Author: Tatoyan Vazgen

SALUTING A CENTURY OF VERY GOOD SCOUTS
By Ben Farmer

Daily Telegraph/UK
02/08/2007

For the past five days, it has been an extraordinary international
celebration of youth and goodwill.

A rainbow of uniforms and flags has come together in a tented city
as thousands of Scouts from more than 160 nations have marked the
centenary of their movement.

A 100 years after Lt Gen Robert Baden-Powell founded the Scouts with
an experimental camp of just 20 boys, 40,000 of their successors have
descended on his native country for a two-week jamboree remembering
him and his organisation.

Yesterday, exactly 100 years on from that first meeting, Scouts
travelled back to the original campsite at Brownsea Island in Poole
Harbour, Dorset, and renewed the promise that binds them together,
to build a tolerant and peaceful society.

The moment was witnessed simultaneously by many of their 28 million
colleagues – a third of whom are girls – around the world via
satellite link.

The movement was born in 1907 when Baden-Powell, hero of the Siege
of Mafeking, decided to use his Army experience to set up a trial
camp for 20 boys from different social backgrounds. He went on to
write his ideas in a book called Scouting For Boys and a worldwide
phenomenon was born.

A century later, the World Scout Jamboree that has filled Hylands
Park in Chelmsford, Essex, is testament to his vision that Scouting
could transcend race, religion and country. Scouting, however, has
changed somewhat.

The 1907 Scouts caught rabbits, cooked them on an open fire, and
listened to Baden-Powell’s tales of training boys to help hold Mafeking
during the Boer War.

Scouts at the centenary events have been learning to juggle, canoe
and have discussed slavery, women’s rights, Aids and environmental
problems.

Their camp fires have also been banned on Brownsea Island, which is
owned the National Trust, because they threaten plantlife and wildlife.

However, Chief Scout Peter Duncan, the former Blue Peter presenter,
said the original aims of friendship, good deeds and living in harmony
with nature made Scouting more relevant than ever.

"Scouts were probably the original environmentalists," he said. "The
idea that Scouting imposes its will on young people, it’s just
the opposite. We encourage young people and empower them to do
things." Yesterday, Scouts ranging from Armenia to Australia and from
Trinidad to Taiwan bore witness to that. As the sun rose over Essex,
Mr Duncan opened the ceremony with three blasts on the same kudu horn
as Baden-Powell had opened his first camp.

The gathered Scouts, two from each country, then recited their Scout
promise in their own languages before bursting into spontaneous
singing and dancing.

Alastair Frankl, a 16-year-old from the 401st Manchester Scouts,
said: "I have had an awesome time. I’m going to have international
friendships which are going to last me for my whole life. It’s not
dib dib dob dob any more.

Even the uniforms are quite cool now."

Overseeing the celebrations at Brownsea, the Hon Michael Baden-Powell,
grandson of the founder, imagined what his grandfather would have
said if asked to report on the centenary to his seniors – "100 years
not out. Team batting well. Declaration not on the agenda."

â~@¢ Hundreds of scouts took part in a giant exercise class in Glasgow
yesterday as the 100-day countdown to the Commonwealth Games bid
announcement began.

Several sporting heroes joined scouts as they braved the rainy weather
at a workout session, which also celebrated 100 years of the Scout
movement, in the city’s George Square. By Ben Farmer

Ten things you never knew…

â~@¢ Twenty-six of the first 29 astronauts were former Scouts

â~@¢ The only countries without Scouts are China, Cuba, North Korea,
Burma, Laos and Andorra

â~@¢ Famous former Scouts include David Beckham, Paul McCartney and
Steven Spielberg

â~@¢ The motto Be Prepared derives from founder Baden-Powell’s initials

â~@¢ Girls were first allowed to become Scouts in 1991

â~@¢ Dolly Parton, the country singer, became a Scout this year,
at the age of 60

â~@¢ Woggles, used to tie Scouts’ neckerchiefs together, were first
used in the US and were made from bone, wood or rope

â~@¢ There are more than 70 different proficiency badges

â~@¢ Last year the most popular badge was for information technology
with 48,069 given out

â~@¢ Each day 100,000 people in Britain take part in Scouting events

–Boundary_(ID_wh7ArWgyDa/pzhxO4ZWZaQ)–

HSBC LOOKS BACK TO ITS ROOTS IN ASIA. BRITAIN’S BIGGEST BANK HAS HAD A TURBULENT TIME WITH ITS US BUSINESS, BUT IT NOW SEES EMERGING MARKETS AS LEADING ITS GROWTH.
By Sean Farrell

The Independent/UK
Published: 31 July 2007

It is a cruel irony that as the world has woken up to the huge
potential of emerging markets in Asia, HSBC – whose roots in Asia go
back to the 19th Century – has been trying to shore up its reputation
against problems in the US, the world’s most advanced economy.

HSBC tried yesterday to draw a line under the most turbulent period in
its recent history by ramming home the message that emerging markets
are leading the bank’s growth. Britain’s biggest bank announced
record pre-tax profit, up 13 per cent to $14.2bn (£7.0bn) for the
first half of 2007, beating analysts’ estimates, despite a $1.3bn
profit drop in North America.

The bulk of the profit rise came from Hong Kong and elsewhere in
the Asia-Pacific region, where HSBC opened its first branches in
1865. "Our roots lie in emerging markets… We will invest organically
and by acquisition in developing markets," says its chief executive
Mike Geoghegan.

HSBC started life in 1865 as Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation
and was based in Hong Kong until 1992, when it bought Midland Bank in
the UK as part of a diversification spree that helped turn it into
the world’s third-biggest bank. After Midland, HSBC bought banks
in Germany, France and the US to increase its exposure to developed
economies.

HSBC is trying to reclaim its crown as investors’ favourite bank
for Asian and emerging markets, which have been overshadowed by its
expansion into the racy market for US customers with poor credit
records. This move paid off at first but the bank was hit by bad
debts last year as defaults on mortgages rose with interest rates

The $14.8bn purchase in 2003 of the US sub-prime lender Household
International by its former chairman Sir John Bond made the bank
evenly balanced between Asia, Europe and the Americas, but HSBC
has lost some of its traditional premium to the UK bank sector as
Household’s problems have grown and investors have questioned whether
HSBC is still a play on Asia’s booming growth.

"I think they have missed out on some opportunities to grow organically
or through acquisition in Asia," says Oriel Securities analyst Mike
Trippitt.

"It’s not just that they have not made enough investment in Asia,
but they have switched that investment into the US. They are trying
to restore that balance and make it clear that they are not going to
ignore the heart of the business."

The explosion in Household’s bad debts came at a bad time for HSBC,
just months after the new leadership of Mr Geoghegan and chairman
Stephen Green took over after Sir John’s departure in May 2006.

After HSBC issued its first ever profit warning, alerting the market
to the scale of Household’s problems, Michael Taylor, the retiring
head of equities at Threadneedle Investments, spoke for many when
he asked why HSBC was involved with "trailer park" loans when it had
opportunities for growth in Asia.

Analysts say some of HSBC’s emerging markets premium has disappeared
to its long-time smaller UK rival Standard Chartered, which makes
almost all its profit in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Standard
Chartered beat HSBC to buy South Korea’s Korea First Bank in 2005.

"HSBC were a bit too conservative," Mr Trippitt says. "Standard
Chartered’s recent results in Korea haven’t been outstanding but it
was a missed opportunity."

Mr Green points to growth in China, India and Indonesia as examples
of the bank’s continuing investment in emerging markets. HSBC is the
biggest international bank in China, where profit grew 69 per cent
in the first half to $473m. The bank plans to open more than 30 new
branches by the end of the year to capitalise on China’s liberalisation
of retail financial services.

Mr Green also highlights the bank’s Latin American operation, which
has grown from about 10 branches a decade ago to 4,000 today after the
bank spent $5bn on acquisitions. Mr Green says HSBC is not interested
in joining the battle between Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays to
buy Dutch bank ABN Amro but he indicated HSBC would be interested in
"the jewel in the crown", ABN’s Latin American business, though he
said it was unlikely to become available.

Mr Green and Mr Geoghegan talk about "joining up" HSBC to offer
services between markets and finance increasing trade flows between
emerging markets.

"This is not just a PR thing; it is about the power of the franchise,"
Mr Green says.

In addition to Asian and Latin American markets, the bank singled out
Poland, the Czech Republic, Armenia, Kazakhstan and a new operation
in Georgia for investment.

HSBC fired the management of Household in February and installed its
own man at the top of the business, with Mr Geoghegan taking personal
responsibility for sorting out the mess. He says that as a result
of reducing the bank’s exposure to risky mortgage loans bought from
other banks, the US impairment allowances were unchanged at $2.1bn
in the first half.

Mr Geoghegan also says the bank faces a challenging environment
in Britain due to competition and regulatory issues. The bank paid
out $236m in the first half to UK customers reclaiming unauthorised
overdraft fees. With pressures in its two biggest western markets,
it is no wonder HSBC is now playing up its emerging markets potential.

"The opportunities are certainly there," says Collins Stewart analyst
Alex Potter. "Through all the turmoil of Household, the parts of the
business that have consistently outperformed expectations have been
in Asia. As other elements are under pressure, it is in management’s
interest to focus investors on these businesses."

–Boundary_(ID_OQpne4z80IKkxFwp HBL88w)–

This Turkey’s been overstuffed

It’s shocking, ambitious and nearly put its author in jail. What a
shame, then, that Elif Shafak’s The Bastard of Istanbul is so hard to
read, says Geraldine Bedell

Sunday July 29, 2007
The Observer

The Bastard of Istanbul
by Elif Shafak
Viking £16.99, pp357

The bastard of Istanbul arrives already weighed down by baggage.
Written in English, the novel was published first in Turkey, in
translation, where it rapidly became a bestseller. Its author, Elif
Shafak, was accused by the Turkish government of ‘insulting
Turkishness’ and could have been the first writer to be jailed in
Turkey for fictitious words spoken by an invented person. In the event,
the charges were thrown out but Shafak’s first pregnancy was
overshadowed by the possibility of a three-year prison term. The
incident generated international concern.

So much for the brouhaha; what of the book? This is a cluttered
carpetbag of a novel, crammed with characters and themes, not unlike
Istanbul itself. But what might be invigorating in a city can, in a
novel, be a bit bewildering. Towards the end I found myself drawing a
family tree of the characters in an attempt to get the convoluted
relationships straight in my head. (Shafak and her publishers can’t
provide this service themselves because the revelation of these
relationships is the meat of the novel.)
In the first five chapters, rather like Robert Altman in Short Cuts,
Shafak presents a series of disconnected scenes and characters that
may, possibly, we hope, eventually cohere. This may work better in film
than in a novel: by page 80 or so I was starting to feel frustrated at
having to gird myself for the fifth change of focus. Did the young
woman in Istanbul who failed to have an abortion have anything to do
with the American housewife? Why had we jumped 19 years? Were any of
these characters going to step forward and require some sustained
emotional input?

Fortunately, around one-third of the way through, the two central
figures, 19-year-old cousins Asya and Armanoush, one Turkish, one
Armenian-American, finally meet in Istanbul and start talking about
memory, identity, the wilful ignorance of the Turks of the massacres of
Armenians in 1915, and whether the past can be shaken off, which are
evidently the issues that Shafak really wants her readers to think
about.

The trouble is that these poor girls are often overwhelmed by the
book’s political intent. Asya and Armanoush talk unlike any normal 19
year olds; even clever girls surely don’t sound quite so relentlessly
like an essay. The other characters are typically distinguished by a
couple of salient features – sensible history teacher, miniskirted
tattooist – as if they are there for a higher purpose, and a sketch
will have to do.

Sometimes Shafak caves in completely under the need for symbolic
weight, and refers to her characters simply by what they stand for –
the Closeted Gay Columnist, the Non-nationalist Scenarist of
Ultranationalist Movies (which feels a bit like being beaten round the
head: we’ve already spotted that in Istanbul people often have to
conceal their true identities). Most troubling of all, Mustapha, Asya’s
uncle and Armanoush’s stepfather, whose actions are central to the
plot, remains an enigma.

The magical realist descriptions of Istanbul and Asya’s home are
powerful: these are places where djinns comfortably coexist with the
Turkish version of The Apprentice. And the passages about the
deportations and massacres of Armenians are shocking, as Armanoush
finds a city and a country in denial about the genocide, and attempts
to make her cousins understand how much the past conditions the
present.There’s plenty of plot, too, even if it does mostly come in the
final third. And there’s no doubt that the book is clever, thick with
ideas and themes and politics. Clogged, even: there were times when I
could have done with fewer characters and rather less whimsical
description.

The book is important for having drawn attention to the massacres and
to the Turks’ ambivalence about them, and for what it has exposed about
freedom of speech. It’s unquestionably an ambitious book, exuberant and
teeming. But, perhaps because of the sometimes florid writing, reading
it feels like holding a sack from which 20 very angry cats are fighting
to escape.

MEET GEORGE YAPCHAIAN: CANCER SURVIVOR AND BIKER

Warren Times Gazette, RI –
hp
July 27 2007

TIVERTON – George Yapchaian, 63, from Tiverton is a businessman,
cancer survivor, and serious biker, who on Saturday, August 4, will
ride 84 miles in one day, from Wellesley to Bourne, to raise money
for Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Mr. Yapchaian’s route is
part of the renowned Pan-Massachusetts Challenge (PMC) on the first
weekend in August that will involve 5,000 bicyclists – 200 of them
cancer survivors.

Cyclists from 36 states and six countries will be participating,
pedaling different routes through 43 towns across Massachusetts. The
PMC regularly raises more money (this year’s goal is $27 million)
than any other athletic fundraising activity in the country. Mr.

Yapchaian was diagnosed with prostate cancer in early 2004 after
a physical exam was negative but blood tests showed elevated PSA
(prostate-specific antigen) levels. He underwent surgery in June,
2004, and suffered a recurrence very early in 2006, which was followed
by eight weeks of radiation that spring. Since then he has had no
recurrences. In gratitude for the care he received at Dana Farber,
he said, and to help others, he took up biking after completing his
radiation treatment, and participated in his first PMC fundraiser
last summer. The 75 mile route he traversed proved so difficult
(it was all uphill, he said) it’s been discontinued. He trains for
this year’s challenge by biking over 100 miles each week, riding six
days weekly. He lives with his wife Frances (a CPA) at the Villages
on Mount Hope Bay. They have two grown children, Matthew, 30, now in
graduate school in fine arts, and Kaitlin, 25, a consultant.

Advice about prostate cancer? "Always have an annual checkup. ask
questions, do research. There’s a network of people out there who’ve
had prostate cancer who are available for discussing the disease or
treatment. [See insert] We call ourselves ‘cancer light’ in comparison
to other more lethal kinds."

How do you train for the PMC? "Right now I ride 100 miles a week.

It’s 18 to Fogland Beach and back. That’s my money ride. Saturdays
and Mondays are off, Sundays I do 50, Tuesdays and Wednesdays I do 18,
Friday 33. Thursdays it depends how I feel."

Why the PMC challenge? "The most important thing about the Pan Mass
is – the people who line the streets are applauding the bikers, there
are people in bandanas, in wheelchairs or who’ve lost people. These
people are yelling ‘thank you.’ I was amazed by that."

How long will your 84 mile ride take you? "I’m budgeting six to seven
hours. You’re riding in traffic."

What’s your greatest fear, riding? "That the friend I’m riding with
will outshine me."

Why are you doing this? "It’s like saying, Dana Farber, you’re doing
as good job. I’m giving a little bit back, a small donation."

Favorite ride? "A loop through Little Compton and Westport. It can
be about 50 miles or 33. It takes about two to three hours depending.

That’s my getaway. I vary it, swap directions."

Magazines subscribed to? "Biking, The New Yorker, Smithsonian."

Dream car? "Corvette Sting Ray. The one with the split window. It
was a 1963 maybe. I think they only made 300."

Favorite food? "Shish kebab. Skewered lamb."

Favorite biking snack/drink? "Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Also energy gels you can get at bike shops in different flavors.

Water. The rule is, drink before you’re thirsty, eat before you’re
hungry."

Childhood ambition? "Garbageman, my family will tell you."

Wildest dream? "Other than winning the lottery, there’s a bike ride
across the state of Iowa that I’d like top do." [See insert]

Greatest regret? "There are too many, you know. Shoulda, woulda,
coulda. Like yesterday’s news. But, yes, there’s one. I don’t have much
knowledge about my family’s history and the Armenian Genocide of 1914."

Pet peeve? "People who drive too close to bikers. Sometimes you feel
they aim for them. There’s a term we have, called ‘skinning.’"

Favorite movie? " ‘Birdcage,’ with Robin Williams. Also the Wallace
and Grommet movies."

Favorite music? "Soft jazz. Diane Krall. Nancy Wilson."

Idea of a perfect day? "Having my family around."

Fondest memory? "Seeing my children born. Sometimes you wish you
could have them back, but….."

Where do you go to retreat? "On my bike."

BABADI FOR ARMENIA’S BANANT FC
By Douglas Bugingo & Lambert Rusoke

The Monitor, Uganda
July 25 2007
Kampala

CRANES holding midfielder Noah "Babadi" Kasule has passed trials at
Armenian Premier League side Banants Yerevan FC.

Federation of Uganda Football Associations (Fufa) publicist Rogers
Mulindwa disclosed the development yesterday during the Front Page
Fufa weekly press briefing at Mengo.

MIDFIELD TERRIER: Kasule has passed trials at Banants FC of Armenia
and will sign soon. Photo by Eddie Chicco.

"We received a communication from Banants indicating that Kasule
had passed trials with them. And in the same communication, the club
requested us to process his ITC (International Transfer Certificate),"
Mulindwa said.

The federation is yet to consult Kasule’s local club, Uganda Revenue
Authority (URA) for clearance. "Fufa has no problem with releasing
the ITC for Kasule but we have to consult his local club first for
clearance," said Mulindwa.

If the deal is completed, he will join Cranes team-mate Eugene Ssepuuya
at the club.

Prior to joining URA in 2005 where he has been a central figure in
the tax collectors’ back-to-back league titles, Kasule had tried and
failed to secure a move to Europe.

He briefly played for Rwandan army side APR, before vanishing to
Britain, from where he was deported.

Fufa has also decided to lower entry fees for the crunch African
Nations Cup tie against Niger on September 8. Entrance to the open
stands remains at Shs 10,000, while the blue seats have been reduced
from Shs 25,000 to 20,000 and red seats from Shs 50,000 to 30,000.

"This is aimed at showing our appreciation for the huge support we
got during the Nigeria game and also attract a bigger crowd for the
Niger game," Mulindwa said.

Uganda needs to win by four clear goals to stand a chance of securing
a place at next year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana.

In a related development, the Council for East and Central Africa
Football Associations (Cecafa) U-19 Championship has been rescheduled
from August 11th to 18th.

Uganda will send a team to Burundi for the event.

A SHINING SPIRIT: ‘SPIRIT OF ARMENIA’ KICKS OFF ITS MUSICAL SERIES AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL.
By Erica Liu

Glendale News Press, CA
July 25 2007

Singer Sako rehearses for an upcoming performance at the Hollywood
Bowl at a home studio in Sunland Monday evening.

~U A shining spirit ~U THEATER REVIEW: ‘Alice’ weaves tale with improv
~U REEL CRITIC: Gripping tale of a truly good man ~U Kids get to act
up advertisement

"Spirit of Armenia!," a night of dance and music focusing on Armenian
culture, will take place Sunday as part of the KCRW World Festival
series at the Hollywood Bowl.

The concert will feature 15 performing acts presenting everything
from more traditional Armenian music to modern Armenian pop tunes and
performances by Armenian vocalists and dance ensembles, said Stepan
Partamian, who is producing the event in collaboration with the Los
Angeles Philharmonic Assn.

This concert is the first of its kind in both ambition and scope,
the Glendale resident said.

"This is the first time ever that we are presenting our own culture
to the general Los Angeles public and seeing Armenians collectively
contributing to a nonprofit organization that enriches cultural
awareness in Los Angeles," Partamian said.

By organizing this concert, he hopes to squash preconceptions that
Armenian musicians have to imitate mainstream artists in order to be
accepted, and that there is no room for authentic Armenian artists.

"My philosophy is totally different: I can go in and perform my own
culture, and people will come and accept me," he said.

In choosing artists to perform at the concert, Partamian had only
one requirement.

"I don’t want to pick people that want to sound like someone else,"
he said. "A music note is a music note, but how you use it becomes
cultural."

The show will be divided into two contrasting styles, said Laura
Connelly, the program manager for jazz and world music at the Los
Angeles Philharmonic Assn.

"We wanted to reflect the breadth of the Armenian culture," Connelly
said. "The first half is the more traditional and classical side of
the music, and the second half is the more pop and fusion side."

Among the many performers is "Winds of Passion," a local duduk quartet
formed in Glendale more than 10 years ago. The duduk is a traditional
Armenian woodwind instrument just starting to shed its reputation as
nothing more than funeral accompaniment.

"It has a very haunting, very soulful sound to it," said Ruben
Harutyunyan, the leader of the quartet, as translated by Partamian.

It is the instrument with a timbre that most closely approximates
the human voice, he said.

Out of the 8 million to 10 million Armenians scattered throughout
the world, Partamian estimates that there are only about 1,000 duduk
players left.

The group will be playing traditional Armenian songs as well as
the first rendition of the "Divine Liturgy" of the Armenian Church,
arranged to be played in a polyphonic style with duduks.

The "Divine Liturgy" was first translated from its original monophonic
form by the musical scholar Komitas in the late 19th century.

"He was the first Eastern scholar educated in the West who traveled
the Armenian countryside and took songs, like an oral history, and
changed it into Western notation," Harutyunyan said.

This will be the second time the members of "Winds" perform under
the white shell of the Hollywood Bowl.

"It is an honor to just walk on that stage for any musician … to walk
the stage with the greatest musicians and being offered the opportunity
to perform," Harutyunyan said. "The venue is so beautiful. Being in
nature adds something … Armenian music is for nature."

Armenian dance will also be prominently featured by 125 dancers from
the Zvartnots dance ensemble and Vartan & Siranoush Gevorkian dance
ensemble, Connelly said.

"The costumes they have are so amazing, the moves … " Connelly said.

"It’s like having an army of dancers out there. It’s quite a
spectacle."

In addition to both dance ensembles, also appearing from Glendale are
Hovhannes Shahbazyan, Soseh Keshishyan of Element Band, Gagik Badalyan,
Araks and Alik Karapetyan Vocalist Sako of Burbank will also perform.

"We’ve never really done a whole night of Armenian music and thought
it was time to do it," Connelly said.

INTERNATIONAL DONORS HELPED BUILD 4853 HOMES FOR REFUGEES IN ARMENIA

Lragir, Armenia
July 25 2007

The Armenian government will carry on the policy on integration of
refugees, stated Gagik Yeganyan, head of the department of refugees
and migration of the Ministry of Territorial Governance, in a news
conference on July 25, ARKA reported. According to Gagik Yeganyan,
in three years the government allocated 2.9 billion drams for housing
of refugees, and 800 families already have houses. This year funds
will be allocated to another 220 families to buy apartments. On the
whole, 4853 apartments and houses were built for refugees, including
on donor money.

As a result, more people have rejected the status of refugee and got
passports of citizens of Armenia. According to Gagik Yeganyan, this
year 76 thousand people got citizenship compared with 6000 in 2002.

"PYUNIK" SUCCEEDED

A1+
[11:46 am] 26 July, 2007

The Armenian football champion "Pyunik" managed to overcome the
obstacle of the first stage of the Champions League qualification.

"Pyunik" managed to beat his rival 2:0 during the meeting with the
Irish "Derry City" team. The first match of the teams ended in a
tie 0:0, thus, the Armenian team will continue the struggle in the
second stage.

In the second stage of qualification "Pyunik" will play with
"Shakhtyor" team from Ukraine. The first match is due at 20:00 on
31 July in Yerevan. The return match is to take place in Donetsk on
8 August.

RA FOREIGN MINISTER TO LEAVE FOR GEORGIA ON JULY 25 ON THREE-DAY VISIT

Noyan Tapan
Jul 24, 2007

YEREVAN, JULY 24, NOYAN TAPAN. RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian will
leave for Georgia on a three-day working visit on July 25. V. Oskanian
will meet with Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili during
the visit.

V. Oskanian will visit Ajaria on July 26, where he will meet with
Ajarian Prime Minister Levan Varshalomidze. In Batumi V. Oskanian
will also get acquainted with the conditions of the building chosen
for Armenia’s Consulate General.

According to the report provided to Noyan Tapan by the RA Foreign
Ministry Press and Information Department, on July 28, the RA Foreign
Minister will meet with ambassadors of a number of countries accredited
in Georgia and with heads of international organizations’ offices.

I AM A SUPPORTER THAT WHO WILL BE ELECTED…

Azat Artsakh Tert – Nagorno Karabakh Republic
July 23 2007

According to the chairman of the local commission of 4/2 polling
district Rena Nersisian, the commission has started the works in due
time, and already at 8:00 ‘clock the first voter voted. Elections
passed in normal conditions, by 12:50, 310 of 837 voters have already
done their civic duty. As the chairman of the commision has noted,
the infingements have not been registered. The course of elections have
been followed by the observers, journalists. For doing the civic duty,
at 13:00 o’clock the NKR presidential candidate Masis Mailian with
his wife visted to the polling district.After voting the presidential
candidate answered numerous questions asked by the journalists." Mr
Mailian with what feeling have you come to vote?".

"With joyful and high spirit, we expect a victory"."What infringements
for this moment and generally during the pre-election campaign
have been fixed by your headquarters?" "We have already presented 9
applications and complaints to the NKR CEC.

Unfortunately, infringements are going on now and we have presented
them in written form to the NKR CEC. "Don’t you think, that speaking
about infringements, you damage to the process of elections, as only
you of all candidates speak about infringements?"."I don’t think so,
if we love our country, we should speak about lacks openly and make so
that our people and the world community shouldn’t be deceived. It is
simply impossible and hasn’t a meaning. If we wish to take the place
in world we should become really democratic country. Everybody should
realize it. The law is the most important, and the president elected
only by the law, establishes legality in the country. However the
world community doesn’t generally recognize NKR. If we shall continue
to carry out elections with infringements, we are not recognized also
in the future. Besides, elections are not carried out for the world
community, first of all they are carried out for our people. And
everything should be lawful, so that in further to have the bases to
insist on our position and that the world community will recognize
our country"