Author: Nanijanian Alex

BritishBoxing.net, UK
July 21 2005

Eastman edged out in Germany
by Michael Weber
Jul 20th 2005

Our German correspondent Michael Weber gives us all the lowdown on
Howard Eastman’s controversial defeat last Saturday at the hands of
Arthur Abraham…

Howard Eastman weighed in at 72.1 kg and Arthur Abraham, (WBA
Intercontinental title) the champion, at 72.2 kg. Both were looking
very impressive and well prepared for a fight between perhaps two
best European middleweights of the moment.

Surprising all spectators, Arthur Abraham came out very defensively in
the first round. Howard Eastman jabbed and scored with his straight
left. Abraham was very inactive. So the first round went to the
Battersea Bomber. In the second round, Abraham showed a little more
but could only land one hard right shot. Howard was scoring again
with his jab and so the second round could be also given to the
British challenger.

The crowd was very disappointed because Arthur didn’t show his hard
punches and activity as he usually does. But it changed from the
third round on. Uli Wegener, Arthur’s coach, yelled to him in order
to do more. And he did. From now on Abraham was the more active
fighter. He could land more and more combinations that were finding
their aim of Eastman’s head, especially his hard right. Eastman was
backpedalling. So Arthur won rounds three and four and the fight was
close again.

In the fifth round Howard was more active as in the last rounds. He
was landing his jab and scoring with right body blows. But Abraham
always did more. He was hitting harder and could score with thes heavy
punches to the head. This is the reason why this round was given to
the titleholder who was now one round in front.

>>From the sixth round on, Eastman started to hold Abraham more and
more but he couldn’t prevent him from scoring with hard punches to
the head. Eastman was too inactive in this round and so it went to
Arthur, who was now two rounds ahead.

In the next two rounds the Battersea Bomber showed his best boxing.
He scored a lot with his jab and with hard body shots and controled
the fight though the Armenian landed some hard rights. It seemed that
Howard had an iron head and would not get knocked out in this fight.
He showed good defensive work, especially in the eighth round when a
lot of punches of Abraham only landed on Howard’s gloves. After winning
rounds seven and eight, Howard was able to make the fight close again.

Spectators and some experts now thought that the experienced Brit
would take over the fight. But they were all wrong. Arthur Abraham
came out to explode in the ninth round. Howard had no means to stop
the hard punching Armenian who scored as he wanted, especially his
hard right landing on Eastman’s head. He was not far away from getting
knocked down and showed a monster chin.

>>From this round on there was only one boxer who dominated the fight
and scored with hard and exact punches: Arthur Abraham. Eastman only
tried to hold in order to prevent Abraham from hitting. But he also
lost condition and power with this tactic. In the tenth and twelfth
rounds there were again situations where Abraham was not far away from
a knock down. He was the one who dominated the fight and by far the
man with more power. This reporter’s score was a 116-112 for Arthur
Abraham because of winning the last rounds clearly.

Al three judges saw Abraham winning (115-113, 116-112 and 119-110),
making him still WBA Intercontinental champion. (As if that means
anything – ed.) More important than this title is that he showed that
he is not just a young and wild knockout artist but can be a more
measured performer and is certainly one of the best in this division.
And at the age of 25 the future is wide open.

The biggest surprise were the statemets of Howard Eastman and his
coach, Kofi Asanti after the fight and in the press conference
later on:

“I definetely didn’t lose the fight. I was robbed in Germany as an
amateur and I was robbed tonight again! What’s wrong with you guys?
What is fair is fair.

“I wanted to come to show my skills. I had a short preparation time.
Abraham is very raw and strong. But I was surprised that he won. He
is not in my league and I doubt the decision. I want a rematch in
London. I also won vs Joppy and Hopkins and also didn’t get the
decisions.”

Kofi Asanti stated:”This is a disgrace to boxing. Howard was two or
three rounds in front. Abraham is no world class boxer.”

Arthur Abrahams words were: “It was a hard fight but I showed that
I’m ready to go for higher aims. Howard is very experienced but I got
him with my tactics. He lost against one of the best in the division
and I’m proud that I won versus one of the best.”

UEFA European U-19 C’ship: Balde equaliser denies England

EFA

July 19 2005

/noticias.info/ Abdoulaye Balde’s first-half equaliser cancelled out
Matthew Fryatt’s early effort and earned France a draw against
England in the first match of the 2004/05 UEFA European Under-19
Championship finals.

Rapid response
Martin Hunter’s England side carved out an initial advantage in the
Group B fixture in Belfast thanks to Fryatt’s composed finish, but
the lead lasted only ten minutes as Amiens SC forward Balde sprang
the offside trap to drill in. Both sides had chances to capture all
three points, but ultimately had to make do with one.

French threat
England lined up in a 4-3-3 formation while France, in the absence of
suspended trio Vassiriki Diaby, Yohan Cabaye and Franck Dja Djedje
and with coach Jean Gallice beginning a two-match touchline ban,
kicked off with a more conservative 3-5-2. In spite of that, it was
the French who threatened first, Yohan Gouffran racing on to a long
ball over the top of the English defence, but shooting weakly at
David Martin.

Well-worked opener
Instead the early breakthrough came at the other end, England taking
the lead in the ninth minute. Captain Martin Cranie brought the ball
out of defence and found Grant Leadbitter, whose through-ball set
Fryatt clear. The striker kept his head to round the onrushing
goalkeeper Hugo Lloris just outside the area and roll into the
unguarded net.

Drilled finish
Ryan Jarvis might have doubled the lead moments later but instead
France drew level midway through the first half. Again a high ball
over the defence caused the problems, Didier Digard providing the
pass for Balde to race clear and thump a low shot beyond Martin.
After the early excitement, clear chances proved harder to come by,
although Yohan Gourcuff’s deep right-wing free-kick found Mohamed
Chakouri unmarked, but the French defender headed straight at Martin.

Crucial intervention
The second half began in similar fashion, with Gourcuff sending a low
shot just wide. France looked the more likely scorers and almost took
the lead with 19 minute remaining as Gourcuff got the better of Tony
McMahon and cut the ball back for Balde, but Cranie reacted smartly
to make a brave block.

Wednesday fixtures
Neither side could fashion a winner in the closing moments, and will
look to record their first victories in the section on Wednesday.
England meet Armenia in Ballymena, while Norway, 2-0 winners against
the Armenians today, are France’s next opposition at Windsor Park.

Facing critical choice

Yerkir
July 15, 2005

We have a unique opportunity today to not only further the development
of our state’s and society’s development but also to raise them to
a new level. The key to it is the constitutional amendments that all
the political forces have been speaking about.

Sadly enough, some forces seem to be satisfied just by beautiful
speeches about the necessity to adopt constitutional amendments but
in reality, they may try to derail the process of that adoption,
since if the amendments package fails, we will have to continue to
live under a constitution that many view as hindering our development.

Judging from the stance of certain political circles, such possibility
should not be ruled out. And while the stance of the opposition
that had been disparaging every step of the authorities could be
comprehended in the context of political fighting, now, there is no
more logic in its position.

Since, in this case, the fight would be not against the amendments
drafted by the authorities but against the democratization process. So,
those political forces and politicians would be seen as preventing
the development of the country and their fight against any authorities
would make no sense.

INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP DOCUMENT FITS INTERESTS OF ARMENIANS

Pan ARMENIAN Network, Armenia
July 16 2005

16.07.2005 02:43

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ International Crisis Group (ICG), a European
non-governmental organization, recently hosted a closed forum in the
Georgian capital of Tbilisi to bring together Azerbaijani and Armenian
experts to discuss issues of settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict. Member of the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis (parliament) Gultakin
Hajiyeva, who attended the forum, stated, “Having got acquainted with
the document draft, it is clear to me it more fits the interests
of Armenians. That is why the Azerbaijani delegation voiced its
discontent,” she said. “The document did not reflect the fact of the
occupation and tended to legalize the existing Karabakh regime. Also,
the document contained the dangerous proposal to conduct a referendum,
so the document should be seriously considered and reviewed,” the
Azeri MP said, the Yerkir newspaper.

TURKISH AMBASSADOR TO BAKU: ARMENIA NOT ENEMY TO TURKEY

Pan ARMENIAN Network, Armenia
July 16 2005

16.07.2005 05:16

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ «Azerbaijan should not be concerned over the
Armenian-Turkish talks in Europe, Turkey is biased on Armenia’s
actions, but Armenia is not an enemy to Turkey,» stated Turkish
Ambassador to Azerbaijan Turan Morali. «Turkey and Armenia have
business obligations. Armenians come to Turkey and we should settle
the issue of air flights,» the Turkish diplomat stated, adding that
«the dialogue is unavoidable.» He also emphasized that due to absence
of a Turkish Embassy in Armenia the parties are trying to arrange an
indirect dialogue, RFE/RL reported.

–Boundary_(ID_zfPomanaDjl4gm9yynFEIw)–

Eastman: ‘I am going to show the Germans that us Brits can fight’

EastsideBoxing.com
July 15 2005

15.07.05 – Howard Eastman is unfazed at the prospect of fighting
in front of a partisan home crowd when he takes on unbeaten German
based Armenian Arthur Abraham in a WBA Intercontinental clash that
doubles as a WBC eliminator at the Versicherung Arena in Nuremberg
tomorrow night..

“I’m actually looking forward to it,” said the Battersea Bomber today
after weighing-in at 72.1kg. “It is a privilege to be able to box in
different places around the world.

“I am going to show the Germans that us Brits can fight. It’s going
to be exciting.”

Both fighters have a reputation for fireworks. Eastman has stopped
34 out of his 38 victims whilst Abraham, who registered 72.2kg,
has stopped 15 out of 16.

Victory for Eastman will place him on the verge of a rematch with
undisputed middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins, should he remain
in the division.

“After we fought in February, Hopkins said he would give me a rematch,”
Eastman added. “That is what I want to happen.”

Azeri general talks about internal troops role in event of Karabakh war

Turan news agency
9 Jul 05

BAKU

The commander of the Azerbaijani interior ministry troops, Maj-Gen
Zakir Hasanov, has made a number of interesting statements of
political nature in an interview with the Russian weekly
Voyennno-Promyshlennyy Kuryer [Military industrial courier] in issue
No 24 of 6 July.

The duties of the Interior Ministry troops are based on the 1994 law
on their status. These troops must ensure the security of important
state-owned facilities, public order, prevent mass disturbances,
search for and detain escaped prisoners. “The methods used by the
interior troops do not damage human health,” Hasanov said.

Speaking about the possibility of a “colour revolution” and mass
disturbances in Azerbaijan, Hasanov said the following: “We want all
issues to be resolved within the legal framework. Undoubtedly, we will
take necessary measures if stability in Azerbaijan is disrupted. We
will unequivocally quell any activities of destructive elements, be it
disturbances or any other legal violations.”

The general said that over the past two years the state budget has
increased the funding of the troops by 40 per cent a year. Their
budget for 2005 is 81bn manats (a little more than 16m dollars). The
bulk of the funds is spent on technical supplies, special equipment
and weapons. For instance, a full commando kit costs 2,000-3,000
dollars, Hasanov said.

Responding to a question about whether peacekeeping units are being
set up within the interior troops, Hasanov said that NATO wants to
create a big peacekeeping body. Azerbaijan proposed to create a
peacekeeping company by 2008. This proposal has been coordinated with
NATO and in the future the Azerbaijani peacekeepers from the interior
troops will take part in large-scale international operations, he
said.

Asked whether the internal troops may take part in military operations
in Karabakh, the commander said that “we will prefer an offensive
tactic” in the event of a war. It is for this reason that more
attention is being paid to military training. At the initiative of the
commander-in-chief [Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev], a territory
in the vicinity of Baku where natural conditions are “like those in
Karabakh” has been allocated for a more effective conduct of military
training.

“The capabilities of the interior troops are huge and, hence, we are
able to fulfil a number of important tasks during the war. The
commando units will always be ready to effectively support the
attacking army. What is more, our motorized regiments may carry out a
commandant service in the rear of the attacking army by ensuring
public order and defending important state-owned facilities,” Hasanov
said.

Reporters without Borders, France
July 13 2005

Armenian journalist faces three years jail for “insulting Turkish
identity”

Reporters Without Borders today criticised the current trial of a
Turkish-Armenian journalist, Hrant Dink, for “insulting Turkish
identity” and said the government taboo against publicly discussing
the 1915 genocide against Armenians was a “continuing barrier to
freedom of expression” in Turkey.

It said that with only three months to go before negotiations were
due to start about Turkey joining the European Union, Dink risked
being jailed under article 301 of the criminal code for publishing an
article (on 13 February 2004) called “Getting to know Armenia” in the
Turkish-Armenian bilingual weekly, Agos, that he runs. His trial
began on 7 July before a court in Sisli, Istanbul.

The world press freedom organisation said it was concerned about
fuzzy language in the new criminal code that could “easily be used
against journalists discussing sensitive topics,” such as the
Armenian genocide or withdrawal of Turkish troops from Cyprus.

Dink’s article urged Armenians to turn their attention “to the new
blood of independent Armenia,” as the only way to free them from the
burden of exile and called on them to symbolically reject “the
adulterated part of their Turkish blood.” Nine complaints for
“insulting Turkish identity” had been filed against him by 16 April
2004 before the Sisli court.

“This trial is based on a total misunderstanding,” Dink told
Reporters Without Borders. “I never meant to insult Turkish citizens.
The term in question was taken out of context and is only symbolic.
The real subject of the article is the Armenian diaspora who, once
they have come to terms with the Turkish part of their identity, can
seek new answers to their questions from independent Armenia.”

State prosecutor Turgay Evsen has called for a three-year prison
sentence for Dink under the new penal code, which came into force on
1 June. Dink founded his paper in Istanbul in 1996 and it has a
circulation of 5,500.

Lraper Church Bulletin 11/07/2005
Contact: Deacon Vagharshag Seropyan
Armenian Patriarchate
TR-34130 Kumkapi, Istanbul
T: +90 (212) 517-0970, 517-0971
F: +90 (212) 516-4833, 458-1365
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
[email protected]
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A RECEPTION TO HONOUR DR. PAPKEN ARARKTSYAN

Prof. Dr. Papken Ararktsyan, the first President of the parliament of
the Third Republic of Armenia, was honoured at a reception on Friday
evening, 1 July 2005. The event was presided over by His Beatitude
Mesrob II, Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul and All Turkey, and was held
in the courtyard of the chapel of Surp Pirgic (Holy Saviour) Armenian
Hospital.

Joining the reception were Archbishop Dirayr Mardikyan, Primate of the
Armenians of Romania and Bulgaria; Garen Mirzoyan, permanent Armenian
representative to the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization;
Father Tatul Anusyan; Father John Whooley; Yegyazar Uzunyan, Deputy
Chairman of the Diocesan Council of the Armenian Church in Bulgaria; and
representatives and benefactors of Armenian foundations.

Bedros Sirinoglu, Chairman of the Hospital Board of Administration,
former chairman Setrak Tokat, and members of the Board met the guests,
who were briefed about the hospital and who visited the Surp Pirgic
Chapel. Immediately thereafter a reception was held in courtyard of the
chapel. Bedros Sirinioglu opened the ceremony with a speech in which he
stated the happiness he felt from this visit.

The floor was taken next by Jamanak newspaper editor in chief, Ara
Kocunyan, who spoke about Dr. Ararktsyan’s political personality. This
newspaper was coordinating the visit of Dr. Papken Ararktsyan to
Istanbul.

Dr. Ararktsyan’s speech

In his speech, Dr. Ararktsyan said that his family was from Van and that
he had always wanted to see the city of his forefathers. It was for this
reason that he and members of his family, together with the Cirbasyan
couple from Paris, had come to visit the historical city of Van and its
environs.

Dr. Ararktsyan noted that while history is important, it was also
important that the painful moments of history prod us to life, progress
and creativity, rather than to crying and complaining. He said that
everyone can see this is possible by looking at the Armenian community
in Istanbul.

The honoured guest continued by saying that there should be good
relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey,
and that the borders between the two should be opened. Ararktsyan drew
attention to developments that could not even be conceived thirty or
forty, or even ten years ago as forming a political signal, saying that
“we can hope to be witnesses to new developments in this area in the
near future.”

The Patriarch’s speech

His Beatitude the Patriarch spoke last and greeted the Ararktsyan and
Cirbasyan families. He said that the Armenian community of Istanbul is
closely following events in Armenia.

“It is clear to all of us how much you and your supporters have given
yourselves to the establishment of government authority in Armenia in
the highly sensitive days following the declaration of freedom,” said
the Patriarch. “Today there is an independent Republic of Armenia and
this, of course, is the cause of many changes in the region. It is
somehow gratifying to see that there are four flights today per week
between Turkey and Armenia, and that each one is full. This means that
passenger traffic has increased. On the other hand, Armenians in
Istanbul are following developments in Armenia in the media. If the
stated numbers are true, then today there are as many as 30,000 citizens
of the Republic of Armenian who have come to Turkey for work.”

His Beatitude the Patriarch added that everyone was impatiently waiting
for the borders between Armenia and Turkey to open, and that this would
be beneficial in various ways to the two sides.

His Beatitude the Patriarch presented the gift of a silver plate to Dr.
Ararktsyan in the name of the Hospital’s foundation and the community.
Ararktsyan in turn gave the Surp Pirgic Hospital council a carved fruit
bowl.

Afterwards the guests gathered around the reception tables for
conversation.

Ukraine signs WTO protocol with Indonesia

Interfax-Ukraine news agency
8 Jul 05

KIEV

Ukraine and Indonesia signed a protocol on mutual access to markets in
Geneva on Thursday [7 July] with a view of Ukraine’s joining the World
Trade Organization.

The talks were long and tough, but the two delegations managed to
reached consensus, the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry
said.

Ukraine signed the same protocol with Norway earlier.

Ukraine is continuing active talks with 14 countries – USA, Australia,
Japan, China, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Colombia, Croatia, Peru, Panama,
Ecuador, Egypt, Iceland and Taiwan.

Talks with Japan, Peru, Colombia, Egypt, Croatia, Panama, Ecuador and
Iceland are in their final stages and are expected to be finished
soon, the press service said.