Zaman Online
09.17.2006 Sunday – ISTANBUL 00:57
OIC Responds to Pope

By Suleyman Kurt, Mukremin Albayrak, Ankara
Saturday, September 16, 2006
zaman.com
The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) convened to discuss
whether there was a change in the function of the Papacy.
OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said they would give a
legal response to the pope.
Pope Benedict XVI’s recent remarks linking Islam to violence have
offended Muslims all over the world, prompting fierce anger in Turkey,
Pakistan, Egypt, India and Indonesia.
The Pakistani Parliament condemned the Pope’s comments, and the Muslim
Brothers called on the governments of Islamic countries to break
relations with the Vatican if the Pope does not apologize..
Chairman of the World Union of Muslim Clerics Yusuf Kardawi stated the
pope made `an unforgivable mistake’ against Muslims and demanded an
apology.
The Islamic Fiqh Academy (IFA), a subsidiary organ of the Organization
of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has begun an inquiry into the pope’s
statements in order to prepare a legal response.
Speaking to Zaman Daily, Ihsanoglu stated that the pope’s remarks had
damaged dialogue efforts between Christianity and Islam.
`There would have been no rationalism in Christianity without Ibn Sina
and Ibn Rushd,’ Ihsanoglu said.
The OIC secretary-general also opened the papacy’s new function to
discussion.
`Why did the pope make such a remark? Is the papacy changing its
principle?’ Ihsanoglu asked.
The pope’s remarks sparked reactions from Christians, too.
`The pope still seeks to do intellectual exercises like a university
professor,’ Turkish-Armenian Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan said,
expressing that several examples like the Crusades should not be
forgotten.
Ali Bardakoglu, head of Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate, found
the Vatican’s latest statement regrettable and said, `The pope should
take the floor and apologize. This would contribute to the world peace
more than a correction made by his spokesman.’
Bardakoglu’s statements had repercussions from all over the world.
`Some of the strongest words came from Turkey, possibly putting into
jeopardy Benedict’s plan to visit there in November,’ the New York
Times wrote.
Le Figaro stated the pope’s opposition against Turkey’s membership to
the E.U. when he was a cardinal had not been forgotten in Turkey.
`Above all, this is a surprising statement. Why has he made such a
statement? It is difficult to understand this, this was not on the
agenda,’ The OIC secretary-general said and pointed out that the pope
had referred to a controversial text written in the 14th century.
During a visit to his homeland Germany this week, Pope Benedict XVI
criticized Islam and the concept of “jihad” or holy war by citing a
14th-century Byzantine emperor who said the Prophet Mohammed had
brought the world “evil and inhuman things.”
Turkey’s leading theologians termed the pope’s words as `ignorant’ and
demanded an apology from the Vatican.
Professor Mehmet Aydin from Selcuk University Theology Faculty said it
was unfortunate that the Vatican was led by a pope who made such
remarks about Islam.
`Pope Benedict offended the Muslim world and displeased Pope John
XXIII,’ Aydin said and pointed out the efforts of inter-religious
dialogue started by Pope John XXIII had amounted to nothing.

BoxingScene.com, AR
Last update: 09-16-2006

Shaun George, Ter-Meliksetyan Are Victorious

By Ryan Songalia
Local favorites Shaun George and Archak “Shark Attack” Ter-Meliksetyan
returned in triumphant style as Hall of Fame Promotions provided an
entertaining night of fights at John F. Kennedy High School in
Paterson, NJ. A lively crowd met the gladiators as they put on a show
well worth the price of admission.
Most of the crowd in attendance were there to see what George and
Ter-Meliksetyan would be able to produce in light of their recent
performances. While not exactly highlight fights for either men, the
results suggested that both have alot of fighting left before their
stories can be concluded.
In the main event, cruiserweight prospect Shaun George won a lopsided
decision over the game, but outclassed John Douglas. George, 184 1/2,
who suffered his only defeat at the hands of Matt Godfrey in his last
outing, was by far the more polished of the two combatants in the
ring, and that was the only attribute that was of any consequence.
While Douglas, 196, outweighed the favored George by some 11.5 pounds,
it was George’s significantly more impressive hand speed and balance
that drained the fight of any drama from the opening bell. In the
first round, it was immediately apparent that George possessed the
more solid technique. He landed very effectively with lefts and rights
to the head and body, although with significantly less thunder than
his opponent. It appeared that George didn’t need to do much to set up
his offensive attack, as Douglas’ terrible balance created all of the
punching angles necessary for George to take the advantage.
In an interview a few days before the fight, George advised all of the
fans to get to their seats early, insinuating that he planned to make
an early night of his unheralded challenger. Through the first two
rounds, it seemed as if the knockout he had promised might come to
fruition. However, after his quick start, George fell into a pattern
of rote fighting, content to let his man survive in the
non-competitive circumstances that were unfolding. By the third round,
the fight had begun to mirror each preceding round, as George was able
to land at will to the head and body with impunity while not appearing
interested in stopping his foe.
By the middle rounds, Douglas was finding openings in the tight
peekaboo defensive stance of George with clubbing right hands and body
shots, but those glimpses of competitiveness were few and far between.
George won all 8 of the rounds on my scorecard, with the official
decision not being too far off from my unofficial tally. George
expressed interest in a rematch with the man who in May handed him his
one and only loss, a first round technical knockout to Matt
Godfrey. Godfrey will be facing Danny Batchelder on the 23rd of this
month in Hartford, CT. George elevates his record to 12-1-2 (5 KO),
while Douglas slides to 6-12-3 (3 KO).
Archak Ter-Meliksetyan, 155, returned with a dominant TKO at the
expense of the overmatched New York resident Dillan Carew,
154. Despite having fallen short in his last three bouts, Archak did
not at all appear to be lacking in confidence, as he went on the
attack from the opening bell on an opponent who did not appear to be
up to the challenge. Archak, of Paterson, NJ, landed power combination
after combination on his outgunned foe, not leaving for a second any
doubt as to who was in charge. Carew was able to land some uppercuts
from time to time as Archak leaned face forward on the inside,
although with little to no measurable power in his blows. The end was
near from the ring walk, and eventually came at 2:20 of the fourth
round. Archak, who bares a striking resemblance to fellow Armenian and
2004 US Olympian Vanes Martirosyan, gets back in the W column and
moves to 16-4 (13 KO). Carew suffers his tenth loss by way of the
early route, falling to 20-15-3 (12 KO).
Jersey City native Michael Torres remained unbeaten as he stopped a
gutsy Ramiro Rivera in five. After a first round that left little to
take to the water cooler, Torres exploded in the second with a
succession of rights and lefts that left Rivera clinging to his
consciousness by a fine thread. Finally, after landing with some
heavy shots upstairs, Torres connected with a rocket right hand that
sent Rivera to the seat of his pants.
Not coming all the way from Arizona to be embarrassed, Torres fought
back with all his reserves, but by the end of the round Torres had
weathered his opponent’s last hurrah and was on point with the
overhand rights that had been his foe’s poison. Torres dropped Rivera
in the fourth round again, by which time many in the audience,
including myself, began to call for the referee’s intervention in the
bout. Finally, the end came at 1:22 of the fifth round, following a
third knockdown that was more a product of Rivera being without any
legs. Torres, who is trained by former light heavyweight contender
Johnny Persol, raises his unbeaten record to 8-0 (4 KO). Rivera drops
to 4-2 (3 KO).
In other action, Carlos Macias, 134, hammered his way to a unanimous
decision victory over the winless Miguel Orengo, 133, in four
one-sided rounds. Macias dropped Orengo three times on body shots en
route to winning a unanimous decision. Andy Mejias, 152, won his pro
debut in spectacular fashion, knocking out Vincent Irwin, 153 in the
first round. Jamar Patterson, 149, ran through Charles Wade, 149,
dropping his opponent for the ten count in round 2.
The audience was scattered with notable celebrities of ring fame and
other fields of interest. Among the celebrities in attendance were New
York Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey, R & B singer Oran “Juice” Jones,
and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels of Run DMC. From the world of fistic
endeavors, Vivian Harris, Yori Boy Campas, Lou Duva, Oscar Diaz, and
Jorge Gonzalez were among those enjoying the fights.

Turkish Press
09/16/2006
Turkey warns Greece over Muslim minority’s rights
Published: 9/16/2006

ISTANBUL – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned
neighbouring Greece Saturday to respect the right of its Muslim
minority to elect its own religious leader or face reciprocal measures
from Ankara.
“If Greece respects its own minority rights and has expectations from
Turkey on this issue, then its should also fulfill its own
obligations,” Erdogan told an assembly of Turks from northeastern
Greece, the Anatolia news agency reported.
“This issue must be resolved. If not, there are things Turkey could do
under the principle of reciprocity,” he said.
Erdogan charged that Greece’s treatment of its Muslim minority
amounted to a violation of the human rights criteria of the European
Union of which it is a member.
“Our aim is to allow our kinsmen to benefit from their rights under
bilateral and international agreements as respected and equal citizens
of Greece,” the prime minister said.
Ankara has long complained that the Turkish minority in Greece,
numbering about 100,000 and living in the northeastern Thrace region
bordering Turkey, are not allowed to elect their own religious
representatives, who are nominated by the government in Athens.
The Greek government denies all charges of discrimination against the
Muslim minority and says they are treated equally.
Predominantly Muslim Turkey is home to small groups of Jews and
Christians, mainly Orthodox Greeks and Armenians, most of them
concentrated in Istanbul.
Istanbul is also home to the The Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate,
which represents the 250 million Orthodox worshippers in the world.
Ankara plays no part in the elections of the patriarch, but refuses to
recognise the patriarchate’s ecumenical title and says it represents
only Orthodox Greeks in Turkey.
09/16/2006 14:08 GMT

NewsBlaze, CA
18 Countries Take 29 Treaty Actions at Annual UN Event
Eighteen countries have taken 29 actions signing and ratifying
international pacts during the first three days of a special event
taking place at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Yesterday Austria became the sixth country to ratify the 2005
International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear
Terrorism. Austria also partially withdrew one of its reservations to
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women, relating to women in the workforce.
Also yesterday, Armenia and Peru deposited instruments of accession to
become parties to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
which establishes a system of visits by independent experts to places
of detention.
Several countries signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention on
the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, which extends
protection by the Convention to UN humanitarian personnel serving in
the field.
The first part of this year’s event coincided with the High-Level
Dialogue on International Migration and Development, and it
spotlighted 30 treaties regulating a broad range of cross-border
issues.
In addition to treaties relating to migration, refugees and Stateless
persons, the event will showcase pacts on human trafficking, organized
crime, corruption, climate change, sustainable development,
indiscriminate or excessively injurious weapons, torture and food
security.
The annual event, held since 2000, seeks to promote increased
participation of countries in the more than 500 multilateral treaties
deposited with the Secretary-General, and by so doing, to strengthen
the rule of law.
The Treaty Event will continue on 19 September and conclude on 20
September.
Source: United Nations
[email protected]
Copyright © 2006, NewsBlaze
//au.f386.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?YY= 49687
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turkmenistan.ru
16.09.06 13:00

International scientific conference on Ruhnama ends in Ashgabat
The international scientific forum devoted to the creation by
President Saparmurat Niyazov, Ruhnama, has finished its work in the
Turkmen capital. As the State News Service (TDH) reports, issues of
scientific research of the Turkmen leader’s book published in over 30
languages in the contemporary conditions, its importance for the
universal spiritual space were on the agenda.
It fully natural, the TDH notes, the Ashgabat forum has attracted
concerned attention of the international scientific
circles. Representatives of various countries such as Turkey, Russia,
Armenia, USA, Cyprus, Denmark, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, China,
Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Malaysia, India, Poland, Czech Republic,
Italy, Pakistan, Japan, UAE, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Britain,
France and Afghanistan took part in the conference. Historians,
political scientists, philosophers, literary critics, culture
researchers, representatives of the biggest non-profit organizations,
translators of Ruhnama arrived in Ashgabat.
During six group sessions held in the biggest scientific and cultural
centers of the Turkmen capital over 180 reports were delivered and
discussed.
The statements stressed that Ruhnama has accumulated the colossal
amount of information about the history, culture, traditions and
customs of the Turkmen nation and has embodied, at the same time,
universal values on its pages. In our complicated time, when the world
faces new challenges, this book gains special importance as it teaches
mutual respect, and assuming responsibility for the fate of native
country and the whole world as well, the scientists stressed.
At the conference closing ceremony it was emphasized that the Ashgabat
forum served as a bright example of the fruitful cooperation aimed at
broadening and strengthening relations among representatives of the
scientific circles and of various countries and continents of the
planet.
On behalf of the President of Turkmenistan the festive dinner was
given for the participants of the international scientific
conference. The guests visited the National Values Museum of
Turkmenistan, the National Carpet Museum, went sightseeing of the
memorial places of the city, visited a number of schools and higher
educational establishments in the capital, the Orphans Palace named
after UAE President Sheikh Zaed Bin Sultan Al Nahayan. They also
visited the Spirituality Museum in Kipchak, Equestrian Sport Complex
and Path of Health laid in the Kopetdag foothills.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Spokesman Review, WA
Symphony season opens with Russians

Travis Rivers
Correspondent
September 16, 2006
Friday night’s concert at the recently renamed INB Performing Arts
Center (it used to be the Spokane Opera House) made a grand opening of
the Spokane Symphony’s 2006-07 season. Conductor Eckart Preu led a
largely Russian program that included a brilliant piano concerto, one
of the most popular of all symphonies, and a lilting suite of highly
romantic ballet music.
Preu opened with the work of a composer he feels is unjustly neglected
nowadays, Alexander Glazunov, with a suite of dances from Glazunov’s
ballet “Raymonda.” The composer has taken a bad rap for being born
too late for his style. His music is firmly in the grand 19th-century
manner, and Preu and the orchestra made the most of it.

The work afforded Friday’s audience a chance to hear acting
concertmaster Daisuke Yamamoto play one of those solos that is every
concertmaster’s dream (or possibly nightmare), the Grand Adagio, a
little violin concerto movement in itself. Yamamoto played
fastidiously, demonstrating a sweet tone and excellent intonation.
Terrence Wilson played the solo part of Khachaturian’s Piano Concerto
with a nearly ideal combination of brilliance and delicacy. This
sprawling concerto has a bit of everything – almost too much of
everything. Khachaturian brought the exoticism of his native Armenia
to the framework of the Rachmaninoff-style virtuoso concerto, then
threw in a musical touch of the razzle-dazzle “novelty” pianists of
the 1920s and ’30s and a bit of Gershwinesque jazziness. Wilson made
the most of every opportunity to roar or sing.
Khachaturian loved exotic instrumental effects with a special fondness
for the bass clarinetist, and Shannon Scott played those solos
beautifully. In an even more exotic choice, the composer employed the
flexatone to double a melody line in the slow movement. The instrument
sounds somewhat like a musical saw with the player gargling. Paul
Raymond handled the instrument’s eerie character excellently.
The evening’s concluding work and centerpiece was Tchaikovsky’s famous
Symphony No. 6 (“Pathetique”). The notoriously self-critical
Tchaikovsky wrote that it was undoubtedly his best work. Like the
Khachaturian Concerto, it is long. Unlike Khachaturian, though,
Tchaikovsky learned a valuable lesson from his own favorite composer,
Mozart. “No matter how long a work might be,” Mozart wrote, “never
lose the thread.”
Tchaikovsky never allowed meaningless digressions or needless
repetitions in his work. Preu and the orchestra gave a riveting
performance from the mysterious unfolding of the bassoon solo against
the cushion of low strings sounds of the opening, through “waltz in
five beats” that substitutes in places of a slow movement, the scherzo
that begins like elves marching and grows in violence to a march of
giant soldiers, and ending with the quiet “collapse” of the finale.
It was that quiet ending that must have baffled the first-night
audience in 1893.That ending still seems strange here more than a
century later. But it was a shining performance to start the symphony
season.

Ventura County Star, CA
Nobody said world democracy would be easy
By George Sjostrom
September 16, 2006
In a recent interview conducted by the Wall Street Journal’s Paul
Gigot, President Bush came up with a truism that is the cornerstone of
his personal philosophy, “Democracy is not easy.”
Bush points out that the road to our own Constitution was not smooth
and easy. His freedom agenda calls for the spread of democracy to the
peoples of the world. That hasn’t been easy, either.
The Mideast, in particular, is run by a group of regimes empowered by
resentment and hatred, and by leaders without conscience who are
willing to fan the fires of that hatred with death and blood. The
president said, “The only way to make sure your grandchildren are
protected is to win the battle of ideas, is to defeat the ideology of
hatred and resentment.”
Trying to create a coherent foreign policy for the United States is
like playing hopscotch in a minefield. Our presidents have tried for
years to establish coalitions of common belief with nation after
nation. The countries of the world awaken to a new kind of turmoil
each morning, and they go to bed each night with a renewed indecision.
One thing is certain, the dislike and distrust of American dominance
is growing worldwide. Take Russia, for example. After 10 years of
belief that Russia was gradually moving toward the West, inching
toward democracy, we now see President Vladimir Putin increasing his
personal powers, clamping down on dissent and freedom of information,
and moving toward a re-establishment of the Russian Union, this time
to include Iran and Iraq.
Vice President Dick Cheney has now accused the Kremlin of using its
energy resources as “tools of intimidation and blackmail.” The
hoped-for chance that Russia might eventually adopt a pro-Western
foreign policy is all but dead.
In Iraq, we were momentarily elated to see millions of Iraqis hold up
their purple ink-stained fingers to signify their delight in finally
participating in a free election. Toppling a Sunni dictator seemed to
offer them a release from tyranny. But we underestimated the
difficulty in toppling an Arab police state.
We also underestimated the newly distorted influence of Iran on the
Iraq transition. In 2005, there was a political shift in Iran, for the
worse, when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became president. Iran always has been
one of the Muslim world’s most sophisticated societies. A major
portion of its population was comfortable with a pro-American
view. But under Ahmadinejad, all that has changed.
Iran now proclaims an unfettered right to nuclear development,
threatens to annihilate Israel, and continues to preach hatred toward
the United States. Iran has signed a $100 billion agreement with
China for natural gas development, and is trying to negotiate trade
deals with France, Turkey, Pakistan, India, Greece, Australia,
Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Ukraine, Armenia, Norway, Kuwait,
Turkmenistan, and, of course, Iraq. Small wonder that U.N. sanctions
are meaningless.
Although much of the public, at home as well as abroad, are reluctant
to admit it, the radical Muslim brotherhood has developed a love for
violence. In training camps all over the world, these jihadists are
training youngsters, preaching that it is there duty to kill infidels
in the name of God, and to sacrifice their own lives in the process.
Their miserable lives on Earth can be traded for eternal
happiness. This avalanche of terror is not going to stop. For every
terrorist killed or captured, hundreds more are spawned. In the fight
against terror, meaningful foreign alliances are hard to find. The
problem is ours, whether we are comfortable with it or not. It
certainly can’t be resolved by frivolous campaign slogans.
Bush has chosen a courageous road, one that most politicians are
afraid to walk. He is willing to recognize that we cannot have liberty
without limits, that we cannot have freedom without responsibility.
Most of us are unwilling to address head-on the immense problem of
radical Muslimism. They have become radicals because they are willing
to promise rewards greater than life itself, and in the process they
reject the very civil liberties that gave them a voice in the first
place. George W. Bush is correct. To back away from terrorism is to
encourage it. If we believe in freedom through responsibility, then we
have no choice but to stay the course.
– George Sjostrom is a Simi Valley freelance writer. His column
appears biweekly in The Star. His e-mail address is [email protected].

Panorama.am
13:15 16/09/06

CRU SUSPENDS ITS VICE-CHAIRMAN’S ACTIVITY
Our sources say that Constitutions Right Union (CRU)
board has temporarily suspended the activity of Haik
Babukhanyan, CRU vice-chairman. Today the party is
holding its conference to be followed by the party
assembly which will elect CRU leadership. Babukhanyan
is the second figure in the party after Hrant
Khachatryan and the suspension of his activity is
quite an intrigue. In case the party splits up, it
will be fatal for CRU. It will be sad to see that
since, despite of being few in numbers, CRU is an
organization with a distinct face in the political
field. /Panorama.am/

Azeri Press Agency
Zhelyu Zhelev: Kosovo is the Balkans’ Nagorno Garabagh
[ 16 Sen. 2006 15:50 ]
`Kosovo is the Balkans’ Nagorno Garabagh,’ former
Bulgarian President & Balkan Political Club president
Zhelyu Zhelev said in his visit in Yerevan, APA
reports.
He said the separation of Kosovo from Serbia might
cause precedent.
`There are about one million Albans on Albania-Greece
border and two million Hungarians in Rumania. Kosovo’s
independence might cause other nations to determine
their fortune and gain independence too,’ he said.
/APA/

Mediamax news agency, Yerevan, in Russian
12 Sep 06
US EMBASSY PRESENTS ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES WITH DOCUMENTS ON CORRUPT
OFFICIALS
The US embassy in Yerevan has presented the Armenian authorities with
documents that contain accusations of corruption against Armenian
officials, the Armenian news agency Mediamax has said.
The embassy said that they closely examined all these documents and
after becoming convinced that they contain serious accusations,
immediately raised the issue with the Armenian government, Mediamax
reported.
“We continue to expect that accusations of corruption against
officials should be taken seriously and investigated as is the case
in the USA,” Mediamax quoted the US embassy as saying. The embassy
thinks it irrelevant to make further comments on the nature of these
accusations until they are proven, it said.