Author: Vasilian Manouk

Latest Chess

All India Chess Federation revokes ban on Gopal

Written by content team 03 July 2009

All India Chess Federation took an important decision to revoke a one
year ban on Grand Master G.N. Gopal. The decision was taken at the
Central Council and Annul General Meeting in Chennai. Grand Master
G.N. Gopal finally got the justice!
Another major decision was taken to change the National Championship’s
(National `A’) format. The new format comprises, a 13 round Swiss
league event.
In the last year, Indian Grandmaster G.N. Gopal’s decision to skip the
46th National `A’ chess championship proved costly. The All India
Chess Federation (AICF) took disciplinary action against the player.
Disciplinary action by AICF
The All India Chess Federation (AICF) decided not to recommend
Grandmaster G.N. Gopal who had skipped the last National `A’
championship despite being warned by the federation to represent India
in any official tournaments for a year with immediate effect. That, in
effect, put the Kochi-based player out of any official Indian team for
one year. He was, however, free to play in tournaments for which he is
personally invited.
The decision was taken in Chennai at the AICF Central Council meeting,
which found his reasons for staying away from the last National `A’
championship held in Mangalore last December,
and playing in a tournament overseas instead, not satisfactory.
CPAI helped Gopal
Chess Players Association Of India had launched a protest, stating,
"We would also like to bring to your notice that decisions pertaining
to players taken in AICF meetings are not communicated to the
players. Hence the players are not aware of all the rules and
regulations".
"There are many instances of players skipping the National A but the
AICF did not take any action. The punishment against Gopal is very
harsh," said Verghese Koshy, a senior player and reputed coach. CPAI
president GM Tejas Bakre said it would request the AICF to reconsider
its decision.
AICF agrees to change the National Championship format

Another major decision was to change the National ‘A’ to a 13 round
Swiss league by accepting the proposal of a committee comprising Grand
Masters Dibyendu Barua and Abhijit Kunte, R.M. Dongre, Bharat Singh
Chauhan and D.V.Sundar. Two players from National Women’s `A’,
National Junior boys’ and girls’ champions, 30 from National `B’, top
six from the previous National `A’, all GMs and two nominees of AICF
secretary will take part in one-round-a-day National `A’.
Similarly, women’s National `A’ will be a 11-round Swiss league. AICF
also decided to motivate states which produce medal winners in
age-group National championships. by allotting extra slots to them in
the events the following year. Three extra seeding for states
producing champions, two for second place and one for third place in
all age group National championships. Naturally, the strong states
will have a bigger presence in the age-group championship.
About GM G.N. Gopal :
>From G. N. Gopal to GM Gopal, it truly has been a sensational journey
for the 18-year-old. He made his three norms within a space of six
months – at the International Open in Kolkata, the Lake Sevan in
Armenia and the Asian Zonal in Dhaka. He became Kerala’s first Grand
Master.
He won his first National title in 2001, the Under-12 rapid. In 2004,
he won the bronze at the Asian under-14 championship in Tehran. The
same year, he won the National junior title too.

Today’s Zaman

04 July 2009, Saturday

Davutoðlu backs Russian role in Karabakh efforts

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoðlu has backed Russia’s role in efforts
to resolve a territorial dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia,
noting that the Azerbaijani-Armenian and Turkish-Armenian peace
processes have improved the political atmosphere in the Caucasus.

Davutoðlu, speaking after talks in Moscow with his Russian
counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, late on Thursday praised efforts
undertaken by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) Minsk Group. Russia is one of the co-leaders of the Minsk
Group. `We appreciate Russia’s efforts for a resolution to the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in the Minsk Group. I believe we will be
able to reach a solution with Russia’s contributions,’ Davutoðlu said
during a joint press conference with Lavrov.
Armenia occupied a chunk of Azerbaijani territory in a war over the
Nagorno-Karabakh region in the early 1990s. Turkey, in a show of
solidarity with Azerbaijan, closed its border and severed diplomatic
ties with Armenia in 1993. Ankara and Yerevan, however, are now in
talks to normalize relations and have been holding closed-door
meetings to that effect. Azerbaijan, Turkey’s regional and ethnic ally
and a key energy supplier, has expressed concern over the
Turkish-Armenian rapprochement, fearing it would lose key leverage in
the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.
Ankara says the Turkish-Armenian and Azerbaijani-Armenian processes
are separate, although progress on one track will positively affect
the other. Davutoðlu said Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders are
expected to meet in Russia on July 18. `We thanked Russia for its
contributions,’ he said.
Davutoðlu also said Moscow, which supported Armenia in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, backed Turkish-Armenian
rapprochement. `Russia supports normalization of Turkish-Armenian
relations,’ he told reporters later in the day.
Davutoðlu and Lavrov also discussed the Cyprus problem as well as a
planned visit by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to
Turkey. Davutoðlu said both countries agree that the Cyprus issue
should be resolved in the United Nations. `We consider Cyprus to be a
matter of the UN and do not think that it would be appropriate to
carry Cyprus to another platform,’ Davutoðlu said, apparently
rejecting European Union pressure on candidate Turkey to agree to
concessions on Cyprus. `Turkey and Russia share the same viewpoint on
Cyprus. Russia also thinks Cyprus should be resolved within the
boundaries of the UN,’ he said.

04 July 2009, Saturday
TODAY’S ZAMAN WITH WIRES ÝSTANBUL

AIRBALTIC LAUNCHES NONSTOP FLIGHTS FROM RIGA TO TARTU
by Ozgur Tore

Focus on Travel News
Thursday, 02 July 2009

The Latvian national airline airBaltic is pleased to announce, that
tomorrow, July 3, the company will launch nonstop flights between Riga
and the second largest city in Estonia, Tartu, offering convenient
connections to destinations in Western Europe, Scandinavia, the CIS
and the Mediterranean region.

airBaltic will provide nonstop flights from Riga to Tartu four times a
week – on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The flights will be
offered on Fokker 50 aircraft and will last 50 minutes. One-way ticket
prices start at LVL 29 (EURO 41), including airport and transaction
fees. The route schedule is available on the company’s homepage at

airBaltic Chief Commercial Officer Tero Taskila: "We are delighted
that airBaltic will write history as the first airline to offer
an international route from the Tartu airport. airBaltic is the
second biggest carrier in Estonia and we naturally want to offer
extra convenience for our customers in Tartu by opening this new
route. It means that people from Southern Estonia can travel via the
Riga airport to destinations such as Berlin, Zurich, Venice, Vienna,
Moscow, Tashkent, and others. Tartu is a beautiful destination and
the new airBaltic flight will attract more foreign travellers from
Western Europe, Scandinavia, Mediterranean region and CIS."

The new route offers very convenient transit connections through
Riga, to and from final destinations in Western Europe, the CIS,
Scandinavia and the Mediterranean region. In the summer of 2009,
airBaltic is offering 57 nonstop routes to Aalesund, Almaty, Athens,
Amsterdam, Baku, Barcelona, Bergen, Berlin, Billund, Brussels, Zurich,
Dublin, Dushanbe, Dusseldorf, Yerevan, Gothenburg, Hamburg, Hannover,
Helsinki, Kaliningrad, Kaunas, Kiev, Copenhagen, Kishinev, Kuopio,
London, Linkoping, Milan, Minsk, Moscow, Munich, Nice, Odessa, Oslo,
Oulu, Palanga, Paris, Pskov, Rome, St.Petersburg, Simferopol, Istanbul,
Stavanger, Stockholm, Tallinn, Tartu, Tashkent, Tampere, Tbilisi,
Tel Aviv, Tromso, Turku, Venice, Vienna, Vilnius, Warsaw and Geneva.

Tartu is the second biggest city in Estonia and the capital city
of the country’s southern region. It is seen as the intellectual
and cultural centre for Estonia. The University of Tartu is the
oldest and most distinguished institution of higher education in the
country. Among well-known tourism objects in Tartu are St John’s
Church, Dome Square, the University of Tartu Museum of Art (which
is the oldest art museum in Estonia), the British Park on Toomemagi
Hill, along with the cathedral that is one of the oldest architectural
monuments in the region.

RUSSIAN-AZERI AGREEMENT OVER BUYING GAS CANNOT HAVE ESSENTIAL IMPACT ON NAGORNO KARABAKH SETTLEMENT

Noyan Tapan
July 2, 2009

YEREVAN, JULY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. The Russian-Azeri agreement over
buying gas cannot have an essential impact on the Nagorno Karabakh
settlement. As political scientist Armen Aghayan mentioned at the July
2 press conference, Russia has always had a more or less balanced
position in that issue. And unless Armenia expresses readiness of
concessions in the negotiations process, according to him, they cannot
be forced to Armenia not only by Russia, but also by the other OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairing countries. A.

Aghayan also considers that if a statement on territorial concessions
is signed, there will be a strong counteraction in public circles,
which will cause serious problems.

In the opinion of political scientist Sergey Minasian, it is
unprobable that any frame or final document on Nagorno Karabakh
settlement will be signed as a result of a regular meeting between
Armenian and Azeri Presidents to be held in July in Moscow. And the
Russian-Azeri agreements over buying gas are not final, they are still
intentions. Nevertheless, according to him, they will have an impact
on Russia’s position in the Nagorno Karabakh issue to some extent.

Speaking about issues regarding Georgia, which are important for
Armenia: Javakhk, preservation of Armenian churches, etc. A. Aghayan
stated that "no official of Georgia taking a hostile position should
have been awarded Order of Honor by the Armenian authorities, while
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was awarded that order during
his visit to Armenia. And dispersing the action of protest organized
in Yerevan in the days of the visit, according to the political
scientist, means that the Armenian authorities "give the green light"
to him and their responsibility is bigger.

BRITAIN REQUEST RECALL OF 27 EU AMBASSADORS FROM IRAN

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
02.07.2009 18:42 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ EU intends to discuss British Government’s request
for recalling 27 Ambassadors from Iran as a sign of protest for
arresting British Embassy employees in Islamic Republic’s capital.

Last week’s arrest exacerbated Iran-West confrontations caused by
the bloodshed for suppressing opposition’s protests. As another step
towards deteriorating relations, Iranian side announced on Wednesday
that European Union fully discredited itself by "interfering in the
country’s domestic policy" and hence had no right to conduct nuclear
negotiations with Iran.

SYRIAN, CZECH, RUSSIAN BUSINESSMEN INTERESTED IN EXPORT OF CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS FROM ARMENIA

ARMENPRESS
JUNE 29, 2009
YEREVAN

After the business forum held within the frameworks of Syrian
President Bashar al Asad’s visit to Armenia (June 17-18) the Syrian
businessmen displayed interest in export of construction materials
from Armenia. Chief Director of Armenian Development Agency Robert
Harutyunian told Armenpress that in Syria there is especially a demand
for cement. This state will also be used as a transit state to the
African market.

The European states are also interested in the purchase of
construction materials. R. Harutyunian informed that a project of
export of construction materials from Armenia is also being discussed
with the Czech Republic. The Czech constructors show interest in
exporting especially the Armenian stones – basalt, travertine,
touf. In the Russian Kaliningrad province there is an interest
towards the decorative facing stones. R. Harutyunian considers it
interesting that in Kaliningrad the constructors got interested in
the four types of stones which were used during the construction of
Armenian Culture House. Chief Director of Armenian Development Agency
noted that each proposal results in the necessity of market study and
we must definitely know how the product must reach the other state
and how much will it cost, whether it will be compatible or not. The
issue of transportation calculation must be solved. As a result of
the crisis the construction and house building sphere has greatly
suffered and according to R. Harutyunian it somehow froze the already
reached agreements with Iran on the construction material export.

REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE OF SME DNC OF ARMENIA OPENS IN KAPAN

Noyan Tapan
June 29, 2009

KAPAN, JUNE 29, NOYAN TAPAN. After the Armenian government’s
session held on June 26 in Kapan – the regional center of Synuk marz
(province), the opening ceremony of the representative office of
the Small and Mideum Entrepreneurship Development National Center
(SME DNC) of Armenia took place with the participation of Armenian
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan. The program was carried out with the
support of the OSCE Program Implementation Office in Syunik marz.

"The assistance to small and medium entrepreneurship is a priority of
the economic policy conducted by the government. The strengthening of
the SME assistance system is of key importance in terms of promoting
the economic development in the given region and overcoming the
consequences of the global crisis at the local level," T. Sargsyan
stated.

Head of the OSCE Yerevan Office Sergey Kapinos said that one of
the major goals of the representative office is to encourage the
sustainable development of this remote marz.

According to Executive Director of the SME DNC Ishkhan Karapetian,
the newly-opened representative office will help implement programs
on technical and financial assistance, provide assistance to startup
businessmen and contribute to the implementation of programs by local
small and medium enterprises.

ROMANIAN AMBASSADOR: "NATO SUPPORTS SOLUTION TO NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT WITHIN AZERBAIJAN’S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY" – PHOTO

APA
25 Jun 2009 14:17

Ganja. Jamshid Bakhtiyar – APA. Roundtable "NATO’s role in European
security system" was held in Ganja State University with participation
of Romanian ambassador to Azerbaijan Nikolae Ureku, APA’s local bureau
reports. Teachers of Ganja State University and other high schools
of the region, intellectuals attended the discussions. Ureku regarded
the meeting as an important step in the development of Azerbaijan-NATO
cooperation.

"15 years have passed since the first document was signed on
Azerbaijan-NATO partnership. During these years, Azerbaijan carried
out over 50 activities strengthening this partnership. Our cooperation
has reached a new stage. I am sure that Azerbaijan will profit from
the experience of the neighboring Turkey, which successfully passed
this stage," he said.

NATO representative said Azerbaijan’s future cooperation with NATO
will be in the field of protection of energy resources and naval
forces. In the end the diplomat answered the questions of the
roundtable participants and discussions were held on the theme.

To APA’s question about NATO’s position on Nagorno Karabakh, the
ambassador expressed his concern over the protraction of the conflict.

"NATO is cooperating with Azerbaijan and Armenia and tries to be
unbiased on this problem. But we support the solution to the conflict
within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity," he said.

Ureku added that Romania’s position did not differ from that of NATO’s.

Romania is NATO’s coordinating country on Azerbaijan.

DAVUTOGLU, THE ARCHITECT, MISERABLY FAILS TO DELIVER

Hurriyet
June 27 2009
Turkey

Ahmet Davutoglu has been a forceful architect of Turkish foreign
affairs as the top adviser to the prime minister since the first
Justice and Development Party, or AKP, administration up until
recently. With a PhD degree in his pocket and as the author of
Strategic Depth, a book that has come to be known by the experts
as a total sum of sense making and friendly policies for the
immediate neighboring countries of Turkey, he has been a rising
star for years. His role in the Armenian rapprochement, as well as
diplomatic facilitator between Syria and Israel, and also his vision
and familiarity with the wider region has been a great asset for
Turkey. His many policies have benefited Turkey on many fronts. In
brief, many thought that Davutoglu has been on the way of becoming
a statesman that Turkey has been longing for some time.

Up until two months ago, Davutoglu was still kind of a
behind-the-scenes man to fix and power the Turkish foreign affairs in
recasting Turkey’s role in the multidimensional political arena. Thus,
many unbiased observers were happy without much reservation when
Davutoglu was appointed the new foreign minister at the beginning
of May. Amid high expectations, he started his new post and with
the same speed, he delved into the first crucial foreign relations
test to prove that he indeed will live up to the expectations. Many,
including myself, hoped that he was going to end the period of cheap
shots and will bring our country to the same level of first class
democratic nations.

There is no need to make the story longer. Davutoglu failed to deliver
miserably. To begin with, he let Turkey congratulate hurriedly Iran’s
Ahmadinejad as one of the first to do so, and subsequently backed up
his stance. While the respected leaders of the world were releasing
statements and giving press conferences to let people know how sorry
they were with the shameful episode the people of Iran have been
going through, Turkey, on the other hand, busied itself to support the
merciless regime against its own people. I was curious to learn which
other countries besides ours rushed to convey their good wishes to
Ahmadinejad. The official Web site of the government of Iran informs
us that, possibly according to calling order, the following list of
countries cheered Ahmadinejad’s reelection (!): Afghanistan, Turkey,
Venezuela, China, Russia and Syria. Oh, and the leader of Hamas and
a few "other" countries of kings and dictators. If nothing else,
this list alone tells us and provides enough evidence to show in
which and whose pattern our foreign official’s mind works.

Notwithstanding that I still wanted to see and read what is the
reasoning behind Davutoglu’s hurry and subsequent backing of Iran’s
Islamic regime, I must say that in my view it is a plain disgrace for
Turkey and the people of Turkey. I thought after all Davutoglu was a
"deep" academic and might have some profound comprehension beyond
our imagination. According to the interview Der Spiegel conducted
with him this week, his reasoning is as follows: "It was politically
important for the elections in Iran to have taken place dynamically
and in competition among multiple candidates. When it came to the
post-election discussions, [Davutoglu] underlined that this is an
internal matter for Iran, adding that they hoped for a strong base on
which the security of the people of Iran can be achieved." Internal
affairs of other countries, so Davutoglu says while describing the
events that are taking place in Iran after the elections, much like
Russia’s, China’s and others’ congratulating letters to Iran. On the
other hand, the American media mocked Turkey as a "friend of Mahmoud"
and sadly describes us as a kind of low life country with the other
countries mentioned above, that only looks after its own interests. It
is true; each country pursues its own interests in the international
arena; however, values and notions exist that reflect a country’s
stand within the international community. In other words, once the
human factor is weighed, modern states tend to restrain themselves
in many ways. Ours did not bother to do so.

This miscalculated congratulation of and embracing Iran’s rulers is a
"deep" blow for Turkey’s image. It seems that Turkey somehow cannot
go beyond this narrow-mindedness. In the past, Turkey failed to cope
with its center parties’ corruption practices and always with its
never-changing opposition leaders. Either the nationalistic parties
of the country corner Turkey and don’t let Turkey open its arms to
all of its people, or the ultranationalists stroke it with their
endless gangs and scenarios. Though now, with the AKP, Turkey is
going through another kind of disappointment. And the list does not
end there. Turkey needs a new generation of statesmen. Davutoglu and
his party’s miscalculated reading of the occurrences will cost the
people of Turkey so dearly and will be felt for years to come. The
real statesman should be able to on the right side of the history, or
with the people who are on the right side of the history. Davutoglu
misses both and chooses to gain some near term benefits in expense
of bigger and longer ones. Davutoglu could have taken care of this
business if he wanted to do so. With doing so, he and Turkey would
have won so many hearts and minds in the international arena and in
the West. But again, maybe the target was a different kind of audience.

Davutoglu, the architect, starts to build the foundation of his legacy
as a foreign minister on misread previsions and shallow seas, which
are the direct opposite attributions of his perceived image. People of
Turkey, who also watch what happened in Iran, will have grasped how
their administration hugs the crushers of innocent people. The AKP
will pay the cost of this misery. Alas, along the way, Turkey as well.

* İlhan Tanır lives and works in Washington, D.C. His

blog is at

POLICE REPORT ON DINK TONED DOWN

Hurriyet
June 27 2009
Turkey

ISTANBUL – A report on the threat to Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink’s life was tampered with and toned down before being sent to
Istanbul. The sentence ‘Yasin Hayal will murder Hrant Dink whatever the
cost’ was changed to ‘Hayal is planning to take action toward Dink’.

An intelligence report on the threat to the life of murdered
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was toned down before being
sent to Istanbul, it has been reported.

The sentence "Yasin Hayal will murder Hrant Dink whatever the cost"
was changed to "Hayal is planning to take action toward Dink."

Dink, the former editor-in-chief of daily Agos, was gunned down
Jan. 19, 2007 in front of his office in central Istanbul and the
instigator is suspected to be Yasin Hayal.

The mentioned intelligence report, written by the staff of the Trabzon
Police Department on Feb. 16, 2006 and sent to the Istanbul Police
Department two days later, carries the signature of Ramazan Akyurek
who was Trabzon’s chief of police at the time.

Akyurek is being blamed for "neglecting duty" in a report prepared
by the Prime Ministry Inspection Board, which was approved by Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Other records obtained

The daily Milliyet also obtained reports of meetings that show the
statements made to justify the removal from duty of Erhan Tuncel,
a former informant for the Trabzon Intelligence Unit. Tuncel was a
source providing intelligence on Hayal. The report clearly indicates
that Hayal was going to murder Dink, not "take action toward" him.

Ali Fuat Yılmazer, another security officer who is being blamed for
"neglecting duty" in the same report, was the head of the C section
of Trabzon’s Intelligence Unit at the time. Yılmazer’s office had
received the report Feb. 17, 2006, and the Istanbul Intelligence Unit
also received a memo on the same day. However, the memo is slightly
different from the report as plans of murder were toned down to read
"taking action." "Hayal is planning to take action toward Dink and
he will stay with his brother Osman Hayal" reads the altered memo.

The report signed by Akyurek includes intelligence provided by
Tuncel. Tuncel says an accomplice of Hayal told him that Dink
and the daily Agos were blackening the image of Turks and the
Turkish Republic and for that reason they were planning to take
action against him. However, Tuncel’s statements continued as such:
"While I was convinced Hayal would do what he wanted to do for sure,
I advised him not to do so. He told me that he would kill this person
no matter the cost."

The report also features the comments of two intelligence agents from
the police department in its evaluation section. The agents pointed
to former knowledge of Hayal speaking around of taking action and
indicated that he was capable of doing such a thing.