Feature – History will teach us
By Stefanos Evripidou

Cyprus Mail, Cyprus
July 17 2005

THE CYPRIOT merchant Abdulhamit Bey built a tobacco factory in his
hometown of Larnaca, served as a Turkish Schools Inspector, a Larnaca
Hospital Committee member and a Larnaca Municipal Councillor three
times before his death in 1918.

This we know because it is the first name listed in the fifth edition
of Aristides Koudounaris’ Biographical Lexicon of Cypriots, 1800-1920,
including for the first time the names of Turkish Cypriots who
contributed to the historical life and soul of the island of Cyprus.

The first edition was published in 1989, containing the names of 657
Greek Cypriots, Armenians, Latins and Maronites. It took Koudounaris
a decade to collect and assimilate information on the great names
of Cyprus, investigating books, periodicals and private records,
while travelling to London, Athens and Egypt to collect information
personally. He assures us that, in literary circles, “oral history”
is an accepted source and very often encouraged.

The latest edition is double the size, with 1,358 names of Cypriots
who contributed politically, intellectually or through education to
Cyprus, and includes, for the first time, 125 Turkish Cypriot names.

Koudounaris explains that the book was incomplete without Turkish
Cypriots who made “fascinating contributions to Cyprus” but it was
only possible to collect this information once the checkpoints opened.

Since then, he has been a regular traveller to the north, arranging
visits with family members of older prominent figures in society.

“You would be surprised to see how big the intellectual participation
of Turkish Cypriots who contributed a lot to Cyprus without the
knowledge of the Greek Cypriots. I believe it is time to write an
objective history of Cyprus,” he said.

Ozel Vasif, a former tennis star of Cyprus, helped by providing
her house as the meeting place. “She is the niece of the barrister
Sir Munir Mehmet Bey (1890-1957). Thanks to her, I was able to
invite Turkish Cypriots to her house for tea. They would come with
information on their ancestors. We often stayed until 3am talking with
these people who brought records and files of the accomplishments of
their grandparents,” said Koudounaris.

It was one such evening when the historian learnt of the first Turkish
Cypriot mayor of Nicosia, Podamyalizade ªevket Mehmed Bey (1873-1955).

Now the book is in high demand in education circles and among the
Turkish Cypriot community. “I have 20 new names of Turkish Cypriots and
hope to collect another 40 before I make a new edition, and translate
it into Turkish and English.”

So why is the book considered so valuable a piece of history?

“About 25 years ago, it occurred to me that Cypriots did not know
anything about the people of the past, despite roads being named after
many of them. If I asked about Yangos Tornaridis for instance, a great
literary man who went to Athens, no one knew of him. I decided someone
had to collect this data and put it together,” explains Koudounaris.

And what better person to do it than the studious historian who studied
at Trinity College, Dublin, as a youth because it was devoid of Greeks,
forcing him to speak the English language.

His flat in Nicosia is covered wall to wall with eclectic paintings,
wooden furniture, but most of all, books. This is a man who loves
his jobs.

“You must research personally. I went to London, Athens and Egypt for
research and got a lot of information from people directly, including
the Patriarch of Alexandria Partheniou, who loved Cypriots very much.

“I will keep going north and working on the list of Turkish Cypriots,
even in the pouring rain, I couldn’t care less, I love it.”

“It’s amazing the contribution they made. I was so absorbed at times
talking to family members. They kept all the information intact.
Turkish Cypriots feel very proud of their ancestors whereas Greek
Cypriots tend to take their accomplishments for granted. They were
very willing to co-operate once they realised that I wasn’t compiling
two separate lists.”

A name some might recognise in the book would be Raif Mehmed Huseyin
Bey (1882-1941), father of the familiar political figure Rauf Denktash.

“Raif Bey. I read his obituaries in Greek Cypriot papers. It is
amazing how popular he was. He started out as a policeman and the
Brits rightly thought to appoint him as a judge because he was so
clever. He was successful and very fair as a judge and left a fine
memory, the complete opposite to his son,” said Koudounaris.

Asked why he limited the biographical book to the period 1800-1920, he
replied: “You must let history pass a 100 years to judge impartially. I
am not trying to do a ‘Who’s who?’ of Cyprus. I chose something more
difficult, to do a ‘Who was who?’ based on the Oxford model,” he said.

“Time must pass before you can study whether somebody broke away in
life, whether they left traces. It’s harder to do but you get a great
satisfaction by realising which people contributed towards humanity
and how present people lack this.

“The contribution of offering rather than taking in life: it’s a
great principle they followed in those days, which is why they were
successful. Taking is very normal nowadays. People cannot think in
terms of contribution.”

The book is written in the “language of the literary minded people”,
different from katharevousa and demotic Greek.

“I stuck to this mindset because I was quoting from the papers and
sources that I found. You would be surprised what I found on Turkish
Cypriot dignitaries in Greek papers. In those days, they mentioned
weddings, funerals, and engagements, but now less so. I also included
quotations from travellers and missionaries to Cyprus, particularly
in the 19th Century,” he said.

One of the high points of the laborious research undertaken was the
many afternoons Koudounaris spent beneath the House of Representatives
reading minutes of assembly sessions recorded from 1884.

The archives are in perfect order, a hidden gem locked in the basement
of the House away from the public eye.

“There are amazing details in there starting from the first minutes
of the House. I got to read statements from both communities in the
late 19th Century. Even back then, they were discussing union with
the motherlands. The one time they got together in parliament was in
1925 when all Cypriot deputies agreed to stop paying tribute to the
Brits. A Turkish Cypriot proposed the discussion. This was the first
time both sides worked together on something.”

“It is a fantastic archive and should be open to the public to see.”
Koudounaris highlighted the need to encourage scholars to research
more on the history of Cyprus. “The PIO should be more helpful here,
and the same with the libraries. They close at a time when most
researchers work. We need to do something to encourage more scholars
and researchers to look at these archives.

“Look at the Grand Code at the Archbishopric, full of all important
historical facts. It documents the 40-year reign of Archbishop
Sophranios the Third, who started during the Turkish rule and ended in
the British. It is closed to the public. Nobody knows anything about
his personal correspondence with the pashas and the rest of the world,
somebody must do that.”

This is something Koudounaris feels very passionate about… the
importance of history.

“If you read historical books and are interested in history, you may
realise by comparing to the present day, if there were any mistakes
committed in the past, and in so doing avoid them in the present.
This is the significance of history. This is how we keep repeating
our mistakes ever and ever again and never find a solution to the
Cyprus problem.

“It is a characteristic of today’s society, without a doubt, they
are less informed and less interested in history,” he concludes.

–Boundary_(ID_V+OMZ7WqMc2uG4E/y7zYvg)–

Feature – Ali Babacan: Turkey’s European face
By Myria Antoniadou

Cyprus Mail, Cyprus
July 17 2005

HIS appointment took much longer than was expected. It was said the
various forces within Turkey were trying to impose their own man for
the country’s top EU-related job.

Finally, under the pressure for Ankara to show it was on track despite
growing anti-Turkish public sentiment and frustration at the Commission
for the delay, Prime Minister Erdogan imposed his will: Ali Babacan,
the 38-year-old US trained Finance Minister and founding member of
the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was also appointed
chief negotiator in the talks with the EU on June 3.

This week, Babacan was in Brussels for acquaintance meetings with some
Commissioners and his first public appearance, before the European
Parliament. What was obvious was that Babacan still has a long way to
go until he learns the ins and outs of the EU, and, more importantly,
how to handle them.

One issue many agree on is that the young Turkish Finance Minister,
who did his Master’s in Business Management on a US Fulbright
scholarship, is clever and a very hard worker. He is the neo-liberal or
‘anglo-saxon’ face of Turkey.

After his studies, he stayed on in the US doing financial consulting to
top executives of major banks and managing projects. In 1994 he became
chairman of his family’s textile business, being the first to introduce
wholesale mail order in this area, while at the same time he was chief
advisor to Ankara’s mayor securing financing for important projects.

Babacan also managed relations with the World Bank and is widely
respected as the driving force behind market reforms that have won
billions of dollars in International Monetary Fund support, and helped
bring the country out of deep financial crisis.

However, what helped him become popular in Turkey may backfire on
him on the EU level. Before the European Parliament Foreign Affairs
Committee on Tuesday, he spent the large part of his 30-minute speech
on Turkey’s economy. Babacan painted a rosy picture of the years
ahead, in response to the concerns that Turkey’s accession would be
a financial burden to Europe and would signal an influx of immigrants.

“He tried convincing us that if we do not all invest in Turkey,
we are set to lose, but did not respond to the political concerns,”
one person commented. MEPs, who are politicians and therefore do
not adopt the milder stance of diplomats or commission officials,
have expressed disappointment because in their two-hour exchange of
views he did not really reply to their questions.

Quite a few members of the Foreign Relations Committee, the Mail
has learned, believe that not only was he evasive, but he lingered
in his replies. Those from the Christian Democrat (EPP-ED) group,
which is divided over Turkey’s accession, were particularly critical,
showing the tough times ahead for Ankara’s officials.

Cypriot member of the Committee and former foreign minister, Ioannis
Kasoulides, told the Sunday Mail Babacan was very evasive and caused
frustration among some members. He noted the Turkish negotiator
did not reply to concrete political questions with precision and in
substance, especially on the need for Turkey to recognise Cyprus,
address the Armenian question and safeguard freedoms and rights of
religious minorities.

On Cyprus and the Armenian issue, Babacan restricted himself to
recalling statements made by the Turkish Premier and the Foreign
Minister.

In addition, he called for “care” in public statements because the
people of Turkey “can be offended”, something which did not go down
well in Brussels. MEPs from new member states also rejected his claims
that the EU is being more strict with Turkey.

These criticisms were raised in writing by Dr Renata Sommers, MEP
for Germany’s Christian Democrat party (CDU), expected to win the
upcoming elections. In a press release, she expressed dismay with
Babacan’s rejection of Turkey being offered a privileged partnership,
an issue expected to be raised quite often in the months ahead.

To some extent, Babacan maintains the general Turkish attitude of
not really understanding the long and difficult process beginning
in October. Ankara, as some eurocrats and diplomats say, does not
realise there is nothing much to negotiate on, as it is an exercise
of determining the changes to be made for Turkey to align with EU
rules and regulations.

However, it seems the soft-spoken Turkish official had a more timid
stance in his meetings with Commissioners, to the extent that he
appeared slightly nervous, according to EU sources. Babacan came
across as aware of the difficulties ahead and the negative climate
towards Turkish accession in some quarters, and assured he would work
hard to keep his country on track.

>>From October 3 onwards, this young Turkish official, of conservative
Muslim background, will be Turkey’s European face and will come
under much scrutiny, not only in his country, but in 25 states across
the continent.

Kiev studying Iran-Europe gas pipeline

IranMania, Iran
July 17 2005

Sunday, July 17, 2005 – ©2005 IranMania.com

LONDON, July 17 (IranMania) – Ukraine plans to join an international
consortium to build a gas pipeline for transportation of Iranian gas
to Europe, Petro Poshenko, the Head of Ukrainian National Defense and
Security Council said at a press conference, according to Ukraine-based
internet newspaper Forum.

Poshenko said he had discussed the issue during his visit to Iran.
according to Iran Daily.

Talks with Iran were held when Viktor Yushchenko was prime minister
in 2000, he said.

Several possible routes through Armenia, Georgia, Russia, and also
Turkey and the Black Sea have been considered, he said.

Experts have six weeks to calculate the costs and profit margins of
the routes and determine which one is the best, he added.

Deputy energy ministers from the countries interested in the
pipeline are to meet in Iran on July 24-25, Poroshenko said. Specific
deadlines and the list of countries taking part will be determined
at the meeting.

The project could cost over $10 billion and see over one thousand
kilometers of pipeline in Iranian territory alone, he said.

“Iran is ready to take part in financing the laying of the gas
pipeline in its territory and guarantee determined volumes of gas
supplies and fix prices for the recoupment period,” he said.

–Boundary_(ID_UnsYfxAfAbVCj2Qd7opJ9A)–

Paris-Normandie , France
16 juillet 2005

Un coin d’Arménie en Normandie

Roussel Johnny

Cet été, les mercredi et samedi, Paris-Normandie vous invite à
découvrir les nombreuses communautés de votre ville. Aujourd’hui:
la communauté arménienne.

La ville d’Evreux et ses alentours abritent une communauté
arménienne depuis fort longtemps; certains de ses ressortissants
sont installés dans l’Eure depuis quatre générations.

Actuellement, deux à trois cents familles vivent dans la région. La
plupart d’entre eux sont regroupés autour de l’association normande
de solidarité arménienne. Cet organisme a été fondé en 1988, à
l’initiative d’un chef d’établissement scolaire, M. Soutjian, et de
Monseigneur Gaillot, évêque d’Evreux. L’association collectait des
fonds afin de venir en aide aux sinistrés du terrible tremblement de
terre qui frappa l’Arménie.

Un geste humanitaire

Dix-sept ans plus tard, l’association existe toujours. Elle regroupe
désormais une quarantaine d’adhérents. Leur action se réalise à
travers divers projets, toujours à caractère caritatif.

En effet, l’organisme vise à soutenir les villages arméniens (en
aidant les orphelinats et, plus récemment, en participant à la
rénovation des réseaux d’eau potable et à des projets
d’agriculture bio). Depuis l’effondrement de l’union soviétique,
l’Arménie est étranglée, explique Vahram Seraidarian, président
de l’association. Il s’agit donc d’aider les villageois afin
d’éviter qu’ils partent vers les villes ou qu’ils s’exilent à
l’étranger. Des ONG (Organisations Non Gouvernementales) situées en
Arménie récoltent ainsi les fonds récoltés par les Arméniens de
France.

L’association répond également à une vocation culturelle. Elle
essaie de rassembler les familles arméniennes autour d’événements,
en organisant un grand repas annuel par exemple.

A cette occasion, la gastronomie arménienne est bien sûr à
l’honneur. Des groupes folkloriques viennent aussi se produire lors
de ces rassemblements, qui accueillent tous ceux qui s’intéressent
à la culture arménienne, ancienne de 3.000 ans.

Des manifestations telle que la journée de la fraternité
constituent des opportunités de faire connaître la culture
arménienne. Grâce à ce type de manifestations, les communautés
ont la possibilité de se faire connaître et de montrer leur pays,
remarque Vahram Seraidarian. La fête de la fraternité n’est pas une
fête entre les communautés mais une fête avec les Normands,
ajoute-t-il.

De plus, l’année 2006 sera une formidable occasion de promouvoir
cette culture puisque ce sera l’année de l’Arménie en France.
Vahram Seraidarian entend donc en profiter pour continuer à
présenter les spécificités et traditions arméniennes.

Association normande de solidarité arménienne. Président: Vahram
Seraidarian: 02.32.34.08.02.

–Boundary_(ID_TdErMOpBejZUc6ZU4muq0A)–

Rabbit takes a leap forward in race to network devices
By Thomas Crampton International Herald Tribune

International Herald Tribune, France
July 17 2005

SUNDAY, JULY 17, 2005 — OXFORD, England For Rafi Haladjian, the next
leap ahead in technology starts with a toy called Nabaztag.

A plastic box shaped like a rabbit, with pastel ears and facial
features akin to Hello Kitty, it has a few flashing lights, a
rudimentary speaker, one button and a name derived from the Armenian
word for rabbit.

The device’s key characteristic is permanent wireless connectivity
to the Internet via a Wi-Fi network, preferably one that stretches
across the entire city in which it is located.

“This rabbit is not beautiful, it is not smart, and it is not
that useful, but this first generation has already sold out,” said
Haladjian, an Armenian who has long lived in France. “Wireless-linked
devices will soon be everywhere, and we are now taking the first
steps using Wi-Fi.”

Introduced in Oxford last week at the first European meeting of the
Silicon Valley-based TED conference – an acronym for technology,
entertainment and design – the rabbit concept received rave reviews
from attendees as a first in the next wave of wireless devices.

“I’ll be the first one to buy a rabbit, and I can’t wait to plug it
in – but then, I am a geek,” said Steve Lavi, managing director of
AI Investments, an Amsterdam-based technology venture capital fund.
“The device needs more utility for most users, but it may only take
small changes to go mass market.”

In an example of how technology innovators are sometimes forced to
create markets for their own products, Haladjian’s rabbit company,
Violet, is paired up with another company he founded, Ozone, which
is building a Wi-Fi network to cover Paris.

For now, the rabbit remains a basic communications device that
uses lights, sounds and movements of its ears to discreetly pass on
messages to anyone nearby. Sounds can include MP3 files of music,
voice or noises, and any combinations of colored lights and patterns
can be used to signal specific information. It costs ?95, or $115,
plus a ?3.90 monthly subscription fee.

Some of the functions that are available include a shining yellow
light to indicate that the weather will be sunny; a rising or falling
stock price shown by a pattern of lights; or the twisting of an ear
when someone wants to get in touch without interrupting a meeting
with a phone call.

By far the most popular application among the initial users, however,
is the ability to send an SMS, or short messaging system, message to
the device to make it throb red, telling a loved one that they are
being thought about.

“A device like this changes the actual environment of the recipient,
kind of like a bouquet of flowers,” said John Gage, chief researcher
at Sun Microsystems, at the TED forum. “Once they get enough of
them out there, I would love to see a global piece of installation
art created by moving all their ears at once.”

It is the networked aspect of the rabbit and other devices that
Haladjian sees as driving demand. In one version of networked
communications, for example, Haladjian each evening sends an SMS to
get a rabbit in each of his children’s bedrooms to tell them that
supper is ready. That is just the most basic illustration of a world
in which Haladjian sees people living within personalized networks
of multiple smart wireless devices.

“Your alarm clock, coffee maker and heater should all adjust in
a synchronized manner to the time at which you want to get up,”
Haladjian said. “The ultimate goal is to link all devices within a
home and even a city for your convenience.”

Future applications for the rabbit and other devices would rely on
constant access to the wireless Internet, and Haladjian claims he
has already covered 20 percent of Paris with his Ozone network.

Some of the things he is working on include an announcement by the
rabbit when a specific bus nears the neighborhood in the morning;
a teddy bear that can teach a child a language; an iPod-like device
that receives TV broadcasts across the network; and video games that
mix reality on the streets of Paris with the action on the screen.

“Believe me, I am not taking the trouble to build this network
to help people download e-mail in a cafe,” Haladjian said. “Our
success will depend on getting people to use the rabbit and other
devices that rely on a pervasive high-speed wireless network.”

His next application – to be introduced in September – will be a
mobile telephone that can make calls over the Internet.

Calls within France will cost nothing beyond the ?9 monthly
subscription fee, Haladjian said, while calls to places outside the
country will be a small fraction of the price offered by regular
phone companies.

The advantages of Wi-Fi over all other available technologies are
considerable, Haladjian believes. Broadcast units for Wi-Fi are far
cheaper to install than standard mobile phone towers, and Wi-Fi
offers bandwidth far greater than even the latest generation of
third-generation handsets.

Niklas Zennstrom, chief executive of Skype, the largest Internet-based
telephone service, said he shared Haladjian’s vision for the power
of Wi-Fi networks.

“We are already working hard to link up with Wi-Fi hot spot networks
in various cities,” Zennstrom said. “Wi-Fi chips are small, cheap
and everywhere, so we can start using them quickly.”

While Zennstrom said that his company intended to introduce a
hand-held phone for making calls directly over Wi-Fi this autumn,
there is every reason for him to purchase bandwidth wholesale from
a company that covers a major city.

Various city governments have made it their stated objective to offer
wireless Internet to their residents, but many such efforts have been
slow, so Haladjian said he began cobbling together his Paris network
by word of mouth.

Haladjian has been building the network by asking city residents to
sign up on his company’s Web site to offer antenna space on their
roof and roughly ?10 in electricity per year in exchange for getting
free wireless Internet access within a range of several hundred meters.

People who want to use the network but cannot or do not want to put
an antenna on the roof – of whom there are currently several hundred
– pay ?18 per month for unlimited access to the network.

Each roof unit costs Haladjian’s company roughly ?5,000 to install.
The network bounces the signal from antenna to antenna, so only a
few antennas need to be connected to the Internet via a land line.

“The units are so cheap that we don’t worry about overlap,”
Haladjian said. “Eventually, we may have to pay to place units in
some key areas.”

So far 400 people are providing space for antennas, and new units
are coming online at a rate of about 50 per month. By the end of
next year, Haladjian intends to have the entire city blanketed with
roughly 2,200 antennas.

For all his big visions of wireless networked devices, Haladjian said
that he remained dedicated to the principle of improvisation.

Acting on that concept, the programming code for the rabbit will be
made public within several months, at which point he hopes to learn
from users what sort of things they want from the device.

“My customers will direct this journey,” Haladjian said.

Citing the feature that prompts the Nabaztag to throb red when a loved
one sends an SMS as an example, Haladjian added, “The rabbit’s most
popular feature was only an afterthought for me.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EASTMAN’S FUMES AT POINTS LOSS

Sportinglife.com, UK
July 17 2005

Howard Eastman fell victim to the rising talents of Arthur Abraham
as the WBA inter-continental champion claimed a unanimous points
decision in Nuremberg.

After a hard-fought brawl, the unbeaten Armenian was ahead on all
three scorecards (116-112, 115-113 and 119-110) – but Eastman was
left fuming at the decision.

Hard-punching Abraham took command in the middle of the fight when he
kept punishing Eastman with a variety of strong shots to head and body.

The 34-year-old Briton, in his first bout after falling to undisputed
champion Bernard Hopkins in Los Angeles, proved a great chin towards
the end of the fight but landed too few shots to impress his opponent.

Eastman carried a big smile on his face when the Armenian approached
the ring with his trademark Smurf hat and music.

Neither fighter made significant impact early out before Abraham
started the third round with a fast combination to the head, but
‘the Battersea Bomber’ kept his composure with shots to the body.

Eastman looked in trouble at the end of the fourth after finding
himself on the receiving end of two thunderous lefts to the head.

The bell kept Eastman out of further trouble, and he looked unaffected
in the fifth, where both landed several clean shots.

It was a rather dirty affair throughout, with a lot of late punching
and questionable holding, and both men kept battling it out.

Just when Eastman began to find range with his left hook, which he
bombed in three times in the seventh, Abraham landed a heavy right
towards the end of the round which trapped the Briton on the ropes.

Abraham remained on the front foot in following, forcing Eastman to
prove his strong chin especially at the end of the ninth. Several
combinations certainly left a lasting impression on the Battersea
bomb who still managed to either duck or clinch into safety.

Abraham was in complete control in the tenth as he connected with a
flurry of crushing punches.

Eastman was again wobbled by a straight left near the end of the
penultimate round. His experience of 41 fights, however, helped him
to survive another daunting combination.

Abraham then felt he had done enough to secure his 17th victory in
as many fights as he danced into safety with time running down.

Although the Armenian looked completely in control throughout,
Eastman felt “robbed” by the decision.

The Londoner said as he left the ring: “I don?t know what fight you
were watching but I did not feel I lost the fight.

“I am ashamed of the officials. I came to Germany as an amateur and
I was robbed and I have been robbed again tonight. What is wrong with
you guys?”

Volunteers to help build Armenia homes

United Press International (UPI)
July 16 2005

FRESNO, Calif., July 16 (UPI) — A delegation from Habitat for
Humanity Armenia held two forums in Fresno, Calif., to raise U.S.
awareness about the housing crisis in Armenia.

The 1988 earthquake in Armenia left 500,000 homeless, and the
Azerbaijani war — combined with the collapse of the former Soviet
regime — has resulted in 40 percent of the country living in
substandard housing.

Thousands of Armenians still live in metal “domiks,” iron containers
erected for temporary quake relief that act like refrigerators in
the winter and boilers in the summer, according T.J. Cox, project
manager for the Fresno Habitat affiliate and a professional engineer.

Cox plans to lead a group from Fresno to Vanadzor, Armenia, from
Sept. 24 to Oct. 8 to help build homes in the Lori region, about two
hours from Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.

Building will be done primarily with concrete and toof, a volcanic
stone indigenous to Armenia.

Habitat for Humanity Armenia has been working with families since 2000,
providing homes for more than 600 people.

BRITONS AGGRIEVED BY JUDGES’ DECISIONS

Sportinglife.com, UK
July 16 2005

Brian Magee and Howard Eastman vowed they will never fight in Germany
again after controversial point defeats in Nuremberg.

While Londoner Eastman was clearly outworked by up-and-coming Armenian
Arthur Abraham in their WBA Intercontinental title fight, Belfast’s
Magee failed to claim the vacant European super-middleweight crown
following a dubious split decision verdict against Vitali Tsypko.

In a country that is known for notorious home decisions, Magee
was on the front foot from the first bell on. He looked especially
impressive in the sixth and 12th rounds when he thwarted his opponent
with well-timed combinations as well as several shots to the head.

Still, two judges ruled the contest in favour of unbeaten Tsypko
(115-113 and 115-114), who like Abraham boxes out of Germany’s
Sauerland camp. The third judge awarded the contest to Magee (115-114).

“I don’t know what more I could have done,” a heartbroken Magee told
PA International after the fight. “The European title is a big one
and I am very disappointed not to return home as champion. I am very
disappointed for everybody else who worked hard for me.”

In an somewhat awkward clash of two southpaws, Magee stamped his
authority on the bout early. Both fighters kept marching forward in
the first rounds, with Magee a tad more accurate on his combinations.

Things heated up in the fifth round when a bad cut opened up above
Magee’s right eye following an unintentional head butt. Later that
round when Tsypko bombed in a crushing left, further blood poured
down his face but the Belfast fighter comfortably guarded his injury
in the following rounds.

His aggressive mixture of attacking and clinching certainly should
have won him points on the scorecards but not even a successful
final round, when he clobbered Tsypko in a spirited late exchange,
helped persuade the judges.

Asked whether he felt betrayed, Magee replied: “Yeah but that seems
to be the way it is over here. I tried to force the fight the whole
way through and thought I had won clear but in the end I did not get
the decision.

“Maybe I would have had to stop him in the early rounds. He didn’t
seem very confident about his win and if I had gotten the decision
he could not argue about it. That is just the way it is.”

Eastman felt just as aggrieved as up-and-coming Abraham scored a
unanimous – and probably justified – points victory following a
dirty brawl.

“This is like daylight robbery,” a defiant Eastman told PA
International after a 119-110, 116-112 and 115-113 verdict.

“It is ridiculous and a shame to professional fighting. The officials
at ringside were watching a different fight. I really don’t understand
the scoring. It’s like you have to be a German to win decisions here
or you have to kill the guy.”

Abraham got the better of his opponent throughout the full 12 rounds,
landing the more and especially the cleaner shots. To the surprise
of many at ringside, Eastman somehow survived all of the Ukrainian’s
vicious shots to head and body.

“He is raw and strong but not in my league,” Eastman said. “I want
a rematch in London.”

It was not before seconds out in the third round that Abraham picked up
speed. He connected with a fast combination to the head but whenever
in trouble Eastman made good use of his ring smartness to either duck
or clinch into safety.

Abraham looked in complete control during the middle of the fight,
although the Briton was there to connect with occasional counter
punches or combinations of his own.

The Armenian dominated the last third of the fight, which saw several
toe-to-toe exchanges, by continuously attacking the 34-year-old with
thunderous combinations.

“He never hurt me. No fighter has ever hurt me in my life,” Eastman
vowed after only the third loss in his career. “It have always been
the judges who hurt me with wrong decisions at the wrong time.

“I did enough to win the fight. He might be strong and raw but he
is not in my league. In boxing not everything goes according to plan
and this has been a very tricky situation.

“The judges here in Germany are from a different planet.”

Russian tanks detained in Georgia

Agence France Presse — English
July 16, 2005 Saturday 5:14 AM GMT

TBILISI July 16 — Georgia has detained two tanks from Russia’s
military base in Batumi for holding maneuvers on the nearby target
range without prior notification, defense ministry officials said.

“We have detained two T-71 tanks which had illegally left their
location, Russia’s 12th base, and held training maneuvers on the
Gonio range, the fact of which maneuvers had been confirmed by the
Russian base’s military chiefs,” defense and foreign ministries said
in a joint statement late Friday.

“Even though Russia’s tank divisions are not forbidden to hold
small-scale maneuvers in Gonio, the Georgian side must be informed
in advance of such,” the statement read, adding that Russians had
also violated the ban on shooting from heavy and light guns during
the tourist season.

However, the Russian base’s representative Vladimir Kuparadze denied
knowledge of any such accords, saying that “we had neither oral nor
written agreements on these issues, and we plan to call on Russian
command to adequately react to this illegal action by Georgian
military.”

Moscow and Tbilisi agreed on May 30 the approximately 3,000 servicemen
on the two bases — one in Akhalkalaki, near the Georgian-Armenian
border, the other in Batumi, on the Black Sea coast — would be put
on withdrawal status and would pullout totally by the end of 2008.

Frankfurter Rundschau
16. Juli 2005

Turkei ;
Chefhistoriker leugnet Genozid an Armeniern.

AGENTUR

Berlin · 15. Juli · epd · Der Leiter der turkischen
Historiker-Kommission zur Untersuchung des Völkermords an den
Armeniern 1915/16, Hikmet Ozdemir, hat den Genozid geleugnet.

Das Gegenteil sei richtig, sagte Ozdemir der Zeitung Die Welt. Die
Armenier hätten gegen die Turken gekämpft und eine halbe Million
Turken umgebracht. Wenn es ein Dokument gebe, aus dem hervorgehe,
dass die Regierung des Osmanischen Reiches die Vernichtung der
Armenier beabsichtigt habe, dann werde er das akzeptieren, so der
Leiter der Kommission, die die turkische Regierung einsetzte.
Ozdemir sagte, die Deportationen der Armenier seien aus
militärischen Grunden notwendig gewesen. Dass viele gestorben
seien, sei Folge der Kriegswirren und der Witterung gewesen.

Fur Historiker ist unumstritten, dass die damalige Regierung die
Vertreibung und Ausrottung der Armenier im Osmanischen Reich
anordnete. Mehr als eine Million Armenier wurden Opfer des Genozids
während des Ersten Weltkriegs. Dokumente belegen die Ereignisse. Der
Bundestag verurteilte kurzlich den Völkermord.

–Boundary_(ID_agzSVprHv6/FnlX1GaoTbQ)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress