ITF CO-CHAIRS TO VISIT ARMENIA AND NAGORNO-KARABAKH
ArmRadio.am
12.06.2006 17:00
June 17-22 Co-Chairs of the International Task Force (ITF) on missing
captives Bernard Klazen and Paata Zackareishvili will visit Armenia
and Nagorno-Karabakh.
During the trip they will be accompanied by Co-Chairs of the ITF
Karine Minasyan, Avez Gasanov (Azerbaijan) and Albert Voskanyan
(Nagorno-Karabakh).
Karine Minasyan told “ArmInfo” that the Co-Chairs are scheduled to met
with representatives of delegations of the International Committee
for the Red Cross in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as the
State Committees on issues of the missing.
Issues of further cooperation are to be discussed. ITF Co-Chairs plan
to meet several families of the missing.

Torre bows to Akobian in round 7
Philippine Daily Inquirer; Jun 11, 2006
FILIPINO GRANDMASTER EUGENE TORRE LOST HIS BID FOR A top finish by
bowing to GM Varuzhan Akobian of the United States in the seventh
round of the second San Marino International Chess Open Friday at the
Kursaal Congress Centre in Republic of San Marino.
The win gave Akobian 6 points and a tie for the lead with top seed GM
Sergei Tiviakov of the Netherlands, GM Vadim Milov of Switzerland and
GM Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia.
The 54-year-old Torre, who beat Croatian Fide Master Darko Doric in
the sixth round, got stuck at 5 points and dropped into a big logjam
for 8th to 17th places that includes GM Dmitry Svetushkin of Moldova,
the Filipinos eighth and penultimate round opponent.
GM Mark Paragua, FM Wesley So and reigning national champion Darwin
Laylo all scored 1.5 points in the sixth and seventh rounds to tie
Filipino compatriot and newly installed IM Oliver Dimakiling at 4.5
points.
Paragua, 22, the country’s top-ranked player with an ELO rating of
2617, downed WGM Joanna Dwora-kowska of Poland in then sixth round
and settled for a truce with compatriot Dimakiling in the seventh.
So, 12, and the youngest RP member to the Olympiad, halved the point
with GM Salvador Del Rio Angelis of Spain in the sixth then subdued
IM Jacek Stopa of Poland in the seventh.
Laylo, 26, upset GM Viorel Iordachescu of Moldova in the sixth then
split the point with GM Sarunas Sulskis of Lithuania in the seventh.
Dimakiling had earlier yielded to Ukrainian GM Malakhatko in the
sixth.
Another Filipino entry, NM Rolando Nolte, succumbed to GM Vladislav
Nevednichy of Romania in then sixth then beat WIM Katarzyna Toma of
Poland in the seventh to join the 4-pointers.
Torre and Svetushkin were in the company of GM Vladimir Epishin of
Russia, GM Jaan Ehlvest of Estonia, GM Tomasz Markowski of Poland, GM
Vadim Malakhatko of Ukraine, GM Michele Godena of Italy, GM Nenad
Sulava of Croatia, IM Mikulas Manik of Slovakia and IM Parimarjan
Negi of India.
With 5.5 points each were 16-year-old GM Yuriy Kuzubov of Ukraine, GM
Baadur Jobava and GM Levan Pantsulaia of Georgia with 5.5 points
each.
In other Saturday matches, Paragua faces IM Subbaraman Vijayalakshmi
of India, Dimakiling takes on GM Alexander Aresh-chenko of Ukraine,
So battles GM Pawel Jaracz of Poland, Laylo tackles GM Namig Guliyev
of Azerbaijan and Nolte meets GM Stefan Djuric of Yugoslavia. Marlon
Bernardino, contributor
From: Baghdasarian

West show of Iran issues politically-mo tivated: Armenian daily
Tehran, June 11, IRNA
Armenia-Iran-Daily
The West has always shown the domestic affairs of Iran in line with
its political goals, Armenian daily `Alik’ wrote on Sunday.
Alik editor-in-chief Dernik Malekian Mehr made the remark while
pointing to a news by Western media claiming that religious minorities
in Iran are obliged to carry a badge on their dresses to be distinct
from Muslims.
In line with the West’s anti-Iran propaganda, the Western media publish
news on alleged violation of human rights in Iran every year, he said,
adding this time they have focused on violation of rights of religious
minorities in Iran.
He said minor social and economic problems of religious minorities
in Iran have reduced during the past 27 years after the victory of
the Islamic Revolution.
He added religious minorities were exposed to no pressure in Iran.
The editor-in-chief further stated if religious minorities faced
problems in Iran, they would raise them through their representatives
at Majlis (Parliament) and the MPs did their utmost to settle the
problems.
He added the West has always launched such propaganda against Iran
over the past 27 years but to no avail.
Today, the communities of religious minorities in Iran face no
problem with respect to interaction with the government, he said,
adding there is no room for the West to distort realities in Iran.
Religious minorities, like every Iranian individual, can rought up
their political, social and economic problems with their deputies at
Majlis, he added.
Malekian Mehsr said the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran
has always tried to settle problems of religious minorities.
There are, however, problems in Iran which are not limited to just
religious minorities rather all Iranians are faced with them, he
said, adding these problems caused no displeasure between religious
minorities and the Iranian government.

PRESS RELEASE
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia
Contact: Information Desk
Tel: (374-10) 52-35-31
Email: [email protected]
Web:
ARMENIA DIASPORA CONFERENCE
ANNOUNCEMENT
The third Armenia Diaspora conference will convene on September 18-20 in
Yerevan.
This year will also mark the 15th anniversary of Armenia¹s independence. In
that context, ArmeniaDiaspora III will examine, analyze, assess our past and
consider how history and current geo-political realities raise new issues
before our nation, and how the possibilities and prospects for resolving
them together.
The conference is open to all who wish to be present and take part in
Armenia’s future.
The agenda of ArmeniaDiaspora III will consist of various strands.
On September 18, at the first plenary, we will explore the current condition
and future prospects for Armenia-Diaspora relations and cooperation ­ a
traditional concern which requires new approaches, taking into consideration
ever-changing geopolitical development. During this session, speakers will
include the leadership of the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, the
Catholicos of All Armenians, the Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia, as
well as other spiritual leaders, and the heads of all Diaspora-wide
structures.
During the second half of the day and on the next day, we will focus on the
second agenda item ­ rural development in Armenia. To secure Armenia¹s total
development, and from the perspective of certain strategic concerns, the
comprehensive development of Armenia¹s rural communities must be assured.
Therefore, our objective is to rally the resources of the Armenian
government and Armenia¹s business community, the Diaspora and international
organizations, to renovate rural infrastructure, facilitate economic
development and create the necessary contemporary conditions to live and
work in rural communities.
As a starting point, and for obvious strategic reasons, we have decided to
begin with Armenia¹s border villages.
Participating in this agenda item will be the representatives of those
communities, organizations, groups as well as those individuals who have
already agreed to take part in this program. Of course, those conference
participants who are interested in this topic may also attend.
Beginning Tuesday and continuing through Wednesday, September 20, there will
be a forum entitled ³New Answers to Old Questions for a New Nation-State in
the 21st Century.² Armenian identity in the context of globalization ­
preservation, language, culture, education, dual citizenship, repatriation
as a phenomenon, the history of Armenian repatriation, its organization, new
repatriation possibilities, prospects, as well other issues will be on the
agenda.
Also on Wednesday, the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as the Ministry of
Trade and Economic Development will be holding a forum on economic
developments and prospects.
On Thursday, September 21, independence day celebrations will take place
throughout the capital. All conference participants are invited.
On Friday, a major exhibition on Armenia¹s economic activity, agricultural
development, prospects and partners will take place in the same venue as the
conference, at the Demirchian Sports Complex, and all conference
participants will be encouraged to attend.
Additional information about the agenda, registration forms, as well as
modalities of participation will be available and regularly updated at
or at Information is
available at [email protected].
–Boundary_(ID_TlZIDf36rO8k1bAC6 Nh31w)–

Israel seeks long-term accord on Azeri oil import – minister
Trend news agency
8 Jun 06

Baku, 8 June, Trend correspondent R. Abdullayev: Israel is interested
in signing a long-term deal with Azerbaijan on importing oil, the
minister of national infrastructure of Israel, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer,
said at a press conference in Baku on 8 June.
The minister said that a group of businessmen who represent big energy
companies has arrived in Baku from Israel together with him. “As a
minister I tried to open the door and the private sector has to take
the next step. That is, SOCAR [State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani
Republic], BP and Israeli companies have to establish cooperation
themselves. The next stage will include discussing details of supplies
of oil and gas,” Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said.
The minister cited Israel’s agreement with Egypt on gas import. “That
agreement has been concluded for 50 plus five years. The supplies will
start as early as in 2007,” Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said.
The minister added that Israel and Azerbaijan have many common
interests. “We are just offering our experience to our Azerbaijani
counterparts. This concerns a wide range of areas, including
construction, agriculture and so on,” he said and added that he was
satisfied with the possibility for businessmen from the entire world
to operate in Azerbaijan without restrictions.

Regnum, Russia
June 10 2006
Ex-MP: Somebody in Russia wants to undermine friendship between
Yerevan and Moscow
`Armenia is Russia’s only partner in the South Caucasus, and certain
players in Russia want to end this friendship,’ said former Deputy of
the National Assembly, ex-Head of Armenian Security Service Gurgen
Yegiazaryan at a press briefing on June 10.
He said that crimes committed in Moscow against ethnical Armenians in
the last two years are not a result of the official Russian state
policy. `The Russian elite are not interested in the worsening
relations with Armenia, since nationally colored crimes have a
negative impact on the Russia’s own image.’ Yegiazarian argued that
if Russia’s President Vladimir Putin took timely and harsh measures
against the so-called `skinheads’ the second assassination of
ethnical Armenian Artur Sardaryan would not have happened.
Yegiazaryan is also convinced that the so-called `ethnically-based
crime’ is committed against people of the non-Russian ethnicity in
general, although its effect is especially evident in the Armenian
case. `Not a single Georgian was murdered during this period, since
relations with Georgia are bad enough even without that, so it was
not necessary,’ he contended.
On May 25, 2006 an ethnical Armenian, 19-year-old Artur Sardaryan was
slaughtered in a Moscow suburb electric train. Investigators believe
that the crime’s motive was `national hatred’. Two unidentified men
stabbed the youth in the eyes of tens of witnesses. That was not the
first murder of ethnical Armenians. On April 22, on the Moscow subway
station Pushkinskaya a 17-year-old Vigen Abramyants was stabbed by a
skinhead gang, according to numerous witnesses’ evidence. Four of his
friends were beaten, two received injuries. In this case too,
investigators presumed that the motive was ethnically based. Criminal
tracking have not yet yielded results.

Capital FM, Kenya
June 10 2006
Bodyguards for Armenian also expelled from Kenya
By Michael Mumo
Two Tanzanian bodyguards of the Armenian brothers have also now been
expelled from Kenya.
They left earlier this afternoon for their home country, following
yesterday’s dramatic deportation of Artur Margaryan and Artur
Sargasyan.
The Artur’s were seized yesterday morning following an incident at
the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport where they reportedly drew a
gun at customs officers.
It’s understood that they declined to allow the officers inspect
goods that they had received from abroad.
Police raided their residence at Runda and found a dozen car license
plates, including some supposed to be issued only to diplomats. Also
found was a car bearing GK plates, guns, machetes and bulletproof
vests.

Kenya Times, Kenya
June 10 2006
Kicked out
By MAXWELL MASAVA
THE two Armenian brothers at the centre of the mercenaries saga were
arrested in the wee hours of yesterday morning and later deported
after a night of high drama in which they drew their guns at the Jomo
Kenyatta International Airport.
The two–Artur Margaryan and Artur Sagasyan and two others–were last
evening driven to the airport under tight security and ostensibly
deported to Dubai after spending eight hours in police cells.
Consequently, the government declared the Artur brothers and the
other two identified as Arman Damidri and Alexander Tashchi persona
non grata in the country. A police statement said this followed a
serious breach of airport security by the four. `At a time of
enhanced aviation security all over the world, incidents that
compromise security at international airports can neither be
tolerated nor taken for granted. The government has declared their
continued presence in the country undesirable and ordered their
immediate deportation’, said the statement.
Official opposition leader Uhuru Kenyatta, Liberal Democratic Party
Secretary-General Joseph Kamotho and Kabete MP Paul Muite questioned
why the government was in a hurry to deport the Armenians.
The three said there was an ill motive and wondered what the
government was hiding in sending the Armenians away before they were
charged in court to face justice. The MPs said Kenyans demanded
thorough investigations into the Armenians’ saga because their
conduct was suspect since their arrival in the country sometimes
back.
At the same time, the Commandant of Kenya Airport Police Unit
Beatrice Nduta and some senior officers were transferred following
the glaring security lapse witnessed at the airport on Thursday
night. Before the deportation, Margaryan claimed the action was
politically motivated and claimed that Lang’ata MP Raila Odinga had a
hand in it. Odinga is, however, away on an official trip to Korea.
Margaryan further denied ever drawing a gun at the airport noting
that police officers had not recorded any statements from them.
The night-long drama that sounded like fiction all began at 8pm on
Thursday when the younger Margaryan, in the company of six bodyguards
arrived at the airport to receive his elder brother, Sagasyan,
allegedly arriving from Dubai. While at the airport, the Arturs
blocked attempts by Customs officers to inspect the luggage the elder
one had arrived with. An argument ensued with the Arturs threatening
the officers with dire consequences for frustrating and intimidating
them.
Things got out of hand when the towering and angry Sagasyan, slapped
one of the officers who retaliated in defence drawing the ire of the
heavily built Arturs.
Stung by the reaction, Margaryan drew a pistol, threatening to shoot
all government officers on sight as the bodyguards joined the fiasco,
reigning blows and kicks on the Customs officials.
The two Armenians consistently threatened to call in a Ms Winnie,
whom they claimed to be the daughter of a popular Narc activist.
Police officers who tried to come to their aid were shocked to see
the Armenians pointing pistols at them and threatening disciplinary
measures in the event of any reaction.
In the ensuing confusion, the Arturs and their bodyguards, grabbed
the baggage at the centre of the controversy and speedily dashed for
their two cars, a Volvo and Pick-Up in the parking yard amid calls
for reinforcement by security personnel who were at the scene.
Contents of the laggages remained unknown although the police claimed
it contained CCTV cameras and some electronic gadgets.
About three hours later, Police Commissioner Hussein Ali instructed
Flying Squad officers to arrest the Armenians together with their
companies. A quickly assembled team arrived at their palatial Runda
residence armed to the teeth.
Earth movers were brought in to bring down the gates and doors after
the foreigners defied orders and pleas by security officers to open
the gate and surrender unconditionally, and instead they switched off
all lights and retired to bed. Surprisingly, their dogs did not bark
at all, an indication that they could have been `police dogs’.
A furious Margaryan, emerged on the balcony and threatened to shoot
dead officers who dared to move near the house. Pleas by the Gigiri
OCPD Patrick Lumumba for the Arturs to open the door fell on deaf
ears. He once again invoked the name of Winnie to scare off the
officers.
It was only after the officers threatened to pull down the structures
that Margaryan, agreed to open the door. He was immediately subdued,
handcuffed as the officers entered into the luxurious house for his
colleagues. They arrested two Caucasians, a women of mixed race, a
Ghanaian and a Tanzanian. A four hour operation had eventually borne
fruits.
During the raid, eleven luxurious cars were found within the home.
Some had government, diplomatic and civilian number plates while five
had no registration number plates.
The vehicles found in the compound included KAU 883Y (Toyota), KAL
325 X (Blue Pajero), Subaru Legacy (no registration), GK A 666Q (grey
Mercedes Benz), KAV 777N (silver BMW), KAN 272 Y (white Mercedes
Benz), KAU 666Q (grey Subaru), KAV 578 N (Toyota Corolla), a B-12762
UAE 9 (Toyota Harrier), an unregistered Toyota Mark II and three
unregistered silver Toyota Harriers.
Other items recovered in the house included two AK47assault riffles,
three pistols, 100 rounds of ammunition, silencer, automatic pistols,
snipper pistols, chemicals such as cyanide, military uniforms,
pangas, bullet proof vests, pistol holsters and uniforms worn by
officers from the Quick Response Unit (QRU).
During the raid one of the accomplices named only as Tarik is
reported to have escaped police dragnet by jumping over the fence.
The Arturs and companions were held at Kileleshwa, Gigiri, Spring
Valley, Parklands and Muthaiga police cells, from where they were
removed at around 2pm, under tight security and driven to their Runda
residence and asked to pack their belongings. By last evening the
government remained tight lipped on the issue, with Internal Security
Minister John Michuki said to be out of office. Government Spokesman
Dr Alfred Mutua referred us to the police whom he said were handling
the matter.

Staten Island Advance, NY
June 10 2006
Interfaith prayers for genocide victims
Saturday, June 10, 2006
ADVANCE STAFF WRITER
Staten Island’s interfaith community will come together June 25 for
“Building Bridges,” a program to reflect on the horror of genocide as
it has occurred all over the globe.
The program will take place from 4 to 5 p.m. at Congregation B’nai
Jeshurun, 275 Martling Ave., West Brighton.

Program organizers are planning to have speakers address the
Holocaust, which killed six million Jews; the Armenian genocide, in
which 1.5 million people were killed by the Turkish Ottoman Empire,
and the Rwandan genocide in 1994, which claimed the lives of 800,000
ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus while the world watched but did not
intervene.
Rabbi Judah Newberger, spiritual leader of B’nai Jeshurun, will give
the introduction. Clergy from the Christim, Muslim and Hindu
communities also have been invited to offer a prayer for
reconciliation.
The committee organizing the afternoon reflection is the same group
that for the last several years has sponsored an interfaith Passover
seder, a well-attended event held annually at St. Teresa’s R.C.
Church in Castleton Corners. Bonds forged there convinced the group,
made up of Catholic lay people and Jewish, Catholic and Protestant
clergy, to look for other areas where people of faith and goodwill
could come together.
The June 25 event is the first of two planned on the topic of
genocide. The second “Building Bridges” program will take place on
the bridge at Martlings Pond in Clove Lakes Park on Sept. 17.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

National Post (Canada)
June 10, 2006 Saturday
National Edition
Turkey’s war on dissent
by Robert Fulford, National Post
Those of us who know only a little about politics in Turkey would
expect to see the Turks trying hard, in this delicate period, to
prove their devotion to civil liberties. It was only last autumn that
Turkey was finally allowed to begin the official talks that precede
joining the European Union, a preliminary move celebrated with
grandiose dawn-of-a-new-era speeches.
For four decades, Turkey has been trying to get this process under
way. Opinion polls report that two-thirds of its citizens want to
join the EU. Britain welcomes the idea but Austria, among others, has
been reluctant. Recent events have made France and the Netherlands
suspicious of Turkey’s Islamic majority. Germans, as Hugh Eakin wrote
last winter in Slate magazine, see Turkey “as a society of
headscarves and honor killings,” definitely unEuropean. They fear
that admitting Turkey could encourage Muslims in Germany to form an
uncontrollable “parallel society.” That must infuriate moderate
Muslims in the Turkish government, who mostly favour the EU.
Since the acceptance process takes years, those opinions can change.
Meanwhile, the EU will be watching.
Inner conflicts and contradictions have always defined modern Turkey,
and it appears that elements in the judiciary, the army and the
government have chosen this of all times to harass journalists,
novelists and publishers. The authorities have exhibited amazingly
sensitive nationalist feelings. They are infuriated when anyone talks
about the Armenian genocide or sees imperfections in their democracy.
Courts are ruling that it’s still illegal to publish unpleasant
remarks about the founder of modern Turkey, Kemal Ataturk
(1881-1938).
Even a novel can outrage national pride. A best-seller by Elif Safak,
Father and Bastard, concerning a Turkish family and an Armenian
family over nine decades, has been charged because the dialogue
includes “I am the grandchild of a family whose children were
slaughtered by the Turkish butchers” and “I was brought up having to
deny my roots and say that genocide did not exist.”
A court will decide if those fictional remarks violate Article 301 of
the penal code, now the key to many prosecutions. It makes “insulting
Turkishness” a crime and provides prison terms up to three years for
anyone who explicitly insults the Republic, the national assembly, or
“being a Turk.” This peculiarly wide-ranging section is one reason
that British PEN has been monitoring 60 Turkish cases this year.
The army, always powerful in Turkey, is another reason. The General
Staff objected to a recent magazine article, “Conscientious Objection
is a Human Right,” in which Perihan Magden, a columnist and novelist
with an international reputation, argued for alternatives to national
military service. She expressed sympathy for a man who was sentenced
to four years in army prison for refusing to fight (against Kurds,
probably), though he was willing to serve in any other way. For that
article, the army demanded that Magden be charged with “alienating
the people against military service.” If found guilty she could get
three years.
Hers was only one of six freedom-of-expression cases before the
Turkish courts this week, but it was the one that attracted the
attention of Hansjorg Kretschmer, the German who serves as EU
ambassador to Turkey. He asked, “If you think there should be a right
to conscientious objection in Turkey, why can’t you say it? Why is
this a ground for prosecution?” He also said Turkey has many cases
that are similarly “unacceptable from a European point of view.”
Last winter, the government withdrew a charge against Orhan Pamuk,
Turkey’s most admired novelist, for denigrating Turkishness. But
other writers, less famous, continue to be prosecuted. Pamuk asked,
“What is the logic behind a state that complains that its enemies
spread false reports about the Ottoman legacy all over the globe
while it prosecutes and imprisons one writer after another, thus
propagating the image of the Terrible Turk world-wide?”
The answer lies somewhere in the labyrinthine politics of Turkey.
There are nationalist forces that have no enthusiasm for the EU. They
tend to be secular rather than Islamic and belong to what Turks call
the “deep state,” dominated by bureaucrats and the military
establishment. They know a new Turkey is slowly being born, and they
aren’t at all sure they want it to imitate Europe. In their fight
with the government for control of Turkish identity, they don’t at
all mind if the courts displease Eurocrats like Kretschmer and create
barriers to acceptance. Official Turkey is fighting a war of opinion
in its own ranks, with authors, journalists and publishers as
collateral victims.
[email protected]