More Russian military hardware pulled out of Georgian base, en route to
Armenia

AP Worldstream; Jun 08, 2006
A convoy of Russian military trucks and other hardware left a Soviet-era
base in Georgia en route to Armenia on Thursday, in the latest pullout of
Russian military equipment from the Caucasus Mountain nation.
After months of contentious negotiations, Georgia and Russia reached
agreement last year on pulling Russian forces out of two bases.
Thursday’s convoy of 40 vehicles and other material from the Black Sea port
of Batumi was headed to the Russian base at Gyumri, Armenia, said Col.
Vladimir Kuparadze, deputy commander of the Russian troops in the southern
Caucasus.
Another 15 vehicles from another base at Akhalkalaki will join the convoy en
route, he said.
Both bases are scheduled to be fully closed by the end of 2008, with much of
the equipment to be sent to Gyumri.
The agreement to withdraw Russian forces from Georgia was a victory for
pro-Western President Mikhail Saakashvili, who has sought to reduce Russian
influence.

Armenia takes “serious steps” to combat human trafficking – minister
Arminfo
8 Jun 06

Yerevan, 8 June: The Armenian authorities are taking serious steps to
resolve the human trafficking problem, Armenian Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanyan said at today’s news conference while commenting on
the USA State Department’s report on human trafficking for 2006.
He said that the work was being done in three main directions:
prevention of trafficking, protection of victims and punishment of
criminals.
In this connection, Oskanyan said that the number of criminal cases
instituted into human trafficking had increased. “I cannot say what
result this yields in the struggle against this phenomenon. But the
government is undertaking serious steps to resolve this problem,”
Oskanyan stressed.
He also informed that Yerevan intended to react to the report. “The
problem does exist and it is not a secret to anyone. The issue is very
difficult,” Oskanyan said.

G2: Diversions: The king and I

The Guardian – United Kingdom; Jun 08, 2006
NIGEL SHORT
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was re-elected FIDE president in Turin by 96 votes
to 54.
As a member of Bessel Kok’s defeated Right Move campaign, I suppose I
should, with my trademark stoicism and magnanimity, congratulate our
adversary on his success. Instead I find myself dwelling on some
rather odd stories generated by the election: the senior federation
official seen wandering around with large amounts of cash; the
delegates who found it necessary to photograph their completed ballot
papers and SMS the pictures to their colleagues before depositing
their votes; and the delegate who chose to deliver his proxy to the
fiercely pro-Kirsan Georgian delegate rather than voting in person
himself.
Of course, there may not have been any shenanigans. Elections,
however, must not only be clean, but be seen to be clean, and it is
high time to appoint an independent authority to ensure this.
As to the Olympiad itself: Armenia were worthy winners, but no thanks
to England. Daniel Gormally, our fourth board, punched Levon Aronian
in the eye at the traditional Bermuda party in a rage of
love-jealousy. He then had to be restrained by grandmaster Yasser
Seirawan. To say that the Armenians were unamused at having their
national hero attacked would be an understatement. Allan Beardsworth,
the England captain, was forced to apologise to their delegation and
Gormally was sent home – partly for his own protection.
England finished 19th – not a bad result in itself. It was John Nunn
who accurately identified the causes of the inevitable decline of
English 15 years ago. Essentially, we are living on a dwindling stock
of capital. Without a shake-up in the game, the rot will continue.
Michael Adams and I both scored plus five. Michael’s performance was
by far the more praiseworthy as he faced much stiffer opposition on
board one. Here is his elegant victory over the leading Iranian.
Adams, M (2720) – Ghaem Maghami, E (2584), 37th Olympiad, Turin,
3/6/2006 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Be7
7.0-0 0-0 8.c4 Nf6 9.Nc3 dxc4 10.Bxc4 Nc6 11.h3 Bf5 12.GBP3 Ne4 (A
time-consuming way of reducing the tension through exchanges) 13.Re1
Nxc3 14.bxc3 Qd6 15.GBP4 Qg6 (Intending Bxh3) 16.Kh1 Rae8 17.Bf4 Bd6
18.Qd2 Rxe1+ (An unnecessary concession of the open e-file) 19.Rxe1
Bd7 20.Ng5! Nd8 21.Ne4 Bxf4 22.Qxf4 Qc6 (The weakness on c7 requires
urgent attention) 23.Bb5 Qd5 24.Re3 (Threatening 25.Nf6+! but it was
stronger to play the direct 24.Bxd7 Qxd7 25.Nc5! as Qd6 fails to
26.Qxd6 cxd6 27.Nd7 winning) f5 25.Bxd7 Qxd7 26.Nc5 Qf7 27.d5!
(Penetration on the seventh rank is more important than pawn
structure.) b6 28.Nd3 Qxd5 29.Qxc7 Ne6?! (Maghami, an aggressive
player by nature, tries to activate when the position does not warrant
it. It was better to try and hang on grimly with Qb7) 30.Qe7 Rd8?!
(Juggling pieces, but they soon come crashing to the ground) 31.Ne5!
Nf4? (Hopelessly optimistic. It was essential to jettison some
material by Qd1+ 32.Kh2 Qd6 pinning the White knight) 32.Rg3
(Simultaneously defending against mate in one and threatening it) g6
DIAGRAM 33.Nf7! (The coup de grace) Qd1+ (The queen is overloaded)
34.Kh2 Black resigns. The rook is attacked and the king is menaced
with mate in two (starting Nh6+).

Armenian minister hopes for peaceful solution to Iran nuclear issue

Arminfo
8 Jun 06
Yerevan, 8 June: Armenia welcomes recent developments in Iran,
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan told a news conference
today.
“Because we also believe that the issue should be resolved by means of
a dialogue,” the foreign minister pointed out. He recalled that this
issue was of greet importance for Armenia which borders Iran.
“We welcome any progress in this issue, we welcome EU official Javier
Solana’s visit, the proposal of a new ‘package’, the fact that Iran
did not decline it and that the USA has proposed establishing direct
contacts with Iran,” Oskanyan said.
He also expressed the hope that the positive events of the last week
would yield positive results and that the issue would be resolved by
peaceful means and through talks, without imposing sanctions or using
military force.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Lebanese president meets Karabakh official – Armenian agency
Mediamax news agency
8 Jun 06
Yerevan, 8 June: President of Lebanon Gen Emile Lahhud received the
foreign minister of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic, Georgiy Petrosyan,
in Beirut on 6 June, Mediamax quoted Beirut’s Azdak newspaper as
reporting.
The meeting was held with members of the Central Committee of the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun in Lebanon and the
Armenian ambassador to Lebanon, Vaan Ter-Gevondyan, attending.
[Passage omitted: report about the meeting has been posted on the
official website of the Lebanese president]

Armenian minister hopeful Karabakh may be resolved in 2006
Mediamax news agency
8 Jun 06
Yerevan, 8 June: Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan does not
rule out that Armenia and Azerbaijan will manage to agree on the
principles of Nagornyy Karabakh conflict settlement in 2006.
The Armenian foreign minister said that “nothing can be ruled
out”. “As the saying goes, hope springs eternal,” Oskanyan said.
The Armenian foreign minister pointed out that the Armenian and
Azerbaijani presidents, Robert Kocharyan and Ilham Aliyev, did not
agree on a new meeting at talks in Bucharest on 4-5 June.
“The sides agreed that a meeting would be held between the Armenian
and Azerbaijani foreign ministers if the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen
considered it necessary,” Oskanyan said.
He noted that there was no agreement yet on a possible meeting with
his Azerbaijani counterpart. “It is up to the mediators to decide,”
Oskanyan said.
“In Bucharest, like in Rambouillet, the presidents could not agree on
one very difficult issue,” Oskanyan said. Asked what the expectations
for a possible favourable outcome of the Bucharest talks were based
on, the Armenian minister said: “Every time there are new formulas and
approaches to major issues on the negotiating table, the sides hope
that they will manage to persuade the other side to soften its
position. This did not happen in Bucharest. We should try again.”
The Armenian foreign minister pointed out that the position of the
Armenian side remained unchanged – Yerevan is ready to discuss issues
related to the elimination of the aftermath of the conflict, but only
after Azerbaijan recognizes the Nagornyy Karabakh people’s right to
self-determination.
Oskanyan said that Armenia did not feel pressure from the [OSCE]
mediators and said he doubted they would face this kind of pressure in
the future.

SERGE SARGSIAN TO PAY OFFICIAL VISITS TO BELGIUM, NATO CENTRAL
HEADQUARTERS AND LITHUANIA

YEREVAN, JUNE 9, NOYAN TAPAN. The delegation headed by RA Defence
Minister Serge Sargsian will pay an official visit to the Kingdom of
Belgium on June 12-13, to the NATO Central Headquarters on June 14,
the Republic of Lithuania on June 15-16.
Within the framework of the official visit to Kingdom of Belgium Serge
Sargsian will meet with the Defence Minister of Belgium and the
Defence Headquarters Chief, will visit the Royal Military Academy of
Belgium.
On June 14, Serge Sargsian will take part in the sitting of the
Northatlantic Council, where the process of implementation of the
Armenia-NATO Individual Actions Plan will be discussed.
As Colonel Seyran Shahsuvarian, the Spokesperson of RA Defence
Minister, informed Noyan Tapan, within the framework of the visit to
Lithuania the delegation led by the Defence Minister will meet with
the President of the Republic of Lithuania, the Defence Minister, the
Chairman of the Parliament Commission on National Security and
Defence, will visit military subdivisions.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Delegation headed by RA Defense Minister to pay a visit to Belgium

ArmRadio.am
09.06.2006 13:32
June 12-13 the delegation headed by RA Minister of Defense will pay an
official visit to the Kingdom of Belgium, June 14 it will visit NATO
Headquarters, June 15-16 it will leave for the Republic of Lithuania.
In the framework of the visit to Belgium the delegation will have
meetings with the Defense Minister of Belgium and Head of Defense
Staff, and will visit the Royal Military School of Belgium.
June 14 Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan will participate in the
sitting of the North-Atlantic Council, where the process of
accomplishment of Armenia-NATO Individual Partnership Actions Plan is
to be discussed.
In the framework of the visit to Lithuania members of the Armenian
delegation will meet the President of the Republic of Lithuania,
Defense Minister, Head of the Parliamentary Committee on National
Security and Defense, and will visit military units.

RA FM: SHORTLY RESUMPTION OF MILITARY OPERATIONS IN KARABAKH CONFLICT
AREA SEEMS UNLIKELY
Yerevan, June 9. ArmInfo. RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan
considers the shortly resumption of military operations in the
Karabakh conflict area unlikely, RA FM said in an interview to
“Kentron” TV channel.
According to him, such a threat is not real at present, though the
situation may change. Having reminded that Azerbaijan often talks
about it, Oskanyan said not only the Armenian party but also other
counties and experts, who think that Azerbaijan is not ready for war
today, answer this question. “War is a war and Azerbaijan has already
a bitter experience, having tried to resolve the problem in a military
way twice, and both times – with fiasco. The third attempt will become
the last mistake for Baku. I think the military solution will not be
in their favour”, Oskanyan said.

RA FM: TURKEY IS NOT READY TO ESTABLISH DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH
ARMENIA
Yerevan, June 9. ArmInfo. Turkey is not ready to establish diplomatic
relations with Armenia, RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said in an
interview to “Kentron” TV channel.
Commenting the statements of some Turkish figures on “non-recognition
of frontiers with Turkey by Armenia”, Oskanyan has reminded that there
is nothing of the kind in the RA Constitution. “There is a just a
reference there to the Declaration on Independence saying about the
historical past and values. There are no dangerous clauses for Turkey
in it”, Oskanyan said. According to him, Turkey uses the pretence of
“frontiers” for its purposes. “Turkey is not ready to establish
diplomatic relations with Armenia”, Oskanyan noted. In view of this he
reminded that the issue of frontiers is regulated by a Protocol on
diplomatic relations establishment. “This is a practice, accepted by
the international community. Then why Turkey wants us to make a
statement, meet their requirements, while we do not know if they are
ready for diplomatic relations with Armenia”, Oskanyan said.