United: From Fair to Middling

Team’s First Half Marked by Injuries, Shuffling of Lineup, Lack of Scoring

Washington Post
Friday, July 15, 2005; E03

By Steven Goff, Washington Post Staff Writer

At the midway point of the MLS season, D.C. United isn’t much different
than it was last year: a .500 record, fickle scoring efficiency,
a revolving lineup and a promising teenager aching for playing time.

The biggest difference, however, is a shift in expectation.

Last year, coming off four losing seasons, United’s goal was to
return to respectability. However, winning the league title with a
torrid three months of soccer fueled the promise of a fast start this
season. It didn’t happen and, with a 6-6-4 record and a fifth-place
standing in the six-team Eastern Conference, United’s fans are
beginning to express disappointment and concern.

Here’s a breakdown of United’s first-half failures:

· Biggest Disappointment: Alecko Eskandarian. What has happened to
United’s emerging striker? He led the team in goals a year ago and was
named the MLS Cup most valuable player, launching himself into U.S.
national team contention and becoming a favorite to win the 2005 MLS
scoring title. But knee and quadriceps injuries hampered him early in
the season, and when scoring opportunities did emerge, he failed —
12 appearances, 661 minutes, 0 goals, 1 assist. The latest setback
is post-concussion syndrome.

Forwards: C-

Eskandarian isn’t scoring. Jaime Moreno has maintained his creative
flair, but five of his team-high seven goals have come on penalty
kicks. Adu has shown occasional flashes of brilliance when he’s played
up front. Santino Quaranta was just starting to come around when he
got called up to the national team. Nana Kuffour is raw. Jamil Walker
has been a disappointment, although a three-goal performance Monday
against minor league Rochester (N.Y.) helped his fading cause.

· Outlook: It’s looking as though New England and Chicago will
battle for first place in the East and Columbus will finish last,
leaving D.C., Kansas City and New York/New Jersey to scramble for the
final two playoff spots. United is about to enter a crucial stretch:
vs. San Jose (unbeaten in seven straight), at Kansas City (where
D.C. hasn’t won in four years), at Los Angeles (undefeated at home)
and at Chicago (7-2-1 at home). If that weren’t enough, jammed into
the schedule is a July 28 exhibition against one of the best teams
in the world, English champion Chelsea.

United Notes: Near the end of practice yesterday, Eskandarian was
awaiting crosses in the penalty area when a high ball approached him.

“No headers!” he yelled at the passer.

It’s not a normal response from a usually fearless striker, but
Eskandarian has still not fully recovered from the concussion he
suffered June 18 — an injury that might sideline him for a fourth
straight match tonight when United faces surging San Jose at RFK.

“I tried a couple headers [Wednesday] and it probably wasn’t the
smartest thing to do,” he said. “So I told the guys not to give me
any headers [yesterday] because I don’t want any more headaches. If
I’m going to head the ball, I might as well wait until [tonight]
and worry about the headaches after the game.”

Said Coach Peter Nowak: “We need to be very, very careful. We don’t
want to be in a situation where [Eskandarian plays and] we regret
the decision.”

Meantime, Moreno remains questionable after missing last weekend’s
match against Kansas City with an ankle injury. Moreno, the team’s
scoring leader with seven goals and four assists, participated in
full workouts yesterday.

“I want to play, but at the same time,” he said, “I don’t want to
cause some other problem.” . . .

Gomez was named one of seven reserves on the MLS all-star team,
which will face English club Fulham on July 30 in Columbus, Ohio.

–Boundary_(ID_AAqVf9QSn5/IsObznUblFg)–

ARMENIAN INVESTMENTS GUIDE PUBLISHED

YEREVAN, JULY 15. ARMINFO. Armenian Investments Guide was published
this year. The main objective of the guide is to fill up the
information gap, which somewhat repels foreign investors from Armenia.

As Project Director Narine Melikyan informed ARMINFO, this handbook
contains detailed and objective information on investment climate
and its procedures in Armenia. The handbook includes general economic
characteristics, macroeconomic indices, peculiarities of the economic
policy and information on enterprises of Armenia with the share
of foreign capital. The sections of the book contain information
on the starting a business in Armenia, on tax and customs systems,
general types of tax regimes and procedures, as well as the process
of liquidation of enterprises. The guide is published in 1,500 copies
in English and distributed in about 50 countries.

The project ha been financed by the Cambridge-Yerevan Sister City
Association and the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational
and Cultural Affairs.

ISSUES ON PROVIDING EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS AND REFUGEES WITH HABITATION
ARE DISCUSSED AT ARMENIA’s GOVERNMENT

YEREVAN, JULY 15. ARMINFO. Issues on providing both earthquake victims
and refugees with habitation were discussed at today’s meeting of
Armenia’s Territorial Administration and Infrastructures’ Activity
Coordination Minister Hovik Abrahamyan.

The press-release of Armenia’s government received by ARMINFO says
that problems of providing residents of Lori and Shirak regions
with habitation, as well as the realization process of the Program
on first-priority providing refugees from Azerbaijan (emigrated in
1988-1992) with habitation have been considered there.

Y. MERZLYAKOV: ARMENIAN AND AZERI PRESIDENTS TO MEET IN KAZAN LATE
AUGUST

YEREVAN, JULY 15. ARMINFO. Armenian and Azeri presidents Robert
Kocharyan and Ilham Aliev will meet in August, 2005, the OSCE MG
Russian co-chair Yury Merzlyakov informed at today’s press-conference
in Yerevan, speaking on behalf of co-chairs with a short statement.

“The main result of this visit is that we can announce you about the
meeting of Armenian and Azeri presidents in Kazan in late August,
during the Council of CIS-countries’ presidents”, he said. Merzlyakov
also informed that the meeting of Armenian and Azeri foreign ministers
Vardan Oskanyan and Elmar Mamedyarov will take place shortly before
presidents’ meeting, probably on Aug 23.

CITIZENS OF ARMENIA WASTE ABOUT $400 MLN PER YEAR FOR BRIBE

YEREVAN, JULY 15. ARMINFO. According to the data of European experts,
in developed industrial countries about 1-2% of the citizens solve
their problems by means of bribes, in Russia – 20%, in African
countries – 50-60%, in Armenia – about 40%.

Nongovernmental organizations and human rights defenders of Armenia
discussed Friday the spread of bribery in Armenia and possible
mechanisms on fight against corruption. Armen Ayvazian, Head of the
group on fight against corruption, a part of the Center for assistance
to the fight against terrorism, thinks that total amount of bribes
in Armenia is about $400 mln per year, and the total turnover from
corrupted revenues is several times higher. According to Ayvazian,
the fight against corruption should mean adoption of special laws,
elaboration of mechanisms of fight, presence of will of ruling circles,
society. “The international experience of fight against corruption
shows that rather the will of the leadership of the country than the
form of state government is the key factor”, Ayvazian said.

At the same time the reporters stressed the necessity of ensuring
transparency of the activities of the officials. “Only the transparency
may stop the mass abuses when conducting tenders”, representative of
the Humanitarian Research Center Lawyer Edward Mamikonian said.

ARMENFILM PUT UP FOR OPEN SALE AT INITIAL PRICE OF $620,000

YEREVAN, JULY 15. ARMINFO. The Hamo Beknazaryan Armenfilm company
has been put up for open sale at the initial price of 266.968 mln AM
($620,000), reports the press service of Armenia’s State Property
Department.

On sale are the company’s assets and facilities 24,200 sq m with 32.69
h land to be leased to the owner for 50 years. The fixed assets of
the company are estimated at 244.413 mln AMD ($568,000). The owner
will have to invest 30 bln AMD ($70 mln) in 10 years in technical
modernization, production, archive preservation and digitization.

In the first post-privatization year the owner will have to keep 300
workers paying them 50,000 ($116) at least. He will be allowed to
use the company’s logo for 50 years. The company will have to shoot
4 feature, 3 animation and 5 short films a year.

The bids have been received since June 9 to be promulgated Aug 9.

COORDINATED ELEMENT OF KARABAKH PROBLEM CONCERNS RETURN OF 5 DISTRICTS: BAKU MEDIA

YEREVAN, JULY 15. ARMINFO. The issue for returning to Azerbaijan 5
districts of the territories controlled by Nagorno Karabakh Republic
has been agreed on and will no longer be discussed by OSCE Minsk Group,
Day.az reports APA as learning from diplomatic sources.

When Russian OSCE MG co-chair Yuri Merzlyakov said that “only one
element of the peace talks has been agreed on” he meant the above
issue. In APA May 12 report the source says that Armenia has agreed
to withdraw its troops stage by stage from the areas around NKR.

The source says that “the plan of phased withdrawal of Armenian troops
from 7 territories of the occupation zone” was discussed during the
London meeting of the Azeri and Armenian FMs with OSCE MG. The plan
“5+1+1” envisages Armenian troops withdrawal first from Gubadli,
Zangilan, Fizuli, Jebrail and Agdam, then peace agreement conclusion
and then withdrawal from Kalbajar and later Lachin.

The source says that Azerbaijan insists that “unless after the
conclusion of the agreement the troops are withdrawn from the
territories according to the schedule the document will automatically
lose force.”

OSCE MG CO-CHAIRS KNOW NOTHING ABOUT FATE OF APPEAL OF ARMENIAN
SIDE ON CONDUCTING OSCE MISSION IN ARMENIAN TERRITORIES CONTROLLED
BY AZERBAIJAN

YEREVAN, JULY 15. ARMINFO. The OSCE MG co-chairs on Nagorno Karabakh
conflict settlement know nothing about the further fate of Armenian
party’s appeal on conducting the OSCE mission in Armenian territories
controlled by Azerbaijan.

Answering a question about Armenian party’s appeal’s fate at today’s
press-conference, the OSCE MG Russian co-chair Yury Merzlyakov noted
that co-chairs know that there was the proper appeal from Armenian
party there. “We have seen it and we were given an opportunity to
be acquainted with it”, concretized Merzlyakov adding that they were
not informed about further steps. At the same time, he reminded about
a consensus principle acting in the OSCE according to which if even
one party opposes, the offer is deviated.

To remind, in winter 2005 the same mission was conducted in territories
controlled by NKR upon the request of Azeri party.

PRESS RELEASE

Armenian National Committee
San Francisco – Bay Area
51 Commonwealth Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94118
Tel: (415) 387-3433
Fax: (415) 751-0617
[email protected]

Contact: Roxanne Makasdjian (415) 641-0525

TURKISH PRIME MINISTER DEFENDS TURKEY IN SAN FRANCISCO
“Our ancestors could never have done anything like that”

San Francisco, July 7, 2005 – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan
was the guest speaker at a late-breaking World Affairs Council
program at the Fairmont Hotel. Erdogan spoke for about an hour,
addressing issues including recognition of the Armenian Genocide
and relations with Armenia, his country’s attempt to become more
democratic and accession to the European Union, the fight against
terrorism, Turkey’s alliances with the West, relations with Greece,
Cyprus and the island’s inclusion in the EU.

Among the approximately 350 people in attendance were representatives
from various countries’ embassies, Turkish government officials,
a large number of Turkish residents of the Bay Area, and others.
Armenian-Americans greeted attendees at the Fairmont Hotel with
informational flyers and picket signs outlining Erdogan’s recently
amplified denial of the Armenian Genocide. Armenian-Americans also
attended Erdogan’s speech, submitting questions to him about Armenian
Genocide recognition and Turkey’s ongoing record of human and civil
rights abuses.

Speaking through an interpreter, the Turkish Prime Minister
spoke for several minutes about the Armenian Case. He derided the
Armenian-American community for “always creating lobbies,” which he
said didn’t achieve anything, and said Armenian-Americans should stop
bringing up the issue, calling on the U.S. to help build “constructive
relationships” between the two countries.

Labelling the Armenian Genocide “unfounded propaganda,” Erdogan
remarked on resolutions passed by various nations recognizing the
Armenian Genocide. “Irrelevent countries and people are taking
decisions… I don’t really care,” he said.

“We have no feelings of hostility in ourselves,” said Erdogan, pointing
to Turkey’s opening of cargo flights to Armenia, and its step towards
reconstructing the Akhtamar church. He said his government has even
asked Armenia to provide an architect for the project, to avoid
accusations that it would be rebuilt incorrectly. Armenian-Americans
in the audience grumbled aloud at the sad irony of so many of their
historic churches having been intentionally destroyed, used as death
chambers for their ancestors during the Genocide, and as barns today.

Touching on Karabagh, Erdogan neglected to describe the origins of
the war over the Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan, saying the Council of
Europe had declared Armenians in Karabagh as the aggressors in the war.

Audience questions were submitted on index cards to the moderator, who
said hundreds of questions had been submitted and she grouped them into
categories: developments in the region/Iraq; domestic situation/economy
& religion; entry into EU; and relations with Armenia.

After lengthy answers to each, Erdogan remarked on the prospect of
Armenian Genocide recognition posing a problem for Turkey’s accession
to the EU. The Prime Minister said there was no Armenian clause in
the recent Copenhagan agreement on requirements for EU admission,
and that Europe should not add more criteria. “That phase is over.”

Erdogan received loud applause when he said, “If we need to face our
own history, we will face our own history.” He then received boos
when he added, “But we’re very proud and confident… Our ancestors
could never have done anything like that.”

Erdogan said he suggested to Armenian president Robert Kocharian
that historians and “scientists” of law and archives should bring
their findings, and then politicians should discuss it and come to
a decision. This statement also garnered strong applause.

Erdogan also spoke broadly about his government’s efforts to stem
corruption and fraud among officials, as well as the growth of Turkish
trade, tourism, and per capita income.

—
Armenian National Committee
San Francisco – Bay Area
51 Commonwealth Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94118
Tel: (415) 387-3433
Fax: (415) 751-0617

Yakov Davtyan – the Spy and the Ambassador
By Pavel Simonov, AIA Russian section

Axis Information and Analysis
30.06.2005

Yakov Davtyan (1888 – 1938) was one of the prominent representatives
of Soviet diplomacy and the intelligence community during the initial
stages of the history of the USSR. Beginning in autumn 1927 up to
the end of 1929 he served as the ambassador to Persia.

Armenian by origin, Davtyan was born in the Nakhichevan area (today
a part of Azerbaijan, that borders with Armenia and Iran).

Yakov’s father was a simple peasant. He died when his son was two
years old. Later Yakov’s mother sent him to live with his brother in
Tiflis (Modern Tbilisi – the capital of Georgia). Yakov studied in the
gymnasium there and joined the Bolshevik Party. Upon his graduation he
moved to the then capital of the Russian empire – Saint Petersburg. In
his new home Davtyan actively participated in the illegal propaganda
activity of the Bolsheviks, especially among the military. At the
end of 1907 the police arrested him for this activity. Some months
later he was released and left for Belgium. There he acquired higher
education in engineering, simultaneously participating in the activity
of the Belgian Socialist Party. In Belgium Davtyan got acquainted
with Inessa Armand – the mistress of the leader of the Bolsheviks,
Vladimir Lenin. After the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 Armand promoted
Davtyan’s career.

When WW I started and Belgium was occupied by the German armies (1915),
Davtyan was arrested as a citizen of a hostile state (Russia was at
war with Germany). He was imprisoned for almost three years, most of
which he spent in a maximum-security camp and another eight months in
solitary confinement. In August 1918 the Germans released Davtyan at
the request of the Soviet authorities. By this time the civil war in
Russia between supporters and opponents of communism was raging. For
the next year and a half Davtyan carried out various special tasks
of the Bolshevik leadership in the Ukraine and the Caucasus.

In the Diplomatic Service

In March 1920 Yakov Davtyan started working in the Foreign Policy
Department. His first foreign business trip in his new position
was to Estonia, where he was appointed to be the first secretary of
the Soviet embassy. Later, Davtyan was the adviser and head of the
diplomatic missions of Soviet Russia in Lithuania (02-09.1922), China
(10.1922-04.1924), France (05.1925-09.1927), Persia (10.1927-12.1929),
Greece (04.1932-02.1934), and Poland (04.1934-10.1937).

In the early stages of his diplomatic career, Yakov Davtyan was
under the patronage of his fellow tribesmen, Lion Karahanyan (Deputy
Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1918-20), and Inessa Armand (she died
in September 1920).

The Founder of Intelligence

Yakov Davtyan was the founder and the first head of the Soviet
external intelligence – predecessor of the modern Service of External
Intelligence of Russia (SVR).

In December 1920, within the framework of the first secret service of
the Soviet regime (the All-Russia extraordinary commission – VChK)
the Department of External Intelligence was formed. It was named
“The Foreign Department ” (INO VChK). Following the recommendation
of Inessa Armand, Yakov Davtyan was chosen as the head of this new
division. He held this post for two periods of time: from December 1920
until January 1921 and again from April until August 1921. Davtyan
prepared the first documents defining the rules and methods of the
activity of the Soviet External Intelligence. He also defined its
structure and hired the first employees.

Consequently, when he came back to serve in the diplomatic department,
Davtyan continued to cooperate closely with the intelligence
services. Being in China as an adviser, and later as an ambassador
he likewise supervised the Soviet intelligence’s fixed-post spies in
all of the Far Eastern countries.

The Execution

At the end of the 1930s a mass wave of state terror started in the
Soviet Union, and millions of people became its victims. In particular,
the best representatives of army command, heads of intelligence and
leading diplomats were killed. In October 1937, Yakov Davtyan was
recalled from Warsaw where he headed the Soviet embassy. The following
month he was arrested. False charges were brought against Davtyan,
claiming his connection with Polish intelligence and establishment
of an “anti-soviet terrorist organization”. On July 28, 1938 Yakov
Davtyan was executed by shooting.