Author: Tamamian Anna

RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR TO AZERBAIJAN: "MOSCOW DECLARATION IS A ROAD MAP IN THE RESOLUTION OF THE KARABAKH CONFLICT"

Today.Az
politics/49128.html
Nov 20 2008
Azerbaijan

The Moscow declaration of the Presidents of Russia, Azerbaijan and
Armenia is a road map, comprising possible ways of the Karabakh
conflict". said Russian ambassador to Azerbaijan Vasili Istratov,
according to Novosti-Azerbaijan.

"The Moscow declaration has no signatures of the representatives of
Nagorno Karabakh and it does not fix that Nagorno Karabakh has no
right to take part in" the resolution process", said told reporters
Thursday, commenting on the statements of the Armenian side that
the resolution of the conflict must involve representatives of the
Armenian community of Nagorno Karabakh.

The diplomat noted that there is a need to wait for the further
development of events.

"I have heard many thoughts about this issue, but these are just
thoughts. We must take into account the fact that we have a Moscow
declaration", noted Istratov.

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA (I)

Hurriyet
Nov 20 2008
Turkey

When you take your oath of office next Jan. 20, not just the American
people, but also the whole world will be greeting you with hope and
expectation. Your views, choices and decisions will affect the globe
well beyond America’s borders and have consequences in the lives and
well-being of people everywhere.

The international community today longs deeply for justice, security,
peace and some semblance of well-being and prosperity. As the leader
of the most influential country, you have an unprecedented opportunity
to work for a better world. There will be appeals to you from all
corners of the world. Our times require an American President who is
aware of the strengths of America, but also cognizant of the limits
of its power, a leader who is humble and respectful of the assets of
other nations. Your success will depend on how well you choose between
those issues, where you take the lead and apply America’s full weight
and those issues that you leave to others to resolve. To succeed in
this historic enterprise, Turkey, an ally for more than fifty years,
can be one of your strategic partners in the very critical regions
of Eurasia and the Middle East.

With these thoughts, I call on you from Turkey to share my reflections
on Turkish-American relations:

Turkey and the United States sustain a key relationship invaluable
to both, resting on a foundation of common values and converging
national interests. Democracy, the rule of law, human rights,
fundamental freedoms and market economy are among the elements that
bond the two nations. In spite of the occasional important differences
that occur, the two allies and partners generally have similar and
often harmonious approaches to and understanding of the resolution of
various regional and global issues and conflicts. Our relationship has
withstood the vicissitudes of time and has amply proven its strength
and durability. Our cooperation has worked mostly to the benefit of
our nations. Today humanity faces dire risks and formidable challenges
in various fields including terrorism, climate change, food, energy
supply and security, weapons of mass destruction, ethnic-sectarian-
tribal conflicts, pandemics, natural disasters, poverty, gender
related issues and other inequalities. These are matters of common
concern to all of us. Turkey is also a pivotal player in the leading
major regional conflicts whether in the Caucasus, the Middle East or
the Balkans. NATO’s evolution, the future of Iraq and Afghanistan,
the resurgence of Russia, the Black Sea, the state of Euro-Atlantic
affairs are other priority items on our mutual agenda. In short, our
agendas, our priorities and our needs overlap. We can help each other
and conversely, we can hurt each other if we fail to utilize the assets
of our unique relationship. This is why I urge you, Mr. President, to
pay attention to the following issues to ensure that our partnership
remains strong, constructive and mutually beneficial. I realize
that on all these points the Turkish side must take the appropriate
reciprocating steps.

1. Our relationship is a special one. It is the only formal alliance of
the U.S. with a Muslim country in NATO. Common values, shared ideals
and compatible national interests form its solid foundation. They
are both democracies.

2. Today our relations are stable and relatively warm. Recovery in
the aftermath of the March 1, 2003, vote in the Turkish Parliament
was not easy. The halting of the Armenian resolutions in Congress
last year and the belated cooperation against PKK terrorists in Iraq
provided breathing space. You now have the opportunity to put our
ties on a progressive track.

3. Please keep in mind that the unique and greatest asset of Turkey
is its democracy and its secularism. The separation of religion from
the affairs of the state and the public domain has been the lifeline
of Turkish democracy. The perception that Turkey is of interest
because it exemplifies "moderate Islam" is therefore misplaced. Any
constructive role that Turkey can play in the context of the "clash
of civilizations" has nothing to do with its being a moderate Islamic
state Ä~^ which it is not Ä~^ or that it typically represents the
Islamic world. Turkey’s significance lies in its success in having
combined democracy and secularism in a predominantly Muslim populated
society. If the development and spread of democracy, especially
in the Muslim world, is going to be one of your Administration’s
goals, it is indispensable that you understand the workings of
Turkish democracy and adjust your attitudes accordingly. The spread
of democracy takes time and patience. A low-key approach generally
works better, especially if you calibrate it to the unique features
of the country in question. The golden rule regarding Turkey in this
respect is to not interfere in Turkey’s domestic politics and refrain
from any action that could create the impression of such interference.

4. Our partnership is asymmetrical. Turkey is a regional power;
the U.S. is a global power. Turkish perceptions and assessments of
issues and events derive from local references and are much more
textured with historical and cultural elements and sensitive to local
balances and interests. The U.S. operates on a global scale and at
a macro level, making it less attentive to local details. Turkey’s
foreign policy objectives change little over time whereas American
priorities shift rapidly. When seeking Turkish cooperation, this
asymmetry must be kept in mind. Do not forget that because of this
asymmetry, the priorities, the immediacy and timing of demands and
expectations of the two sides can differ significantly. The realistic
setting and matching of priorities are therefore critical in order
to reciprocally reap maximum benefits.

5. The Turkish-American relationship is fragile and sensitive in
its public psychology dimension. Like Americans, national honor is
inviolable for Turks. Inadvertent statements or incidents implying
disrespect for national values and symbols should be avoided if our
relationship is not to be sidetracked. Take ownership of your ties
with Turkey. Take the initiative and make a statement affirming
the importance of our ties. This would do much good and provide an
auspicious start.

6. Surveys consistently indicate a very unfavorable opinion of the
U.S. in Turkey. This underlines the need to implement a broad public
diplomacy strategy to win the hearts of the Turkish public. That
should be one of the tasks of your Administration.

7. The efforts of the Armenian and other anti-Turkish lobbies to take
our relationship hostage should be rendered harmless. You need to
convince the Turkish public that you are being fair and not giving
in to the demands of special interest groups, especially when those
demands are at least questionable.

8. Two concrete issues regarding Turkey that will be brought to your
attention in the early days of your Presidency will be the Armenian
resolutions in the Congress and American help in the fight against the
PKK that is based in Iraq. They literally constitute the red buttons
in the control deck of our relations. Any resolution in Congress
supporting Armenian claims would do substantial, if not irreparable,
damage to your standing in Turkey and upset the entire chemistry of
our relationship. Moreover, it would not help resolve the problem
and reverse the positive trends now in the making between Turkey and
Armenia. Instead, you should encourage the recent positive trends
between the two neighboring states in the direction of dialogue and
conciliation.

9. Similarly, the decision of the Bush administration to work with
Turkey against the PKK terrorists operating from their safe havens in
Iraq is of critical significance for the Turkish people. You should
ensure that the Turkish-American cooperation in that sphere continues
without interruption.

10. Proper maintenance of our relationship might also require a
refurbishing of the various bilateral consultation mechanisms and joint
commissions that are in place. These different bodies have generally
fallen short of expectations. The only exception is the mechanisms
between the two militaries that have met regularly and performed
efficiently. You might ask for a review of the current situation in
order to ascertain what steps are necessary to put Turkish-American
relations on a sounder footing. A step that should surely be taken
would be to widen the spectrum of bilateral official contacts. At
present, our contacts are limited to heads of state or government,
foreign ministers and to ministers in charge of the treasury and
trade. We need to expand the network of our contacts to cover other
government departments to help diversify our relationship.

O. Faruk Logoglu is former Ambassador of Turkey to the U.S. Logoglu’s
piece appeared in the TUSIAD’s publication of Private View’s Autumn
edition.

–Boundary_(ID_I8La3HabGBc+1eKSxy 8crA)–

DIPLOMAT AND POLITICIAN GUNDUZ AKTAN DEAD AT 67

Hurriyet
Nov 20 2008
Turkey

ANKARA – Only a little over a year after he was elected as a deputy
from the MHP, respected diplomat and commentator Gunduz Aktan dies at
the age of 67. His special area of interest was the Armenian issue
and he was a former member of a commission advising the government
on countering genocide claims

Veteran diplomat and the deputy of an opposition party Gunduz Aktan,
67, passed away yesterday due to cardiac problems that besieged him
for two months.

"I and the Aktan family lost our father. This is a big pain and
loss. The Turkish nation lost its invaluable son who dedicated all
of his life to Ataturk’s Republic," said his son Uygar Aktan, in a
brief statement to the press in front of the Ankara hospital where
his father died.

His treatment in Turkey began after he was diagnosed with kidney tumor
in the United States, said Aktan’s doctor Adnan Bulut, adding that
he died at 02:10 a.m. from heart and liver failure."Unfortunately,
there was a delay in diagnosis of the disease but later everything
that needed to be done was done. The death was the will of God," said
his son. Gunduz Aktan, who served as Turkey’s ambassador to Greece,
Japan and the UN Office in Geneva, joined the ranks of the Nationalist
Movement Party, or MHP, and as an elected member of Parliament in the
July 22, 2007 elections. Aktan’s death brings the number of vacant
seats in Parliament to four and the MHP seats to 69.

"The Turkish diplomacy lost a distinguished member; the MHP lost a
valuable deputy," said leader of MHP Devlet Bahceli. "Our pain is very
grave." He called Aktan a "successful diplomat" and a "nationalist
intellectual." MHP deputies as well as other political party leaders
and ministers visited the hospital and offered condolences to the
Aktan family.

"Today is a painful day for all of us," said Deputy Prime Minister
Cemil Cicek who knew Aktan since the time of late President Turgut
Ozal. "His death comes early and as a surprise. May he rest in
peace." President Abdullah Gul said Aktan’s death was a big loss for
Turkey and noted he had represented Turkey very well.

Aktan left the Foreign Ministry in 1998. He chaired the Ankara-based
think tank, the Center for Eurasia Strategic Studies Center, or ASAM,
and regularly wrote columns in daily Radikal on domestic and foreign
policy developments between 1998 and 2007. But after joining politics,
he chose to stop writing.

"At a historic juncture full of dangers, reason suggests that
continuing writing is more preferable than joining politics. I think
my columnist colleagues are cleverer than me," Aktan said to his
readers in a farewell article published in Radikal on June 9, 2007,
one month before the early elections when the country was indulged in
crisis over the failure to elect a president. He wrote that he would
start doing a job he had never known but said his only hope was the
conviction that everyone was a "political creature" by birth. "While
bidding a farewell I don’t know what to say to my readers or, to put
it correctly, to those who read my articlesÃ~I I don’t say ‘Goodbye’
as I’m not going too far," concluded Aktan in his last column.

I’m not going too far His special area of interest was the
Armenian question and was a former member of a commission advising
the government on countering genocide allegations. Aktan proposed
genocide claims could be countered through international arbitration
and believed Turkish-Armenian relations could be normalized only
after a resolution of disagreements.

"Normalization of bilateral ties is out of the question without
progress on the genocide claims and the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute,"
he once told the Hurriyet Daily News. He was one of the lobbying
deputies in the United States against a measure labeling the killings
of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire as genocide. The
genocide resolution was marked-up by a U.S. House committee in 2007,
straining ties with Washington.

Speaking with the Daily News at the time, Aktan called for tough
sanctions against the United States in retaliation. "Turkey’s reaction
must be to do what is expected: shut down Ä°ncirlik air base and slow
down U.S. logistics to Iraq via Habur border gate," he stated then.

A funeral ceremony will take place at the Foreign Ministry and in
Parliament today and then he will be buried in Istanbul.

–Boundary_(ID_9Q4WUAhX0/yYM6zLX5WIcg)- –

IMF EXECUTIVE BOARD APPROVES US$13.6 MILLION POVERTY REDUCTION AND GROWTH FACILITY ARRANGEMENT ARMENIA

armradio.am
18.11.2008 15:25

On November 17, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) approved a three year, SDR 9.2 million (about US$13.6 million)
arrangement under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF)
for the Republic of Armenia to support the government’s economic
program through 2011.

The decision will enable the Republic of Armenia to draw an amount
equivalent to SDR 1.31 million (about US$1.9 million) from the IMF
immediately.

NOW IT IS SIMPLY SENSELESS TO SPEAK OF ANY CONFLICT MILITARY SETTLEMENT IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS, AN ARMENIAN POLITICAL EXPERT SAYS

ArmInfo
2008-11-17 16:33:00

ArmInfo. "Now it is simply senseless to speak of any conflict military
settlement in the South Caucasus. This may be talked about but it is
simply turning into an anecdote", Director of the Caucasus Institute
Alexander Iskandaryan said in his report at an international conference
"Transcaucasia: new realities, changes, prospects" held in Yerevan,
Monday.

"Armenia’s positions in the Caucasian region have slightly strengthened
after the crisis in August, however, this strengthening is purely
contextual, and time will show the further developments.

Moreover, the process of the South Caucasus region reformatting,
which started after the events in August and Russia’s recognition of
independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetiam, has not been over yet",
Iskandaryan said. In this context, he stressed the significance of
issues related to the future of the elite in the states recognized by
Russia, use of financial flows to these states, demographic issues,
as well as Russia’s rivalry with the West in the region.

DETAINED AZERBAIJANI ON ARMENIAN’S CLAIM NOT TO BE EXTRADITED TO RUSSIA

Trend News Agency
Nov 17 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, 17 November / TrendNews corr. S.Kazimli / In Baku
the police arrested an Azerbaijani citizen, who is wanted by Russia
on the base of a complaint of a Russian citizen of Armenian origin,
the Sabunchu District Police Office told TrendNews on 17 November.

On 16 November officers of the Registration and Identification
Department of the Sabunchu District Police Office detained 27-year
old Raman Abdullayev, who is wanted with the charge of the Article 158
(theft) of the Russian Criminal Code.

The primary investigations revealed that Abdullayev worked at an
Armenian’s shop in Russia. Afterwards the Armenian appealed to the
Russian law-enforcement bodies, claiming that Abdullayev used a
cigarette at $200 amount at his shop and a lawsuit was filed on this
case in accordance of the Article 158 of the Russian Criminal Code.

Abdullayev said that he was slandered with this charge. He said that
he did not steal anything and did not use the cigarette at the shop.

According to the District Police Office, Abdullayev was set free
after giving explanation and they informed the Russian law-enforcement
bodies on this matter.

A local court has not made a decision on Abdullayev’s extradition
to Russia, as the claim is groundless and not serious, the District
Police Office said.

Hürriyet, Turkey
Nov 15 2008

Murdered journalist’s son condemns minister

ISTANBUL – Arat Dink and the defense minister both agree that the
population exchanges involving thousands of Turks, Greeks and
Armenians are what made the country what it is today. The disagreement
is on the nature of the consequences.

If the Greeks and Armenians had stayed in Turkey after World War I,
the country would not have been the same; it would have been much
better, said the son of murdered Armenian Turkish journalist Hrant
Dink in a column in daily Taraf on Friday.

Arat Dink, the executive editor of Armenian weekly Agos, the newspaper
was founded and headed by his father, Hrant, until Hrant was shot dead
by a teenage nationalist in January last year. A Prime Ministry report
last week said the murder could have been avoided if authorities had
taken certain measures.

Arat Dink’s remarks came only days after Defense Minister Vecdi
Gönül, while at a NATO meeting in Brussels, asked, "If
Greeks had stayed on in the Aegean region or Armenians all over the
country, would we have been the same nation-state?"

Support or not?
The comments, interpreted as tacit support for the population exchange
between Greece and Turkey in 1922 after the Independence War, resulted
in swift condemnation from civil groups and the more liberal media in
Turkey. Greek media headlined the story, "Admission of ethnic
cleansing."

In his article, Arat Dink said Gönül had merely voiced a
fact, however, the way he expressed this fact showed he interpreted
the lack of Armenians and Greeks in Turkey as a positive part of the
nation-building process.

In his answer to Gönül’s question, Arat said, "No, the
country would not have been the same. It would have been super. Even
if nothing changed at least you would not be defense minister. If you
were, you would not even have thought what you said. If you had
thought it, you would not dare say it. If you did, you would not stay
defense minister for long."

Dink said Gönül was describing the lack of Greeks and
Armenians as positive. He added, "There is also an interesting often
forgotten fact. We are still here. We are few, but we are here. Is the
minister implying we should go too?"

The fact that Greeks and Armenians who lived in Anatolia before World
War I owned most of the good land in the country cannot be used as an
excuse, said Arat Dink, adding, "This theory confuses me even
more. Were they moved out because they owned good land or was their
removal a security matter?" He said the oath recited by primary school
students every week, dedicating their existence to the country, should
be altered for children going to schools for minorities. Dink said
those children should shout, "I dedicate my disappearance to the
country."

PM faces tough choice on Dink murder

The prime minister has received a report stating the murder of Turkish
Armenian journalist Hrant Dink could have been prevented, reported the
daily Milliyet on Friday.

The Prime Ministry inspector board’s report to Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip ErdoÄ?an said Dink’s murder in January last year could
have been avoided had senior security officials responded to the
intelligence gathered on the plans for the murder.

If ErdoÄ?an agrees, investigations may start against Istanbul
Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah, Trabzon gendarmerie commander at the
time of the murder, Col. Ali Ã-z, and then Trabzon Police chief
Ramazan Akyürek, whose failure to act upon the intelligence was
deemed crucial in the failure to prevent the murder.

The PM office’s inspector board took action upon the letter of Dink’s
wife, Rakel Dink, who demanded ErdoÄ?an not let the case be
covered up.

The report noted the inciter of the Dink murder, Yasin Hayal, who
bombed a McDonalds in Trabzon in October 2004, communicated over a
different phone line that was electronically tapped at the time of
bombing.

An informer working for the Police, Erhan Tuncel was influential in
the McDonalds bombing, the report concluded. "If Tuncel’s role in the
McDonald’s bombing could have been solved, the Dink murder might have
been prevented," it said.

The report identified several acts of negligence by security
officials, who failed to act in time to prevent the murder.

Daily Camera, CO
Nov 14 2008

Tara High School seniors explore Armenian culture in final production

By Mark Collins (Contact)
Friday, November 14, 2008

Maura Auster, for the Camera

Armenian Genocide Commemoration Committee Chairperson Kim
Christianian, far right, from the Armenians of Colorado, teaches Tara
Performing Arts High School students Carson Reid, 17, and Rachael
Surbaugh, 17, and Artistic Director and Co-Founder of the school
Laurel Fisher how to cook traditional Armenian food in preparation for
their upcoming play "Nine Armenians."

"Who likes to cook?" asks Kim Christianian.

Most of the students crowded into the kitchen at Boulder’s Tara School
for the Performing Arts raise their hands. Each is involved in Tara’s
upcoming production of the play "Nine Armenians."

Christianian is one of several local Armenian-Americans the Tara cast
has encountered to learn about different aspects of Armenian
culture. Today, Christianian is teaching the students how to make
cheese beoreg, an Armenian cheese turnover made with filo dough,
butter and various cheeses.

As the play portrays, much of Armenian culture revolves around food,
says Hasmik Nikoghosyan, a local Armenian-American woman who coached
the Tara actors on Armenian dialects used in "Nine Armenians."

"The celebration starts in the kitchen with the cooking process, and
goes all the way through the feast," Nikoghosyan says.

The cooking class is part of the intensive, hands-on learning that
often takes place through the avenue of theater at Tara, a private
four-year high school in Boulder. The past several weeks have been a
crash course in Armenian culture, customs and history.

"Armenia is right in the middle of the areas we hear of all the time
— between Georgia and Russia, and Iraq and Iran, and, of course,
Turkey," says director Laurel Fisher. "Yet no one knew that Armenia
was even there."

Through their own research, the Tara cast members uncovered a range of
information, like the fact that in 301 Armenia became the first
Christian nation, and that actress/singer Cher is Armenian-American.

"Nine Armenians," first staged off-Broadway in 1996, is about three
generations of an Armenian-American family living in New Jersey. Ani,
a 21-year-old, begins to wonder what her grandparents’ life was like
in the old country, and what really happened during the Armenian
Genocide in the early 20th century. She visits Armenia and returns a
changed woman.

The genocide, perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire in two periods between
1915 and 1923, wiped out as many as 1.5 million Armenians. It’s
considered the first modern genocide, as the Turkish government used
modern technology — the telegraph — to orchestrate the slaughter.

According to papers at the Armenian National Institute, Adolf Hitler
in part justified his quest to erase the Jews during World War II with
this sentiment: "Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of
the Armenians?"

After researching the genocide, Tara senior Seth Wenger, 17, wanted to
play the grandfather, a genocide survivor, in "Nine Armenians."

"I decided I wanted to play him just because of how personally I felt
about the genocide," he says.

"Nine Armenians," though, isn’t a brooding tragedy. It’s filled with
laughter and love and food, Armenian-style.

"There’s a real passion and heat in the Armenian culture," says
Christianian, a chairperson for the Armenian Genocide Commemoration
Committee in Colorado. "It’s this joy of life; of living, of tasting,
of breathing, of dancing. There’s a real revelry."

And even though their dialect is unique and their recipes may call for
more lemon than most, Armenians share much with other cultures, it
turns out.

"A lot of it is really humorous," says Carson Reid, 17, who plays
Ani. "It’s this big, loud, loving, argumentative family. They’re
always crossing paths and not getting along and loving each other so
much anyway. That’s something that happens in almost any family."

That includes the family of seniors at Tara. There are nine of them
this year, and "Nine Armenians" is their final senior production. Each
is cast in one of the roles in the play.

Fisher has directed most of the cast through four years at Tara. She
noticed something when she chose to produce "Nine Armenians" with the
group of teens.

"Like the characters in the play," Fisher says, "they have a hard time
leaving each other, they argue incessantly, but love and care for each
other at the same time."

nov/14/family-feel/

VALEH HAJIYEV: "ARMENIAN STATE EXISTS AT THE COST OF DIASPORA AND LOBBY, WHILE OUR STATE BACKS THE AZERBAIJANI DIASPORA"

Today.Az
politics/48994.html
Nov 14 2008
Azerbaijan

Economy of Armenia is in a bad state today and it is possible to say
that the state budget of this country is formed at the expense of the
Armenian diaspora, said deputy chairman of the state committee for
work with Azerbaijanis, residing abroad, Valeh Hajiyev, commenting
on the decision of the Armenian president to create the Diaspora
Ministry on the basis of previously operating state committee for
contacts with diaspora.

"Perhaps the decision to create the diaspora ministry in Armenia
is connected with the fatigue of the Armenian diaspora and lobby in
support of this country and intention to intensify the development
of a new diaspora at the expense of a new structure.

Comparing Armenian diaspora with Azerbaijani, he said the development
and strengthening of Azerbaijani diaspora has already been recognized
by Armenians, as success, attained by our compatriots abroad in the
sphere of the propaganda of Azerbaijani realities, is obvious.

According to him, Armenian diaspora has a 100 year history, while
Azerbaijani diaspora is young.

"Attention to the creation of Azerbaijani lobby and development of
Azerbaijani diaspora started to be paid only with Heydar Aliyev’s
coming to power and this attention strengthened under Ilham
Aliyev. owing to this care, the Azerbaijani diaspora has turned into
an effective power. And though we have much to do, the young diaspora
is competing the Armenian, which has a longer history.

He said this allows us to be more optimistic about the future. Armenian
state exists at the cost of diaspora and lobby, while our state backs
the Azerbaijani diaspora.

"Here, I would like to stress great attention to the problems of
diaspora paid by the head of our state. For this reason, people,
including students, intellectuals and other public representatives,
actively join this process. In the result, both Armenians and the rest
are obliged to admit that when there is a strong Azerbaijani state,
there will be strong Azerbaijani diaspora. This is inevitable",
concluded Hajiyev.

ABRAHAM INVITES PRESIDENT SARGSYAN TO ATTEND ONE OF HIS FORTHCOMING FIGHTS

armradio.am
14.11.2008 12:18

President Serzh Sargsyan today received the IBF middleweight world
champion Arthur Abraham, President’s Press Office reported.

The President congratulated the boxer on the occasion of the recent
brilliant victory. "It’s a great pride for us that our compatriots
reach such achievements abroad and make Armenia more known to the
world," he underlined.

Arthur Abraham told about his future programs, noting that he aims
at getting involved in the propagation of professional boxing in the
world and reveal new young names in this sphere.

The sportsmen invited President Sargsyan to attend one of his
forthcoming fights.