TURKEY CONCERNED WITH STATEMENTS BY FRENCH PRESIDENT – TURKISH AMBASSADOR
Author: S.Agayeva
TREND, Azerbaijan
Oct 3 2006
Turan Moraly, the Turkish Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary Ambassador to
Azerbaijan told journalists that Turkey is very concerned regarding
the statements made by France’s leadership. They contradict the
existing historic, friendly and mutually profitable relationships
between Turkey and France, Trend reports citing the local television
channel ANS. He was commenting on the last statement made by the
French President Jacques Chirac, who called on Turkey to recognize
the Armenian genocide and open its borders with Armenia.
Turkey is ready for open channels of communication with Armenia,
but on condition that Armenia stabilizes its relationships with the
Turkic-speaking neighbors,” the diplomat stressed.

LITTLE BIG MAN VIC DARCHINYAN DEFENDS IBF TITLE
by David A. Avila
The Sweet Science
Oct 3 2006
IBF flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan may look crude, unskilled and
small to the average eye, but to opponents he’s a monster.
Darchinyan, a 5-foot tall dynamo, faces flyweight challenger Glenn
Donaire (16-2-1, 9 KOs) and promises to take on his brother Nonito
Donaire too, but that will have to wait until the Aussie strongman
defends his world title at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on
Saturday. The fight will be televised live on Showtime.
“I know Glenn is sparring with his brother (Nonito). I am coming
after him too,” says Darchinyan (26-0, 21 KOs) menacingly like a
Halloween hobgoblin.
Now 30 years old, Darchinyan knows his time at the top of the
flyweight heap is running short and he’s desperately seeking the
spotlight. Earlier attempts to lure popular fighters into the ring
have failed.
At one time it was felt the ethnic Armenian southpaw would get a
shot at Mexico’s extremely popular Jorge Arce, but that fighter, who
was a huge hit as a reality television star in his native country,
has moved up in weight.
“Where is Darchinyan?” asked Arce jokingly after disposing of Hawk
Makepula a week ago in four rounds. “I’ll fight him right now.”
Darchinyan, who is promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, has a bull’s
eye on Arce. But first comes Donaire.
“I wanted to fight Donaire because he challenged me,” said Darchinyan,
who finds it difficult to get opponents after knocking out eight of
them in a row dating back to 2003. “He said he can beat me.”
Donaire, who has fought many times in Southern California fight cards
and has a big Filipino following, feels confident that his technique
can withstand the hurricane of punches that Darchinyan’s opponents
usually encounter.
“The guys that have fought Darchinyan have been intimidated,” Donaire,
26, says. “I won’t be.”
Also on the card will be the younger Nonito Donaire (15-1) accepting
a fight with veteran Oscar “Pajarito” Andrade of Mexico (35-24-1),
who makes a living out of upsetting young aspiring prizefighters.
Nonito, 23, has plenty of speed and above average defense, but his
troubling hands seem to break down too often.
Andrade has a list of youngsters that he upset in his career – such
as Heriberto Ruiz, Trinidad Mendoza and Jorge “Speedy” Gonzalez –
and despite his pedestrian-looking record, hasn’t lost a fight since
2004 and that was by majority decision to Roger “Speedy” Gonzalez.
Chicago pay-per-view card
Near Chicago, the massive Nikolai “The Russian Giant” Valuev
defends his WBA heavyweight title against Monte “Two Guns” Barrett
on Saturday. The fight card will be televised on HBO pay-per-view
from the AllState Arena.
Valuev made a visit to Los Angeles a month ago to drum up support
for his first fight on American shores. Few in this country have ever
seen him perform in a boxing ring.
“I like this country. I’d like to fight here more,” said Valuev at
a popular Los Angeles hotel.
His opponent Barrett was not impressive in his last title opportunity
a year ago against Hasim Rahman. He seemed listless and cowed by the
heavy-handed Rahman. He may be petrified against the 7-2 giant Valuev,
the biggest heavyweight champion in boxing history.
Also on the same fight card is Poland’s Tomasz Adamek meeting
Australia’s Paul Briggs in a battle for the WBC light heavyweight
world title. It’s a rematch. Their previous encounter ended in a
majority decision for Adamek a year ago.
Famoso retiring?
Carlos “Famoso” Hernandez may be retiring after losing by unanimous
decision to Kevin Kelley last Thursday in San Antonio. It might have
been his Alamo.
Kelley used a steady jab and angles to keep Hernandez from getting a
bead on him. After 10 rounds including a second round knockdown from
a right hook, Kelley gained all three judges favor.
Hernandez said he is probably going to retire but it’s not official.
If a large payday comes his way there is a chance that El Salvador’s
only world champion boxer could accept.
icle/4431/little-big-man-vic-darchinyan-defends-ib f-title/

BETE BACK IN ARMENIA SQUAD
by Khachik Chakhoyan
uefa.com, Switzerland
Oct 3 2006
Cameroon-born goalkeeper Edel Bete has returned to the Armenia squad
for the UEFA EURO 2008~Y qualifiers against Finland and Serbia.
Erzrumyan in form Coach Ian Porterfield has recalled the AFC Rapid
Bucuresti custodian while FC Ararat Yerevan’s fine run of league form
has persuaded the Scot to give midfielder Artur Minasyan and striker
Nshan Erzrumyan – who has scored 13 league goals this season – their
first international call-ups. Porterfield will have to do without
injured trio Romik Khachatryan, Artavazd Karamyan and Aratashes
Bagdasaryan for the Group A games and midfielder Hamlet Mkhitaryan
has been omitted as he is currently without a club.
Armenia squad Goalkeepers: Gevorg Kasparov (FC Pyunik), Felix Hakobyan
(FC MIKA), Armando Hambartsumyan (PFC Slavia Sofia), Edel Bete (AFC
Rapid Bucuresti).
Defenders: Karen Dokhoyan (FC Krylya Sovetov Samara), Robert Arzumanyan
(FC Pyunik), Sargis Hovsepyan (FC Pyunik), Valery Aleksanyan (FC
Pyunik), Aleksander Tadevosyan (FC Pyunik), Armen Tigranyan (FC
Pyunik), Yegishe Melikyan (FC Stal Alchevsk), Jose Bilibio (Club
Deportivo Espoli).
Midfielders: Karen Aleksanyan (CSF Zimbru Chisinau), Agvan Lazarian
(FC Pyunik), Arman Karamyan (FC Ceahlaul Piatra Neamt), Levon Pachajyan
(FC Pyunik), David Grigoryan (FC MIKA), Artur Minasyan (FC Ararat
Yerevan), Samvel Melkonyan (FC Banants).
Forwards: Armen Shahgeldyan (FC MIKA), Edgar Manucharyan (AFC Ajax),
Aram Hakobyan (FC Banants), Ara Hakobyan (FC Stal Alchevsk), Nshan
Erzrumyan (FC Ararat).
©uefa.com 1998-2006. All rights reserved.
–Boundary_(ID_+Qb6EUww9zY1Fke+puLllA)- –

ARMENIAN MP: “RUSSIA DISCARDED ARMENIA’S INTERESTS IN SORTING OUT ITS RELATIONS WITH GEORGIA”
Today, Azerbaijan
Oct 3 2006
Introducing economic sanctions against Georgia will hardly affect
Armenia, Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Vahan Hovhannisian has told
reporters.
“Unfortunately, it’s been not the first time when sorting out relations
with Georgia, Russia discards Armenia’s interests. They expect us,
probably, to treat this issue with understanding, but I personally do
not have such understanding, as it turns out that our strategic ally,
wishes it or not, joins the blockade of Armenia,” he says.
Vahan Hovhannisyan expresses hope that after Russian officers are
released the positions will alleviate. “The matter is, how the Georgian
side reacts to it: it can well try to gain revenge in other front. It
is rather difficult to predict today,” Armenia’s deputy parliamentary
speaker says.
URL:

UNEASE GRIPS GEORGIANS IN RUSSIA
BBC World News, UK
Oct 3 2006
Khatuna and her husband now talk about selling up and moving away
Khatuna Dadiani is one of the estimated half a million Georgians
living in Russia, who send money home to support family members.
As of today she faces two new problems – how to wire money to Tbilisi,
and how to get to Georgia if she wants or needs to visit.
But Russia’s economic sanctions against Georgia strike her as more
ridiculous than anything else.
“Of course there will be ways round them,” she says.
“The worrying thing is that attitudes towards Georgians are changing
so fast here – it’s getting worse and worse.”
Money and travel
Khatuna’s husband, who has his own construction company, is
investigating the possibility of sending money to Georgia via foreign
banks in Moscow, rather than Russian banks.
The people to whom we send money, live on that money
Khatuna Dadiani The solution to the travel problem would be to fly
via Ukraine or Armenia – a minor inconvenience.
It might also be possible to go by road through the Russian republic
of North Ossetia, though Khatuna says this would involve dealing with
bribe-hungry border guards.
Khatuna is originally from the Georgian autonomous region of Abkhazia,
and her relatives in Georgia are mainly refugees, forced out during
the 1992-93 war in the region.
Some have found their feet in the Georgian capital, others have not.
“The people to whom we send money, live on that money,” she says.
“They have big families to feed.”
In the current war of words between Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Khatuna is 100% behind
Mr Saakashvili.
She was deeply offended by Mr Putin’s account of the arrest of Russian
officers in Georgia on spying charges as part of the legacy of the
Stalin-era secret police chief, Lavrentiy Beria – a Georgian, like
Stalin himself.
Changing attitudes
But what worries her most is what she perceives as a changing attitude
towards Georgians in Russian society as a whole. It is getting worse
“exponentially”, she says.
She worries for the safety of her daughter, who travels on public
transport every day to an institute, where she studies modern
languages.
“Georgians in Russia are quietly selling their businesses and going
away,” she says.
Her husband, who has lived in Russia most of his life, used to laugh
at the idea, but he has now begun to consider it, she adds.
In an ideal world they would return to Abkhazia but, that being
impossible, they have discussed going further afield, to Spain or
Italy perhaps.
“[The comedian, Mikhail] Zhvanetsky said on television recently that
the biggest achievement of Russian democracy is that anyone can go
away,” says Khatuna.
“He is absolutely right.”

RETURN TO HIS ROOTS BROUGHT DAVID TO TEARS
Ian Wylie
Manchester Evening News, UK
Oct 3 2006
EMOTIONAL JOURNEY: David DickinsonTEARS flow as antiques expert
and TV presenter David Dickinson embarks on a poignant and touching
personal journey.
“Most people will have their mother and father and will know their
roots and will never question them. In my case, there’s always been
a question,” he explains.
Stockport-raised David’s voyage of discovery takes him from Manchester
to Istanbul via Jersey and provides Who Do You Think You Are? (BBC1,
October 4, 9pm) with one of the best editions in the current series.
He was born in 1941, the illegitimate son of an Armenian woman
called Eugenie Gulessarian, the result of an affair she had with a
married man.
In the moral climate of that time, his mother could not keep David.
He was adopted by Jim and Joyce Dickinson when he was just a few
months old, and brought up in Cheadle Heath.
“I always felt a little different,” he recalls.
At the outset of his TV research, David adds, “I’m excited about the
thought of tracing my grandfather’s origins, because I think that’s
what I’m about. I think I’m really east meets west, in a way.”
Now 65, David didn’t discover he was adopted until he was 11, finding
his birth and adoption certificates in his granny’s desk. That’s when
the questions began. “Where have I come from? What kind of people
were they? Why did they have me adopted?”
He was 28 when he traced his birth mother Eugenie – known as Jenny.
They exchanged letters for two decades. But when she died in 1989,
they had never met face to face.
Jenny met and married another man called Bert, some two years after
giving David up for adoption. They had a son called Ken and moved to
Jersey, deciding never to tell anyone about David’s birth.
Jersey
Whenever David offered to visit his mother, she refused. Having
landed in Jersey with the TV team, he says: “I could have got on a
plane at any time and come over here. I had all the confidence in the
world and I could have just walked up to the door, but I considered,
‘Why should I do that? Why should I enter this woman’s life and turn
it topsy-turvy and cause her grief?’
“She was scared, she was nervous. She said to me that her husband could
be rather difficult. The truth may be she just couldn’t face up to
meeting the child that you give away. And I think I respect that also.”
If you look at the photo of Jenny as an older woman, you can
immediately understand her fears that others would realise David was
her son, long before he was a well-known TV face.
“She used to say to me, ‘People will put two and two together. People
will recognise you.’ She was, obviously, alarmed at that thought.”
After the death of his natural mother, David made contact with his
half-brother Ken and his wife, Sue. They live in the same house in
Jersey where Jenny and her husband Bert lived for 40 years.
There are plenty of tears as the two brothers again discuss those lost
years and their mother. Recalling their very first meeting, Ken says,
“When you walked through the arrivals hall, I could feel the hairs
on the back of my neck standing on end because it was just like a
reincarnation of her.
“I thought, ‘Here I am. I’ve had the love of this wonderful woman all
throughout my childhood, and all you’ve got are these letters.’ Very
emotional.”
More tears flow when David walks along the beach, reflecting on the
mother he never met. “She did what she thought was the best. Coming
over here and seeing Ken happy there with his wife in the house which
his mum, and dad, brought him up in … a bit tearful today, really.”
Back in Manchester, David discovers more about his grandfather,
Hrant Gulessarian, a wealthy textiles merchant who came to the city
from Istanbul in 1904.
With Christian Armenians facing persecution in Turkey, Hrant became
part of a thriving Armenian community in Manchester.
After joining an uncle already set up here in business, he became a
millionaire in his twenties.
Blackpool hotel
But Hrant later lost most of his fortune, spending his last years
living alone in a Blackpool hotel room before his death in 1963.
Although, at the time he never knew his grandfather or his background,
David actually followed in his footsteps and believes he inherited
the family genes for toughness.
“I’m not really a Dickinson. I’m definitely a Gulessarian. Since I
was 11, I’ve been chasing the Gulessarian name. Perhaps I’ve been
trying to prove something.”
He visits the Armenian church in Manchester and finds records of his
grandfather’s wedding, plus details of his mother’s birth. Hrant lived
the life of an English country gentleman with his wife Marie-Adelaide,
the daughter of a Moss Side baker, in Great Warford, Cheshire, just
20 minutes’ drive from David’s present-day home.
But their marriage did not last. Hrant’s business was failing and
the couple drifted apart. Divorce papers mention her frequent adultery.
David asks, “What can you say when your grandmother turns out to be
a bit of a tart?”
He visits the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry and uncovers
more about his grandfather’s 1920s city centre business.
There are a few last pieces of the jigsaw waiting for him as he
travels to Istanbul to find out what happened to the Turkish branch
of his family, including the discovery of a new-found relative.
His ancestral quest at an end, David is happy his questions have
finally been answered. “Now the circle is completed as far as I’m
concerned. It’s put to rest.”
k/entertainment/filmandtv/s/224/224639_return_to_h is_roots_brought_david_to_tears.html

TURKISH PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION IN PARIS
Turkish Press
Oct 3 2006
PARIS – A Turkish Parliamentary delegation arrived in Paris to lobby
against the draft resolution which considers denial of so-called
Armenian genocide claims a crime.
The Turkish Parliamentary delegation, led by Turkish MP Mehmet Dulger,
who is the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Parliament,
is comprised of Justice & Development Party (AKP) and Republican
People’s Party (CHP) parliamentarians.
The delegation would ask for the resolution, submitted by the French
Socialist Party, to be rejected.
The Turkish parliamentarians are expected to point out that approval
of the resolution would harm Turkish-French relations.

GENOCIDE QUESTION CONTINUES TO DOG PVDA
NIS News Bulletin, Netherlands
Oct 3 2006
THE HAGUE, 04/10/06 – Labour (PvdA) is not yet free of the Armenian
genocide question. Various media again cast doubts on the position
of prominent MP Nebahat Albayrak yesterday. Meanwhile, PvdA Senator
Erik Jurgens has proposed dropping the ban on Holocaust denial.
The PvdA broke with candidate MP Erdinc Sacan last week. He is not
running in the 22 November general elections because he refuses to
recognise the genocide perpetrated by Turkey on the Armenians between
1915 and 1917. Albayrak, the highest-placed candidate on the PvdA
list after front-runner Wouter Bos, is however still refusing to
provide clarification of her position.
According to Elsevier magazine, Albayrak has been unavailable for
comment since last week, when she “reduced the debate” to a question
of definition in an interview with Trouw newspaper. Alabayrak said
it is not possible to take a clear position because the historical
sources are “polluted.”
Elsevier says Albayrak is propounding the position of the Turkish
government, as expressed by the Turkish ambassador in a letter
to evening newspaper NRC Handelsblad. The diplomat said in this
yesterday that “historians are divided on how the events should be
characterised.”
According to Elsevier, there are virtually no independent academics
that doubt that the term ‘genocide’ is appropriate. “In the
Netherlands, a report appeared as early as 1918 by a committee of
very eminent politicians which spoke unequivocally of the ‘systematic
slaughter’ of 800,000 Armenians in Turkey.”
While Turkish PvdA members are not committing themselves for now
on the question, it has already led to turmoil within the Christian
democratic (CDA) party. A group of 30 Turkish CDA members protested
at last weekend’s party congress against the forced departure of two
CDA election candidates due to their denial of the genocide.
According to the Turkish ambassador, CDA candidates Ayhan Tonca and
Osman Elmaci were wrongfully removed from the election list. Their
position “cannot be described as a denial of a proven genocide,
but rather as non-acceptance of the one-sided allegation by the
Armenians.” The Turkish parliament on Monday awarded Sacan, Tonca
and Elmaci the distinction of ‘honorary parliamentarians.’
Prompted by the debate on Turkey’s Armenian genocide, PvdA Senator Erik
Jurgens is urging the abolition of the ban on denial of the Holocaust,
the genocide of around six million Jews by the Nazi regime. “It
comes under freedom of speech, unless somebody is inciting to racial
hatred,” in his view. Equally, denial of the Armenian genocide is
not punishable, according to the Senator, who is also a member of
the Council of Europe parliament.
Professor Ton Zwaan of the University of Amsterdam, specialist in
genocide studies, said yesterday in Trouw that “Albayrak, unhampered
by any knowledge, has made a series of dubious statements which are
closely related to negationism and denial politics. The question is
how she and her party think they will get away with this.”
.htm

AZERI, ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS TO MEET IN MOSCOW OCT. 6
Today, Azerbaijan
Oct 3 2006
The OSCE Minsk group has not finished its work, claim the Co-Chairs.
Today they announced that the Armenian and Azeri Foreign Ministers
will meet in Moscow on October 6.
The Co-Chairs are a little indignant at yesterday’s meetings in Baku
and the interpretation of the Azeri mass media. US Co-Chair Mettew
Bryza says that he couldn’t sleep the whole night after seeing his
announcement on GUAM in the press. According to the Azeri press
data, Mr. Bryza said that GUAM countries can render assistance to
OSCE Minsk group in Karabakh conflict settlement. Today Mr. Bryza
read his opinion on the GUAM in front of the Armenian journalists;
“GUAM member countries are not OSCE members.”
Bernard Fassier, French Co-Chair says that he didn’t announce in
Baku that Karabakh cannot participate in the negotiation process at
present. He didn’t answer the same question in Yerevan either. He
didn’t exclude the possibility that peaceful troops may be located
in vacated territories by 2006.
Tomorrow the Co-Chairs will leave for Karabakh. Mr. Bryza assured that
the Co-Chairs are of the same opinion on all questions, and there
is no discord among them. “I can assure that the Karabakh conflict
settlement has not a military solution,” said Mettew Bryza.
Bernard Fassier said that unless Armenians and Azeris are ready
to live side by side as neighbours, the Karabakh conflict won’t
be settled. As for the time when the conflict will find its final
solution, Mr. Fassier said, “Let’s live and see.”
URL:

TURKEY RAPS CHIRAC COMMENTS ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Reuters
Oct 3 2006
Turkey on Tuesday criticized remarks by French President Jacques
Chirac that Ankara must recognize the 1915 massacre of Armenians as
genocide before joining the European Union.
On a visit to Armenia last weekend, Chirac urged Turkey to come to
terms with a dark episode in its history just as Germany had done
with regard to the Holocaust under the Nazis.
Turkey strongly denies claims that Ottoman Turks committed a systematic
genocide against Armenians during World War One, saying that large
numbers of both Christian Armenians and Muslim Turks perished in a
partisan conflict raging at that time.
“We were deeply saddened by the statements supporting the baseless
Armenian claims during the visit by President Chirac to Armenia,”
the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Chirac should instead support Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s
call for a joint commission of Turkish and Armenian historians to
assess what really happened more than 90 years ago, the ministry
said. It noted that last year Chirac said the issue of France’s own
alleged maltreatment of peoples under its former colonial rule should
be left to historians to argue over.
The Armenian issue is especially sensitive in France, which is home
to a large Armenian diaspora and faces presidential elections next
year. The French parliament is due to debate a bill by the Socialists
opposition party proposing to punish anyone denying Armenian genocide
claims on October 12.
Chirac has also promised French voters a chance to vote on
whether Turkey should join the EU after it has completed its entry
negotiations. The talks are expected to last many years.
The EU’s Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said during a visit to
Ankara on Tuesday that recognizing the Armenian massacres as genocide
was not a condition for Turkey’s EU membership. “We want to encourage
a rational, constructive debate (about what happened),” said Rehn,
who said he had welcomed Erdogan’s proposal for a commission.