A DIRTY GAME TO COMPROMISE ARMENIA AND RUSSIA BY DINT OF GEORGIA

Azg/arm
27 July 05

Though Punishable, Changing a ‘Terrorist’s’ Name Is Within the Game
Rules

The West, the United States in particular, have been recently playing
a dirty game of compromising Russia and Armenia through Georgia. As
the recent developments suggest, the primary task is to compromise
Russia in the SouthCaucasus and to terrify Armenia to keep it back
from military cooperation with Moscow. As a means of compromising and
terrifying they choose fighting terrorism — so loved by the Americans
— which serves a good veil to establish US authority in zones of
traditionally Russian influence.

On March 15 of the current year, the US authorities arrested a group
of 18 people on charge of an attempt to illegally import weapons of
Russian vintage to USA. The US press headed by The New York Times has
been writing that the leader of the group was Armenian citizen Artur
Solomonian, adding that the weapons were supposed to serve Al
Qaeda. Even the Russian mafia and Russian military bases in Armenia
and Georgia figured in these embellished stories.

Only a few days later, when Armenia had already its name undermined in
the world press, FBI agent Brain Parman said in Yerevan that no kind
of arms has ever left Armenia for the US. On June 23, the trial over
18 suspects in this arms deal was postponed till October as the state
prosecutor failed to present evidence against them.

27-year-old Vladimir Arutyunov charged with attempting US President’s
life on May 10 was arrested a few days ago. The first press releases
by Georgian authorities that followed his arrest made a “blunder” of
transmitting his surname in Russianised transcription, as it was in
fact. A few hours later Arutyunov turned into Harutyunian to stress
his Armenian origin.

Though punishable, changing a “terrorist’s” name in this case fitted
the rules of the game very well. The US and Georgian releases of May
11-13 though did not mention the name of the “terrorist”, they clearly
hinted that the unexploded hand grenade might well be made in Armenia
or obtained in the Russian base of Akhalkalak. Today, Georgia’s
law-enforcers suggest that Arutyunov might have had accomplices out of
Georgia.

Not long ago, when the Georgian press used to call opposition leader
Mikheil Saakashvili an Armenian, the latter published his genealogy
table to prove the contrary. But one note by late prime minister Zurab
Zhvania about his Armenian mother was enough to launch anti-Armenian
propaganda in Georgian mass media. Today, the Armenian origin of
Vladimir Arutyunov is playing into Georgian authorities’ hands. They
forget that the long-cherished European Union doesnot tolerate
discrimination; therefore it’s of no avail to point out the criminal’s
religion or nationality every now and then.

By Tatoul Hakobian

Azerbaijan not to achieve military supremacy soon – Armenian defence minister

Yerkir website
25 Jul 05

YEREVAN

If the combat readiness of the Azerbaijani armed forces was five
minutes ahead of the Armenian armed forces, then Azerbaijan would try
to solve Nagornyy Karabakh problem in a military way, Armenian Defence
Minister said at a meeting with participants in the third Pan-Armenian
Youth Forum on 23 July.

He said that Azerbaijani presidents have been saying for several years
that they can solve the Nagornyy Karabakh problem in a military way,
however, “there is a question – if they can, why are they not doing
it”.

The minister said that in 2005 Armenia has not been even one penny
behind Azerbaijan in financing its armed forces. The Armenian armed
forces have been financed by the state budget and with the help of
allies, benefactors and various organizations, which is the accepted
norm in the world.

Armenia’s position is that if Azerbaijan has more weapons, it will not
make any difference because Azerbaijan will not achieve supremacy in
the near future, Sarkisyan said.

Armenian prosecutor-general upbeat on cooperation with Georgia

Hayots Ashkarh, Yerevan
26 Jul 05

In an interview [with Hayots Ashkarh], Armenian Prosecutor-General
Agvan Ovsepyan commented on the results of his recent official visit
to Tbilisi

and details of his meeting with Georgian counterpart.

[Agvan Ovsepyan] During my Georgian counterpart’s[ Zurab Adeishvili]
visit to Armenia in spring, we came to an agreement to sign a
memorandum on cooperation between the prosecutor-general’s offices of
our countries

in the judicial sphere. During our visit to Tbilisi on 21 July the
memorandum was signed. [Passage omitted: the details of the memorandum
are presented]

[Correspondent] In what specific areas can the law-enforcement
agencies of the two countries support each other?

[Ovsepyan] At present, the common areas we share with our Georgian
counterparts as far as crime is concerned are as follows: cattle theft
across Armenia-Georgia border, illegal timber production and
smuggling. We also register economic crimes, such as evasion of tax
and customs duties. The problems of forged Armenian excise duty stamps
are also very important. These

forged excise duty stamps are printed in third countries, in Turkey,
to be precise, and are exported to Armenia through Georgia. I have
prepared a report based on such facts and sent it to the relevant
international bodies asking them to help us close down this source of
forged excise duty stamps.

By the way, during my meeting with Georgian Prosecutor-General

Zurab Adeishvili we made an arrangement that the Prosecutor-General’s

Offices of Georgia and Armenia will support the prosecutor-general’s

office of Akhalkalak financially and operationally. We also arranged
our next meeting to take place in Akhalkalak.

[Correspondent] Did you discuss the case of Vladimir Arutyunov
[arrested for an attempt on the US president’s life] during your
meeting with the Georgian prosecutor-general?

[Ovsepyan] Within the framework of the visit our delegation did not

pay special attention to this case as it does not involve an Armenian
citizen or affects our state interests. But during the meeting,
Adeishvili and I had indeed mention this matter. [Passage omitted:
Arutyunov was born and brought up in Tbilisi, and it is not clear yet
if his father was Armenian or not.]

The most important is that Arutyunov has nothing to do with Armenia.
Moreover, during our meeting with representatives of the Georgian
law-enforcement agencies they declared that this person behaves
inadequately. During our joint press conference with Adeishvili one of
the correspondents asked if the grenade was produced in Armenia,
Adeishvili replied that a mistranslation by Azerbaijan’s ambassador to
Georgia caused the spread of false information. “Armeyskaya granata”
[army grenade] was translated as “Armyanskaya granata” – that is,
“Armenian grenade”.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

‘ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IS A GREAT INTERNATIONAL LIE’

Azg/arm
27 July 05

Perincek Arrested in Switzerland for This Statement

July 24 marked 82 years of the Lausanne Treaty, which recognized
modern Turkey’s territorial wholeness and independence by legalizing
national wars waged by Kemal Ataturk. This anniversary was celebrated
in Turkey and Switzerland with special bustle. Interestingly, the
arrangements on this occasion were organized by oppositional
Republican People’s Party and Democratic Left Party of Turkey and
Workers’ Party of Switzerland.

Turkish Public Television saw the reason of the celebration in the
recent fact of casting doubt on the Lausanne Treaty The pro-government
Yeni Safak newspaper labeled the arrangements a provocative act
against Justice and Prosperity Party from forces fighting for purity
of Kemalic principles, pointing out meanwhile that the celebration
turned into demonstration of power.

The Lausanne-2005 arrangements in Winterthur and Lausanne on July
23-24 pulled in not only members of the Workers Party, Kemalist-Minded
Union and Turks of Europe but also a group of 200 scientists and
public figures from Turkey including the former president of “Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus”, Rauf Denktas. They rallied in Lausanne
chanting “Long Live Independent Turkey”, “Down With American
Imperialism” that slipped smoothly into crosswords.

Hurriyet newspaper informs that the president of Turkish History
Foundation, Yusuf Halacoglu, also expressed willingness to take part
in the arrangements but stood back after Swiss authorities’ decision
to detain him. He is wanted by the Swiss police for rejecting the
Armenian Genocide. “Armenian genocide is a great international lie”,
chairman of the Workers’ Party Dogu Perincek backed Halacoglu on May
7.

On July 23, when Perincek was repeating this statement in Winterthur,
law-enforcers sanctioned by the prosecutor of the town arrested him in
the hall and bundled off to the Prosecutor’s Office. Interrogation
lasted 3.5 hours. Perincek was released after the Turkish Foreign
Ministry interfered.

Foreign minister Abdullah Gul condemned arrests of leaders of Turkish
political parties and said answering Hurriyet’s question, “Having
learned about the arrest of Perincek, we interfered
immediately. Turkish consul-general to Zurich, Mehmed Emre, witnessed
his interrogation. I was informing PM Erdogan all night through. Such
an approach to Turkish party leaders is unacceptable”.

By Hakob Chakrian

PLAY BY DIASPORA ARMENIAN STAGED AT YEREVAN CHAMBER THEATRE

Azg/arm
27 July 05

The Yerevan Chamber Theatre represented a new performance staged on
“Beetle” play by Ara Artsruni, honored artist of RA.

The play was staged by Armen Mehrabian and included the best actors of
the theatre. “Artsruni is an Armenian author from Beirut. I don’t know
where he lives now. He used to be in France. I don’t think he knows
that we staged his play. I wish he learnt about that and came,”
A. Mehrabian said.

The play is written for the theatre of absurd. But the critics said
that the author made everything to make it acceptable for the local
spectators. “The play is about all of us. One day we can be kings
while on the other day we can be as tiny as a beetle is,” A. Mehrabian
said. He also thanked RA Culture and Youth Affairs Ministry for their
assistance in staging the play.

Norayr Adalian, writer, playwright, stated that Mehrabian made quite
an interesting work as a director. “He is one of the best directors of
our days. I believe that he would make a great contribution to the
development of the Armenian theatre if he had a theatre of his own,”
N. Adalian said.

By Vanik Santrian

Tension in Georgian region may affect Armenia – defence minister

Noyan Tapan news agency
26 Jul 05

YEREVAN

We must respect Russia’s and Georgia’s decision on Russian military
bases. If Russia and Georgia have decided to withdraw these bases,
then the opinion of Javakhk’s (Georgia’s Armenian-populated
Samtskhe-Javakheti region) population will be of no importance to
them, Armenian Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan said at a meeting with
participants in the third Pan-Armenian Youth Forum in Tsakhkadzor on
23 July.

“Some hot-blooded young men are trying to organize rallies there,
which directly affects Armenia. And Javakhk’s community will be made
to look in the eyes of the Georgian leadership as the perpetrator of
somebody else’s will, which is of no benefit to us as well,” the
minister noted.

Sarkisyan pointed out that Armenia has its own interests and is
pursuing its policy on their basis.

At the same time, the minister said that Armenia must use “all
possible and impossible means” to help Javakhk financially, as well as
in the spheres of culture and education, and constantly discuss the
subject of Javakhk Armenians with the Georgian leadership.

The Moscow Times, Russia
July 27 2005

Iran Focuses on Gas Exports to Ukraine

Reuters
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran is broadening its gas export strategy to
pipelines running to Europe via Ukraine, after encountering problems
in talks to pump gas across Turkey, a senior oil official said on
Tuesday.

Deputy Oil Minister Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian said Iran had reached a
preliminary agreement to export between 20 billion and 30 billion
cubic meters of natural gas per year to Ukraine.

“Ukraine has agreed to transit 20 billion cubic meters to Europe via
Ukraine,” he told state television. “After some problems with Turkey
to export Iran’s gas to Europe, this agreement will open Europe’s
doors to Iranian exports, which is very important to us,” he added.

His office was not immediately able to say when exports could start.

Nejad-Hosseinian said Iran and Ukraine had invited Armenia, Georgia
and Russia to collaborate in the pipe-building scheme.

PanArmenian News Network
July 26 2005

UN YEREVAN OFFICE TO PRESENT ARMENIA NATIONAL ANNUAL REPORT 2005

26.07.2005 05:33

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The UN Yerevan Office will present the National
Annual Report on Armenia 2005 within the framework of Millennium
Development Goals program July 29. In the course of the report
presentation a discussion between interested parties is planned.
Representatives of the Armenian Government, NGOs and entrepreneurs
are invited to this. The Millennium Development Goals were determined
by the international community at the Millenium Summit in 2000. 190
leaders of the countries of the world took part in the Summit. The
Millennium Development Goals are as follows: to eradicate extreme
poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote
gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality, improve
maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensure
environmental sustainability, develop a global partnership for
development. The UN Development Program (UNDP) has launched the
process of drawing up the Millennium Development Goals report in
Armenia, reported RIA Novosti.

College students bike for a cause

Crookston Daily Times (Crookston, Minnesota)
July 26, 2005

By Natalie J. Ostgaard, City Editor

A group of 27 college students from all over the United States and
Canada made a pit stop in Crookston Saturday while bicycling across the
country. The majority of them spent the day riding the 90-mile trip from
Bemidji to Crookston.

The students are participating in the 4,000-mile northern route of Bike
& Build, an organization that raises funds for affordable housing
projects. They started out in Portsmith, N.H. on June 18 and plan to
arrive in Vancouver, British Columbia on Aug. 20.

Now in its third summer, the program has grown from two routes the first
year to four this year. In addition to the northern route, there’s also
the central, southern and Providence (R.I.) to Seattle (Wash.) routes.

Anna Sarkissian of Montreal, Quebec, who is participating in Bike &
Build for the first time this summer, explained that the program’s
purpose is threefold. While bicyclists raise funds for housing projects
chiefly sponsored by Habitat for Humanity, they also work to increase
public awareness of poverty and housing issues. The students spent a
couple of days building Habitat for Humanity homes, too, at some of
their stops.

“Another bonus is that it helps build character in us,” she added. “In
the end, I think we’re all better people for it, knowing we’ve somehow
made a difference. It’s good to give.”

According to the Website, , Bike & Build has
contributed $229,875 to housing groups over the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
The organization hopes to contribute more than $225,000 this summer.

After straggling in throughout the afternoon and early evening, members
of the group took in some of Crookston’s attractions. They then spent
the night camped out in five tents at Central Park. Sunday was to be a
big day for them, said Sarkissian, as they’d bike 123 miles to Devil’s
Lake, N.D., one of their longest legs of the journey.

A handful of bicyclists on the route took on an added leg Saturday,
visiting Itasca Park and the headwaters of the Mississippi. When one of
them excitedly told others he had walked across the Mississippi, they
were leery of his story. However, someone familiar with the headwaters
explained that, yes indeed, one can walk across the river in some areas.

Sarkissian said that overall, they’ve had good weather.

“We’ve been really lucky. There were only two days we came across rain,
and even then it wasn’t much, only a few sprinkles,” she said. “We have
come into some heat waves, though, which were a little rough to handle.”

The worst heat wave occurred about two weeks ago while riding through
Wisconsin was, she added.

Some of the bicyclists have experienced troubles with their wheels or
gears, as is expected traveling so many miles, Sarkissian explained.
Luckily, the trailer hauling the gear also carries bike maintenance
equipment. A few traveling with the group are also skilled in bike
maintenance, “which helps a lot.”

One bike was also stolen along the way, she said.

A few members of the group have taken part in similar ventures in the
past, Sarkissian said. While most will be going back to their respective
colleges in the fall, a few have graduated and are out for their last
summer of freedom before going out into the working world, she added.

“Whatever your reason, it’s just a great experience,” she said. “I’d do
it again.”

PHOTO CAPTION: About half of the college students who stayed overnight
in Crookston Saturday pose in front of the trailer carrying their gear
at Central Park Saturday afternoon. The group is bicycling from New
Hampshire to British Columbia for two months this summer as part of Bike
& Build, an organization that raises awareness and funds for poverty
housing issues. The writing on the trailer says “Honk If You Love
(depicted by a red heart) Spandex.” Others from the group had either not
yet arrived or were exploring Crookston. (Natalie J. Ostgaard, photographer)

15rounds.com (press release)
July 26 2005

USA OLYMPIAN VANES MARTIROSYAN
ON ERIK MORALES/MANNY PACQUIAO
FIGHT CARD SEPT 10 AT STAPLES!

USA Olympian Vanes ‘Nightmare’ Martirosyan, a hard-hitting super
welterweight, will box on Top Rank’s big fight card which will
feature three-time world champion Erik ‘El Terrible’ Morales and
former world champion Manny Pacquaio at the STAPLES Center on
Saturday, Sept. 10.

Martirosyan, handled by Shelly Finkel and trained by Freddie Roach,
is from Glendale, Calif. Martirosyan is 2-0-0 as a pro and lives and
trains in Glendale, Calif.

“I was born in Abozyan, Armenia,” said Vanes. “My Dad was an amateur
boxer and I guess he saw it in me too. He said I had a lot of energy
because I was always running around the house. He took me to a local
boxing gym and at the age of seven I began to box. I wound up with
130 amateur fights and won 120 of those.

“I speak Armenia, of course, English and I know a little Spanish. I
can pronounce some words in Russian too,” he said.

Martiroysan will be at the Top Rank press conference on Wednesday.
Morales and Zahir Raheem will be at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Rodeo
Room, at 11:30 a.m. to discuss their upcoming bout at the STAPLES
Center in Los Angeles.

FIGHT NOTEBOOK – Raheem, handled by Cameron Dunkin, is trained by Don
House who works with Kid Diamond and Steven Luevano at the new ‘House
of Champions’ gym on Flamingo in Las Vegas….House will be at the
Wednesday press conference. He will outline a blueprint for Raheem to
take on Morales.