HISTORY, HERESY, CONSPIRACY
by Ashok Malik
Daily Pioneer, India
May 19 2006
In 1804, two centuries before Dan Brown found his way to bestseller
lists, the mystic and poet William Blake scripted his literary tour
de force, Jerusalem. To this day, Blake’s epic anthem moves, inspires
and reduces to tears those who read, repeat or chant it. Its opening
stanzas are among the most memorable in the English language:
And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England’s mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England’s pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark Satanic mills?
A deep, philosophical man, Blake was making multiple allusions. At
one level, he was disturbed by the creeping Industrial Age and the
changes smoke-filled chimneys were inflicting upon his pristine
English countryside (“… these dark Satanic mills”).
Yet the principal character being addressed was Christ. Had the “feet”
of the “Lamb of God” walked “upon England’s mountains green”?
Blake, like many contemporaries, cherished the belief that Jesus
had visited England, embracing one of competing legends prevalent at
the time.
One tradition held that Christ had come to England in his early youth
-when he was “training” for his calling -and had been taught by ancient
druids. Another view was that he had somehow escaped the Crucifixion.
Such sentiments and such stories are not unique to William Blake and
England. In the late 19th century a Russian writer, Nicolas Notovitch,
wrote a book apparently based on old Buddhist texts, arguing Jesus
had spent part of the period between age 14 and 30 – when he was away
from home – in India, as an apprentice under not Celtic druids but
Buddhist monks. Others have added to the theory, pointing to evidence
that insists Jesus the boy visited Puri and Varanasi.
The most famous India-centric Jesus story has him surviving the
Crucifixion and moving to Kashmir, where the Takht-e-Sulaiman – Seat
of Solomon, now the Shankaracharya Hill – is said to derive its name
from his presence.
A tomb in Srinagar’s Rozabad has long been held to be the final
resting place of a religious figure, one Yuz Asaf; was he Jesus?
Another grave in Murree – in Pakistani Punjab – is supposed to be that
of Mary, the mother of Christ. Murree, the idea goes, is a corruption
of her name. The choice of Kashmir as a refuge is itself explained
by the tradition that it was settled by the Kush (Kassite) people,
one of the “lost tribes” of Israel.
How much of all this is true? Perhaps very little; obviously, Christ
couldn’t have been both in England and India at the same time! Yet
as the silly controversy over The Da Vinci Code thankfully ends,
it would be sensible to accept that alternative histories of Christ
have been around for centuries.
Beyond fascinating trivia and conspiracy theories, there is a larger
point. Dan Brown’s book is, of course, fiction – but what if it
weren’t? Would protests by church groups then have been justified? Is
religion – and this is not true of merely Christianity – to be
sequestered from history, never have its historicity put to scrutiny?
Does that in any way take away from the importance of faith or of
The Faith?
These are important issues to ponder because India is a profoundly
religious country with an extremely shallow intellectual approach to
the study of religion. “Religious studies” is not merely a course on
rites and rituals and how they came about. It involves philosophy,
archaeology, history, sociology, perhaps even anthropology. In
the narrow and antiseptic confines of “secularism” – as India’s
state-directed intelligentsia defines it – this is often not
appreciated. This does not become enlightened societies.
Return to The Da Vinci Code. The charge against the book and the film
is that it contradicts the “received history” of Christianity. As the
deputy secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India put it,
“It (The Da Vinci Code) must begin and end with a bold and lingering
disclaimer stating that it’s a work of fiction and does not reflect
historical views and facts.”
Compelling questions flow from this. What are “historical views”?
Whose historical views? Who wrote Christianity’s history – or for
that matter Islam’s or Hinduism’s? If Christ survived the Crucifixion
and was, as many believe, not the Son of God but a great mortal,
does that detract from his life, his teachings, the wonder of the
religious movement he founded?
The more devout Christians are not alone in treating history as
heresy. An honest appraisal of the Prophet and his life and times,
one that treats him as human, is not going to go unchallenged either.
It never has.
One of the most famous cases of blasphemy in India was that of Sarmad
Shaheed (Sarmad the Martyr), an Armenian Jew who converted to Islam,
was drawn to mysticism and befriended Dara Shikoh. Asked to recite
the kalmah – “There is no God but Allah and Mohammad is his Prophet”,
Sarmad stopped at, “There is no God.” Aurangzeb executed him.
Of the major faiths, only Judaism and Hinduism approach history with
a relative open-mindedness. For the Jews, religion and history are a
continuum. Abraham and David are ancestors of Christ and near-divinity,
but they are also historical characters, as real, as flesh and blood
as David Ben-Gurion and Ariel Sharon. The Old Testament is a people’s
old history.
Hindus face a unique problem: The history in their faith is challenged
not by believers but by their “progressive” critics. As an example,
consider the average Hindu’s attitude to the Puranas. Yes, there is
apocryphal legend and exaggeration; nevertheless, there is a determined
acceptance that below this is a kernel of history.
Ram and Krishna are gods to be worshipped but – with the breathtaking
capacity to reconcile dualism – Hindus simultaneously accept them as
human, with human wants, human desires, and even human frailties.
Indeed, born of a singular self-assurance, Hinduism would welcome a
scientific or rigorous scholarly investigation into its past, almost
as much as organised Islam would repel it. As for Christianity, as
the Dan Brown episode reveals, the danger is from the new Pharisees
– those who think they “own” Jesus and have an exclusive, perhaps
jealous copyright on his biography.

DAY OF EUROVISION DRESS REHEARSALS
By Toni Sant in Athens
Maltamedia Daily News, Malta
May 19 2006
Three dress rehearsals are scheduled for the Eurovision Song Contest
before the final show on Saturday evening. The first dress rehearsal
took place on Friday afternoon. A second dress rehearsal for Friday
starts at 2000 CET.
Following Friday’s first dress rehearsal, Fabrizio Faniello’s costume
for the final, a wedding suit without jacket and tie, was greeted with
comments of disapproval and disbelief. Eurovision fan club OGAE-Malta
president Deo Grech told MaltaMedia.com, “it’s simply not Fabrizio’s
style!” Non-Maltese websites, like esctoday.com and doteurovision.com,
have also published lukewarm comments about Fabrizio Faniello’s look
following the dress rehearsals.
Several members of the Maltese delegation and members of the press
told MaltaMedia.com what they think about the potential top 10 songs
to emerge from Saturday’s final, in no particular order.
Greece “I believe this will be one of the top two songs. Anna Vissi
has an aura of respect around her and this balad with a beat appeals to
Eurovision song lovers.” – John Demanuele, Assistant Head of Delegation
“A soppy song. I don’t like it! I personally prefer singers like
Pink, Shania Twain or Alanis Morissette.” – Nadette Bugeja, Maltese
Delegation: Head of Press.
Sweden “Carola can do no wrong. As expected this is a great song with
a fantastic show!” – Deo Grech, OGAE-Malta, Eurovision fan club.
“Typically Swedish. Not my number 1 favourite but it’s exactly what
Eurovision fans want.” – Claudette Pace, former Eurovision contestant.
Romania “It’s a great song! Mihai Traistariu has a great voice…but
no stage presence. My gay friends tell me they love it. I’m sure
many Italians will like it too…even though they don’t follow the
Eurovision.” – J.P. Attard, Producer, Where’s Everybody?
Ukraine “As impressive as Ruslana. Tina Karol has a nice real
smile. She’s not fake. A great song and a great voice. This year
Ukraine has everything Armenia doesn’t have” – Eileen Montesin,
official PBS Eurovision commentator.
Russia “This song has the ideal show. Quite unexpected. And it helps
that the singer is good looking, even if this poses some competition
for Malta’s entry.” – Frederick Zammit, Head of Programmes: Net TV.
Bosnia & Herzogovina “What an excellent song, to the taste of
Eurovision fans. It contrasts really well with most other entries,
which is why I’m convinced they did so well in the semi-final
voting.” – Cyrus Engerer, ESCMalta News Manager.
Spain “Spanish is such a sexy language! I expect it to be a hit all
over Europe this summer, whatever happens on Saturday night. It’s
a typical Las Ketchup song.” – Pablo Micallef, Producer, Where’s
Everybody?
“I don’t like the group but it’s not a bad song and the show is
excellent. Still, I don’t think it’s a winner, by any means.” –
Krista Caruana, Super One News journalist.
Turkey “It’s not the winning song…but then again I may be wrong. I
never expected Lithuania to get to the final, nor for Belgium to
be left behind. So maybe we’ll be in Turkey this time next year.” –
Pierre Cachia, Super One TV producer.
Finland Comments about Lordi’s Hard Rock Hallelujah are on everyone’s
lips.
Reactions are spread across the spectrum. From “good for a laugh” to
“if I wasn’t supporting Malta I’d support them instead, even though
I’m not a rock fan.”
Finland’s Eurovision entry is getting under more people’s skin with
every rehearsal. If it wins it will indeed change the face of the
Eurovision Song Contest. The EBU may even be forced to reconsider
leaving the voting completely up to the general public.
Speaking to MaltaMedia.com on Thursday afternoon, Bogdan Kopec,
managing director of Drakkar Entertainment, Lordi’s German record
label, said that many rock clubs in Germany are organizing special
parties for rockers to vote for Lordi during the 10-minute voting
period on Thursday and Saturday evening. If more rock clubs adopt
similar strategies for the final night, Lordi may very well be the
winners of the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest.
Saturday’s final dress rehearsal is at 1300 CET. The final show will
be broadcast live at 2100 CET on TVM and most other EBU affiliated
stations.
For more detailed information about Malta’s participation in the
Eurovision Song Contest see EurovisionMalta.com.

‘PRO-ARMENIAN LAW’ IN FRANCE DROPPED FOR NOW
Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
May 19 2006
The legislative bill penalizing those who deny the so-called Armenian
genocide in France has been postponed indefinitely.
The motion discussed in yesterday’s morning session of the French
Parliament was dropped as the allotted time ran out.
Parliamentary Speaker Jean-Louis Debre had to twice pause the tense
session to reestablish order.
Deputies and Armenians supporting the motion accused Debre of extending
other discussions deliberately to drop the motion.
Armenians angered by the result caused a commotion in the parliament’s
audience gallery.
Foreign Minister Philippe Doust-Blazy, speaking on behalf of the
government, objected to the motion and appealed to French deputies
to not to inscribe history with laws.
The Socialist Party (PS), which made the legislative proposal, placed
the genocide bill as a second item on the agenda although it had the
right to arrange it anyway it wanted.
While talks on the first item on the agenda continued, some socialist
parliamentarians reacted saying talks were extended deliberately.
Since the proposal would automatically fail if it were not voted
at the first section where PS had the right to arrange the agenda,
parliamentarians wanted to start the genocide proposal sooner.
President of the parliament Jean-Louis Debre, upset with the protests,
reminded that it was not himself who formulated the agenda but the
socialists.
When the socialist parliamentarians rebelled again, tension increased
in the parliament.
Members of PS accused Debre of his attempts to fail the proposal
since Tuesday.
Members of UMP, who support the proposal, said, “Do not fall into
their trap, they want to deceive you”.
Upon the increase of the tension Debre gave two breaks.
Many parliamentarians, who wanted to discuss the first item on the
agenda, did not make their speech to proceed to the genocide proposal.
It took an hour to proceed to the proposal, but Debre ended the
section after a few talks because of the time constraint. Thus,
the proposal was dropped out of the agenda.
PS Group Leader Jean Marc Ayroult held the government and Debre
accountable for the cancellation of the bill.
Ayroult said UMP did its best to postpone the bill and accused UMD
of playing small tricks to reach its goal.
Armenian Originated French politician Patrik Deveciyan, who was angry
after the session, said the postponement of the bill is a result of
the lobby activities Turkey launched in all areas.
The Armenians who came to the parliament to watch the session created
chaos after the bill was postponed.
The crowd sang the French National Anthem and did not leave the
building.
PS Secretary-General Francois Hollande approached them requesting
them to remain calm.
The Armenians organized demonstrations near the parliament and
protested the decision.
The Turks, on the other hand, chained themselves and taped their
mouths. Some held banners in their hands saying “Do not restrict our
freedom,” and “Do not prevent the realities from being revealed.”
French Government Opposes Genocide Bill
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, representing the
government in the parliamentary session yesterday, said if the bill
is enacted the French Parliament will have interfered in history and
cited his opposition to the proposal.
The minister, who recalled the agreement on “leaving the history to
the historians” invoked in the parliamentary discussion regarding the
law of colonialism said, “The French Parliament is again attempting
to interfere in written history.”
The foreign minister said enactment of the bill will harm long-standing
Turkish-French affairs and the dialogue process between Turkey and
Armenia.
Douste-Blazy reminded that more than 300,000 Turkish people lived
together with people of Armenian origins in France, and said the bill
will affect “human relations.”
Armenians name 1915 Events as genocide while Turks accuse the Armenians
of committing massacres against the Muslim population of the Ottoman
Empire during the First World War. “More than 500,000 Muslims were
massacred” according to the Ottoman archives.
While French deal with so-called ‘Armenian genocide’, Algerians urge
France to recognise Algerian genocide committed by the French.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA’S TRAFFIC POLICE ‘MORE EUROPEAN THAN GEORGIA’S’
By Astghik Bedevian and Emil Danielyan
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
May 19 2006
The chief of Armenia’s notoriously corrupt traffic police claimed
on Friday that his officers are doing a much better job of ensuring
road safety than the famously reformed police service of neighboring
Georgia.
Colonel Ishkhan Ishkhanian, head of the State Automobile Inspectorate
(SAI), insisted that traffic in Georgia is even more chaotic than
in Armenia despite a radical police reform carried out by Georgian
President Mikhail Saakashvili two years ago. He said he arrived at
such conclusion during a recent visit to Tbilisi.
“Compared to Georgia, we are Europe,” Ishkhanian told a news
conference. “They wanted to attain European standards in Georgia,
but it is clear that they have failed.”
The claims are in sharp contrast to media reports, witness accounts
and the dominant opinion of Armenian motorists about the results of
the Georgian reform. Shortly after sweeping to power in the November
2003 “rose revolution,” Saakashvili disbanded his country’s entire
traffic police and formed a Western-style patrol service manned by
well-paid and mainly young officers.
The drastic change seems to have all but eradicated rampant bribery
among Georgian road policemen, a problem that had turned Georgia into
a virtual no-go zone for cars with Armenian license plates. Armenians
have since had little difficulty driving through Georgian territory.
Scores of them traveled to Georgia’s Black Sea resorts by car last
year.
By contrast, bribing a traffic policeman remains the norm in Armenia,
with kickbacks for avoiding legal punishment for an alleged or proven
violation of traffic rules starting from 1,000 drams ($2.3). Officers
patrolling streets or highways are allegedly obliged to transfer a
large part of that money to their superiors.
Many of the high-ranking traffic policemen are wealthy individuals
with extensive business interests. Ishkhanian, for example, is believed
to own a major taxi service.
That traffic police corruption is a serious problem was admitted on
Tuesday by Major-General Ararat Mahtesian, deputy chief of Armenia’s
Police Service. Mahtesian referred to SAI as the “vulnerable spot”
and the “pain” of the Armenian police. He said the Armenian government
will soon embark on a reform of SAI to be financed by the World Bank,
but gave no details.
Ishkhanian also acknowledged the problem, saying that 66 of his
subordinates were subjected to “disciplinary action” last year. But
he would not say how many of them were fired and whether there were
any senior officers among them. He spoke instead of the need to create
unspecified “conditions” that would discourage police bribery.
The SAI chief also said that President Robert Kocharian has formed a
“working group” tasked with making proposals on how to improve road
safety in Armenia.
According to police data, 58 people were killed and 446 others injured
in 317 accidents that were officially registered across Armenia during
the first four months of this year. The official death toll for the
whole of last year stood at 310.
The deeply entrenched corruption hardly bodes well for the success
of the stated police efforts to reduce the number of deadly road
accidents. The increasingly heavy traffic in Armenia and Yerevan in
particular is disorderly and dangerous not least because of wealthy
government-connected drivers that routinely ignore traffic rules.
The road police rarely dare to flag down their luxury cars that usually
carry license plates with repeating numbers, a badge of prestige among
the local rich. The “fanciest” of the easy-to-remember plates may be
worth as much as $2,000 in the police black market.
Reports of ordinary citizens dying as a result of negligent driving
have not been uncommon in the Armenian press. The “Aravot” daily said
this week that a plush Mercedes driven by a son of Seyran Saroyan,
a feared army general, ran over two boys in a village in southern
Armenia, killing one of them and critically injuring the other. The
paper alleged that eyewitnesses of the accident have been bullied
into not testifying against the young man and that a village mayor has
“confessed” to the crime instead.
“I have no such information at this point,” Mahtesian told RFE/RL,
referring to the case. “I am ready to look into those reports and
tell you whether they correspond to reality.”
In another infamous incident, a U.S.-made Hummer rammed into a taxi in
Yerevan at an enormous speed in January 2005, killing a 30-year-old
woman and wounding her infant daughter. An unemployed man was
subsequently identified by the police as the expensive SUV’s driver
before being given a short prison sentence. The man was reportedly
released from jail a few months later.
(Photolur photo: An expensive car ignoring red light at a busy
intersection in Yerevan.)
port/report/en/2006/05/C0468856-15D3-4C49-9370-C82 D712BA71A.ASP

NO AGREEMENT YET ON KEY ARMENIAN-AZERI SUMMIT
By Harry Tamrazian in Prague
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
May 19 2006
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said on Friday that he and his
Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov failed to set a date
for the next, potentially decisive Armenian-Azerbaijani summit on
Nagorno-Karabakh during talks in Strasbourg the previous night.
The two men met in the presence of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
on the sidelines of a regular session of the Council of Europe’s
decision-making Committee of Ministers. The American, French and
Russian mediators hope than another face-to-face meeting between
Presidents Ilham Aliev and Robert Kocharian will yield a breakthrough
in the Karabakh peace process.
A Kocharian spokesman said earlier this month that the meeting’s venue
and exact date is likely to be agreed by Mammadyarov and Oskanian
at Strasbourg. However, this clearly did not happen, with Oskanian
explaining that Baku and Yerevan have not yet laid the groundwork
for the crucial summit.
“Discussions focused on the proposals and ideas that have been on
the table,” he told RFE/RL by phone, referring to the Strasbourg talks.
“Overall, it was not a bad meeting. However, there are still many
issues that have not yet been agreed on.”
Oskanian went on to indicate that the Aliev-Kocharian encounter might
therefore not take place at all. “While not ruling out the possibility
of such a meeting at this point, I can’t say for certain that it will
take place because a lot depends on the co-chairs’ high-level visit
to the region.”
In a further sign of the seriousness of their intentions, the co-chairs
will begin the visit on May 25 together with more high-ranking
diplomats, including U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fried
and Russian Deputy Foreign Minster Grigory Karasin. The mediators
will discuss with the conflicting parties their new unpublicized
peace proposals put forward following the collapse of the last
Aliev-Kocharian meeting that took place in Rambouillet, France in
February.
“The co-chairs see a new momentum after Rambouillet and they believe
that by raising the level [of their diplomacy] they can attract more
attention and will try during their visit to create a situation that
will convince the parties to agree to a meeting of the presidents,”
said Oskanian.

PRISHTINA’S STANCE ON KOSOVO IS UNCONSTRUCTIVE – RUSSIAN FM
RIA Novosti, Russia
May 19 2006
STRASBOURG, May 19 (RIA Novosti) – The Kosovan leadership’s
intransigent attitude is delaying a solution over the status of the
troubled Balkan territory, Russia’s foreign minister said Friday.
Sergei Lavrov, speaking at a news conference in Strasbourg, said:
“The position of Prishtina’s leadership, which is insisting on the
unequivocal independence of Kosovo, is very unconstructive.”
Lavrov said a unilateral approach should not be taken to talks on
Kosovo, and that negotiations must be held through the UN and the
Contact Group.
Talks on the UN-administered territory’s status should be concluded by
the end of the year, a view that is shared by the six-nation Contact
Group – the U.S., Russia, Britain, France, Germany and Italy –
Lavrov said.
Earlier, some Russian politicians expressed concern that independence
for Kosovo would create a precedent for recognition of breakaway
regions in the former Soviet Union.
Moldova is dealing with a separatist regime in Transdnestr, while
Georgia has two breakaway regions in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Nagorny Karabakh, a largely ethnic Armenian enclave inside Azerbaijan,
has long been a source of friction between the two Caucasus states.
Formally part of Serbia, Kosovo has been a UN protectorate since
1999, following a NATO military campaign to drive out Yugoslav forces
accused of atrocities against Albanian civilians.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NATO SECRETARY GENERAL’S SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE TO SOUTH CAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA TO COME TO ARMENIA ON MAY 22
Author: A. Mammadov
TREND, Azerbaijan
May 19 2006
On May 22 NATO Secretary General`s Special Representative to South
Caucasus and Central Asia Robert Simmons to pay a two-day visit
to Armenia.
As “APKA” Agency was informed at the Press and Information Department
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia today,
meetings with Armenia`s President Robert Kocharyan and Prime Minister
Adranik Markaryan, the Armenian Parliament Vice Speaker Tigran
Torosyan, Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosyan and other ones
are envisaged during the visit.

EGYPTIAN PRESIDENTIAL AIDE: OFFICIAL CAIRO FULLY SUPPORTS AZERBAIJAN’S EFFORTS TO PUBLICIZE INVASION FACT IN THE WORLD
Azeri Press Agency
May 19 2006
“The Arab Republic of Egypt has broad knowledge of the Nagorno Garabagh
conflict and Cairo fully supports Azerbaijan’s efforts to publicize
the occupation fact to the international community,” said Usae Ilbaz,
political aide to Egypt’s President Hosnu Mubarak at a meeting with
Azerbaijani delegation at Egyptian Foreign Ministry (APA).
Mr.Ilbaz said that official Cairo is ready to deploy different
delegations to Azerbaijan to promote raising much more awareness in
Egyptian public on the Nagorno Garabagh conflict.
“Do not feel offended for our parliamentarians lacking broad
information on the conflict during the meeting at Egyptian
parliament. Most of our parliamentarians are interested in the problems
that concern Arab world mainly. We can deploy different delegations to
Baku to familiarize with Azerbaijan’s stance and have much knowledge of
the truths on its problems. Everybody knows that there is instability
in the world, systems are changing and problems are emerging. After
the September 11 events, the international community has thought of
Islam religion as a threat to the world.
This opinion is absolutely wrong,” the presidential aide noted.
Mr.Ilbaz also aid he gained large impressions about our country by
his short-term visit to Baku.
“I have been to Azerbaijan recently, got chance to familiarize with
your country. My 48-hour stay in Baku was enough to get acquainted
with your culture. I was deeply impressed by your rich culture and
hospitability,” Ilbaz stressed.
The presidential aide also reported that Egyptian large delegation
will visit Azerbaijan soon. This visit will be important from the
aspect of drawing up a wide report o Azerbaijan and problems it
faces. Stating that the official Cairo supports the settlement of
the Nagorno Garabagh, Usame Ilbaz stressed that no conflict has ever
brought dividend to the parties.
“I assure you that no parties to a conflict win anything. Egypt is
ready to take steps in level of international organizations for the
settlement of the Nagorno Garabagh conflict, and supports Azerbaijan’s
efforts in this field,” Mr.Ilbaz concluded.

ETHNOGRAPHIC INVESTIGATION OF ALL ANCIENT AZERBAIJANI TERRITORIES WILL BE HELD
Azeri Press Agency
May 19 2006
“It is high time that Azerbaijan to lose in information war. Our not
responding to their propaganda has led to hard results. How long will
we pursue a policy on responding Armenians attacks?
It is already time that we begin to wage on war against their attacks
and be the side that attacks”, Director of History Institute of
Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, parliamentarian Yagub
Mahmudov has told a press conference held today.(APA) Saying the
former leadership of the institute was not busy with this work
quite enough, Yagub Mahmudov said the institute will do its utmost
to expose Armenians real face to world community. “Of course, world
community will not believe to our opinions at first as we are late in
this matter. But we have to do it. We put theory of lost territories
forward.” According to scientist, recently Armenian State Committee
for Real Property, Manuk Vardanian has made a statement that the first
national atlas of Armenia will be published. In that atlas 40 thousand
geographical names will be registered, 7-8 thousand geographical names
characteristic to different nations will be changed and be substituted
in Armenian names. “7-8 thousand geographical names mentioned by
Vardanian, belong to Azerbaijan who were deported from the mentioned
territories. It is known to science that Armenians are not aborigine
population of South Caucasus, they have come there. Tribes considered
to be ancestors of Armenians approximately appeared in the middle I
millennium of BC in upper parts of Efrat river. They have moved here
from Balkan Peninsula. ” Yagub Mammadov said that “Garabagh History”
book which was published some months ago will be translated into
German and French languages.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERBAIJAN’S YOUTH AND SPORT MINISTER HOLDS NEWS CONFERENCE ON HIS 100TH WORKING DAY
Azeri Press Agency
May 19 2006
Azerbaijan’s Youth and Sport Minister Azad Rahimov held a press
conference on the occasion of the 100th day of his appointment to
this post today (APA). The minister reported on measures and youth
and sport events held in the country during his activity.
Mr.Rahimov said that the state-funded Mortgage interest will be
reconsidered soon and declined to rule out decrease of costs.
Stressing that building of apartments for new couples is being
reviewed too.
Minister Rahimov also informed about the three-sided meeting between
Azerbaijani, Armenian Football Federation heads and UEFA special
commission in Nyon, Switzerland, for determination of a venue for
the match between Azerbaijani and Armenian football teams.
“We informed the UEFA representatives about our bad relations with
Armenians. There is skirmish on the frontline everyday We told them
that Armenians killed nearly ten Azerbaijani soldiers and officers
on the frontline in the past five months. So, it is impossible to
receive Armenian team in Baku. I think the members of UEFA special
commission for this problem understood us. Though they said they will
review this issue, no specific date was shown,” The Minister reported.
Commenting on Armenian Football Federation president Ruben Ayrapetyan’s
statement “UEFA has decided the match venue and ordered the federation
heads not to publicize it”, Rahimov called this nonsense. He said if
it were true, the Azerbaijani side would have known this too.
“It is true, UEFA officials ordered us not to inform the media about
the three-sided meeting held in Switzerland. But I don’t think there
is anything wrong in making it public. As coming to Ayrapetyan’s
statements, they are false,” he said.
The Minister also stressed importance of making our Olympic Games
champions Igor Ponomaryov, Kamandar Majidov, who are abroad, to return
home country to reinforce development of our sport.
“I think, relevant sports federations in the country should deal with
this. I have been recently informed that there is our compatriot in
Munich in Germany, who can play football very well, and her mother
works in Indian embassy. We invited him to Baku to evaluate him,”
the Minster noted.
Rahimov also admitted a number of shortfalls in the activity of the
Ministry. He said it is the Ministry’s fault that Azerbaijani bronze
medal winners of the recent European Greco-Roman Wrestling championship
in Moscow, Rovshan Bayramov and Fuad Aliyev wore uniforms of their
clubs not that of Azerbaijani national team while wrestling.
“The Wrestling Federation was to inform us about the lack of uniforms,”
Rahimov noted.