ETHNIC HATE AMONG LEADS IN ARMENIAN BOY MURDER PROBE
ITAR-TASS, Russia
Nov 16 2006
MOSCOW, November 16 (Itar-Tass) – Investigators do not rule out
ethnic hate as a prime motive behind the murder of an Armenian boy
in the town of Ivanteyevka, Moscow Region, on November 11, the press
service of the regional prosecutor’s office told Itar-Tass on Thursday.
“Various leads are checked in the course of the probe, including
the version that the crime was motivated by ethnic hate and strife,”
a prosecutor said.
“The case is supervised by the regional prosecutor’s office”,
she underlined.
Earlier, police reported that a 15-year-old boy was found not far
from the railroad platform of the town of Ivanteyevka with multiple
stab wounds in the back, and brought to hospital where he died.”
The victim, Narek Kocharyan, lived in the Moscow region and was
in hairstylist training. He was out for a walk with his friends on
that day.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DODGING A BULLET: FINLAND 1 ARMENIA 0
By William Moore
Helsingin Sanomat, Finland
Nov 16 2006
Oh well, it’s the points that count, I suppose
First, the good news. Finland beat Armenia 1-0 in an almost-full
Finnair Stadium on Wednesday evening, and regardless of the outcome of
the other two games in Qualifying Group A of the 2008 UEFA European
Championships, Finland will head the group table over the winter
recess.
Some more good news: Finland have a world-class goalkeeper.
Without the timely intervention of Bolton’s Jussi Jaaskelainen on at
least three occasions, the headline at the top of this piece would
have been somewhat different, and there would probably only have been
bad news to report.
In part thanks to the estimable Mr. Jaaskelainen’s efforts, there is
also the good news that Finnish crowds now know rather better how
to sing – rather than simply yelling “Suomi, Suomi” with rythmical
clapping accompaniment. The crowd on Wednesday night did their
best. Would that the team had matched them in intensity and strength
of purpose.
And so to the bad news. To put it kindly, this was a pretty lacklustre
performance, even for an injury-hit side.
If it were not for the incontrovertible fact that Finland have eleven
points and Armenia have just the one, it would have been very hard to
tell these two teams apart. For lengthy periods of the second half at
least, the Armenians looked like the contenders for group leadership
while the Finns looked, well, the word “shambolic” comes to mind.
After the first ten minutes, in which Mika Nurmela’s head got the
final touch to a move that was started by a fierce parried shot from
Mika Vayrynen and then laid back off the rebound by Jonatan Johansson,
there was precious little for the 9,400 fans to get excited about.
The Finnish midfield was shapeless, and most attacks (with the notable
exception of the one that led to the goal) doggedly went down the
right. Few passes inside the final third of the field found home –
even on an artificial turf pitch that was light-years better than
that for the 0-0 draw at the reverse fixture in Yerevan last month –
and the absence of a player with vision was palpable.
Jari Litmanen may be in the twilight of his career, and he may have
lost more than the proverbial “yard of pace”, but he still has enough
footballing nouse between his ears to run rings around the sort of
opposition Finland faced on Wednesday.
His replacement (Litmanen was regrettably again unavailable through
injury) Alexei Eremenko Jr. has a great deal of skill on the ball,
he has been achieving great things for FC Saturn in Moscow, and he
may yet develop into an international player of real stature, but he
did little last night to suggest he has the wherewithal to step into
Litmanen’s shoes just yet.
All too often, he charged forwards in route-one style, tried to take
on two or three defenders, and then hit a pass that would have had
multi-million-euro stars struggling to connect with it. It was all made
so very difficult, when the recipe was to “keep it simple, stupid”.
This was the problem of the first half, after the 8th minute goal.
Finland kept a lid on things, and didn’t really look like conceding
a goal, but then again they hardly looked like scoring again either,
because they never held the ball up long enough in midfield to get
anyone into a decent scoring position. Haste makes waste.
If the first half was a chapter of missed opportunities to create
opportunities to score, the second half was even worse. Whatever the
Finns’ British-born coach Roy Hodgson said to them at the interval,
they lost the plot.
By sixty minutes the Armenians had gained enough in self-confidence
that they actually posed a greater threat than their hosts.
Two of the three aforementioned timely interventions by Jussi
Jaaskelainen came in the second period. Once he smothered a shot
from Levon Pachajyan after the Armenian had nutmegged Toni Kallio on
the right-hand edge of the box, and then five minutes from time he
produced a brilliant reflex stop after Pachajyan set up substitute
Aram Hakobyan with the goal at his mercy.
Karen Dokhoyan also brought out the best in the Finnish keeper
after only five minutes with a flighted header from distance that
Jaaskelainen did well to steer past the post for a corner.
The very fact that so much has been written about Jussi Jaaskelainen
and the three Armenian efforts should indicate that the visitors
ultimately came closer to grabbing a share of the points than Finland
did to getting a second goal to kill off the contest.
In fairness, the disjointed and at time hapless work of the Finns
in the second half was partly caused by the loss of Mika Vayrynen at
half-time. He picked up a knock on his thigh just before the interval
and was replaced by Jari Ilola.
The defence was for the most part solid, although the infection of
giving the ball away when it was least helpful seemed to be spreading
down to the basement as the final whistle approached.
But I suppose in the end all that the record-books will show is that
Finland won, that they collected three valuable points, and that they
are heading the group table for the next four months. Few will bother
to reflect on the way in which the result was achieved – especially
if these points make a difference when it comes to qualification from
Group A.
However, there’s the rub. Any half-decent, organised side would have
cut through Armenia like a hot knife through butter, especially after
grabbing an early nerve-settling goal, and Finland will have to play
much better outfits than this and still keep winning if they wish to
go to Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland.
On the strength of this performance at least, that will be a very
tall order.
The returns to duty of a fit Litmanen, a Mikael Forssell who has
rediscovered a taste for scoring goals, the hard-working Teemu Tainio
and Aki Riihilahti in midfield, and also the contribution of Petri
Pasanen at right-back are devoutly to be wished when things get going
again next March.
The first four were already ruled out of last night’s encounter,
and Pasanen apparently picked up a last-minute ankle problem. A small
footballing country like Finland does not have the depth of players
to cope with a long injury list, as Roy Hodgson’s predecessors know
only too well.
Finally, a bit more (relatively) good news. Poland defeated Belgium in
Brussels by the only goal. Since the Finns have already disposed of
Poland 3-1 away, this result indirectly helped to blunt the Belgian
threat to Finnish hopes of qualifying, even though a draw would have
possibly been the optimum outcome for us.
The Poles are clearly an improving force – they beat Portugal at home
last month – so it is nice to have got that difficult away fixture
out of the way successfully.
Although naturally anything can happen before November 2007, the smart
money would probably suggest that World Cup semi-finalists Portugal
will qualify from Group A, leaving the second available place to be
scrapped over by Poland, Belgiúm, Serbia, and Finland.
Finland next travel to Azerbaijan in March 2007 for another awkward
long-distance away game, and then they host Serbia and Belgium in
quick succession at the beginning of June. All three games will be
critical, and will ask a lot more of the Finns than we saw them give
on Wednesday.
Finland’s experienced coach Roy Hodgson has stated earlier that he
is confident there will be setbacks for the more fancied teams in
the large group, with the minnows stealing points here and there and
complicating matters.
In that sense, Finland dodged a bullet against Armenia. But only just.
Finland: Jussi Jaaskelainen Toni Kallio Sami Hyypia (captain)
Hannu Tihinen Ari Nyman Joonas Kolkka Markus Heikkinen Mika Vayrynen
(46. Jari Ilola) Mika Nurmela Aleksei Eremenko jr (88. Shefki Kuqi)
Jonatan Johansson
Head Coach: Roy Hodgson
Referee: Craig Thomson (Scotland) Attendance: 9,445 (capacity 10,770)
Weather: Chilly (+3°C) but dry.
–Boundary_(ID_EKabJVjwTxHSjFqu3HG3yQ)–

NATO SEES NO IMPACT FROM TURK-FRENCH MILITARY FREEZE
Reuters, UK
Nov 16 2006
BRUSSELS, Nov 16 (Reuters) – Turkey has assured NATO its move to
freeze military ties with France in a growing diplomatic row will
have no impact on alliance operations, a spokesman for the Western
defence organisation said on Thursday.
The two NATO allies work side-by-side in the Afghan capital Kabul as
part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF),
which is battling a fierce Taliban insurgency in a mission NATO says
is vital to its credibility.
General Ilker Basbug, head of Turkish land forces, said on Wednesday
that Ankara was suspending military ties with Paris in protest at the
French parliament’s support for a bill making it a crime to deny that
Armenians suffered genocide in Ottoman Turkey.
“Our initial understanding is that the Turkish decision will not affect
NATO. It (the freeze) is focused on bilateral military activities,
not NATO operations,” NATO spokesman James Appathurai said.
He said that assessment was based on statements by the Turkish
delegation at NATO and ISAF officials.
The French National Assembly voted last month in favour of the Armenian
bill, triggering threats of a trade boycott in Turkey, which strongly
rejects the claims that Ottoman Turks committed genocide against
Armenians during World War One.
While the French bill is unlikely to make it into law because it
is opposed by President Jacques Chirac, many Turks see it as further
proof that opponents of its bid to join the European Union are gaining
the upper hand.
French defence firms view NATO member Turkey, which has a fast-growing
economy, as a lucrative market for their hardware.

TURKEY SUSPENDS MILITARY TIES WITH FRANCE
By Cihan News Agency
Zaman, Turkey
Nov 16 2006
Turkish Land Forces Commander Ilker Basbug announced that Turkey has
suspended military relations with France following hot debates after
the French Parliament adopted a draft bill making it a crime to deny
that Turks committed genocide against Armenians last century.
In October, the French National Assembly; the lower house of the
French parliament, passed a much-debated bill that carries up to one
year in prison for anyone who denies that the World War I killings
of Armenians during the late Ottoman period were genocide.
Gen. Ilker Basbug made his remarks at a reception held on Wednesday
evening on the occasion of the 23rd anniversary of the foundation of
the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. “Relations with France in
the military field have been suspended,” Basbug told reporters.
In response to a question over possible military visits, “There
are no high-level (military) visits between the two countries,”
the general remarked.
The bill, adopted with 106 “yes” votes to 19 “no,” still requires
the approval of the French senate and president to become law.
On Oct. 18, Turkish Parliament adopted a joint declaration after
debating the bill. “The French National Assembly has not only inflicted
great damage on bilateral ties but has also dealt a blow to efforts to
normalize our ties with Armenia,” the declaration said. It added the
bill would have serious effects on political, economic and military
ties with France and on Armenia itself.
This recent move is seen as another link in escalating tension with
France, a key member of the European Union, at a time when EU hopeful
Turkey’s accession talks to become a member of the 25-member bloc
look increasingly troubled.
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ANDRANIK MARKARYAN: ILHAM ALIYEV AND ROBERT KOCHARIAN’S MEETING MAY BE A STEP FORWARD IN THE SETTLEMENT OF THE CONFLICT
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Nov 16 2006
“The meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents may be a step
forward in the settlement of the conflict,” Armenian Prime Minister
Andranik Markaryan told journalists, APA reports.
“The meeting may be a step forward and we may come to the conclusion
that Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers have come to an
agreement on some questions. Of course these problems will be widely
discussed on the level of presidents. I would welcome such a meeting,”
he said.
In the assembly of the Foreign Ministers of both countries held
in Brussels OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs proposed the meeting of two
presidents.

TURKEY CUTS FRANCE OFF OVER ARMENIA
Gareth Cartman
Paris Link, France
Nov 16 2006
The issue of the proposed law penalising denial of the Armenian
genocide continues to rumble on. Turkey has cut off military ties
with France, one of its main suppliers.
Turkey’s continued belligerence in the face of a law proposed by the
French Assemblee National has resulted in the freezing of military
relations between the two countries. The proposal, which proposed
criminalising denial of the Armenian genocide during the First World
War, has no chance of becoming law, and was voted through the lower
house thanks to mass abstention.
General Ilker Basbug, the Turkish commander, announced the suspension
last night, adding that there would be no military visits between the
two countries and that none had been planned. Turkey, for so long a
customer of France’s armament production, has already taken a strong
line against France, encouraging consumer boycotts and suspending
business deals.
The proposed law has received international criticism, with the EU
claiming that it has harmed negotiations with Turkey. Internally,
the proposal has been given a lukewarm reception, with President
Jacques Chirac privately fuming at the attempt to pass the law through
parliament. Chirac attempted to calm the situation in a conversation
with Prime Minister Erdogan, and will annul the proposal if it gets
through the senate.
The issue further clouds Turkey’s increasingly small chances of
joining the European Union. Ankara maintains that the word genocide
is unfair and that killings took place on both sides in what it calls
ethnic conflicts. Armenians, backed by most international historians,
claim that 1.5 million Armenians were massacred as the Ottoman Empire
came to an end.
CLE/1409/2006-11-16.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NO SUMMARY
Aram Abrahamian
Aravot, Armenia
Nov 16 2006
Writer and statesman Vano Siradeghian’s sixtieth anniversary will
be celebrated on Monday. As a media, we don’t want to be engaged in
anyone’s apology, even in his birthday. We simply fix the reality.
And the reality is that Vano, as well as the rest of members of
“Karabakh committee” are a politician of revolutionary period with all
his inherent mistakes. He is one of those politicians who intended and
achieved the revolution but not of those ones who take advantage of
its results. Negative is much more than positive in every revolution,
willfulness, injustice, despotism are unavoidable there. But let’s
compare how the ’90’s of the previous century passed in Georgia and
Azerbaijan, and we’ll be sure that the team where Vano Siradeghian
played a core role was much more responsible and wiser.
Why do the current authorities hate Vano and why did launch a
propagandizing hysteria against him after coming to power? I think,
besides the aspiration to black the past, psychological complexes
also play a great role here. In post revolutionary period, dull, more
common people come to replace politicians of large scale, and they
express their dullness in rage towards the formers. A medium pupil
may keep silence for 10 years and wait when his excellent classmate
will miss and give him and opportunity to demonstrate his envy. Just
in the same nowadays intellectuals /for example Levon Ananian/ for
pleasing the authority complain how ANM has pursued them by “they
were bad but you are good” transparent pretext.
As every bright person, Vano also mustn’t be identified with his
party. And more, when the opposition was holding demonstrations in 1994
against Vano, the ANM ruling cliques exulted at the curses addressed
to him. And the opposite, when the first scenes of rat race became
visible he began ruling the ANM, and if there is a party by that name,
it is Vano’s merit.
I’m sure, his political biography isn’t over yet, and so it isn’t
the time to summarize. Let’s simply congratulate his birth anniversary.

NKR SPEAKER ASHOT GHULIAN CONGRATULATED SPEAKER OF US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
Nov 16 2006
The speaker of the NKR National Assembly Ashot Ghulian congratulated
Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the US House of Representatives. In his
message, the speaker stated that this important victory is evidence to
the trust of the Americans in the ability of the Democrats to promote
democracy, overcome internal and external challenges the American
nation is facing. Ashot Ghulian appreciated the moral support to the
democratic movement and humanitarian aid the United States gives to
Nagorno Karabakh to help eliminate the consequences of the destructive
Azerbaijani aggression, as well as the U.S. engagement in the
talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group. Ashot Ghulian reasserted
the commitment of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and its people to the
democratic values, human rights and building of a civil society, who
believe that the U.S. will continue to uphold freedom and democracy
and assist in strengthening and developing Nagorno Karabakh.

MEETINGS OF NKR PRESIDENT IN UNITED STATED (NEW YORK)
Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
Nov 16 2006
The people of NKR will never give up their independence, and for
the sake of lasting peace, stability and economic development we are
ready for a serious dialogue and cooperation with all the interested
parties, stated NKR President Arkady Ghukassian in his interviews
with the Novoye Russkoye Slovo and the Inner City Press Newspapers,
as well as the Ararat and the AGBU magazines in the United States.
With regard to the present stage of the settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Arkady Ghukassian mentioned the
non-constructive stance of the Azerbaijani president, namely
the fact that he rejects direct talks with Nagorno Karabakh and
establishment of an atmosphere of confidence in the conflict area,
which impedes the final settlement of the problem. On these days,
NKR President Arkady Ghukassian is visiting the United States for the
preparations for the telethon of donations for the reconstruction of
NKR on November 23 in the US. In the framework of these preparations,
Arkady Ghukassian met with the primate of the Eastern Diocese of
North America Archbishop Oshakan Choloyan. After the meeting, the
president participated in a reception. The representatives of the
Armenian Relief Society, Armenian General Sport Union, the Armenian
Educational and Cultural Union Hamazgayin, the Central Committee of the
ARF Dashnaktsutyun, as well as a number of other organizations were
present. The president also met with Archbishop Khazhak Parsamian,
as well as the heads of several organizations cooperating with the
Eastern Diocese, including the Armenian Relief Fund. During the
meetings the archbishops asserted their willingness to help Artsakh
overcome the problems it is facing. For his part, the president of
NKR dwelled on state building, economic development and promotion of
democracy in Nagorno Karabakh. Arkady Ghukassian highly appreciated
the assistance of the Armenian Diaspora to the reconstruction and
development of the economy of NKR. Emphasizing the importance of
consistency in the reconstruction and development of the social
and economic infrastructure, he called the representatives of the
Diaspora to contribute to the reconstruction of the settlements in
Artsakh. Arkady Ghukassian also met with the American benefactors
Hakob Koyumjian and Harutiun Mekhchian and discussed the enlargement
of the humanitarian projects and business projects in NKR.

MEETINGS ARE BASIS FOR FUTURE COOPERATION
Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
Nov 16 2006
The NKR minister of education, culture and sport Kamo Atayan and the
rector of Artsakh State University Hamlet Grogorian visited France
and Moscow from October 24 to November 4. They were invited to France
to take part in the conference devoted to the 15th anniversary of the
Independence of NKR. Before the conference the NKR delegation visited
the city of Meudon where they met with the mayor. The minister of
education said they discussed questions of mutual interest with the
mayor. The city has a college which trains specialists for services.
The mayor of Meudon advised to visit the college and discuss
possibilities of cooperation. Kamo Atayan said the college combines
theory and practice, and on graduation the alumni are ready to work.
The minister said they will use this practice in the new vocational
college in Stepanakert. And the first step will be starting to teach
French at the college to communicate with the invited specialists.
For the equipment, this is the most complicated problem because it
requires immense costs. Kamo Atayan raised this issue in a meeting
with a group of Armenian businessmen in France, organized by Hovik
Gevorgian, the NKR representative to France. Kamo Atayan says they
were interested in everything, from premises to the teaching staff
and placement of students. They proposed supporting the construction
of the new compound for the vocational college. The project of the
compound will be sent to France as soon as it is ready. In Paris,
the NKR delegation visited the Armenian Lyceum, met with the teachers
and students. The number of students tends to grow. The fact that
children come to this school from as far as 350 km shows that the
Armenian families want their children to get Armenian education.
After staying in Paris for two days the delegation left for the
city of Lille to participate in the conference devoted to the 15th
anniversary of the Independence of NKR held at University Charles
de Gaulle. The participants represented different universities and
nationalities. There were also Turkish professors. Hamlet Grigorian,
the rector of Artsakh State University made a report entitled
“Reflections and Forecast on the Settlement of the NKR Issue”
and Kamo Atayan reported on the achievements and problems of the
NKR system of education. The fate of the unrecognized countries of
the South Caucasus and in the world sparked a debate. The members
of our delegation say the debate came to the conclusion that the
self-determination of nations is superior to territorial integrity.
In Moscow, the NKR delegation met with the staff of Lomonosov
University and discussed possibilities of cooperation. They had a
productive meeting with the directors of the institutes of the Russian
Academy of Education. At the Public Chamber of Russia Kamo Atayan and
Hamlet Grigorian were awarded the medal of peace and humanism in the
Caucasus. They also met with the leadership of the Union of Armenians
of Russia. Two months ago the leadership of the Union had visited NKR
and made an arrangement on supporting Artsakh State University with
equipment, construction of a gym and financial aid to students. The
Union of Armenians of Russia transferred some money to ASU for grants
to talented students who cannot afford to pay for their education,
thereby implementing part of their project. The minister of education
says the meetings in Moscow and France provided certain basis for
further cooperation, and there are great expectations.