ARKA News Agency
Oct 14 2005
PROJECT OF ARMENIAN CAPITAL’S GENERAL DESIGN, RELATED ENVIRONMENTAL
ISSUES ARE TO BE DISCUSSED IN YEREVAN ON NOVEMBER 12, 2005
YEREVAN, October 14. /ARKA/. Discussion of the project of Yerevan
city general design and related environmental issues is to be held in
Yerevan on November 12, 2005, Armenian capital’s Municipality says in
its press release. The press release says more detailed information
will be available on Ecologic Information Center’s Internet site
M.V. -0–

The Age, Australia
Oct 15 2005
Lonely at top for flyweight
By Stathi Paxinos
October 15, 2005
FLYWEIGHT Vic Darchinyan, Australia’s sole remaining world champion,
says he will be forced to go to America for his pay days if interest
in boxing in this country falls any lower.
Darchinyan, who arrived in Melbourne yesterday to attend tonight’s
Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame induction dinner, said
Australian boxers needed to reverse this year’s disappointing results
and claim world titles to maintain interest in the sport.
Australian boxing’s year started brightly, with Kostya Tszyu and
Darchinyan holding world titles and Robbie Peden winning the
International Boxing Federation junior-lightweight belt in February.
But the Armenian-born Darchinyan conceded he was now feeling a bit
isolated at the top after a year that included junior-welterweight
king Tszyu losing his crown, Peden also losing his belt last month
and super-middleweights Anthony Mundine and Danny Green both being
beaten in world title shots.
“At the moment, we are a little bit down in Australia, but what can I
say? I hope that we have a lot more world champions and Australians
get more involved in boxing … I want to tell all of Australia (that)
I’d like you to support me. If I can’t see support, I can’t stay long
here. If they give me more money in America, I will leave but I don’t
want to go. I’ve been here for five years … I love Australia, it’s
the best place,” Darchinyan said.
Darchinyan, planning the third defence of his IBF belt
on November 25 against Northern Ireland’s Damaen Kelly in Sydney, was
confident Australian boxers could bounce back next year.
The boxing fraternity is gathering in Melbourne for the announcement
of 10 inductees, who have been chosen in six categories (moderns,
old-timers, veterans, pioneers, non-participants and honorary
internationals) by boxing historians and commentators. This will be
the event’s third year, with previous inductees including Jeff
Fenech, Jeff Harding, Les Darcy and Johnny Famechon. Nominees include
Tony Mundine, Hector Thompson, Paul Ferreri and Bobby Dunlop
(moderns); Fred Henneberry, Tom Uren, Bill Squires and Jack Green
(old-timers); and Merv Williams, Johnny Lewis, Ray Mitchell and Bill
Mordey (non-participants).

Lynn News, UK
Oct 15 2005
Murder victim was murder suspect
A man who was shot and stabbed at a Lynn factory before his body was
doused with petrol and set alight belonged to the mafia and was
suspected of a murder in Belgium, a court heard this week.
Hovanhannes Amirian had been butchered in the medical room at Cooper
Roller Bearings factory in Wisbech Road, South Lynn.
His burning body was found dumped in a field in Upton, near
Peterborough, and it took detectives almost a year to identify him.
A former security officer at the factory, Nishan Bakunts (28), and
his father-in-law, Misha Chatsjatrjan (44) allegedly killed the
42-year-old Armenian over a “family quarrel”.
Mr Amirian, who was Bakunts’ godfather, had been staying at Bakunts’
Yarmouth home with his partner Arpine Karapetian (24) and their two
children for several months.
The murder is alleged to have happened between December 19 and 20,
2002, while the factory was closing down for Christmas.
Bakunts and Chatsjatrjan then sought to destroy evidence linking them
to the crime, Norwich Crown Court has heard.
A statement read to the jury by the prosecution on Wednesday revealed
that Mr Amirian was wanted for questioning about the murder of
Pogosian Ernait, who was killed on November 30, 2000, at Ostend in
Belgium.
Belgium police suspected Mr Amirian and he was described as “a
self-confessed mafia man”.
Clare Matthews, junior barrister to David Farrell QC, prosecuting,
said: “It was known that he was involved in organised crime”.
The jury also heard from Bakunts’ sister Lucinne Karepetian who said
Chatsjatrjan had confessed to her that he put eight bullets into Mr
Amirian’s head.
She said he told how Mr Amirian had fallen to his knees and pleaded
“don’t kill me, I have children”.
On Tuesday, the court heard from Vanessa Armstrong, who is a
secretary at Coopers. She had recognised a scorched piece of memo
found next to Mr Amirian’s burning body.
The memo, containing the names Armstrong and Talbot, turned out to be
a health check appointment addressed to factory employee, Paul
Talbot, which had been left in the medical room at Coopers three days
before the body was found.
Detectives had targeted 2,099 people with those name in a mailshot
between August and September, 2003, and it was a “major breakthrough
in the investigation” when Miss Armstrong contacted police – linking
the murder to Coopers.
She told the court: “I recognised the memo immediately, because it is
something I do fortnightly. It was quite clearly my writing and my
memo.”
She said Mr Talbot had attended the medical room on December 18, and
the factory closed for Christmas on December 20 and didn’t re-open
until the New Year.
The jury heard Bakunts was in charge of security on the night of the
murder, and Miss Armstrong said he would have had keys to the medical
room and showers. Forensic officers discovered traces of Mr Amirian’s
blood on the couch and walls.
Bakunts, of Litchfield Road, Yarmouth, and Chatsjatrjan, of The
Straat, The Netherlands, deny murder.
The trial continues.
14 October 2005
;ArticleID=1222827

Life Style Extra, UK
Oct 14 2005
Pilot at centre of US terror alert jailed
LIFE STYLE EXTRA (UK) – A student pilot at the centre of a US terror
alert was today jailed for a year for using a bogus UK passport to
gain entry to America.
Zayead Hajaig, 35, remains on the FBI’s most wanted list since the law
enforcement agency discovered he had used the false passport to
continue flying lessons after he was unable to obtain a visa under his
real name.
He illegally entered the US in 1997 but fled on March 8 this year
after the FBI became suspicious and wanted to question him as security
following the September 11 attacks were tightened up.
Today at Snaresbrook Crown Court the father of three was sentenced to
12 months in prison for obtaining by deception a British passport.
However Judge David Richardson ruled out any terrorist connections
between Islamic extremists and the Nigerian-born British citizen of
Armenian parents.
The judge said: `In 1997 you applied for a UK passport and
deliberately and dishonestly adopted the identification of someone
you knew, so that you obtained a passport with his name but your
photo.
`You did this in order to gain entry into the US. Previously you had
overstayed in the US on a tourist visa and you knew you would not be
able to gain entry again.’
Judge Richardson said Hajaig had used the fake passport to flee the
US earlier this year.
He said: `After the atrocities of September 11 someone in your
position was bound to fall under suspicion.
`However I make it clear there is no evidence before the court to
suggest for a moment that you had any terrorist connections. I accept
you were genuinely training to be a pilot.’
He added: `Nevertheless to obtain a passport by deception in
circumstances like this is a very serious matter.
`To commit such an offence now when proper immigration controls is
one line in the defence against terrorism is highly culpable and
calls for a long sentence.
`In 1997, when you committed this offence, the world was a different
place. The terrorist threat did not exist in the same way and your
sentence will reflect that.’
Hajaig, of Ilford, Essex, stole the identity of colleague Barry
Felton when the pair worked as security guards at a record store in
Barking.
He then studied flying at a school in Atlanta, Georgia, where two of
the September 11 suicide hijackers also trained, triggering the alert
when he reportedly tried to have his pilot rating upgraded to fly
commercial planes – despite lacking the necessary qualifications.
The FBI launched an international hunt after he fled to Britain but
the court heard that at present there was no application before the
British courts to extradite him.
And Hajaig was placed on the `no fly list’ which essentially means no
airline would allow him to board a commercial airline.
Last month Hajaig admitted the deception charge, but denied stealing
Barry Felton’s driving licence. That charge remains on file.
Hajaig pleaded guilty to one count of obtaining a UK passport by
deception between January 29 and February 6 1997. He falsely
represented that the details of a passport photo was a true depiction
of Barry Felton, together with Barry Felton’s personal details.
He denied one charge of theft involving Mr Felton’s driving license
on January 1, 1994, which he allegedly stole between January 1, 1994
and December 31, 1996.
Chubby, clean-shaven Hajaig wiped his eyes with a white tissue as
Judge Richardson warned he faced time behind bars before being led
away.
;news_headline=pilot_at_centre_of_us_terror_alert_jailed
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Noyan Tapan News Agency
Oct 14 2005
SERGE SARGSIAN: ARMENIA’S AND AZERBAIJAN’S OPINIONS IN ISSUE OF
CREATION OF REGIONAL SECURITY SYSTEM ARE CONTRARY
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 14, NOYAN TAPAN. The regional and international
threats, the orientation of the South Caucasus towards European
integration require implementation of adequate reforms from the
states of this region. But the essence, goal, intension and direction
of these reforms are different in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
This was mentioned in the report on the subject “Reforms of Defence
Sphere in the South Caucasus” made by Serge Sargsian, Secretary of
the National Security Council under RA President, RA Defence
Minister, at the Rose-Roth seminar held in Yerevan.
This difference, according to the Minister, is mostly displayed in
the conceptions of Armenia and Azerbaijan. “For instance, in the
issue of Nagorno Karabakh settlement we are guided by the principle
“cooperation for of peace” suggesting achieving establishment of an
atmosphere of mutual confidence and stability by cooperation, which
is the first and foremost precondition for the settlement of the
conflict. Azerbaijan, on the contrary, conditions formation of
cooperation by the settlement of the conflict and rejects any
proposal of cooperation until the conflict is solved.”
Having in circulation the variant of solving the Karabakh conflict in
a military way, Azerbaijan’s ruling circles imagine the reforms of
armed forces and increase in fighting efficiency purely by means of
militarization, the Minister mentioned emphasizing that for this
purpose military expenditures increase year by year in Azerbaijan.
According to Serge Sargsian, the opinions of Armenia and Azerbaijan
are contrary in the issue of creation of a regional security system,
regional integration as well. Both the official circles of Armenia
and representatives of the international community have submitted
proposals in this direction from different tribunes but every time
they received Azerbaijan’s refusal to start any cooperation.
“Moreover, Azerbaijan’s authorities with their position instigate
other countries to repulsive policy. To tell the truth, such a
position questions the willingness of Azerbaijani authorities to
carry out defence sphere reforms corresponding to European
standards.”
“To have armed forces great in number becomes a priority for Armenia
in this hostile atmosphere,” Serge Sargsian declared.
The Minister also gave assurance that the most efficient way of
provision of military security, strengthening of fighting efficiency
of armed forces is military integration and reforms.
Serge Sargsian noted that Armenia is actively involved in different
security systems for having a stable security system. Today Armenia
promotes cooperation within the framework of the Collective Security
Treaty Organization (CSTO) and NATO, which contributes to creation of
opportunities for interaction of RA Armed Forces on different
international standards. Therefore both the bilateral
Armenian-Russian military bloc and development of cooperation within
the framework of CSTO and development of cooperation with structures
of NATO and the US are the guarantee of provision of Armenia’s
security. Cooperating with NATO, Armenia carries out reforms in the
sphere of defence within the framework of the Program of Planning and
Reconsideration and Individual Partnership Plan. The strategy of
reforms within the framework of CSTO is aimed at creation of a system
of neutralization of threats to security and effective systems.
“In spite of the difference of points of view of South Caucasian
countries in the issue of defence reforms, there is a circumstance,
which gives hope for their successful implementation: the defence
reforms proceed by the course of the international integration in all
of the three states of the region,” Serge Sargsian emphasized.
According to the Minister, the defence reforms carried out in the
South Caucasian region, with their positive and negative aspects,
proceed by the spirit of European integration. Cooperation with NATO
plays a considerable role in the issue of implementation of these
reforms as it’s NATO that supports and helps in implementation of
reforms.

Colgate Maroon News (subscription), NY
Oct 14 2005
Peter Balakian’s The Burning Tigris: The Horrors of Armenian Genocide
By Elsie Denton
Published: Friday, October 14, 2005

In the early years of World War I, another tragedy was taking place
far more quietly to the east. Between 1914 and 1916 over a million
Armenians were rounded up by Turkish officials and systematically
“deported” – in most cases this amounted to murder. Modern-day Turkey
currently disputes that the Armenian tragedy should be called
genocide, but there is little doubt in the international community
that the mass killings of Armenians were in fact systematic genocide.
In his book, The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America’s
Response, Colgate’s own Professor of English and University Studies,
Peter Balakian, brings to life both the horror of the Armenian
genocide and America’s humanitarian response to the crisis. Time and
again he uses powerful eyewitness accounts of the genocide, which,
though on a smaller scale, were no less horrendous than the
Holocaust.
On the governmental level, the response to this international tragedy
was meager. Most politicians, Woodrow Wilson included, found their
hands tied by diplomatic complexities. This does not mean that there
was no response to the crisis. As Balakian makes very clear over the
course of his book, the Armenian genocide was America’s first
international human-rights effort.
Thousands of people around the country on many levels of society
poured their hearts out to the Armenian people. They raised money for
relief work and food supplies and helped find homes for the thousands
of Armenians fleeing their homeland. “The Armenian genocide is
important,” said Balakian, “not only because it is one of the
earliest examples of modern genocide, but also because it is
America’s first international humanitarian aid movement. Americans
should know about that part of their history.”
The Burning Tigris recently gained recognition when it won the
prestigious Raphael Lemkin Prize, which is given out biannually to
the best scholarly book on the subject of genocide, mass killings and
gross human-rights violations. Despite the prestige conferred by the
prize, Balakian did not want it to overshadow the real issue: the
reality of terrible and continuing genocide throughout the world.
“Genocide is a real problem today and it is not going away. Nobody is
safe,” he said.
Genocides are not dark phantoms locked firmly in our turbulent past.
They are real and happening right now in many corners of the world
from the Balkans, Rwanda, and East Tambour to the current massacres
in the Darfur region of Sudan. “Genocide is a modern problem,” says
Balakian, “because before the modern era and the evolution of the
nation state, governments didn’t have the centralized bureaucracy or
the technology to systematically target and exterminate ethnic
minorities. It isn’t just that killing occurs that distinguishes
modern genocide, but how fast it occurs.”
The problem of genocide gets surprisingly little governmental
recognition. Many times the issue is simply ignored by those in
power, while people suffer and die. This can often be attributed to
two main causes: lack of recognition and information about the
existence of a genocide and sticky diplomatic maneuvering by the
governments involved.
For instance, the reality of the Armenian genocide is recognized by
all Western powers except for the US and UK. These two countries have
withheld official recognition of the massacres so that they could
maintain their military bases in Turkey.
Even if governments were at all prepared to take action against
genocide, there still remains the difficulty of realizing that
genocide is taking place. A government engaged in the massacre of its
people is unlikely to report its activities to the international
community. Also, many areas in the world are so torn by war and
strife that it is difficult to distinguish coordinated mass killings
from the background level of death and violence. An effective system
of detection needs to be created.
This system would need to be an impartial third party. Balakian
suggests the creation of “an international organization charged with
detection, prevention and intervention in instances of gross
violations of human rights. Not only must this type of organization
exist to prevent future massacres, but it must also have the power to
enforce its edicts in the form of an International Human Rights Army
not beholden to any one world power. Though Balakian maintained that
“we can’t reform or transform the human race,” we can still install
regulations and checks on their capacity to kill one another.
Such a coherent international effort to confront the issue of
genocide is long overdue, particularly with major powers like the US
and UK stalling on the issue. “The Bush administration has
continually refused to take action on what is happening in Darfur,
and refused to embrace the process of the international courts at the
Hague,” said Balakian. “It is then up to ordinary citizens to make a
difference, to take the power into their own hands and to fight for
human rights.”
Last year, a group of students at Swarthmore College did just that.
They started the Genocide Intervention fund to raise money to stop
the slaughter of innocent people in Darfur. The group has been
immensely successful. So far they have raised $250,000, which they
are preparing to donate to the African Union peacekeepers. Their
group may have started as a small group of Jewish and Armenian
students whose pasts were deeply affected by genocide, but it has
grown far larger than that. There are now over 100 colleges
participating in the fund and more are getting involved all the time.
Students interested in becoming involved in the Genocide Intervention
Fund can contact Balakian via email at [email protected] or
to go talk to him during his office hours. More Information is
avaibale at
Balakian teaches a course called Modern Genocide. It is about being
educated about what is going on and doing something about it. “The
study of history enables us to behave more ethically in the present.
That is why teaching about genocide is so valuable,” said Balakian.

MLive.com, MI
Oct 14 2005
Kruziki presents smooth blend of tango and jazz
Friday, October 14, 2005
By Matt Steel
Special to the Gazette
Multiculturalism is no longer a feature exclusive to the big cities
in this country. It is everywhere, especially in college towns like
Kalamazoo. So it should come as no surprise to see five very talented
music-school students come together to play not only American jazz
standards but music from South America and the Near East.
This was the case on Thursday night in the cozy confines of the
Kalamazoo Valley Museum Auditorium as the Kruziki Transatlantica
Quintet performed just such a concert. Originating at Western
Michigan University School of Music, the group is led by saxophonist
Aaron Kruziki, joined by his wife, vioinist Armenuhi Kruziki, and
pianist Dave Izard, percussionist/singer Mike Shimmin and newcomer,
bassist Andrew Kratzat, who is a senior at the University of Michigan
School of Music.
The composer most represented in the program was Argentinian-tango
master Astor Piazzolla. The Quintet opened with his “Muerte del
Angel” in an uptempo busy arrangement. This was followed by a tango
called “Preparense.” They tangoed yet again with Piazzolla’s moody
“Vuelvo al Sur.” And Aaron Kruziki paid his respects to the
composer in a work of his own called “Hommage a Piazzolla.”
Shimmin sat behind a large drum set which he rarely used. Instead he
played mostly on Middle Eastern goblet drums and tambourine.
Aaron Kruziki performed masterfully on a number of different and
exotic woodwinds.
Armenuhi is a native of Armenia and undoubtedly is the influence
behind the Near Eastern repertoire. Her Armenian-inspired composition
“Masis” is a tour de force that served as an appropriate closing
piece.
The piano playing of Izard is extremely tasteful. As an ensemble
player, he plays to the strengths of both the piece and his
colleagues. In improvised solos, he is quite creative and never seems
to indulge himself in pointless displays of technique and facility.
In several of the Near Eastern works, he played accordion.
It certainly appears that the Kruziki Transatlantica Quintet has the
potential to succeed in the difficult world of professional
musicians. Their curious mix of various repertoires makes them novel;
their talent makes them timeless.

A1+
| 16:25:36 | 14-10-2005 | Social |
CELEBRATING THE ARMENIAN PRESS DAY
For the last two years October 14 has been celebrated as the Armenian Press
day as the anniversary of the publication of the first Armenian periodical
`Azdarar’ in the Indian city Madras in 1794. In this connection today in the
Journalist’s House the award-giving ceremony `Azdarar’ took place.
The names of the winners are: Julieta Martirosyan (`Avangard’), Fahrad
Apoujanyan (`Lousardzak’, Spitak), Manouk Mouradyan (program `Karot’,
National TV Company), Gohar Martikyan (program `Life Formula’, Armenian
National Radio), and Hakob Berberyan (`Golos Armenii’).
The head of the Journalists’ Union Astghik Gevorgyan congratulated the
journalists and wished them success in their field of activity.

A1+
| 16:09:57 | 14-10-2005 | Economy |
CUSTOM’S OFFICE AVOIDING SCANDAL
Today advocate of the «Royal-Armenia» LTD Gevorg Minasyan rendered a press
conference about the October 11 arrest of the Company head Gagik Hakobyan
and deputy head Aram Ghazaryan `for the violations of customs rules’.
According to the advocate, the evidence of the ex-supplier of the company
American `Federal Investment Group’ about the forgery of invoice served as
ground for the arrest. Gevorg Minasyan considers the evidence false as
according to him the ex-supplier is simply angry for losing his market where
he could sell a thousand tons of coffee.
`We did we have to forge it if anyway we were to pay the tax according to
previously fixed prices?’, Gevorg Minasyan wonders.
But the true reason for the arrest, according to the advocate, is the court
session fixed for October 17. The Economic Court was to continue to hear the
case of `Royal Armenia’. Let us remind you that the company demanded `to
announce the tax the Customs Office fixed for the 14 types of goods imported
invalid and to return the sum of about 1 billion 500 million AMD’.
If the court upheld the claim, according to the advocate, the Custom’s
Office would be disgraced. And the arrest, according to Mr. Minasyan, is a
good reason to offer to join the two cases `thus saving the Office of
disgrace’.

A1+
| 14:52:22 | 14-10-2005 | Politics |
RESIDENTS OF NEW HACHIN COMPLAIN
The elections are over in Nor Hachin, but the post-elections passions are
not. This time it refers to the elections of the aldermen. 5 days have
already passed after them, but the electoral areas do not tell anything
about the results.
The headquarters of the candidates apply to the electoral areas to get
information about the results of the elections, but they are sent to the
Local Electoral Committees. The head of the LEC is member of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation, and the violations recorded have been all in the
interests of the candidate Yura Lazarian who is also member of the above
mentioned party.
11 of the 29 candidates were to be elected. 50 ballots have been added to
the 134 acquired by Yura Lazarian, and he has been `elected’ alderman.
`That is why they do not give us the results, as five more days, and we will
not be able to appeal the results of the elections’, the residents of the
town said and informed that they are going to organize an act of complaint
opposite the LEC building.