Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
August 25, 2006 Friday
FIRES AS A MOOT POINT
by Sohbet Mamedov, Anatoly Gordiyenko
BAKU WANTS THE KARABAKH ISSUE DISCUSSED BY THE UN. YEREVAN THREATENS
TO QUIT PEACE TALKS; Yerevan threatens to withdraw from Karabakh
talks if Baku has the issue discussed at the UN level.
Armenian Representative to the UN, Armen Martirosjan, told RL the
other day that Yerevan might quit the peace talks if Baku initiated
discussion of the issue at the UN. According to Martirosjan, Armenia
and Azerbaijan made a pact in 2005, that the problem would be handled
exceptionally by the OSCE Minsk Group chaired by Russia, France, and
the United States together, and that official Baku would refrain from
trying to transfer the issue to the UN level.
Martirosjan told RL that Azerbaijan had recently sent a letter to the
UN urging it to “facilitate restoration of the territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan.” “Armenia may quit the negotiations altogether if
Azerbaijan… tries to bring the matter of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict resolution to the UN,” Martirosjan was quoted as saying.
Armenian diplomat’s ultimatum raised eyebrows in official Baku. “The
Armenian Foreign Ministry has never responded. Why would the Armenian
Representative to the UN speak on behalf of the Armenian state?”
Metin Mirza of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Press Service said.
Mirza believes that it was the Armenian diplomat’s personal opinion.
As for the negotiations, “its suspension is not even discussed,”
Mirza said. Moreover, another meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian
foreign ministers might take place in September. Chairmen of the OSCE
Minsk Group do insist on this meeting, Mirza added.
Official Baku in the meantime is trying to have the Karabakh issue
discussed at the UN and at the autumn session of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe. The matter concerns the fires
raging on the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia. Baku
suspects that “the Armenian side caused these fires deliberately”
particularly since the prevailing winds drive them to the positions
of the Azerbaijani army. Baku wants the “fire issue” resolved by the
UN and the Parliamentary Assembly.
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, August 22, 2006, p. 6
Translated by A. Ignatkin

Armenian leader saddened by loss of life in Russian plane crash
ITAR-TASS News Agency
August 23, 2006 Wednesday 01:11 PM EST
YEREVAN, August 23 — Armenian President Robert Kocharyan expressed
condolences to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the loss of life
as a result of the Tupolev-154 passenger plane crash in Ukraine
on Tuesday.
“On behalf of the Armenian people and on my own behalf I express
deep condolences and sympathy to the near and dear of those killed,”
Kocharyan said in his message.

Food & Drink – Reviews – Garni – Authentic Armenian in Chiswick
By Sejal Sukhadwala
Time Out
August 23, 2006
A bowl of beans arrived, and we immediately knew this meal was going
to be special. The plump, shiny kidney beans shone like rubies amid a
light dressing of garlicky crushed walnut paste, and had clearly been
cooked rather than taken from a tin. We greedily decided to share a
platter of five starters. Stuffed vine leaves were served with
cinnamon-scented mazdoon (the lush own-made yoghurt that’s a staple
of Armenian cookery).
Marble-white balls of feta and cream cheese, speckled with parsley
and dill, came cradled inside baby peppers. The only disappointment
was the steamed dumplings with undercooked pastry and dry spiced-veal
stuffing.
Garni is arguably London’s only true Armenian restaurant. Bayswater’s
Erebuni offers a few Armenian dishes, and Jakob’s on Gloucester Road
has an Iranian-influenced Armenian menu – but Garni specialises in
ancient Armenian cooking. Previously the proprietress Larissa
Arakelyan was owner of Libation wine bar on the same site. Her cosy
venue certainly looks attractive. There are fresh orchids on the bar,
and pastel-hued retro lampshades that cast demure shadows over
proceedings. The glass front opens out onto the street, where a few
tables are laid for al fresco dining, while at the rear is a tiny
covered courtyard where a barbecue chef cooks over charcoal.
Armenian food is a cross between Turkish and Russian, with influences
from neighbouring Georgia, Iran, Iraq and Syria. You’ll find aromatic
spices, an abundance of fresh verdant herbs, and the aubergines of
Turkish cookery, combined with the dumplings, fruit, and walnut
pastes of Russia and Georgia. We liked the eponymous ‘garni’ – a
delicious ancient recipe of baked aubergines stuffed with herbed
minced veal and bulgur, topped with grated carrot and tomatoes. Also
enjoyable was the fluffy, buttery pilaf that came with
charcoal-grilled aubergines, peppers, tomatoes and green beans, whose
musky smokiness was enlivened by a sharp, refreshing lemon tang. The
accompanying bread basket contained warm, crisp lavash, and soft,
round pillows of sesame-studded churek.
In contrast, a platter of Armenian cakes and pastries – variously
filled with nuts, honey, cream and sugar – was somewhat dry and
brittle. For afters it’s better, perhaps, to stick to the delightful
strong Armenian coffee and fresh thyme tea.
The wine arrangements are idiosyncratic. Three red and three white
vins de Pays d’Oc are sold by the glass. If you want a bottle, you
have to buy it from the on-site ‘shop’ (in reality a large wine rack
in a wall niche), where it’s available at shop prices. The menu also
lists breakfast, brunch and specialities. Of particular interest is
khash – a festive soup made from cow’s feet, garlic, radish and
greens – but you have to give two days’ notice for it, so you might
just want to stick with a brilliant little bowl of beans.
Garni, 472 Chiswick High St, W4 5TT (020 8995 5129) Chiswick Park
tube. Open daily 7am-11pm. Meal for two with wine and service: around
£60.
– Time Out reviews anonymously and pays for meals
THE BILL
Platter of five starters – £15
Veal-stuffed aubergines – £8.50
Charcoal vegetables and pilaf – £7.50
Bread basket – £1.50
Armenian cakes – £8.50
Fruit and cheese platter – £5.50
Large bottle still water – £2.25
Bottle French rose – £14.50
Armenian coffee – £1.50
Thyme tea – £1.85
Subtotal – £66.60
Cash tip – £8.40
Total – £75.
–Boundary_(ID_ckODGVnCXTS8SBa/nWtPrw)- –

Russia suspends probe into Armenian’s murder
Agence France Presse — English
August 22, 2006 Tuesday 9:34 PM GMT
MOSCOW, Aug 22 2006 — Russian prosecutors have suspended an
investigation into the murder of an Armenian national earlier this
year, laying they will never find the culprits, the victim’s lawyer
said Tuesday.
“The investigation is suspended due to the impossibility of determining
those who committed the crime,” Simon Tsaturyan said, quoted by the
RIA-Novosti news agency.
Vagan Abramyants, 17, was stabbed to death in a Moscow metro station
on April 22. The assailants escaped from the scene.
There has been a rise in the number of such attacks on foreigners in
recent years and the pace has quickened in recent months.
They are often carried out by gangs of skinheads and usually target
Asians, Africans and people from the Caucasus — such as Armenians —
or Central Asia.

Blasts damage oil pipeline in Ingushetia
RIA Novosti, Russia
August 22, 2006
MOSCOW, August 22 (RIA Novosti) – Part of an oil pipeline in Russia’s
North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia was damaged early Tuesday in a
suspected terrorist attack. Two explosions went off simultaneously,
causing an oil spill and fire, local police said.
“[Suspected] criminals planted two powerful hollow-charge devices on
the pipeline, and both detonated almost simultaneously,” a police
spokesman said, adding that it took firefighters three hours to
extinguish a 20-meter-high pillar of fire near the village of
Voznesenskaya.
He said authorities have opened a criminal case in the matter, which
investigators consider a terrorist attack.
In late January, two blasts on pipelines running through southern
Russia cut gas supplies to Georgia and Armenia, and an explosion
hit a high-voltage electricity transmission tower near the city of
Karachayevsk in Russia’s North Caucasus, causing blackouts in much
of Georgia.

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
August 21, 2006 Monday
ARMENIA IS GOING TO DEVELOP PRACTICAL AND POLITICAL COOPERATION WITH
NATO FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF CLOSER RELATIONS WITH THE BLOC
The program of actions of individual partnership with Russia says
that Armenia is going to develop practical and political cooperation
with NATO for establishment of closer relations with the bloc.
Training and re-training of senior officers and revision of the
training program for all branches of the armed forces will be done
in accordance with this document. A peacekeeping battalion will also
be organized in Armenia in accordance with NATO standards and this
battalion will become a peacekeeping brigade in the future. The program
of actions also points out that goals of Armenia include improvement of
border security, defense and budget systems and development of stable
and realistic defense plans. The document also makes provisions for
revision of the strategy for development of the military industrial
complex and working out proposals for its further maintenance. In
the framework of cooperation with NATO a public information center
of the bloc will be opened in Yerevan and stands with the relevant
literature will appear in district libraries. It is also planned to
organize a week of NATO and special seminars and conferences.
Source: Krasnaya Zvezda, August 18, 2006, p. 3

Armenia and TVEL sign agreement to supply nuclear fuel
SKRIN Market & Corporate News
August 21, 2006 Monday 3:52 PM GMT
Armenia and TVEL signed an agreement to supply nuclear fuel to Armenian
NPP, reports General Director Gagik Markosyan. He was quoted as saying
that the fuel will be supplied until October 1, 2006. The right of
financial administration of Armenian NPP was delegated in September
2003 to Financial Department Inter RAO Unified Energy System of Russia
for the next 5 years, Kommersant reports.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CALCUTTA
The Statesman (India)
August 24, 2006 Thursday
Very few cities in the world were founded on a particular date or by
a particular individual. Cities do not generally have dates of birth
and/or a founder. They grow as a part of natural, historical and
economic process. Of course there are exceptions such as Alexandria,
St Petersburg and our own Murshidabad.
But how was Calcutta born? When Job Charnock landed in Sutanuti
in 1690, the three villages of Sutanuti, Govindapur and Kolikata,
were already there, and their zamindary rights were vested with the
Saborna Roychaudhuri family. Yet he was regarded for long as the
founder of the city. In this context it is pertinent to find out the
myth and the reality about the foundation of Calcutta. The myth has
been perpetuated for long that Calcutta was founded by Job Charnock on
24 August 1690. Undoubtedly, British historians, and recent British
and Indian historical literature were instrumental in promoting and
establishing the idea that it was Charnock who laid the foundation
of the city on that date.
Lack of exactitude
There is an obvious lack of exactitude in the imperial idea that it
is Charnock who, as an act of destiny, founded the city. But this
is what has been taught for ages in schools and colleges. Besides,
for years the West Bengal government, the Calcutta Corporation and
various other institutions observed 24 August as the foundation day of
Calcutta. The city’s tercentenary was celebrated with great pomp and
splendour in 1990. But the question of the foundation cropped up anew
when the Saborna Roychaudhuris filed a public interest litigation case
at Calcutta High Court. The Division Bench, comprising the then Chief
Justice A K Mathur and Justice S K Mukherjee constituted a five-member
committee of historians, of which the present contributor was one,
to give their verdict on two points:
1. What is the date of birth of Calcutta: whether it was 24 August
1690 or some other date?
2. Whether Job Charnock (sic) was the founder of Calcutta or not.
The committee examined all available material on the subject and
came to the unanimous conclusion that 24 August 1690 was not the
birth date of Calcutta nor was Job Charnock its founder. The High
Court accepted the findings of the committee and recommended it to
the state government.
In this context it is important to note the basis for refutation
of the prevalent notion about the foundation of Calcutta. First,
Job Charnock did not land in Sutanuti for the first time on 24
August 1690. He came and landed in Sutanuti for the first time on
20 December 1686. After three months he moved to Uluberia where he
stayed for another three months and came back to Sutanuti for the
second time in September 1687. But following a war with the Mughals,
Charnock and his compatriots left Bengal for Fort St George (Madras)
and returned to Sutanuti for the third time on 24 August 1690. If that
was so, then why should 24 August 1690 be regarded as the foundation
date of Calcutta, and not the earlier two dates? In fact, even after
nine months of his stay in Sutanuti, the Directors in London were
informed that they (the English in Sutanuti) were in a wild, unsettled
condition at Chuttanuttee, neither fortified house nor godown, only
tents, huts and boats. Thus when the so-called founder of Calcutta
died in January 1693, Sutanuti was a far cry from the later imperial
city of Calcutta. Moreover, in all the correspondence of Job Charnock
and his compatriots, the dateline was invariably Chuttanuttee, and not
Calcutta or even Kolikata. Later the dateline used was Fort William,
and it was not before the early 1740s that the name Calcutta appeared
in the official correspondence. In other words, neither Charnock nor
his later compatriots were ever aware of the existence of a city called
Calcutta, nor were they connected consciously with its foundation.
There is little doubt that Kolikata existed long before the arrival
of Charnock, at least from the 15th century. The Bengali poet,
Bipradas Pipilai, referred to Kolikata as an important place in
his poem Manasavijaya (1495-96). In Ain-i-Akbari (1595) Abul Fazl
mentioned Kolikata as a mahal in sarkar Satgaon. An Armenian tomb
dated 1632 was found in Kolikata indicating that it was then an
important trade centre. Again, the Dutch traveller Van den Broek,
mentioned Kolikata in his map of 1660. Further, the Bengali poet,
Krishnaram Das referred to the Saborna Roychudhuris as the zamindar
of Kolikata in his Kalikamangal (1676-77). Another poet, Sanatan
Ghosal (1678-80), claimed Kolikata as the place of his birth. The
famous weaver/ merchant families of the Seths and Basaks moved down
to Sutanuti after the decline of Satgaon in the late 16th century.
Though it is a fact that Job Charnock was neither the founder
of Calcutta nor was it born with his arrival on 24 August 1690,
the importance of Charnock in its future development can hardly be
ignored. The growth and development of Calcutta was closely connected
with British trade, both corporate and private. In other words, the
early history of Calcutta is inseparable from the history of British
imperialism in India. And it goes to the credit of Charnock that he
selected the most suitable place as the nucleus of British trade. But
he had no idea nor any intention whatsoever to lay the foundation of
a city in an alien country. Neither did he do anything to turn the
small hamlet of Sutanuti into at least something which could be called
even the nucleus of a city. His main motive was to find out a suitable
and strategic place from where the English trade could be conducted,
even by defying the authority of the Mughals. As he lived in Bengal
for more than three decades, Charnock was well aware of the political
and military situation in the country. Thus in all probability he
chose Sutanuti after careful consideration. He had tried Hughli,
Hijli and Uluberia but found them unsuitable for a fortified centre
of British trade. Sutanuti undoubtedly offered greater advantages. At
all other places he tried, the British were extremely vulnerable to
the sudden attack of the Mughals.
Sea-borne trade
Moreover, there were greater facilities at Sutanuti for sea-borne
trade and also for withdrawal to the sea with safety in case of
reverses. Other advantages were there as well ~ provisions were
plentiful in its hats and bazars, export commodities could be provided
easily as old commercial houses of the Seths and Basaks had moved in
there with the fall of Satgaon. With all his experience in Bengal,
Charnock took all these factors into consideration before he finally
selected Sutanuti as the centre of British trade in Bengal. Thus it
can be asserted that though Charnock was dislodged from his place as
the founder of Calcutta, he cannot be discarded from the history of
the growth and development of Calcutta as an imperial city.

RWE Australian Business News
August 21, 2006 Monday 11:54 AM AEST
Iberian Resources fast tracking Armenian gold program
Sydney Monday, August 21
Iberian Resources (IBR) is implementing a program to fast track the
expansion of the resource base at the Lich Gold Project in Armenia.
A large exploration drilling programme will commence in the near term,
says managing director Matthew Wood.
He believes the Lichkvaz Gold Project is a world class gold project
that has not been explored for more than 20 years.
Mineralisation comprises an extensive swarm of more than 12
sub-parallel epithermal veins.
The majority of the current +1 million ounce resource is contained
within just one of these veins.
The other veins are known to be well mineralized, but only minimal
exploration has been undertaken on them previously.
A diamond core drilling rig and a reverse circulation drilling rig
have been contracted and are being mobilized to site.
The company will also commence drilling with its own underground core
drilling rig.
It is expected that exploration drilling will continue at the Lichkvaz
Gold Project for at least 12 months, the report to the ASX disclosed.
The company will be seeking to contract additional drilling rigs
during this period.
The company has determined that its expansion strategy in Armenia is
best served by focusing all of its exploration efforts on the Lichkvaz
Gold Project and surrounding exploration licences.
Exploration efforts will be concentrated on increasing resources
and reserves within close proximity to a central expanded stage two
processing plant.
As a consequence of this strategy the Company has withdrawn from its
joint venture in the Marjan Gold Project in central Armenia and will
divert these funds to exploration at the Lichkvaz Gold Project.
Iberian Resources is fast approaching a significant milestone of
first gold production from the Lichkvaz gold project in Armenia.
“The company is well positioned to grow rapidly and to generate early
cash flow by bringing the Lichkvaz Gold Project into production during
an environment of high gold prices.
“The company is also considering a number of potential corporate
strategies to fast track the development and growth of the company,”
Matthew Wood, managing director declared.

Azerbaijan rejects CSTO peacekeeping proposal for Karabakh
Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Military Newswire
August 25, 2006 Friday 5:07 PM MSK
Azerbaijan has rejected a proposal for Collective Security
Treaty Organization (CSTO) peacekeepers to be stationed in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.
“The Azeri side finds it hard to react to this idea. As is well known,
Azerbaijan is not a member of the CSTO,” Foreign Ministry spokesman
Tair Tagizade told Interfax-AVN.
Earlier, CSTO General Secretary Nikolai Bordyuzha proposed CSTO forces
as peacekeepers for the territory of the former Soviet Union.
The CSTO comprises Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
Armenia, and Uzbekistan.
“It is the understanding of the parties to the conflict [Azerbaijan
and Armenia] that neither the states that are co-heads of the Minsk
Group of the OSCE nor regional states could be represented among the
countries that would take part in the peacekeeping mission in the
conflict zone,” Tagizade said.
The Minsk Group is a mediating body appointed by the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Moreover, the CSTO includes Armenia, a party to the conflict, Tagizade
said. “Therefore we believe that this matter is inapplicable to
Nagorno-Karabakh,” he said.