Author: Tigranian Ani

WHO BENEFITS FROM THE INSTIGATION OF AN ARMENIAN-KURDISH CLASHES?

In view of the revelation of the American programs aimed at the
disintegration of Iraq and the deepening Turkish-American
confrontation, it becomes inevitable for the Armenian society,
scientific and political circles to demonstrate an interest in the
Kurdish issue and especially `in the past and the current stage of the
Armenian-Kurdish relations.
This is quite a natural and inevitable process, and the Armenian
society and political circles have been involved in it for several
years on end. And during the whole period we have been sticking to the
reserved approach that the Turkish and later the Azerbaijani policy
have always viewed the Kurds as most appropriate tools. Some of our
historians currently transfer this obsolete assessment to the Kurdish
activists and political circles as well. Moreover, such lighthearted
conclusions drawn by the historians and political scientists
interested in history are beginning to provide rich materials to the
Turkish and Azerbaijani propaganda which is now sweating its guts out
for refreshing and using the intolerance still preserved in the
Armenian-Kurdish relations.
In contrast to us i.e. Armenians, the Turks and Azeris guide
themselves by the current policy of coercion. And the noteworthy
feature of that moment is the combination of the prospect of forming
the independent state of Kurdistan with the process of recognizing the
Armenian Genocide on the basis of the Kurdish autonomy. Both these
developments are a deadly threat for Turkey and Azerbaijan, because
the risk of driving an Armenian-Kurdish wedge is being sketched
between these processes. Therefore, it is not accidental that the
Turkish propaganda currently continues to provoke anti-Armenian
dispositions among the Kurds and at the same time remind them of the
fate of the Armenians. As regards the Azerbaijani propaganda, its Web
sites are full of studies concerning the Armenian-Kurdish relations.
The American scenario of advancing the Kurdish and Armenian issues
simultaneously is not beneficial to Turkey and Azerbaijan, its
supporter, and they are doing their best to use the historical
conflicts of the two peoples with the purpose of solving their current
problems. To that end, the Azerbaijani propaganda is on the one hand
sparing no effort to refresh the issue of the Kurdish pretensions to
Western Armenia and on the other hand, drawing the Kurdish
politicians’ attention to the well-known disputes periodically
breaking out between the Kurdish and Ezid communities of Armenia.
Realizing all the underlying the political calculations, the
Armenian politicians must now cease to approach the Kurdish issue
through the glasses of a historian. We, Armenians, know our own
history well, but when the Azeris and Turks begin to use it leaning on
the recent historical studies or assessment of R. Ohanyan or
G. Asatryan, we unwillingly have to ask ourselves: who needs the
incitement of debates, in view of the complex situation currently
existing in the region.
The answer is clear and definite: the recognition of the Iraqi
Kurdistan and the Armenian Genocide in the current political situation
are processes objectively contributing to each other. And the Armenian
authors who believe that the formation of an independent Kurdish state
in Northern Iraq is dangerous from the point of view of our interests
are gravely mistaken or else, they are guided by the interests of
third countries. On the contrary, the formation of this kind of state
is the first step that may make the disintegration of Turkey
inevitable in perspective.
However, perspective is one thing, and futile efforts of `crossing
the river before reaching it’ ` quite a different thing. There’s no
need to run ahead of the developments, because this time we have found
ourselves in positions which are favorable for the third party. The
Kurdish state which is being formed in Iraq will be the same for the
Kurdish nation as the current territory of the Republic of Armenia
became for us, th
assive displacement of Kurds from the current Turkish territory,
especially the territory of Western Armenia. In the aftermath, Turkey,
a country not punished for the Armenian Genocide and the Kurds, who
once became a tool for it will continue the long and bloody drama for
the possession of lands not belonging to them.
We believe, the international community will inevitably face the
fact of the desolating the territories shared between Armenia and the
autonomous Kurdistan under the Treaty of Sever (1920) and turning them
into demographic disaster zones, and this will directly and inevitably
result in the Armenian Genocide remaining unpunished.
Predicting the inevitability of such developments, there’s no need
to run ahead of the events and search enemies in the Kurdish Movement,
a factor which objectively contributes to the weakening of Turkey’s
positions but is actually powerless in terms of making maximalistic
demands.

VARDAN GRIGORYAN

OIL CRISIS EXERCISE BARES US ‘IMPOTENCE’

Agence France Presse
Nov 2 2007

WASHINGTON (AFP) – It’s August 2009, oil prices have topped 150
dollars a barrel and a secret uranium plant has been detected in Iran.

Tehran and Caracas are slashing oil exports by 700,000 barrels to
punish the West for sanctions, and the US military is ready to move
its entire Pacific fleet into the Middle East to counter threats.

It may be tomorrow’s headlines, but on Thursday a high-powered
panel of Washington insiders acting as the US president’s national
security council found they would face almost impossible choices
and be powerless in such a case, baring the United States’ growing
inability to lead in global crises.

"In this kind of hostile environment (Iran and Iraq) would have the
upper hand," said Gene Sperling, former president Bill Clinton’s
national economic adviser, who played the treasury secretary in
the exercise.

It "would make us look impotent," he added.

"This scenario could start tomorrow," said retired general John
Abizaid, the former US Central Command chief.

Put on by the Securing America’s Future Energy and the Bipartisan
Policy Center, the unscripted one-day simulation sought to emphasize
the danger of the extremely narrow gap between world oil production
capacity and demand, and the heavy US dependence on oil imports.

But it exposed the strained US military’s incapacity to project its
power over multiple regions, and the ability of even small countries
to provoke a world political and economic crisis.

To play a White House team reacting to the news in real time, SAFE
brought together nine former top presidential advisors and officials
with intimate knowledge of national security affairs.

The "council" included former treasury secretary Robert Rubin playing
the president’s national security advisor, former deputy secretary of
state Richard Armitage as secretary of state, former navy secretary
John Lehman as secretary of defense, and former national security
council official Philip Zelikow as national intelligence director.

The scenario they woke up to on May 4, 2009 was the loss to world
markets of one million barrels a day in oil supplies when saboteurs
in Azerbaijan caused the shutdown of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

The action heightened geopolitical tensions in the region and sent
oil prices from the mid-90 dollar range to 115 dollars a barrel.

With the stock markets plummeting, the council has to advise the
president what to say and do, and finds its hands tied by the strains
of the Iraq war and by domestic politics.

"Energy Secretary" Carol Browner — head of the US Environmental
Protection Agency in the 1990s — says the president can release oil
from the strategic reserve to alleviate gasoline prices, or call
for conservation with lower speed limits, a Sunday driving ban,
and other measures.

Looking at possible Russian or Iran involvement in the Azerbaijan
blast, "joint chiefs chairman" Abizaid says the strategic reserve
has to be kept for military needs.

Others say the public and Congress would not accept forced
conservation.

With no information on who made the Azerbaijan attack — Armenians?

pro-Russian elements? Iran? — the defense and intelligence officials
say they have to be on alert but do not know what else to do.

"Our ability to project power into this area is very limited. We are
strung out all over the globe," said Lehman, noting that the military
hasn’t begun to rebuild after years in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Rubin points out that with global production capacity almost maxed out,
there is little possibility of replacing the lost oil flow.

"It shows how weak our hand is," he says, as the group falters on
urging the president to do more than assuage US consumers.

Three months later, the situation has drastically worsened. A secret
uranium enrichment plant was discovered in Iran, confirming its nuclear
weapon ambitions; oil production in Nigeria has been curtailed by
rebel attacks.

As the council meets, Iran has just replied to threatened new Western
sanctions by cutting back its oil production and Venezuela follows
suit, sending prices past 150 dollars.

The president’s advisors say there are no short-term measures to
soften the economic or political blow. They also admit sanctions
on Iran have little effect, that high oil prices and short supply
actually encourage producer cutbacks.

Militarily, with Israel threatening to take action on Iran itself,
the Pentagon says the US has to project force in the region. But
doing so means moving the entire Pacific fleet to the Middle East,
ceding power in the Pacific — and Taiwan — to China.

After years following the 9/11 attacks of not demanding sacrifice of
its people, the new crisis has brought things to a head, Lehman said,
as he suggests restarting the draft.

"We are facing a mortal threat to our way of life here," he said.

TER-PETROSYAN’S HUMAN RESOURCE BANK
Kima Yeghyazaryan

Hayots Ashkharh Daily
Oct 31 2007
Armenia

In his speech made during the October 26 demonstration, the
ex-President announced, "Having strengthened its positions" after
"October 27" tragedy "the Kocharyan Administration got rid of all
the foreign bodies impeding its criminal activity: Prime Minister
Aram Sargsyan, Defense Minister Vagharshak Haroutyunyan, Prosecutor
General Boris Nazaryan, Mayor of the town of Yerevan Albert Bazeyan,
as well as all the rest of the Ministers belonging to the Republican
Party and the Armenian People’s Party, i.e. Vahan Shirkhanyan, Levon
Barkhoudaryan, Smbat Ayvazyan, Shahen Karamanoukyan, Zaven Gevorkyan,
Leonid Hakobyan, Gegham Haroutyunyan, Eduard Simonyants, Andranik
Kocharyan, Tigran Hakobyan, David Matevosyan, Moushegh Saghatelyan,
Armen Yeghyazaryan, Artak Zeynalyan an d others."

First, let’s note that even in case of having the brightest imagination
it is impossible to classify the "pure-blooded" human resources of
the Armenian pan-National Movement among the Republican Ministers or
those belonging to the People’s Party of Armenia.

It is simply astonishing that Ter-Petrosyan should have given the
mandate of the above-mentioned two parties to Mr. Karanmanoukyan, Head
of his staff, T. Hakobyan, Chief Secretary of the Armenian pan-National
Movement, A. Kocharyan, member of the administration of the Armenian
pan-National Movement, M. Saghatelyan, the irreplaceable chief warder
or Mr. Shirkhanyan who is tied to the Armenian pan-National Movement
by a navel string. This is among other things.

Of course, these characters are quite familiar to the public; so is
the period of their "glorious deeds". However, it wouldn’t be useless
to remind once again who these people are, what grandiose names the
ex-President enumerates and who he supports.

Let’s start with Aram Sargsyan who, as he himself has confessed,
crossed the threshold of the Government building for the first time in
his life after being appointed a Prime Minister. And during the 5-6
months of his activity, i.e. till May 2000, when he was discharged
from the office of Prime Minister, he never managed to understand
a very simple thing: that he was not appointed a Prime Minister in
order to supervise the activity of a single body (i.e.

body independent of the Government), but rather, he was entrusted with
the task of the country’s overall governance. Whereas, setting aside
the country’s economic and social problems, the task of supervising
the Executive of the Budget and a great number of other issues, the
Prime Minister was all the time busy with some fraudulent activities.

And what about prosecutor Boris Nazaryan, Prime Minister Sargsyan’s
fellow villager? What was he busy with in the same period of time? In
his turn, he had forgotten that he was not the chief of a group
conducting the inquest of a separate case, but rather, he was the
Prosecutor General of the Republic and was bearing responsibility
for the country’s overall legal-criminal situation.

But, as we mentioned, the fellow-villagers would, for 5-6 months,
discuss and advance such exotic hypotheses that might directly reach
the presidential residence. Those who follow the intriguers’ advice
and are not concerned by the observance of "law and order" wouldn’t
try to search the organizers of the "27" tragedy elsewhere.

As to the Government led by Mr. Shirkhanyan, the chief master of
frauds, it failed to perform the Ministerial duties and, instead of
coordinating the productive infra-structures, committed itself to the
coordination of the "27" hypotheses, considering the organization of
a post-27 coup as its principal function and competence.

And what about Smbat Ayvazyan, Minister of State Incomes? What
distinguishing characteristics did he have? The tax collection
process was permanently under-fulfilled in the period when he was in
office. And the matter went so far that the 2000 Budget was sequestered
(reduced). This is how the Prime Minister "impeded the activity of
the criminal administration".

As regards Andranik Kocharyan who was appointed a governor in the
disaster zone under the rule of the Armenian pan-National Movement,
his activities of this period were evluated by the people of Gyumri
during the same years. This person came and immediately expelled
the Ukrainian, and changed Gyumri into a "town of forlorn people";
the homeless, beggars and the hungry were swarming in the demolished
buildings, while Andranik and his companions were organizing feasts
in the kingdom of darkness.

It is simply ridiculous to hear how chief ward Moushegh Saghatelyan
(Vano’s punitive artillery) fights the criminal administration in
the battle. Didn’t LTP follow the inquest and prosecution of the case
against the chief ward who was charged by 4 Articles of the Criminal
Code simultaneously? These are crimes committed under the rule of
the former authorities and encouraged by the ex-President.

As regards Tigran Hakobyan, who was the Chairman of the National
Television under the rule of the Armenian pan-National Movement and
later found a quiet shelter in the Government holding the post of
the Head of the Public Relations Department, we just wonder in what
way he was impeding Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan’s criminal activity?

Perhaps he was doing it stealthily?

The person who dismissed the former National Security official
Eduard Simonyants from his office was David Shahnazaryan, the Head
of that structure. But today, it is of course beneficial to LTP to
add "livestock" to his own list of victims and then state with deep
sorrow that the these people were discharged from their posts by
the administration.

And there of course remains Vagharshak Haroutyounyan who, committing
an obvious transgression on the night of the "27", surrounded Yerevan
with his troops, without notifying the President of his activities.

As to the Zaven Gevorkyan, Minister of Agriculture who belonged to
the People’s Party of Armenia, he has been forgotten even by his own
party, as he quit the Republic long ago. He didn’t manage to develop
agriculture here; perhaps, his professional skills will be evaluated
in Russia.

Therefore, in vain is the ex-President circling their heads with
aureoles, because the people know very well who’s who. In any case,
it was useful to acquaint ourselves with this part of his speech. The
future staff of LTP’s Administration was sketched to a certain extent.

TURKEY THREATENS TO JUMP
By Shmuel Rosner

Slate
Oct 30 2007

Ankara beat Congress; now it’s taking on the Bush administration.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan "She’s going to talk
primarily about the U.S.-Turkey bilateral relationship and talk about
the fact that it is a good, strong relationship," claimed State
Department spokesman Sean McCormack in his daily briefing to the
press Monday. "She" is Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; the "talk"
will happen on her trip to Turkey later this week; and that "strong
relationship" is in trouble. The Turks have recently re-learned that
they can influence America’s decision-makers and policies, and they’re
going to use that power again.

Last month, the Turks and their friends in the administration defeated
Nancy Pelosi, a determined, commanding speaker of the House.

The passage of a resolution that would label the 1915 killing of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks as "genocide" was postponed indefinitely.

Pelosi’s friends on the Democratic side of the House were kind enough
to save her from even greater embarrassment: The sponsors asked her
to delay the vote-and she agreed.

This was a political blunder. The speaker, as committed as anyone to
passing the symbolic legislation, was humiliated by an even stronger
and no less committed Turkish lobby. However-as often happens with acts
of foolishness committed by Congress-the price will be paid by another
branch of government, the executive. The check will be submitted later
this week to its senior representative, Secretary Rice. A week later,
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit an even higher
authority, President George Bush, with the same purpose.

RA GOVERNMENT INTERESTED IN DEEPENING COOPERATION WITH

armradio.am
30.10.2007 17:17

RA Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan today received the delegation headed
by the Defense Minister of Russia Anatoly Serdyukov, who is paying
an official visit to Armenia.

Greeting the guests, the Prime Minister underlined that the Armenian
Government is greatly interested in deepening the bilateral and
multilateral relations with the Russian Federation in most different
directions, including the cooperation in the military sphere. According
to the Prime Minister, this cooperation derives from or national
interests, and the Armenian Government will continue doing its utmost
to further expand and develop it.

Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov expressed confidence that
his visit will serve as an impetus and promote the development of
Armenian-Russian military cooperation.

During the meeting the Armenian Prime Minister and the Russian Defense
Minister discussed issues concerning the existing challenges in the
context of reinforcing regional security and stability.

System of a Down leader releases first solo album

TheRecord.com – arts – System of a Down leader releases first solo album

Los Angeles Times
October 27, 2007

HOLLYWOOD

Serj Tankian is a thoughtful, erudite man — especially for a wild-man
rock singer — but sometimes he’s overwhelmed by an impulse. His
decision to quit studying for law school and become a musician came so
suddenly that he literally hit the brakes on his Jeep Wrangler one
night in the early 1990s.

In 2005, he was accepting a European MTV Award with his band, System
of a Down, when something came over him.

"In my mind something just sprung up and went, ‘You have to say
this,"’ Tankian says. "And I’m like, ‘Thank you very much, but what I
really want to say is civilization is over.’

"I said, ‘Let’s find a way to work through this peacefully with each
other all together with love and understanding.’ And I’m going to my
seat and I go, ‘What . . . did I just say?’ It was what was
percolating out of me. And since then I’ve been thinking about that
and what it means."

Tankian’s engagement with the thesis that greed, nationalism and
indifference to the environment have taken civilization past the point
of no return sets the tone for much of his new solo album, Elect the
Dead. Released this week, the collection is the first work from a
System member since the acclaimed Los Angeles quartet formalized an
"indefinite hiatus" earlier this year.

"Nature-based beings will survive apocalyptic days of now . . . nature
will survive us human dogs after all," he sings in the song Honking
Antelope, his eccentric, twangy warble and jumpy cadences as
distinctive in his work as they are in System of a Down.

Tankian, 40, is taking the apocalypse well. Sitting in his living
room, he almost seems to look forward to the transition.

"We’re all addicted to civilization, myself included, because we can’t
imagine life without it," he says. "If we were able to imagine life
without it, like the 0.1 per cent of indigenous population on this
planet, it wouldn’t be scary at all, it would just be like, ‘Well,
it’s not going to be this way, it’ll be another way.’

"I have hope,” he adds. "I’m a very hopeful, optimistic person. I
smile every day, and I don’t go around going, ‘The sky is falling, the
sky is falling.’ If I do, I’ll probably be thinking, ‘The sky is
falling. I hope I can see it — that’ll be such a trip."’

On stage and on record, Tankian is a flamboyant figure with a fierce
glare and a unique voice that’s helped make System of a Down a rock
institution. Away from music, he’s a fervent social crusader with a
special interest in the Armenian genocide. He and Rage Against the
Machine’s Tom Morello founded the non-profit Axis of Justice to unite
musicians, fans and political organizations behind activist causes.

But entering his hillside home is more like stepping into a mountain
monastery than the lair of a rabble-rousing rocker.

The glass-walled main room is spotless and uncluttered, centred on a
hanging fireplace above a flat, square stone arrayed with candles.

It’s silent except for the clicking of claws on the wood floor as
Tankian’s dog, Bowie, walks by, and the clamour of a row of wind
chimes out on the deck.

Tankian’s homes haven’t always been so tranquil. He was born in Beirut
and came to the U.S. with his family at age seven, just as civil war
in Lebanon was heating up. He grew up in the Los Angeles area and
joined a relative’s jewelry business after graduating from California
State University, Northridge.

He started a software company with products geared to that
trade. After selling the company, he took classes to prepare for law
school.

But he had started tinkering with music in college, and then came that
moment of revelation.

"The realization came to me: Do I want to be a lawyer? . . . Hell no,
I want to do music. And that was it.”

Tankian teamed with guitarist Daron Malakian in a band called
Soil. After it broke up, the two formed System of a Down. They had
immediate support in the Armenian community, but soon their
experimental hard rock, most of it recorded with producer Rick Rubin,
caught on big. They’ve released five albums since 1998, and none has
sold fewer than one million copies in the U.S.

Tankian, who says the four musicians needed a break after a busy
decade-plus, understands the waves of concern on this "indefinite
hiatus,” but he’s not going out of his way to be reassuring as he
prepares for an extensive concert tour. Malakian and System drummer
John Dolmayan, meantime, are preparing to record under the name Scars
on Broadway.

Says Tankian: "We’re friends, we support each other, we talk to each
other.

I’m supportive of their projects and vice versa, and when we have
something to say together we’ll get together and say it. But not
because we have to release a record next year.”

As a label owner himself — his Reprise-affiliated Serjical Strike
Records has had some success with the Texas band Fair to Midland and
is also the home of Tankian’s solo album — he knows that System’s
label, Rubin’s American Recordings, will be wondering when that next
record is coming.

"We have to stop seeing things as branded items on the shelf,” he
says.

"We’re not Nabisco. We’re not a corporation that’s putting out cookies
every year so that next year’s cookies are going to be this and that.

"We’re a group of artists and we do art, we do music and that’s got to
be fresh, and when you want to speak together, that’s when it’s got to
be spoken," Tankian says.

"We’re not the type of band to just press it for the money every
year. System of a Down has never been that type of a band; we’ve never
taken corporate sponsorships. We’ve done it because it’s our passion."

ringsidereport.com, VA
Oct 27 2007

The Passing of the Torch: Susi Kentikian Steps In as Regina Halmich
Steps Out

By Roger T. Tubajiki-October 27, 2007

A few months ago, the reigning WIBF Flyweight Champion, Regina
Halmich, revealed that she would end her professional career, a
career that began in 1994 in her hometown of Karlsruhe, Germany,
against Fienie Klee, which she won via six round points decision. In
contrast to today’s female boxing, the early years of Regina Halmich
in professional boxing met critics who were skeptic and voiced their
views loudly. Despite the critics, Regina seemed to have the ability
to provide convincing ideas with realistic prospects of female boxing
developing into an innovative and through her long time struggle, the
popularity of female boxing, especially in Germany, has grown
tremendously.

This past February, Halmich made her debut as a boxing moderator on
television and this is what she wants to continue to continue doing
when she retires from boxing. The night of November 30th, 2007, at
the DM Arena, will be known by many as the icon of female boxing in
Germany, the `Box Queen’ Regina Halmich’s last appearance in the ring
as a fighter as she is set to defend her title in her farewell bout
against Hagar Shmoulefeld of Israel.

It has been announced that if Regina should defend her title and
retires, as she has planned, the title will be considered vacant and
up for grabs when the current WBA Female Flyweight Champion, Susi
Kentikian, when she faces former title challenger, Nadia Hockmi in a
rematch, on December 7th, 2007, at the Sporthalle in Hamburg,
Germany.

The end of Regina’s career should not be a note of desperation for
female boxing and fans. She is a source of inspiration for other
female boxers and since the end of her career, has raised some
conversation about who will be the next Regina Halmich out of the
other female boxers in Germany. It appears that almost every female
boxer has a tremendous respect for her for lifting the sport of
female boxing to the level it is today, but each of the other female
fighters seem to enjoy her personality in the sport.

Presently, Susi Kentikian is considered by many German female boxing
fans to be the most exciting and charismatic female boxer that the
country has ever produced and from a popularity standpoint, the
successor of Halmich.

Many fans admire Kentikian for her combativeness and enthusiasm and
you can feel the electricity in the arena when she steps into the
ring, which she proved recently in a bout that ended spectacularly
with a third round TKO over the dangerous Shanee Martin of the United
Kingdom.

As asylum seekers, the family of Kentikian knew the fear of seeing
their request for asylum rejected in Germany and being sent back to
their home country of Armenia where they fled the breaking
Nagorno-Karabakh War, which was the armed conflict that took place
from 1988 to 1994. Kentikian was a mere child at the time.

That fear occupied their minds during that period but never stopped
Kentikian, who got temporary residence to go to school and work at
the same time as a cleaner in a local fitness studio to provide for
her family. Meanwhile, Kentikian used to accompany her brother to a
local boxing Gym where she discovered her passion for the sport.

When she started with boxing training, she realized that it helped
her forget those turbulent moments and gave her reasons to stay
strong and focused. With a successful amateur career, and an
attractive boxing style, Kentikian earned the attention of the local
press and signed for a professional career, which helped her family
get a permanent residence permit in Germany as they were about to be
deported back to Armenian.

The professional boxing career of Kentikian began in January of 2005,
which she won via a 4-round UD over IIiana Boneva of Bulgaria. The
rest of her bouts until now were won in majority by way of TKO. This
is why some people name her the `Mike Tyson’ of female flyweight
division. This past February, Kentikian defeated Carolina Alvarez to
claim the WBA Female Flyweight Title, which she defended against
Maria Jose Nunez Anchorena, Nadia Hockmin, and Shanee Martin.

Among the four last opponents of Kentikian, Nadia Hockmi is the only
to have tactically handled Kentikian’s pressure. This time around,
Kentikian has promised her many fans that Nadia will pay a huge price
come December 7th, because she will be honored to defend her WBA
Title and add the WIBF belt should Regina Halmich successfully defend
her title in her last bout.

dmore=1989

ABC7Chicago.com, IL
Oct 27 2007

Three boxers remain missing
Ugandan coach says missing fighters want to box in America

By Ben Bradley

October 26, 2007 (CHICAGO) – Three athletes in town for the World
Boxing Championships appear to have skipped town. The three have not
been heard from in more than a day.

Uganda was fielding a fighter but missing two men from its squad for
Friday afternoon’s bouts at the UIC Pavilion. Boxers Phillip Adyaka
and Sharif Bogere last checked in with their teams at 10 a.m.
Thursday. There is also a 25-year-old fighter from the Armenian team
who hasn’t been in touch with his coach in nearly two days.
The Armenian and Ugandans all took part in the procession that
welcomed the boxers to Chicago at the beginning of the week, but
their teammates suspect the missing men thought about their plans
long before they arrived in the United States. The Ugandan coach said
he talked to the two missing from his team. They told him they
decided to take a swing at boxing careers in the United States.

"They went to make a living. Everybody wants to come to America. When
we are leaving our country we are told to bring them back. We have a
problem. We have to explain in Kampala why they go," Musa Kent,
Ugandan coach.

Chicago 2016 Chairman Patrick Ryan said he doesn’t think the
athletes’ disappearance looks bad because "it’s such a small
percentage of the total." Ryan says, with 700 athletes in town, each
with a mind of his own, it is possible to have some decide to do
their own thing.

"These are adults, they’re staying in a hotel. They have free access
to move around," said Ryan.

In Rio, during last summer’s Pan Am Games a couple of Cuban athletes
skipped town during the competition. At least one who declared his
intent to defect was deported right back to Havana.

Pat Ryan says it is impossible for a host city to control the actions
of every athlete.

"I don’t think we have any responsibility on that. Certainly we wish
they hadn’t done that," said Ryan.

mp;id=5728277

RICE URGES US LAWMAKERS TO DROP ‘ARMENIAN GENOCIDE’ RESOLUTION

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Oct 26 2007

Citing delicate relations between NATO allies Turkey and the United
States, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has urged US lawmakers
against moving ahead with a nonbinding resolution that would label
as genocide the killings of Anatolian Armenians a century ago. "This
is something that was a horrible event, in the mass killings that
took place, but at the time of the Ottoman Empire. These are not the
Ottomans," Rice said of Turkey’s current leaders while speaking with
members of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs
on Wednesday. The House proposal has inflamed US tensions with Turkey,
which says the death toll has been inflated and that the Armenians
died during civil unrest, not organized genocide. Support for the
nonbinding resolution gradually deteriorated last week after Turkey
summoned its Washington ambassador back to Ankara and several lawmakers
spoke out against it.

Turkey’s ambassador to the United States, Nabi ªensoy, on Sunday
returned to his office in Washington. Earlier this week, backers of
the resolution admitted that they are not confident the resolution
will pass if it is allowed to go the House floor.

–Boundary_(ID_FVcryDfuPoaaadiiW/8LJg)–

17TH SITTING OF BSEC FOREIGN MINISTERS HELD IN ANKARA

armradio.am
26.10.2007 12:08

The 17th sitting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Black
Sea Economic Cooperation Organization member states in Ankara came
to an end on October 25. The opening speech was delivered by Turkish
President Abdullah Gul, following which speeches were made by Turkish
Foreign Minister Ali Babacan and BSEC Secretary General, Ambassador
Leonidas Krisantopulos.

At the sitting Armenia was represented by RA Deputy Foreign Minister
Arman Kirakosyan. In his speech Mr. Kirakosyan turned to the
15-years activity of the organization, emphasizing the importance of
multifaceted economic cooperation from the perspective of establishment
of peace, stability and security in the region. He underlined that
BSEC has a real opportunity to promote the economic development in
the country, urging to demonstrate necessary political will. Arman
Kirakosyan noted that Armenia pays particular attention to the
enlargement and development of transport communication routes and
infrastructures in the region.

The Deputy Foreign Minister attached importance to the cooperation
between the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization and the
European Union, describing it as an important guarantee for further
development of BSEC.

At the end of the meeting the participants adopted the Ankara
Declaration, where they summed up the results of Turkish presidency
and determined the direction of the organization’s future activity.