helicopter race. It is
time both Denel and the South African government disabuse themselves
of the illusion that they can successfully market and sell their
so-called state-of-the art war machine.

Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin needs to face Denel’s Rooivalk
failure, which has cost the South African taxpayers billions of rand.

When, not if, Turkey formally rejects South Africa’s tender, Turkey
will join a long list of countries that were touted by Denel as
potential customers of the Rooivalk. Some of these are: Spain,
Sweden, South Korea, Greece, Malaysia, Australia and China. Despite
the massive vote of no confidence in the Rooivalk, both Denel and
Erwin continue to pin their hopes on the Rooivalk coming to the
rescue of the bankrupt parastatal arms industry.

There is just one solution to Denel and Erwin’s profligacy and
daydreaming: scrap the Rooivalk, which has become South Africa’s
albatross.