AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS CONTINUE TALKS TO SETTLE NK CONFLICT TODAY
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
June 5 2006
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s President Robert
Kocharian today continued the negotiating process for the settlement
of the Nagorno Garabagh conflict in the Romanian capital, Bucharest.
The Azerbaijani Embassy in Romania told APA that the presidents did
not make any statements after about 40-minute talks. The results of
the meeting are not yet made public.
The Presidents started the talks in Bucharest yesterday. No statement
was made after the yesterday’s 4-hour talks.

RA AND AR PRESIDENTS REFUSED TO REVEAL DETAILS OF THEIR TALKS TO MASS MEDIA
DeFacto Agency, Armenia
June 5 2006
Having talked over three hours tete-a-tete, RA and AR Presidents Robert
Kocharyan and Ilham Aliyev refused to reveal any detail of the talks,
ArmInfo reports quoting RFE/RL.
To remind, the Presidents’ meeting was held at the Greek Embassy
in Bucharest June 4. All the efforts of journalists to get details
of the meeting were useless. In response to the Azeri journalists’
insistent questions, President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan just said
accommodation on providing details to mass media had not been reached
in the course of the Bucharest meeting. President of Azerbaijan Ilham
Aliyev ignored the journalists’ questions, RFE/RL reports. It should
be noted the Presidents met within the frames of the Black Sea Forum
for Dialogue and Partnership.

ARMENIAN CHESS PLAYERS – WORLD OLYMPIAD WINNERS- TO BE HONORED IN YEREVAN TODAY
DeFacto Agency, Armenia
June 5 2006
A solemn reception in honor of the Armenian chess players – the
winners of the World Chess Olympiad held in Turin – will be organized
in Yerevan today, Novosti-Armenia reports.
Armenian chess players are arriving in Yerevan by the Paris flight at
10 p. m. local time today, RA PM Andranik Margaryan told journalists
today.
In his words, today the government will elaborate the mechanism of
organizing an official reception to be held at the Freedom Square
near the National Theater of Opera and Ballet.
He reminded according to the government’s decision the international
competitions’ winners were rewarded from RA state budget. Armenian
PM added the Armenian chess players might also get additional reward.
RA men’s chess team won the World Chess Olympiad held in Turin, Italy,
May 20 – June 4.
Levon Aronyan (FIDE 2005 World Cup winner), Vladimir Hakobyan, Karen
Asryan, Smbat Lputyan, Gabriel Sargsyan and Artashes Minasyan were
in Armenia’s team.

ARMENIAN FILMMAKER SEEKS JEWISH VIEWERS
By Shayndi Raice
Jewish Advocate, MA
June 5 2006
Franchot Lubin (left) and David Davidian produced a film on the
Armenian genocide.Cites connections between Nazi genocide of Jews
and Turkish genocide of Armenians.
The Armenian genocide might not seem like a Jewish issue, but it should
be according to Armenian filmmaker David Davidian, who has submitted
a DVD on the genocide to the 2006 Boston Jewish Film Festival.
According to Davidian, producer of “The 1915 Turkish Genocide of the
Armenians” and director of the Genocide Archive Project, the Holocaust
and the Armenian genocide are closely related. In 1939, Hitler told
his generals that they should not be worried about world condemnation
for murdering millions of Jews because nobody remembered what happened
to the Armenians. Davidian also suggested that many of the techniques
used by Hitler were in fact copied from the Turkish genocide of the
Armenians. Death marches, round-ups, and marking Armenian homes were
all trademarks of the Turkish genocide, said Davidian.
“There are philosophical and actual connections,” he said. “The
[Armenian] genocide was the first state-sponsored genocide against its
own citizens. The second was Hitler. World governments ignored it as
an internal problem. These things, even if denied, can’t be ignored
because when they’re ignored it encourages someone else to do it.”
Davidian produced the film with director Franchot Lubin, who had
previous experience collecting survivor testimonies while working
for Steven Spielberg’s “Survivors of the Shoah” documentary. The two
filmmakers documented accounts of Armenian genocide survivors who live
in the Boston area today, some more than 100 years old. In addition
to the submission to the Boston Jewish Film Festival, which will
take place this fall, the two men have sent their film to hundreds
of U.S. Congressmen as part of an education campaign.
“If the world did something about it in 1915, there would have been
much less of chance of Hitler doing what he did to the European Jews,”
said Davidian.
Although the film does not seem to have an easily apparent Jewish
theme, Sarah Rubin of the Boston Jewish Film Festival said that while
films must be relevant to the Jewish community, “We do stretch the
envelope.”
While she could not comment on the film’s chances of being chosen
for the festival, she added: “There are times when there might seem
to be something that isn’t strictly Jewish themed but we program it
in because there’s a clear connection.”
s_weeks_issue/news/?content_id=1327

SENATOR MAY LOSE SEAT IN AIRLINE BRIBERY CASE
The Moscow Times, Russia
Itar-Tass
June 6 2006
Combined Reports
Senator Levon Chakhmakhchyan faced expulsion from the Federation
Council on Monday after security agents said they caught him with a
$300,000 bribe in a sting operation.
Chakhmakhchyan was the latest politician to be targeted in what
appears to largely be a jockeying for power in the run-up to the 2008
presidential election. Authorities are portraying the shakeups as a
drive against corruption.
State-run television prominently broadcast footage Monday of
Chakhmakhchyan, from the republic of Kalmykia, being questioned on
Friday after agents from the Federal Security Service detained two
associates and accused them of carrying a black briefcase containing
the cash.
Chakhmakhchyan, who was at the Moscow offices of an airline with his
associates, was released because of his parliamentary immunity, the
Prosecutor General’s Office said. Channel One television identified
the airline as Transaero on Sunday.
Prosecutors said the two associates of Chakhmakhchyan had sought to
blackmail a businessman to avoid a negative report on his company’s
activities by the Audit Chamber, the country’s main financial watchdog.
Prosecutors identified the two suspects as Igor Arushanov, the chief
accountant of the Association of Russian-Armenian Business Partnership,
and Armen Oganesyan, an Audit Chamber official.
Chakhmakhchyan is the president of the association, and Oganesyan is
his son-in-law.
Chakhmakhchyan has denied wrongdoing and denounced the incident as
a provocation.
Transaero spokesman Sergei Bykhal declined to comment Monday, citing
the ongoing investigation.
Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov ordered the Kalmykia
legislature to recall Chakh-makhchyan as its senator, council
spokesman Vladimir Yeremenko said. That would strip Chakh-makhchyan
of his immunity.
Kalmykia’s president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, supported Mironov, saying
local legislators should honor his request, Interfax reported.
A half-dozen prominent regional politicians have been forced out of
office in recent weeks.
After being detained last week, Volgograd Mayor Yevgeny Ishchenko
was charged Monday with abuse of office and engaging in illegal
business activities.

CHEAPENING PEACEKEEPING
By Alexander Golts
The Moscow Times, Russia
June 6 2006
No good deed goes unpunished, as they say. For more than 10 years,
Russian peacekeeping troops have prevented the renewal of hostilities
in the self-proclaimed republics of South Ossetia, Abkhazia and
Transdnestr. Now we are hearing calls for them to withdraw. Belgian
Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht has said that the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe, which he chairs, is prepared to
allocate up to 10 million euros ($12.9 million) to cover the removal of
Russian troops from Transdnestr. Georgian lawmakers have threatened to
declare the mission in South Ossetia illegal. And Ukrainian Defense
Minister Anatoly Gritsenko has said that GUAM — an alliance that
includes Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova — should develop
its own peacekeeping force. Considering that the hot spots in the
Commonwealth of Independent States (apart from Nagorno-Karabakh)
are all monitored by Russian troops, Gritsenko’s comments amount to
a call for their withdrawal.
Russian leaders have responded with righteous indignation. “Our
peacekeepers are a bone in the throat of one side in these conflicts,”
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said recently. “Endless provocations
and dirty tricks have been directed against the peacekeepers. I have
spoken about this many times in both South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Our
soldiers will carry out their mandate until political solutions and
agreements are in place.”
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov maintains that the attacks on
peacekeepers in South Ossetia are the result of Tbilisi’s intention to
resort to force to resolve the conflict there. Top Russian officials
insist that the peacekeeping missions can legally remain in Georgia and
Moldova even against the will of the governments of these countries.
Tbilisi and Chisinau consistently argue that the Russian military is
using the peacekeepers to pursue its own interests in the region. The
leaders of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transdnestr have repeatedly
called for their self-proclaimed states to be absorbed into the
Russian Federation. South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity has even
taken his case to the Russian Constitutional Court.
For its part, Moscow has adopted a provocative stance. A Foreign
Ministry spokesman has observed that, where Georgia is concerned,
only negotiations can make this a reality, and that the South Ossetian
position was based on the right of national self-determination. This
when Russia has been handing out passports to South Ossetian
residents for years. Passions on both sides have reached the point
where missions originally intended to prevent armed conflict could
lead to the outbreak of war.
All of these self-proclaimed republics appeared as the result
of conflicts initiated by the leaders of newly minted Soviet
successor states. They sought to secure power with victorious wars
that inevitably devolved into the murder of civilians, widespread
atrocities and defeat. Russian peacekeepers were deployed to separate
the warring factions and to stop the killing.
Regulation of the conflicts did not follow, however, because the
parties involved did not try to reconcile. The self-proclaimed
republics believed the peacekeepers had been sent in to preserve
their independence. Tbilisi and Chisinau took the opportunity to
accuse Russia of violating their territorial integrity. In the CIS,
reconciliation efforts never go anywhere, in large part because of
the position adopted by Moscow. President Vladimir Putin was telling
the truth when he said recently that Russia had no intention of
annexing neighboring territories. Moscow is simply exploiting existing
conflicts because before these countries can integrate into European
institutions they must settle their internal disputes, so the best
way to keep them out of the European Union and NATO is to keep those
conflicts simmering.
Moscow feels no obligation to influence the leaders of these
republics to push them toward a compromise. On the contrary, the
Kremlin’s actions have created the illusion that Russian guns will
always protect the status quo in these would-be states. Abkhazia,
Transdnestr and South Ossetia have turned into criminal-controlled
enclaves, and Georgia and Moldova have appealed to the international
community for help to secure the removal of Russian peacekeepers from
their territory.
The Russian peacekeeping experience offers an important lesson:
Such missions can only succeed when they are disinterested. When a
country such as Russia sends its peacekeepers into conflict zones, its
goal must be to prevent bloodshed, not to pursue ulterior political
motives. Moscow has given in to this temptation, and in so doing has
cheapened a noble undertaking.
Alexander Golts is deputy editor of the online newspaper Yezhednevny
Zhurnal.

THE SUPERPOWERS CLASH
by Malcolm Pein
The Daily Telegraph (LONDON)
June 5, 2006 Monday
ARMENIA took an unassailable lead in the 11th round of the Chess
Olympiad at Turin by defeating the Czech Republic 3-1 and are 3.5
points ahead with just two matches to play. Armenia should coast home
now and the battle will be for the minor medals. The world number
three, Levon Aronian, won after the remarkable intermezzo 11.Nf7!
with the point 11…Kxf7 12.dxe6+ and Bxb7 winning material.
L Aronian – D Navara
37th Olympiad Turin
Queen’s Indian
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.Nc3 Ne4 7.Bd2 f5
8.Qc2 Bf6 9.Ne5 d5 10.cxd5 Nxc3 11.Nf7! Qd7 12.Bxc3 Bxd5 13.Bxd5 Qxd5
14.e4! fxe4 15.Nxh8 Nc6 16.0-0 Ke7 17.Rae1 Rxh8 18.Rxe4 Rd8 19.Rfe1 Rd6
20.Rf4 g6 21.h4 Rd7 22.h5 Bxd4 23.hxg6 hxg6 24.Qxg6 Ne5 25.Qf6+ 1-0.

HOW A CADBURY OUTRANKS A BLAIR OR A BECKHAM
By Beth Hale
DAILY MAIL (London)
June 5, 2006 Monday
SOCIAL climbers don’t need to keep up with the Joneses any more ñ
it’s the Pakenhams and Cadburys they have to worry about now.
The names are among the most socially exclusive in Britain, along
with others such as Fortescue, Weiner and Wastie.
Researchers have just finished ranking the standing of 25,000 surnames.
And their findings reveal that while parents can give their child a
first name to make them appear more highbrow, there is no escaping
a downmarket surname.
The study shows that former Posh Spice Victoria Adams took a step
down the pecking order when she married footballer David Beckham.
Her maiden name outranks 61 per cent of the population, while Beckham
tops just 29 per cent.
And Elizabeth Hurley’s surname reveals that she is at heart a
middle-class girl made good with 52 per cent of the population having
a more high status name.
Several leading politicians have outshone the more lowly origins of
their surnames.
Blair is outranked by 86 per cent of the population and Brown fares
little better, being exceeded by 72 per cent.
Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett’s family name does better,
coming higher than about half the population. Much has been made of
the higher-class roots of Eton- educated Conservative leader David
Cameron, but still more than half the nation has a higher status name.
As for the Shadow Chancellor George Osborne, only 42 per cent of the
population have a higher ranking name.
The research team at University College London have put their findings
online after studying and cross-referencing 46million census documents.
Members of the public can log on to to
discover the origins of their family name. The 12-month, £45,000
project-examined patterns of population movement, social mobility and
cultural identity. It also tracked the distribution of 25,000 surnames
in the 1998 electoral register and compared it with the 1881 census
to chart how people had moved around the country.
Professor Richard Webber and his team ranked names by using the
electoral roll to calculate their frequency in different postcodes,
taking into account employment levels, educational attainment,
financial data and health statistics for each postcode.
They then took an average status for each name from postal districts
across the country.
It emerged that names of Jewish and Armenian origin are among the
top rank.
The results showed that the top 1 per cent of names are dominated
by a mixture of traditional English names with those of more recent
immigrants.
Some upper-class sounding names such as Grosvenor which is the family
name of the Duke of Westminster have become so well- distributed around
the country that they come nowhere near the top of the status tree.
Professor Webber said: ‘People don’t choose their children’s surnames
but inherit them, so most English names are fairly evenly distributed
between higher and lower status areas.
‘But if you look at names that originated from other countries,
they tend to settle in either high or low status areas.
‘So there are a lot of Jewish and Armenian names at the top, and
Ghanian, Vietnamese and Bangladeshi names at the bottom.’
For many people, first names are a more obvious indicator of social
status.
So if you are looking for a high status title for your daughter,
call her Camilla or Elspeth.
If you have a son, name him Giles or Benedict.
And if appearances are important, then avoid Toyah, Wayne or Dwayne.
Professor Webber said: ‘The difference in class of first names is
much greater than for surnames.’
–Boundary_(ID_sXaph6Gv+EvaOctv7vAd1w) —

BUSH WILL BRING TOGETHER ALIYEV AND KOCHARYAN
by Sokhbet Mamedov
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 1 June, 2006, p.6
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
June 5, 2006 Monday
OVERTURE IN THE PROCESS OF SETTLEMENT OF THE KARABAKH PROBLEM IS TAPPED
BY WASHINGTON; A regular meeting of the heads of the two countries
which are in the conflict is planned to take lace at the beginning
of next week in Bucharest, during the summit “The Black Sea is for
partnership and dialog”.
The West doesn’t give up attempts to reconcile Presidents of Azerbaijan
and Armenia, Ilkham Aliyev and Robert Kocharjan, and to get from them
effective steps in settlement of the problem of Karabakh. A regular
meeting of the heads of the two countries which are in the conflict
is planned to take place at the beginning of next week in Bucharest,
during the summit “The Black Sea is for partnership and dialog”. The
fact that both Aliyev and Kocharjan will take part in this event
is confirmed in the process of the visit of the delegation of these
countries – co-chairmen of the Minsk group of OSCE, the corresponding
declarations were made by Head of MIA of Azerbaijan Elmar Mamedyarov
and Press-secretary of the President of Armenia Victor Sogomonyan.
It is interesting that the mission of mediators was reinforced
with Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Grigory Karasin,
Under-secretary of state of the USA Daniel Fried and Adviser to the
President of France on international questions Pier Morel. Commenting
upon the results of the meetings, which took place, Elmar Mamedjardov
reported to the journalists that this time mediators had some “new
ideas” concerning settlement of the conflict of Karabakh. Though,
mediators, as well as official figures of Azerbaijan and Armenia
preferred not to plant the details of these proposals.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan mass media states that according to the results
of the meeting in Baku and Yerevan “the mediators were able to find
a way to some compromise”. Special attention is paid to the fact
that the overture in the process of settlement of the conflict is
tapped step by step by Washington, which together with the partners
in the Minsk group of OSCE is intended by any means to solve the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict in 2006. This aim was confirmed in the
felicitation to Ilkham Aliyev concerning the Day of the Republic on
the 28th of May in Azerbaijan by President of the USA George Bush.
(…)
According to the opinion of Baku analysts, “impatience” of President
Bush is a hint to some agreements, which were achieved during the
negotiations in Washington. In Baku, it is not excluded that this
is all about some American preferences in return to signing the main
principles of the peace settlement of the conflict.
The wish of Washington to make the process more intensifying
is accounted for by two reasons. First of all, petrol pipe
Baku/Tbilisi/Dzheikhn has already started operating, and the USA
together with the other countries of the West want to exclude any
opportunity of destabilization of the situation in the region, to
say nothing of starting battle-actions. Secondly, peace in Southern
Caucasia is necessary for the USA taking into consideration the real
perspective of using this region for pressure on Iran.
According to the information, which appeared in press, Baku and Yerevan
were suggested to sign an agreement, which was based on the methodology
“step by step”. It is possible that it will be about stage-by-stage
liberation of the territories which had been occupied around Nagorny
Karabakh, and about return of forced emigrants to the territories of
their former houses, as well as about creation of a system of security,
which will guarantee impossibility of renewal of military actions with
engagement of peacekeeping forces and demilitarization of the region,
restoration of the economic relations and communication between the
sides of the conflict. As far as the status of Nagorny Karabakh is
concerned, the solution of this problem will be delayed.
To what extent the participation of the USA in this process concerning
Karabakh will be effective, only the Azerbaijan-Armenian meeting will
show, which will take place in Bucharest. (…)

MTS TO BE GOING TO PURCHASE 90% STAKE IN LARGEST ARMENIAN GSM-OPERATOR
RIA OREANDA
Economic News
June 5, 2006 Monday
Moscow. OREANDA. The largest Russian cellular company in the CIS –
Mobile Telesystems (MTS) made an application on purchase of 90 %
stake in the largest Armenian GSM-operator ArmenTel from Greek
telecommunication group OTE.
OTE has got 90 percent of shares of ArmenTel at the international
competition in the end of 1997, having received also a monopoly on
granting telecommunication services within 15 years.
According to ACM-Consulting by the beginning of 2006 ArmenTel has been
serving more than 321,000 subscribers. The second cellular operator
of Armenia – VivaCell – serves approximately 300,000.