VANDEREYCKEN: “DIFFICULT GAME AGAINST ARMENIA”
Anderlecht, Belgium
Aug. 28, 2006
National coach Rene Vandereycken does not feel any pressure against
Armenia, despite obtaining only a draw against Kazachstan last match.
“I don’t feel any pressure from outside”, he reacted clearly.
“Of course the environment is tensed, but we can handle that. Maybe
I reacted too quickly after the draw against Kazachstan, when I said
we needed to win against Armenia.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN ARMED FORCES FIRE ON AZERBAIJANI ARMY POSITIONS AGAIN
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug. 28, 2006
Armenians violated the ceasefire again, Defense Ministry told the APA
companies of Armenian Armed Forces from their positions in 1 km to
the south-east of Gulustan village of Goranboy fired on the opposite
positions of Azerbaijani Army positions with submachine guns from
19:45 till 20:15 on 27 August.
APA’s Garabagh bureau reports Armenians violated the ceasefire
in Agdam front again. Armenian Armed Forces fired on Azerbaijani
positions from the occupied Bash Gervend village and Gulchuluk farm
from 21:00 on August 27. No casualties were reported.

TURKEY TO RESHAPE FORCES
By Andrew Borowiec
The Washington Times
Washington Times, DC
Aug. 28, 2006
NICOSIA, Cyprus — The Turkish army, NATO’S second-largest military
force, plans to downsize its cumbersome divisions in favor of smaller
and deadlier guerrilla-type combat teams.
The idea, according to Turkish sources, was born of the experience of
fighting Kurdish guerrillas in the southern region of the Anatolian
land mass as well as other low-intensity wars that have followed the
end of the Cold War.
Its author is Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, 66, who this week takes over
as head of the Turkish General Staff with a mandate to finish the
drawn-out rebellion led by the Kurdistan Workers Party.
He is on record as urging stronger anti-terrorist measures against
the Kurdish “peshmerga” (fighters) and their supporters in the savage
wind-swept mountains along the Iranian and Iraqi borders.
In April, a public prosecutor accused Gen. Buyukanit of fomenting
unrest in Kurdish areas and of setting up anti-terrorist commando
teams said to be illegal.
The prosecutor, Ferhat Sarikaya, was subsequently dismissed, showing
the continuing importance of the Turkish military, sometimes referred
to as “an interest group with heavy weapons.”
Although Turkey’s application for European Union membership has
somewhat reduced the military’s political role, a general continues
to sit in the powerful National Security Council though he no longer
presides over it.
Turkish newspapers often refer to the armed forces as the country’s
most respected institution, untarnished by scandals or graft. Between
1960 and 1980, the military carried out three coups, stopping the
country’s slide toward anarchy.
After periods the military referred to as “national cleansing,”
the army returned to barracks but continued to watch over squabbling
politicians, regarding itself the key guardian of the secular system
imposed in the 1920s by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern
Turkey.
Today, Turkey’s armed forces comprise a half-million men, matched by
an equal number of paramilitary troops. They have no parallel as a
popular national institution.
According to British historian David Hotham: “The army takes peasants
from remote villages, feeds them, clothes them, teaches them to read
and write, instructs them in trade, brings them to the cities.”
Mehmet Ali Kislale, a Turkish political analyst, said: “In Turkey,
the army is more than a branch of state. It is a unifying and to some
extent a civilizing force.”
The army has unquestionably influenced Turkey’s opposition to a
solution in divided Cyprus, where about 35,000 Turkish troops are
deployed in the north of the island, considered by the military as
strategically essential.
In one of his last public statements, Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, outgoing chief
of the General Staff, rejected any idea of Turkish withdrawal from
Cyprus, as well as proposals for a national apology for the deaths
of more than a million Armenians in World War I massacres by the
Ottoman Empire.
Yesterday in the popular Mediterranean resort town of Marmaris, a
bomb blast blew apart a minibus, injuring 21 persons, including 10
British tourists, according to reports from the state-owned Anatolia
news agency and the Associated Press.
There were two other bomb blasts at the same time in garbage cans on
the main boulevard in Marmaris, an area is lined with bars, clubs,
cafes and restaurants. Kurdish guerrillas have in the past carried
out such attacks against tourist resorts.

‘TURKISH SOLDIERS MAY FACE RESISTANCE IN LEBANON’
Nursun Erel
The New Anatolian, Turkey
Aug. 28, 2006
Parliament Foreign Affairs Commission head Mehmet Dulger speaks to TNA
Turkey is preparing to send Turkish soldiers to join the UN
peacekeeping efforts in Lebanon, and some say this will be a
prestigious task for Turkey. But what about the risks? Why hasn’t
this vital issue been debated in Parliament?
I had such questions in my head while going to meet Mehmet Dulger,
chairman of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Commission. His office in
the Parliament building was still under renovation, but we found two
comfortable chairs to sit on and talk about the hot issues. Here’s
what he had to say to us:
TNA: Being here, I must be luckier than the Israeli ambassador,
because according to rumor you turned down his request for a meeting.
DULGER: In fact I’d really like to talk to him, not only the Israeli
ambassador but also l the Lebanese and Palestinian ambassadors. But
as you see, the weather’s been too hot recently and our office is
undergoing renovations.
TNA: How do you see the situation in Lebanon right now?
DULGER: Well, I saw some cartoons in today’s newspapers. One of them
wonderfully described the situation, showing how the Americans are
trying to get the best advantage from the situation.
TNA: How do you see the opposition to sending Turkish soldiers to
the area?
DULGER: Actually the situation is extremely complex in the Middle
East now and that’s why most of the crises there are unpredictable.
Especially the Lebanese state mechanism is set up on a very complex
ethnic base. So there are risks and opportunities waiting for Turkish
soldiers there. What are the opportunities? Because of the rejected
March 1, 2003 resolution (which would have allowed U.S. troops to be
stationed on Turkish soil for the imminent Iraq invasion) Turkey had
to stay out of developments in the Mideast, but now there’s a chance
of getting back in the game.
Risks in Lebanon
TNA: What are the risks?
DULGER: Lebanon has a very complex ethnic situation, so even for a
peacekeeping mission, Turkish soldiers may face strong opposition.
Because we’re Sunni, but the Lebanese are mostly Shiite. Additionally
there are all kind of extremist minorities in Lebanon like the
Armenians and Greek Orthodox groups. They would never be happy to
see a Turkish presence in Lebanon. So this is a vital decision for
Turkey and it has to be considered very seriously.
TNA: How do you see UN Resolution 1701 and the related documents? Are
they clear enough about describing the peacekeeping mission?
DULGER: First of all things happened too late, that’s why the urging
parties lost a great deal of prestige in the eyes of the victims. And
also the resolution is far from being unbiased, since it openly
reflects U.S. views. But we have to admit that if U.S. hadn’t insisted
this would never have happened.
TNA: Could you elaborate on that?
DULGER: Well, it seems that this is a kind of a war which was almost
predestined, developed and strategically designed long ago. The U.S.
is among the players and it’s clear this is a part of its project to
reshape the Middle East. So what do we do now? Hundreds of civilians,
even children, have been killed in this war, most of the infrastructure
is destroyed, none of the kidnapped (Israeli) soldiers have been
returned, Hezbollah hasn’t been disarmed, its ties with Iran and
Syria haven’t been cut, and on the contrary now it’s stronger than
before. I’m afraid similar resistance will be used by others too.
Parliament will debate deployment
TNA: Are you satisfied with the information given by the government
on the UN resolution?
DULGER: So far I haven’t gotten much detailed information either on
UN Resolution 1701 or about our government’s policies. So I don’t
know what kind of advantages there are in taking part in this project.
TNA: According to the opposition, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
is purposely avoiding detailed discussion around the resolution. It’s
said he especially doesn’t want the issue to be dealt with in
Parliament, because there’s a concern something could happen among
AK Party members like with the March 2003 resolution. What do you
think about this?
DULGER: I don’t think so, because there’s no decision (on deployment)
yet. Without such a decision and without any document to talk about,
what will we debate in Parliament? First we have to wait for the
final decision, this way or that. If they decide to join UNIFIL,
the motion will certainly be debated in Parliament.
TNA: But we’ve heard some foreign leaders claim the Turkish government
has already declared its willingness to join the force, so isn’t it
strange that we still don’t know the final decision of the government?
DULGER: Some journalists asked me whether we will send Turkish soldiers
to the area or not. But I’m not the man to answer that question.
TNA: If Turkish soldiers are sent to the area, do you think such a
gesture will help repair the Turkish-American relationship, which
is still chilly since the March 2003 resolution was rejected by
Parliament?
DULGER: Let’s look at the details of what’s happening in the area.
First of all an indirect war between Iran and U.S. is escalating,
there are the tensions between the ethnic groups, the U.S. has an
imperial project in the area, and Iran is trying to emphasize its
dominance there too. Supported by the U.S., Israel claims to balance
the regional politics. Syria can’t stand with Lebanon without their
obedience. And there’s the huge Iraq problem.
So that picture is important for Turkey for different reasons. First,
the PKK (terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party) is a vital issue for us,
and its command mechanism and sources of legitimacy are in Iraq. So
as long as we can’t accomplish our goals in the region concerning the
PKK, this becomes more risky for us, because a populist nationalism
is on the rise, which I think is very dangerous.
Another negative regional development is that Turkish and American
interests are more and more at odds. I mean our policies and theirs on
issues like the PKK, Israeli aggression, and the stand towards Iran
and Syria aren’t parallel. So once we go hand in hand with the U.S.,
our other interests are being harmed. The U.S. will stay here for 50
years at most but our neighbors will always be there. So we have to
find common ground here.
If someone else comes to power in the US
TNA: Due to the different administrations, even U.S. regional policies
can change, don’t you think?
DULGER: If another administration comes and changes its policies,
what will happen then? Because in changing our stand, we will be
taking great risks in the region. So all these factors are extremely
important and we have to check them all very carefully. Many Turks
support Hezbollah’s cause in Lebanon, so they say: What will we do
there? Will we protect Israeli soldiers? Or try to take arms away
from Hezbollah members? I was recently in Antalya, and many people
came to me asking those questions.
TNA: How do you see other regional governments’ stances?
DULGER: No one really knows what kind of risks there are. Also there’s
another issue, namely that the West is downplaying the victims of
war. Do you know how many casualties there have been in Iraq? We don’t
know yet how many Iraqis have died so far, but everyone knows the
number of American casualties. Also the number of Lebanese casualties
isn’t known, but everyone knows how many Israelis died. So it’s clear
there’s a great prejudice against the people of the Middle East. We
must change this first. After Sept. 11, the West got paranoid about
terror. But what about us? What about the PKK? Is the PKK a terror
group? If they say yes, than they have to push for the necessary
steps to be taken too.
TNA: How do you see the PKK coordinator expected to be appointed soon
by the U.S.?
DULGER: Let’s wait and see his positions and words. Because during
her visit, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saw the Turkish
determination on the PKK issue, so they felt the need to take this
stand. It’s a very vexing situation that there’s such cooperation
among the Kurds in northern Iraq. Even though it’s crystal clear
that the PKK is provoking all kind of terror actions against Turkey,
Iraqi leaders Jalal Talabani and Massoud Barzani let them survive,
because they are also Kurds.
TNA: Everyone seems to be obsessed about the Israel-Lebanon war,
but there are other hot issues too. How do you see Turkey’s European
Union accession process?
DULGER: Normally we deal with issues as they come up, but I’m not
sure if we’re ready for the important days we’re going to be facing
soon. The new EU progress report on Turkey will be discussed next
month in Brussels and there are about 437 different proposals to
make changes to the report. Some of them are against our interests,
and some are in favor, so I propose our party puts together a group
of 20 deputies from Parliament and let them lobby in Brussels.
TNA: Is there any reason why this can’t happen?
DULGER: No but we have to do this as soon as possible, otherwise
those negative proposals will be a headache for Turkey. For example
the Croatians don’t have any problem with their accession but they
organized themselves so well, yet with so many problems we fail to act.
The Cyprus issue and flirting
TNA: How do you see developments on the Cyprus issue?
TNA: Well, our Greek Cypriot friends must stop talking on behalf
of the Turkish Cypriots. If things go on like this, separation will
become unavoidable. They must give up their unrealistic dreams. Just
like trying to flirt with a young girl, if you keep on pressing but
she turns you down again and again, you can say it 50 times but you
can’t say it a 51st time, at that point you have to leave her alone.
TNA: Let’s discuss domestic politics too. When do you expect the next
general elections?
DULGER: I haven’t checked the calendar, but any Sunday of November
2007.
Presidential election
TNA: So that means you don’t expect early elections, but many people
believe that in this case the presidential election set for May 2007
will cause fierce debate.
DULGER: I can’t see the logic behind such an argument. Why do they
question the legitimacy of an elected president? Let’s look at the
last three elections. What was the number of the votes for previous
presidents and what are we talking about now? When I was a member of
the True Path Party (DYP), we opposed President Turgut Ozal because
he didn’t really represent Turkish society; his votes were sharply
declining in both general and local elections. But we don’t have any
problem like that. So now I have only one wish: that the new president
be elected from among the deputies of this Parliament. I get the sense
that even Mr. Deniz Baykal (main opposition Republican People’s Party,
CHP, leader) is close to such a dialogue with the AK Party.
TNA: If the AK Party decides who the next president is, some people
are concerned that its “hidden agenda” will come out. This is because
then most high court members and university rectors will be appointed
by this new AK Party-origin president, and the headscarf ban could
also be overturned. How do you respond to this?
DULGER: I totally reject these stupid allegations. There’s no
such hidden agenda. I hear what they say, they even speculate that
Sharia law could be applied or all the women will become headscarved
overnight. But this is total nonsense. If I had any thought like that
I wouldn’t be sitting here, and if anybody tried to do that I’d fight
them till the very end. This is the paranoia of some circles. So how
do they explain that AK Party came to power with all the values those
circles brand it with? And more importantly, how do they explain the
stable term AK Party government up to now?
TNA: How do you see the developments on the right? For instance,
former Premier Mesut Yilmaz is back in politics, and there are efforts
to unify right-wing parties. Do you think anything will come of this?
DULGER: Most of them are my good old friends, but unfortunately
I don’t expect them to succeed. Because it’s quite clear that all
their efforts are for certain individuals and groups around them,
instead of new political dimensions.
Bring the nails
During our interview Dulger told a joke and said, “This is where we
plan to send our troops.”
“Up in heaven, Jesus was so bored one day so he said to God, ‘Father,
it’s so dull living in paradise all the time, I want to do something.
I see down on earth things aren’t going well, especially in Africa,
thousands of people are dying of starvation, let me go down and help
them.’ God said okay, so Jesus went down to Africa and went into a
market and told the owner, ‘Hi there, all your shelves are full of
food but outside the people are starving, let’s give all that food
away to the people. Don’t worry; I’ll fill your shelves tomorrow with
twice as much as there is now.’ So the food was given away to the
people. The next day the shelves had twice as much food. Then they
did it again and Jesus kept on filling the shelves. In a few days,
the starvation ended in Africa and Jesus went back to heaven with
satisfaction. He went on living like that for a while, but then he
again got bored with the routine and once again asked God: ‘Father,
can I go back again? Because I’m so bore! d here and the things
aren’t going well on the earth.’ God said okay, but this time he
wanted Jesus to go to the Palestinian-Israeli area, saying, ‘There’s
so much hunger there.’ So Jesus went down and knocked on the door
of a supermarket filled with food. A man opened the door and asked,
‘What do you want?’ Jesus said, ‘Hi there, all your shelves are full
of food but outside the people are starving, let’s give all that food
away to the people. Don’t worry; I’ll fill your shelves tomorrow with
twice as much as there is now.’ The man stood silently for a moment and
than yelled to the back of the store: ‘Hey Mishon, bring the hammer,
nails, and wood here, be quick, that pimp is back.’

BOILING WITH RAGE: HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY: THE BROTHERHOOD OF NATIONS
by Boris Tumanov
Translated by Elena Leonova
Source: Novoe Vremya, No. 34, August 25, 2006, p. 6
Agency WPS
What the Papers Say Part A (Russia)
August 28, 2006 Monday
Russia goes further than the West in everything it does; While
receiving Armenian President Robert Kocharian in Sochi last week,
President Vladimir Putin congratulated him on the successful progress
of the Year of Azerbaijan in Russia. Kocharian ventured to remind
Putin that he is the president of Armenia, not Azerbaijan – and Putin
was forced to agree.
While receiving Armenian President Robert Kocharian in Sochi last
week, President Vladimir Putin congratulated him on the successful
progress of the Year of Azerbaijan in Russia. Kocharian ventured to
remind Putin that he is the president of Armenia, not Azerbaijan –
and Putin was forced to agree.
Mixing up the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan – it’s almost as
if Putin had mistaken Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Observers are still wondering how Putin
could have made such a faux pas.
Did the resort atmosphere of Sochi make him too relaxed? Has the
well-trained memory of an intelligence officer started to fail him?
Perhaps he’s been bad at geography all his life? Or maybe the slip of
the tongue wasn’t accidental at all – was it Putin’s way of hinting to
Kocharian that Russia is changing its priorities in the South Caucasus?
In our view, none of these suggestions are accurate – since Putin’s
slip of the tongue actually indicates something completely different.
Back in the days when the world was multipolar, thanks to the existence
of a great power that called itself the Soviet Union, Soviet leaders
didn’t consider it necessary to burden themselves with knowledge of
details about all Soviet republics. Suffice it to note that some
Politburo members were sincerely convinced that the Armenians and
Azeris were fellow Muslim peoples.
Until now, Putin had never permitted himself any carelessness
with regard to former Soviet republics. He never confused Latvia
and Lithuania, Tajiks and Uzbeks, or even Russia and Ukraine. But
times have changed. Russia, as Putin himself pointed out, has risen
from its knees and is now talking to the rest of the world in the
tough language of oil and gas pipelines. And the fact that Russian
politicians have started mixing up Armenia and Azerbaijan again is
the best evidence of Russia’s new-found greatness.
Last week, the Our Own (Nashi) youth movement picketed the British
Embassy in Moscow – demanding that British Ambassador Anthony Brenton
apologize immediately for having dared to attend the Other Russia
opposition conference on July 12, shortly before the G8 summit in St.
Petersburg. Judging by the statements of the picketers, they believe
that Brenton insulted the entire Russian people by attending a
conference that was also attended by such hellspawn as Eduard Limonov
and Viktor Anpilov.
Our Own’s picket outside the British Embassy says a great deal. Most
immediately apparent is Our Own’s delay in demanding an apology
from Ambassador Brenton – six weeks after he allegedly insulted all
Russian citizens. There can be only one explanation for this delay:
the Kremlin brain center really has no idea how to keep its homuniculi
busy. Such pickets might actually become Our Own’s sole occupation:
hanging around the embassies of Western states, demanding (like the
unforgettable Father Fedor) that governments repent publicly of their
sins against Russia.
True, some might point out that in no Western country would even
the most hopeless idiot think of demanding that foreign ambassadors
apologize for meeting with representatives of the opposition –
especially such a comical opposition as the forces represented by
Limonov or Anpilov. But that’s why we’re Russia, after all – to go
further than the West in everything without exception.
Last week, passengers on a British Airways flight from Malaga to
Manchester delayed take-off by refusing to fly with some Arabs who
might have been terrorists, according to the law-abiding Britons.
These suspicions were based on the fact that the Arabs were talking
amongst themselves in their own language and wearing dark jackets.
The plane didn’t take off until the unfortunate Arabs were no longer
on board.
Such precedents have already happened in Russia, with Russian
passengers on domestic and international flights demanding that
persons of Caucasus ethnicity should be removed from the plane. This
used to be considered a phenomenon unique to our country, which is
not known for inter-ethnic tolerance. In the Malaga case, however,
the Arabs were ostracized by politically correct Europeans.
This is encouraging. When people from different countries, with
different national cultures and different social traditions, start
reacting to the same irritants in the same ways, this indicates that
the coveted progress of globalization is making great strides.

INDELIBLE IMAGE: ANDRE AGASSI, PLAYER
Dave Scheiber Times Staff Writer
St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
August 28, 2006 Monday
1 Edition
“I look forward to not having to do things – like waking up every
day and saying ‘What do I have to do today?’ because of the schedules.
It’s going to be a bit more on my terms, which is what I want my life
to look like. …
“You know, the last 20 years on the tennis court have all been practice
for me for tomorrow. It’s always been that way. I’ve spent a lifetime
on the tennis court preparing myself for the next battle.
And I feel like I have over 20 years of experience doing this very
thing, which is the challenge of how life now may look for me. I
look forward to embracing that as much as embracing any stage of my
career. I look forward to that general level of pressure to deal with
and holding yourself to the highest standard every day.
“I look forward to not having to rest. There are times (in tennis)
when you just have to rest. But try to explain that to a 3-year-old
and a 5-year-old. …
“Giving back to the sport is going to be very important to me in
any way that I feel I can make a difference. For me, hopefully the
decisions are being made so that I can continue my involvement. I
don’t just want to walk away, because this has been my life. It
hasn’t been about hitting the ball. It’s been about being part of a
great sport with a lot of great people. Family is also my foundation,
it’s my life. So that’s going to be a given. …
“There are difficult parts about (walking away while still
competitive). I anticipated it being more difficult. I wish I could
explain why but I can’t. It’s not just saying goodbye to a sport,
to a business, to hitting tennis balls. It’s saying goodbye, by the
way, to all the people you’ve done this with, from the fans, to the
sport itself, to your peers. …
“I’ve pushed myself through so many physical issues over the last
four years to negotiate doing this as well and as long as possible –
until I realistically felt it’s not something I can do at the highest
level anymore. I didn’t know if it was going to be physical reasons
or mental reasons or emotional reasons or all of the above. There
were so many factors involved. … But this has been great, and I’m
going to take this all in. I’ll also spend the rest of my life trying
to make everybody proud who has helped me along this path. And it’s
just time for me to do that.”
– Excerpts from a recent press conference
BY DAVE SCHEIBER | TIMES STAFF WRITER
THROUGH THE YEARS
1970: Born Andre Kirk Agassi on April29 in Las Vegas. One of four
children (brother Phillip, sisters Rita and Tami). Mother is Elizabeth
and father is Armenian-born Emmanuel “Mike” Agassian, a former boxer
who participated in the 1952 Olympics for Iran.
1975: Practices with pros such as Jimmy Connors and Roscoe Tanner.
1986: The 16-year-old prodigy of Nick Bollettieri, training at
Bollettieri’s academy in Bradenton, turns pro, exuding a long-haired,
earring-clad rebellious image (later underscored with his role as
pitchman for Canon’s Rebel camera, proclaiming “Image is everything.”)
1987: After losing in the first round at Wimbledon, is criticized
for passing up the tournament the next three years. He claims it’s
because he isn’t allowed to wear his colorful shirts on court instead
of the traditional all-white; critics say it’s because he doesn’t
want to risk losing. As a wild card, he beats Luiz Mattar of Brazil
on Nov. 29 in Brazil, for his first ATP title.
1988: Wins six titles in seven finals.
1989: Wins only title of year in Orlando.
1990: First Grand Slam final is French Open.
1991: Finalist for second year at the French Open, losing to fellow
Bollettieri star Jim Courier.
1992: Wins first Grand Slam, at Wimbledon. Later that year at U.S.
Open, Barbra Streisand, romantically linked with Agassi, refers to
him during a TV interview at Open as “Zen master.”
1993: After a poor season, parts ways with Bollettieri in July and
hires a new coach, Brad Gilbert. Has right wrist surgery.
1994: Returns from surgery to win five titles, including U.S. Open.
First unseeded player since 1930 to win the Open, beating five seed
who were seeded. Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation opens doors to
assist at-risk youth in Las Vegas.
1995: Shaves balding head just before winning Australian Open. Wins
career-high seven titles in a personal-best 11 finals, compiling a
personal-best 73-9 match record and reaching No. 1 on April 10, where
he reigned for 27 weeks. His first Grand Slam for Children benefit
is held, with more than $52.3-million taken in through 10 fundraisers.
Named winner of ATP’s Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award for 1995 and
2001 for helping disadvantaged youth in Las Vegas.
1996: First American man to win Olympic gold in singles play since
Vincent Richards in 1924.
1997: Marries actor Brooke Shields after four-year courtship;
plummets to No. 141 in rankings. Andre Agassi Boys & Girls Club in
Las Vegas opens.
1998: Makes biggest one-year jump into top 10 in history of ATP
rankings (since 1973) by climbing to No. 6. Compiles a 68-16 record
and wins five titles.
1999: Marriage to Shields ends in divorce. After losing first two
sets in French Open final, roars back to win the tournament, becoming
only the fifth male to complete a career Grand Slam and the only one
to win all four majors and Olympic gold. Finishes No. 1 for first time.
2000: Captures sixth career Grand Slam title at Australian Open.
2001: Marries Hall of Famer Steffi Graf on Oct. 22 in Las Vegas;
son Jaden Gil is born Oct. 26. Oldest player (31) to finish in top 3
since 32-year-old Jimmy Connors was No. 2 in 1984. Starts season by
winning his seventh career Grand Slam at Australian Open.
2002: Becomes oldest (32 years, 8 months) to finish No. 2 in ATP
rankings.
2003: Captures four titles in first four months of season, including
his eighth and final Grand Slam in Australia. Daughter Jaz Elle is
born Oct. 3.
2004: Sixth in Open era to reach 800 wins.
2005: Finishes in top 10 for 16th time in his 20-year career and
becomes oldest in year-end top 10 since Jimmy Connors (36) was No. 7
in 1988.
2006: Plays only seven ATP matches (4-3) in first five months of
season because of chronic ongoing back problems. Announces June 24
he is retiring after U.S. Open. Highlights include: member of three
winning Davis Cup teams; career singles record of 868-273, including
60 titles; career earnings of $31,110,975.

CO-OWNER OF VTB-ARMENIA COULD SELL 30% STAKE TO VTB
Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Business and Financial Newswire
August 28, 2006 Monday 5:06 PM MSK
Armenian businessman Mikhail Bagdasarov is planning to sell his 30%
stake in VTB-Armenia Bank (formerly Armsberbank).
Bagdasarov told reporters that he is holding negotiations on selling
his stake with Vneshtorgbank (RTS: VTBR) (VTB), the owner of 70%
of the bank’s shares and an initial right of refusal to buy up the
remaining shares. Talks are also being held with other potential
investors, but Bagdasarov did not give any further details about them.
VEB refused to comment.
VTB acquired 70% of Armsberbank in March 2004 and has provided
financial institutions with subordinated loans for approximately $15
million-$20 million since then. VTB-Armenia had charter capital of
around $18 million at the end of the first half of 2006.
Bagdasarov owns Armenia’s Armavia Airlines, the Mika Cement plant
and oil trader Mika Limited.
VTB-Armenia is a mid-sized bank in Armenia. There were 21 banks in
Armenia at the beginning of 2006.

RUSSIA WITHDRAWS ABOUT 400 PIECES OF MILITARY HARDWARE FROM GEORGIA
Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Military Newswire
August 28, 2006 Monday 3:19 PM MSK
About 180 weapons were relocated from Russia’s 12th military base in
Batumi to Armenia in 2006, Deputy Commander of the Russian Forces in
the South Caucasus Colonel Vladimir Kuparadze told Interfax-Military
News Agency on Monday.
“Six trains have carried 179 units of armaments and military hardware
and 217 tonnes of other property from the 12th base in Batumi to the
102nd base in the Armenian city of Gyumri since the year beginning,”
he said.
This year’s withdrawal of arms, military hardware and property of the
62nd base in Akhalkalaki to Russia will be completed in September,
Kuparadze said.
“It is planned to withdraw 358 pieces of armaments and military
hardware and over 1,671 tonnes of other equipment from Akhalkalaki
to Russia in 2006,” he said.
One hundred and ninety pieces of armaments and military hardware and
738 tonnes of other military cargo have been sent by motor transport
from Akhalkalaki to Gyumri this year, he said.
Bilateral agreements provide for the completion of the Russian bases’
withdrawal from Georgia in 2008.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TELL ME A STORY: KIKOS IN THE WELL (AN ARMENIAN FOLKTALE) ADAPTED BY AMY FRIEDMAN AND ILLUSTRATED BY JILLIAN GILLILAND
Times Herald-Record, NY
Aug. 28, 2006
Once upon a time, there lived a poor peasant and his wife and their
three daughters. One day the man returned from a long, hot day working
in the fields. He was thirsty, and so he sent his eldest daughter to
the well to fetch him a bucket of water.
Off she set, and when she reached the well, she looked up at the tree
that towered beside the well. She began to daydream.
“Someday I’ll marry,” she said aloud, “and my husband and I shall have
a son, and we’ll name him Kikos after his grandfather. And one day
Kikos will walk to the well and climb this tree, and he will lose his
balance, fall and tumble into the well. Poor little Kikos will drown!”
And with this thought she collapsed in grief beside the well. “My son
Kikos,” she wept, “Kikos with his hair of chestnut brown. Poor Kikos,
my son, one day will drown …”
Now the distraught girl could not stop crying, and so upset was she
that she could not move. Back home the peasant waited, but when his
eldest daughter did not return with the water, he sent his second
daughter to find her.
When the second daughter saw her sister weeping by the well, she ran
to her side. “What’s wrong, sister?” she asked.
The eldest daughter spoke through her tears. “Auntie of my child,”
she wailed, “your sweet nephew Kikos one day will be born, but poor
Kikos, with his hair of chestnut brown, will climb this tree and fall
and drown, and from that day on we shall mourn.”
Now when the second daughter understood that the nephew she might
one day have, the boy named Kikos, could fall from the tall tree and
drown in this very well, leaving her an aunt mourning her nephew,
she too began to sob.
Time passed, and when the two daughters had not come home, the peasant
sent his youngest daughter to find out what the trouble was.
She ran to the well, and there she saw her sisters crying bitterly.
“What’s happened? What can be wrong?” she asked.
The second daughter hiccupped through her sobs. “One day our sister
here is bound to marry, and our sister shall have a son, and this
will be our nephew, a boy of beauty and fun.”
The third sister smiled delightedly.
“Oh no, you mustn’t smile,” said the second sister, “for our nephew,
Kikos by name, with hair of chestnut brown, one day will climb this
tree and fall, and in the well he’ll drown!”
“No!” cried the third sister, and when she did not return home,
her mother ran to look for all three girls. She found them sitting
by the well, their eyes swollen from crying.
“My beautiful girls,” she said, “what has happened to you?”
“Mother, mother, your own grandson, the child of your child, a boy
named Kikos, will one day climb up this tree. Imagine his smile,
his laughter, his glee. Imagine that hair, that rich chestnut brown,
and imagine poor Kikos falling here, Kikos drowned!”
“Woe is me!” the mother wept. “My favorite grandchild. Kikos, my
only boy!”
Now it was getting late, and the peasant could not imagine what could
take his women such a long time. So he pulled on his boots and trudged
all the way to the well. There he saw all four women, tears pouring
down their faces and noses so red, they seemed to be on fire.
“Grandfather! Poor man!” they cried when they saw the peasant.
“Good heavens, what is this all about?” he asked. “And who is
grandfather?”
“You, my sweet,” said the peasant’s wife, “your poor grandson, your
namesake Kikos, will one day climb this tree …”
“Oh, grandfather, imagine Kikos, the boy of such wit and such glee …”
“Like his grandfather Kikos, with thick hair, chestnut brown …”
“But father, your grandson will fall …”
“And he’ll drown!” they wailed together.
Now the peasant began to understand, and he shook his head and
wondered what to do with his foolish women. But he loved them well,
and so he said, “There, there, you’ll never bring our boy Kikos back
with your tears.”
“Ahh, what shall we do, father?” asked the eldest daughter, whose heart
was nearly broken by the thought of losing her one and only future son.
“Come home with me,” the peasant said, “and we shall invite the
neighbors to a feast in memory of our little Kikos. In this way our
son and grandson will live forever in everyone’s memory.”
And so the women became calm again, and all went home happily.
To learn more about Tell Me a Story and find out about the series’
just-released CD, go to: , or contact Amy Friedman
at [email protected].
/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060828/LIFE/60828031 4

GEORGIA DRAGS FEET ON ISSUING VISAS TO RUSSIAN MILITARY – SOURCE
Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Military Newswire
August 28, 2006 Monday 1:41 PM MSK
The Georgian Foreign Ministry has dragged out issuing visas for Russian
soldiers for more than a month and has finally issued fewer than 100
visas instead of the required 1,200, a source in the command of the
Russian military force in Transcaucasia told Interfax-Military News
Agency on Monday.
“More than a month ago the command of the Russian military force in
Transcaucasia asked the Georgian authorities to issue almost 1,200
visas to Russian soldiers who are coming to Georgia for a rotation.
However, visas were issued only to 94 soldiers,” the source said.
“This cannot satisfy the command of the Russian military force, and
it should not probably satisfy the Georgian authorities, if they do
not plan to drag out the process of Russian military bases withdrawal
from the country’s territory,” he noted.
“The position of the Georgian Foreign and Defense Ministries seems
strange, because they demand the swiftest possible withdrawal of
bases, but they create a lot of bureaucratic barriers when resolving
almost any issue, be it issuing visas or the slightest movement of
vehicles, demanding coordination over many days and many stages,”
he said, adding that Russia is fulfilling all its obligations on the
withdrawal of bases.
“Six trains with armaments have left the 12th base in Batumi this
year, and they cargo was added to the inventory of the 102nd Russian
base in Gyumri, Armenia. We will fulfill the plan of armaments and
hardware withdrawal from the 62nd base stationed in Akhalkalaki to
Russia in September,” he stressed.
According to the source, “the stress is laid on the withdrawal of
heavy hardware in 2006, while various materiel and equipment will
mostly be relocated in 2007.”
Under a Russian-Georgian accord, the Russian military bases are to
leave Georgia in 2008.