Author: Vardanian Garo

ISRAEL-AZERBAIJAN STRATEGIC ALLIANCE IN CARDS?

YNet
June 12 2006

National infrastructure minister hints in speech Israel interested
in strategic cooperation with Muslim country that borders with Iran.

Are Israel and the United States planning a strategic alliance with
Azerbaijan, in a bid to counter the Iranian nuclear threat? Binyamin
Ben-Eliezer, the minister of national infrastructure, has hinted
to the possibility in a recent speech at the Israel Institute of
Petroleum and Energy.

“Azerbaijan is a Muslim country with a large Shiite population that
borders with Iran. We are interested in this small state’s location,”
Ben-Eliezer said.

Azerbaijan has recently become the center for economic cooperation
with Israel. Israeli arms companies equip the Azerbaijani army and
the National Infrastructure Ministry is trying to form collaboration
with Azerbaijan on purchasing oil and natural gas.

Ben-Eliezer visited Azerbaijan’s capital Baku last week, for a trip
that officially focused on contracts for purchasing oil, and perhaps
even natural gas, from Russia via Azerbaijan, through Turkey to Israel.

However, government officials told Ynet that the visit may have
also included an attempt by the Israeli government and its defense
establishment to strengthen ties with Azerbaijan.

The officials stated that Azerbaijan is a poor country in desperate
need of foreign investments, and that it is currently in the midst of
a strategic conflict with its neighbor Armenia. The Muslim country is
also trying to break free from Russia’s bear hug. Diplomatic sources
said that Israel and the US are also interested Azerbaijan due to
its proximity to Iran.

According to government officials, as Turkey refuses to continue
allowing the US to use its air bases for attacks in Iraq (and
will apparently refuse to cooperate with an Iran strike as well),
Azerbaijan’s location plays a key role for the Americans and Israel.

Referring to the Baku visit, Ben Eliezer said: “We achieved important
progress on economic issues and other issues as well. I met with the
Azerbaijan’s president for a meeting that was important for Israel’s
interests.”

TALKS ON KARABAKH TO BE HELD WITHIN DARTMOUTH CONFERENCE GROUP JUNE 18-20

PanARMENIAN.Net
08.06.2006 17:34 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ June 18 – 20 the 10th round of the talks between
the representatives of Armenian, Azeri and Nagorno Karabakh public
within the frames of the American-Russian Working Group of Dartmouth
Conference on Regional Conflicts will be held in Snegiri, a town in
the Moscow region. The issues to be discussed will be determined at
the spot. However, it is known that in the course of the 10th round
of the talks the outcomes of Armenian and Azeri Presidents’ latest
meeting in Bucharest are to be discussed.

Some modifications have been made in the Armenian delegation:
first Ombudsperson of Armenia, Executive Director of the Fund
against Violations of Law Larisa Alaverdyan had been included in
the delegation.

The Dartmouth Conference on Regional Conflicts is the only format of
the Karabakh talks held with the participation of the representatives
of the Nagorno Karabakh public. At the 9th round of the talks within
the framework of the Dartmouth Conference on Karabakh held in December,
2005 a Framework Agreement on the peace process in the region was
coordinated and approved by Armenian, Azeri and Nagorno Karabakh
representatives. March 2006 the Co-Chairs Harold Saunders and Vitaly
Naumkin visited Baku, Yerevan and Stepanakert for the first time,
reports De-Facto agency.

June 8, 2006

PRESS RELEASE
Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
H.E. Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, Prelate
6252 Honolulu Avenue
La Crescenta, CA 91214
Tel: (818) 248-7737
Fax: (818) 248-7745
E-mail: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
Website: <;

DURING A VISIT TO THE COLORADO PARISH COMMUNITY

`WITH THIS HOLY MASS, LET US BE FILLED WITH THE MESSAGE OF THE FEAST, AND
ENLIGHTENED BY THE MYSTERY OF PENTECOST’
Declared the Prelate

From June 2-4, 2006, His Eminence Archbishop Moushegh
Mardirossian, Prelate, joined by Very Rev. Fr. Muron Aznikian, Chair of the
Prelacy Religious Council, visited the parish of the Armenian Apostolic
Church of Colorado and Rocky Mountain Region, to meet with the newly elected
parish council and the parish community.
On the afternoon of Sunday, June 4, the Prelate, assisted by
Very Rev. Fr. Muron, conducted Holy Mass and delivered his sermon on the
occasion of the Feast of Pentecost, highlighting three main points.
He spoke of the appearances of Christ to the disciples in the
forty days after His Glorious Resurrection and His ascension to Heaven. The
Prelate also spoke of how ten days after the Ascension, the disciples were
gathered at the Upper Room waiting for the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, which
descended and rested on each one of them. That day became the birthday of
the Christian Church, noted the Prelate, and added that it should also be
the spiritual anniversary of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Colorado and
the Armenian community. He continued, just as the disciples of our Lord
spread the Gospel to the four corners of the world, especially Saints
Thaddeus and Bartholomew who spread the Gospel to the Armenian people, you
too must follow their example and establish a church in the near future to
bind the community to the Armenian Apostolic faith, and offer spiritual
nourishment to the faithful. Archbishop Mardirossian requested from those
present that to the best of their abilities, each and every one of them must
assist in the church by donating their time, or by offering moral or
financial support. Subsequently, hymns for Pentecost were sung and the
Prelate offered a special prayer for the youth, who are the future of the
church.
Following Mass a reception was held at the church hall, where
the Prelate presented Mrs. Anna Kavafian with a letter of blessing and
commendation for her longtime service to the Armenian Church as an organist.
On this occasion, the Prelate also presented those in attendance with
mementos.

ARMENIAN WINEMAKERS TO ENTER RUSSIAN MARKET

The Messenger, Georgia
June 7 2006

Armenia’s state structures should immediately support the entry of
Armenian winemakers into the Russian market, Avag Arutunian, Chairman
of Armenian Winemakers’ Association told journalists on June 6.

“State officials should act quickly taking into account the potential
of Armenian winemakers and expected risks,” he noted.

Arutunian stressed that as long as Georgian and Moldavian wines
weren’t being exported to the Russian market, Armenia should make a
move to fill the gap within the next 2-3 months. “Otherwise, it’ll
be too late,” Arutunian believes.

He pointed out that for the last two months France, Italy and
Azerbaijan have all increased their wine exports to Russia and that
Portugal, Bulgaria, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan were all planning to
do the same.

At the same time, he noted that Armenia produces high-quality wines.

He specified that it was not profitable for Armenia to occupy the
low-quality and cheap wines niche that was opened up after imports of
Moldavian wines costing between USD 1.5-1.7 per bottle were banned,
because that price is too low for most Armenian brands.

“Armenia will be content with selling wines at a cost of USD 2-2.5
or higher,” he noted.

ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN ANNOUNCE NO PROGRESS IN KARABAKH TALKS IN ROMANIA

AP Worldstream
Jun 06, 2006

The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia said Tuesday that
talks between their countries’ leaders had made no progress toward
a settlement of the dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, but
that they had instructions to continue negotiations.

Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliev discussed the long-standing conflict on the sidelines of a
Black Sea summit in Bucharest, Romania, on Sunday and Monday.

Representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe, which is trying to broker a resolution of the 18-year-old
conflict, were also present.

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian told state television that
the talks had been conducted “in a normal atmosphere, but they did
not succeed in registering progress and giving a positive impulse to
solving the problem of the Karabakh conflict.”

Still, he said that he and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov had orders to try to find points on which they could
bring the two countries’ positions closer.

Mammadyarov said that, in spite of the lack of a breakthrough, the
Aliev-Kocharian meeting had seen a “wide discussion” of the details
of a settlement.

“We decided to continue the process and, if necessary, to hold another
meeting at the level of foreign ministers,” Mammadyarov said.

Nagorno-Karabakh is inside Azerbaijan but populated mostly by ethnic
Armenians, who have run it and seven contiguous districts since an
uneasy 1994 cease-fire ended six years of full-scale war. There are
sporadic border clashes.

MURAKHYAN ELECTED ARMENIAN SEU RECTOR

Arka News Agency, Armenia
June 5 2006

YEREVAN, June 5. /ARKA/. Voskanik Murakhyan was elected Rector of
State Engineering University of Armenia (SEU).

Thirty out of 32 SEU Council members participated in the voting,
and Murakhyan was elected by 29 to one.

Voskanik Murakhyan is currently Head of the SEU Department of
Heat-Power Engineering and Engineering Environmental Protection on
a voluntary basis.

On May 25, 2003, Murakhyan was elected to the RA Parliament by the
ARF party-ticket. He is a member of the Standing Commission for State
and Legal Affairs and of the ARF parliamentary faction.

Married, with two children.

AZERBAIJANI PARLIAMENT’S VISIT ENDS

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
June 6 2006

Press secretary of the Milli Majlis (parliament of Azerbaijan) Akif
Nasirov told AzerTAg correspondent that meeting with members of the
parliamentary friendship group in the Seym of Latvia was one of the
important events during the visit of the parliamentary delegation
of Azerbaijan to the Republic of Latvia. Chairman of the Friendship
Group from the Latvian side Oleg Denisov said that his country shows a
great interest in Azerbaijan. Reminding of Latvian President’s visit
to Azerbaijan Oleg Denisov noted that his visit opened new stage for
further development of bilateral ties.

During the meeting, Latvian deputies spoke of the need for further
development of bilateral relations. They expressed their attitude
towards Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Deputy Arvinds
Ulme described barbarism committed by Armenians in Azerbaijani
lands as aggression against the humanity and expressed regret that
international structures have not taken the right and fair position
on this matter yet.

Chairman of the Milli Majlis Ogtay Asadov thanked the Latvian
state and its parliament for supporting of Azerbaijan’s just cause
towards Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Ogtay opined
on the need for more expansion of the Azerbaijan-Latvia ties and
interparliamentary relations both within groups of friendship as well
as relations between legislative bodies of both countries.

Head of the Milli Majlis Apparat Safa Mirzoyev highlighted the need to
establish cooperation between the administrations of both countries’
parliaments.

Milli Majlis deputy Gultekin Hajiyeva noted that the fact that
Azerbaijan first opened its embassy in Riga among Baltic States is the
testimony of the special interest both countries show to each other.

The meeting participants noted that there are potential possibilities
for developing economic, political, cultural, agrarian and tourism
ties and this visit will serve as impetus for bilateral relations.

Upon completion of the meetings, speaker of Azerbaijani parliament
Ogtay Asadov gave interview to the Central television of Latvia
LTV-1. He responded the journalists’ questions concerning
Latvia-Azerbaijan ties, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, bilateral
economic relations and others.

The parliamentary delegation headed by chairman of the Milli Majlis
Ogtay Asadov also participated in some events. Charity concert
co-organized by the Embassy of Azerbaijan to Latvia and Latvian
Ministry of Culture was held for disabled children in Yurmala. The
joint concert program of the State Children’s Philarmonia of Azerbaijan
Republic and children’s musical schools of Latvia contribute to
development of cultural ties.

MM speaker Ogtay Asadov and members of the delegation visited
Azerbaijani embassy in Latvia and familiarized themselves with the
embassy staff’s work conditions.

Thus, the delegation wrapped up its working visits to Estonia
to participate in the Tallinn summit of chairpersons of European
parliaments, to Helsinki to participate in the event devoted to the
100th anniversary of the Finnish parliament and Latvia.

The delegation left Riga for Baku the same day in the evening.

BLACK SEA STORIES – BUCHAREST STARTS THE DIALOGUE IN THE BLACK SEA REGION
de Ana Ilie
Translated by Sorin Balan

Jurnalul National, Romania
June 6 2006

The Black Sea Forum, initiated yesterday in Bucharest, which unites
representatives of all the riparian countries and of the international
organizations, was supposed to be the “beginning of a dialogue between
civilizations”, according to Traian Basescu.

Yesterday, Bucharest hosted the Summit for the initiation Black
Sea Forum for Dialogue and Partnership, an event that brought
together Presidents, External affairs Ministers, representatives of
international organizations and many journalists. Like everything that
is new, the Forum came with many hopes, but they can only become true
if the summit in Bucharest manages to start a real interest in it.

Despite a controversial beginning, mainly because of Russia (which
was quite skeptical about the summit and chose to be represented
only by its Ambassador in Bucharest), the summit should have produced
effervescent ideas and dialogues regarding certain issues that were
supposed to result in a better collaboration between the riparian
countries and in a long term security, stability and prosperity of
the region.

BIG WORDS

Actually, all the participants aware of the opportunities the Black
Sea is offering and of the Romanian initiative of building this Forum
have said big words like “prosperity”, “benefits”, “common history”.

“Today’s event is a step forward in the process of consolidation
of a prosper and developed Black Sea region”, the Romanian External
Affairs Minister, Razvan Ungureanu said. “The United States support the
efforts for the creation of a more prosper, more free and a safer Black
Sea region”, Jack D. Crouch, America’s representative to the Forum,
the former USA Ambassador in Romania, the current deputy adviser of
President George W. Bush, added.

EXPECTATIONS

One of the hopes regarding this Forum targets the appearance of
certain environments to help solving regional issues. According to
Traian Basescu, the controversial Nagorno-Karabah enclave was the
cause of the negotiations between Armenian President Robert Kocharian
and Azerbaijan President Iilham Aliyev for two days. There is another
issue with many hopes. It regards the Tansnistrian area and it will be
taken into consideration after the forum when President Traian Basescu
intends to show a 100% Romanian solution to Moscow and Chisinau.

All the participants seemed to agree upon one subject, the economical
collaboration, especially the alternative transportation routes for
energy, routes that should stop the appearance of a second European
“war of gas”. One of the few certain issues regarding yesterday’s
meeting was the announcement made by the US Marshall Fund, which
created the Black Sea Fund that should help financing the projects
for the consolidation of democracy, good governing and the ones for
the development of the regional cooperation and of the civil society
in the Black Sea region.

20M USD FOR THE FUND

During the Summit of the Forum for the Black Sea Dialogue and
Partnership, the United States Marshal Fund announced the initiation
of the Black Sea Fund (BSF) that should help financing the projects
for the consolidation of democracy, good governing and the ones for
the development of the regional cooperation and of the civil society
in the Black Sea region. The Marshall Fund allowed 20 million USD for
the initiation and started up negotiations with the USAID, with the
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, with the Romanian Government and with
other private and public donors in USA and Europe in order to support
this initiative. “The Black Sea region is vital in order to ensure long
term stability, security and peace in Europe, the United Stated and
in the Euro-Atlantic Alliance. The Black Sea Fund will help ensuring
progress in the region at local, national and international level”,
Craig Kennedy, the President of the Marshall Fund, stated according to
a public statement sent to Jurnalul National. A two million USD annual
fund will be available for grants between 1,000 and 75,000 USD. They
will be offered to NGOs, local and regional authorities, media and
education institutions in the countries that took part in the Summit
of the Forum for the Black Sea Dialogue and Partnership (Armenia,
Azerbaidjan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldavian Republic, Romania, Russia,
Turkey and Ukraine), according to the same public statement. The same
source says the BSF will become operational by the end of this year.

CHESS PIECE: TURIN MOVES
by Bobby Ang

BusinessWorld
June 5, 2006 Monday

2006 Turin Chess Olympiad

Men’s Olympiad

20 May 2006 – 04 June 2006

Top Standings as of Round 11 (of 13)

1. Armenia (Aronian, Akopian, Asrian, Lputian, Sargissian, Minasian),
32.0/44

2-3. China (Bu Xiangzhi, Zhang Zhong, Zhang Pengxiang, Wang Yue,
Ni Hua, Zhao Jun), France (Bacrot, Lautier, And.Sokolov, Fressinet,
Vachier- Lagrave, Bauer) 28.5/44

4-5. Russia (Kramnik, Svidler, Grischuk, Morozevich, Bareev,
Rublevsky), USA (Kamsky, Onischuk, Nakamura, Ibragimov, Kaidanov,
Akobian), 28.0/44

6-9. Czech (Navara, Hracek, Babula, Laznicka, Kalod, Cvek), Ukraine
(Ivanchuk, Volokitin, Karjakin, Eljanov, Moiseenko, Efimenko), Cuba
(Bruzon, Dominguez, Nogueira, Arencibia, Delgado, Quezada), Israel
(Gelfand, Smirin, Sutovsky, Avrukh, Huzman, Mikhalevsky), 27.5/44

10-11. Netherlands (Sokolov, Tiviakov, Van Wely, Nijboer, Van den
Doel, L’Ami), Germany (Naiditsch, Jussupow, Gustafsson, Luther, Lutz,
Graf), 27.0/44

Total of 150 teams participating

Armenia defeated the overachieving Czechs 3-1. Aronian’s spectacular
victory over David Navara is annotated below. They are 3.5 points
ahead of the second placers with two rounds left. Barring a disaster
of cataclysmic proportions we should soon be proclaiming Armenia
as the new no. 1 country of chess. The steady point production of
Aronian (6/9 on top board), Akopian (8/10) and the incredible Gabriel
Sargissian (he played in every round and scored 9/11) seems to indicate
an inevitable advance to the throne.

The way I see it the battle is confined to the silver medals. India
is the second seed but was taken out of medal contention by a 1-3
thumping delivered by the Israelis. Anand, although performing at a
2674 level, can perhaps be considered as a bit of a disappointment.

He beat FM Batchuluun (2303) in the second round but then slowed with
seven straight draws.

The Russians are still in contention but have not shown their best –
they have already lost thrice – to the Dutch, French, and Americans.

The last was the most vexing – Grischuk had a mating attack against
Nakamura but blundered grievously several times and it was he who
had to resign.

I am betting on France to take the silver and Russia the bronze. The
Frenchmen would be a most deserving medalist – they have yet to lose
a match and have defeated the Russians and Chinese in their individual
set- to.

The Philippines is still at no. 36 with 25.0/44. We had a chance to
climb up the score chart but a rather heavy loss to the Netherlands
in round 11 kicked us back down the standings. For a chance at a
decent finish we need 30 points, so in the last two rounds we have
to pick up 5 points. We accomplished this two years ago with 2.5-1.5
victories Hungary and Yugoslavia, two powerhouse countries. We’ve done
it before and can still do so now. Picking up from where we left off
last Friday, here is the round- by-round of the Philippines:

Rd 10. Philippines routed Malaysia 3.5-0.5. Paragua, GM Joey and
Dimakiling defeated Mas, Jonathan Chuah, and Nazreen Anas. Eugene Torre
was held to a draw by FM Lim Yee Weng. The Malaysian top board Mas
was coming off a nice upset win over Viktor Korchnoi in the previous
round, but Mark stopped him dead on his tracks. I knew GM Joey would
defeat Jonathan. During the 1999 Asian Team championship the Malaysian
second board requested for and got some private tutorials from Joey,
and his hero- worshipping was bound to prove a stumbling block.

Rd 11. We lost to the Netherlands 1.0-3.0. GM Joey has played perhaps
hundreds of games with Van Wely on the Internet Chess Club, and knew
that he could beat Van Wely, so, even with Black, he essayed a very
sharp line of the Nimzo-Indian. Problem is, he was insufficiently
prepared and did not respond correctly to the Dutchman’s theoretical
novelty. The loss followed quite quickly. Darwin Laylo had the
advantage in the opening vs Nijboer but overreached in his attempts
to win. Nevertheless, he made Nijboer work for the point, only giving
up after the 114th move.

FIDE elections

The incumbent, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov beat Bessel Kok for the FIDE
presidency by a wide margin (96:57). As many of you know Ilyumzhinov is
the President of the Kalmyk Republic, one of the 21 Russian republics,
administrative units with the greatest amount of autonomy within the
Russian Federation.

On the other hand Bessel Kok is a Dutch millionaire currently residing
in Prague. He was the creator of the SWIFT system for transfer of
funds between banks and later on served as the head of the Belgian
commission in charge of telecommunications (BELGACOM).

During their respective campaigns President Ilyumzhinov highlighted
the personal commitment he has made to chess, including injecting
his personal money of more than $20 million for prize funds of
tournaments. Bessel Kok ran on the basis of his proven professional,
managerial and organizational skills.

While the big margin of victory could have surprised some people,
I knew that Ilyumzhinov was unbeatable. Under the FIDE statutes each
member- nation was entitled to one vote, in other words Russia with
156 grandmasters and US Virgin Islands with only three rated players
(take note: I said rated, not titled) are given equal weight come
election time. Everyone knows that the small countries/federations
usually go along with the incumbents.

World Computer Championship

The World Computer Chess Championship (WCCC) was also held in Turin
as a side-event.

Final Top Standings

1. Junior, 9.0/11

2-3. Shredder, Rajlich, 8.5/11

4. Zappa, 7.5/11

5-7. Spike, Diep, Jonny, 6.5/11

8-9. Crafty, Ikarus, 6.0/11

10-12. IsiChess MMX, Delfi 4.6, Chiron, 5.5/11

Total of 18 participants

The heavy favorite to win was Rajlich, which is actually Rybka (its
author is IM Rajlich), the new chess engine that has been making
waves and was highly touted as the strongest ever in chess history.

Zappa, being the defending champion, also was regarded as a favorite.

Shredder, of course, had won the championship so many times that no
one would have been surprised if it came out on top.

Instead, the hyper-aggressive Junior program rolled to victory with
7 wins and 4 draws. Junior is an Israeli program written by Amir
Ban and Shay Bushinsky. It started off its career as a positional
engine with a boa constrictor style, but starting the 6th edition
they made a conscious effort to move it towards aggressive play by
giving greater weight to mobility, piece activity and opponent’s king
safety factors. The result is games like this:

Junior – Uragano 3D [B33]

14th WCh Comp Turin (10), 31.05.2006

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.N1c3 a6 7.Na3 Nf6
8.Bg5 Be7 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 10.Nc4 Nd4 11.Nd5 Bg4 12.Qxg4 Nxc2+ 13.Kd1
Nxa1 14.Ncb6 Rb8 15.Bd3 Bg5 16.h4 Bh6 17.Ke2 Nb3 18.axb3 0-0 19.Bc4
Kh8 20.g3 Qe8 21.Rd1 Rd8 22.Qh5 Qc6 23.Kf1 Qc5 24.Kg2 Qc6 25.Qg4
Qe8 26.h5 f6 27.b4 Qf7 28.Qf5 Qe8 29.Bb3 Qf7 30.Rd3 g6 31.hxg6 hxg6
32.Qh3 Qh7 33.Rd1 Rf7 34.Rh1 f5 35.exf5 Rxf5 36.Ne7 Kg7 37.Nxf5+
gxf5 38.Qh4 Re8 39.Nd5 1-0

Count on me to buy the latest Deep Junior version from Chessbase!

And now what you have been waiting for, our featured game. I was
watching this online and can attest to the general gasp of disbelief
when Aronian …. oh, just play it over – worth your while!

Aronian, Levon (2756) _ Navara, David (2658) [E17]

37th Olympiad Turin ITA (11), 02.06.2006

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.Nc3 Ne4 7.Bd2 f5 8.Qc2

A move order trick. Normal is 8.d5 first and after 8…Bf6 then
9.Qc2. Navara did not think it made any difference. Wrong.

8…Bf6?! 9.Ne5!

With White not having played d4-d5 the long diagonal is still open
and Black’s knight on e4 is pinned against his bishop on b7.

9…d5 10.cxd5 Nxc3?

It is understandable that Black wanted to get rid of the long diagonal
pin, but now he gives Aronian an opening. To be fair, I was watching
the game online on the Internet Chess Club and no one there, including
several GMs and IMs, noticed anything amiss.

11.Nf7!!

Now that everybody notices 11…Kxf7 is impossible because of 12.dxe6+
Kxe6 13.Bxb7.

11…Qd7?

In the comfort of our study we notice that Black’s only move here is
11…Qc8! to defend the b7-bishop. Navara, of course, has just been
shocked by 11.Nf7 and is not in a good frame of mind.

12.Bxc3

With chagrin Black discovers that since the bishop on b7 is still
vulnerable, the white knight remains taboo.

12…Bxd5 13.Bxd5 Qxd5 14.e4! fxe4 15.Nxh8 Nc6 16.0-0 Ke7 17.Rae1
Rxh8 18.Rxe4 Rd8 19.Rfe1 Rd6 20.Rf4 g6 21.h4 Rd7

Protecting the c7 pawn before capturing on d4, otherwise the white
queen can take Qxc7 with check.

22.h5 Bxd4 23.hxg6 hxg6 24.Qxg6 Ne5 25.Qf6+

Black either loses his queen via 25…Kd6 26.Rxd4 or his king if
25…Ke8 26.Qf8. 1-0.

AGHBALIAN’S LESSONS OF MORALITY
By Hovannes Yeranian

Yerkir.am
June 02, 2006

The heritage of Nikol Aghbalian, the literary critic, pedagogue and
public figure, is so enormous that the first international conference
organized by the Hamazkayin and the Yerevan State University last
November could not entirely cover the topic.

Following the conference, Aghbalian’s “Selected Works” were published.

Before that, Aghbalian’s works had been published only in Beirut.

In a follow-up, the Hamazkayin presented on May 27 the collection
titled ” Nikol Aghbalian-130: Materials of the International
Conference.” The presentation was held at the Yerevan State University.

In her remarks, Lilist Galstian, the chairwoman of the Hamazkayin
Armenia office, said the date was symbolic. On the eve of May 28,
“the justice was served, and Aghbalian returned to the state university
he had founded.”

Despite all that happened, Aghbalian never felt upset with Armenia;
in fact, when the Beirut Seminary was being established, soil from
Armenia was brought there.

YSU rector Aram Simonian pointed to Aghbalian’s high morality. He
reminded a decree by Aghbalian, according to which, the salaries of the
university professors were raised to match those of cabinet members.

“Aghbalian’s lessons of morality were aimed at mainly the youth and
students because Aghbalian was teaching without posing as a teacher,”
Philology Department Dean Artsrun Avagian said.

There were many students present at the event. Some of them were
awarded Hakop Karapents fellowships by the Hamazkayin.