Road to revolution
PhD? I’d rather be a terrorist
by Philip Marsden

The Times (London)
Weekend Review, Saturday March 12, 2005

>>From Berkeley graduate to Armenian freedom fighter is a small step
when history is on your side

I was too late. He was already dead. It was the summer of 1993 and I
had come to the Armenian front line to interview Monte Melkonian. But
a week or so earlier he had been caught in a skirmish near Agdam
and died instantly from a shrapnel wound. At his headquarters, his
men were in shock. In the canteen I sat down next to his aide. “Not
there,” he said reverently, “that was Monte.s place.”

During the previous four years Melkonian had become a legendary
commander in the Armenians’ post-Soviet war with the Azeris. What
interested me about him was that, unlike the 4,000 fighters he
commanded, he had not lived for 70 years under Soviet rule. He was
from California, a third-generation Armenian, brought up in the most
liberal state in the Union.

In recent years our idea of political radicalism has been overshadowed
by the chilling logic of the suicide bomber. Even with the changes in
the Middle East, it is unlikely that the divisions and destitution
that breed such extremism will disappear overnight. Disenfranchised
in Iraq’s Sunni triangle or imprisoned in the hellish slums of Gaza,
those who strap explosives to their bodies or drive a four-wheel bomb
into a crowd have, by definition, nothing on this earth left to lose
but their lives.

But there have always been other radicals, those who do have a choice,
who are fewer in number but of much greater influence – those who
throw away privilege or a good education for the life of political
outlaw. Che Guevara swapped medical training for peasant-based
revolution and died for it. The maverick Marxist Carlos the Jackal
was born into a wealthy Venezuelan family but became an effective
KGB-trained killer. George Habash passed out top of his class in
paediatric medicine, but went underground to set up the guerrilla group
PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine). And how different
the world would look if Osama bin Laden, with a degree in civil
engineering, had accepted a steady job in the family’s property empire.

Monte Melkonian, too, had had professional options. In the late
1970s he graduated from Berkeley. He was a brilliant pupil who spoke
several languages. His thesis on Urartian rock-tombs attracted the
attention of Oxford University’s archaeology department and earned
him a place there to do his PhD. Instead he jumped on a plane for the
Middle East. There began a 15-year odyssey that ended, cheek-down,
on a dusty road in Armenian-occupied Azerbaijan.

Melkonian’s career also reveals the profound shift in radical
ideology – from revolutionary Marxism to nationalism, from the
invocation of class struggle to the invocation of history or God. Like
post-modernists everywhere, freedom fighters have rediscovered the
power of tradition.

In My Brother.s Road, Melkonian’s elder sibling charts Monte’s bloody
passage through this period. He began as an agitator, organising
strikes in Iran to help to topple the Shah. He then travelled north
to Iranian Kurdistan and witnessed the disciplined Kurdish peshmerga
rebels. But it was in the large Armenian quarter of Beirut that
his involvement began to shift away from internationalism: in the
free-for-all of the Lebanese civil war he first took up arms to defend
his fellow Armenians.

I first heard about Melkonian in Beirut in the winter of 1991. The
stories of his years there in the late 1970s seemed redolent of that
era, a time of flared hipsters, radical chic, Patti Hearst and the
Baader-Meinhof Gang. Gradually, Melkonian was being pulled towards
a more particular cause, the one that haunts all Armenians. In 1915
decades of persecution had ended with the entire Armenian population
of eastern Turkey being deported or murdered. More than a million
died. Many of Melkonian.s family were refugees from this time. It was
a wound that did not heal with the passing years. In fact, faced by
Turkish denial that it happened at all, resentment grew more intense.

During the 1980s, living the life of a tramp guerrilla, Melkonian wrote
many articles and monographs. In these you can sense his ideology
coming into conflict with a growing nationalism. With ever greater
difficulty, he squeezed the Armenian question into the context of
left-wing orthodoxy, believing for instance that Armenia.s independence
from the Soviet Union would be a terrible error.

Meanwhile, amid the anarchy of warring Lebanon, Melkonian.s
actions grew increasingly militant. He learnt to use aliases, false
passports and a spectacular range of weapons. He crossed the path
of Abu Nidal and Black September. He attended the joint training
camps of the Bekaa Valley where the region’s dispossessed – Kurds,
Palestinians and Armenians – wriggled under barbed wire and dreamt
of killing Turks and Israelis. In time Melkonian became involved with
the vicious Armenian terrorist group ASALA (Armenian Secret Army for
the Liberation of Armenia). He set off a bomb in Milan. In Athens he
leant into the car of a Turkish diplomat and shot him and, by mistake,
his 14-year-old daughter (this was to become his greatest regret). He
trained the Armenians who occupied the Turkish Embassy in Paris.

In the late 1980s, the Soviet Union was collapsing and the Armenians
and Azeris of the south Caucasus were unpacking decades of mutual
animosity. War was breaking out over the mountainous region of
Karabakh and Melkonian travelled to Soviet Armenia for the first
time. There he was confronted with the reality of failed socialism. In
the mountains, Armenian villagers took up hunting rifles to defend
their homes and attack their Azeri neighbours. By the end of 1991,
the hunting rifles were being replaced with heavier weapons as a
full-scale war erupted, the first in a pattern of post-Soviet wars
in the Caucasus and the Balkans.

Melkonian found his guerrilla training invaluable. In lecturing
his fighters on the wider context of the fighting he turned not to
ideology but to history. “Lose Karabakh,” he said, “and you will be
turning the last page of Armenian history.” He feared that, squeezed
between Turkey and Turkic Azerbaijan, Armenians would be driven from
their last pieces of territory and the work of 1915 would be completed.

His drawing on the grievances of the past was finding echoes throughout
the old Soviet bloc and in the Middle East. In the north Caucasus in
the 1990s, the Chechen leader Dzhokhar Dudayev was stirring his people
with talk of the “300-year war with the Russians”, a war that began
when Peter the Great landed in Dagestan in the 18th century. Milosevic
had already woken the Serbs by invoking the Battle of Kosovo Polje
600 years earlier.

More recently, bin Laden has talked of the Crusades as having never
ended while in Israel the old Zionism of kibbutzes and secularism has
been eclipsed by the militant Jewish settlers of the West Bank. They,
too, have a loss to correct, referring to the lands of Israel and
Judah in the Time of the Kings, a full 3,000 years ago.

My Brother’s Road; An American.s Fateful Journey to Armenia by Markar
Melkonian (IB Tauris, 18.95)

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
March 12 2005

INTERVIEW OF THE PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN ILHAM ALIYEV TO JOURNALISTS
AFTER THE CEREMONY DEVOTED TO 13TH ANNIVERSARY OF CREATION OF
INTERNAL TROOPS OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS
[March 12, 2005, 22:22:00]

Q.: Mr. President, the first question is connected to the incident
marked by you. It has caused a loud resonance in the society. Whether
there will be put an end to this investigation, whether the
management of the Ministry of Internal Affairs has played this or
that role in the occident and what destiny of the management of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs will be after that incidents?

A.: Last incident, which has happened on February 10, certainly, has
very much disturbed all of us, as it was not the first case.
Certainly, have been given strict instructions on serious
investigation of the question. Unfortunately, till now the inquiries
connected to similar questions, the carried out search actions
remained ineffectual. Therefore, I have made the decision to assign
the given question to the Ministry of National Security. Though it
does not enter into their direct functions. Investigation and all
action had strictly confidential character, and this big criminal
group has been exposed. It has been informed. You, probably, saw and
read. Now, there is an investigation. I would not like for to
outstrip for it. All will be found out. The fact of abduction of 9
person and 3 murders is already opened. These events have caused very
loud resonance in Azerbaijan, in the society, and long years remained
unrevealed. All of us were concerned as our main task consists in
that people lived easy. I know that after these events in the society
there was a certain concern. Some people strongly worried, and it is
natural. All have family, children, and wives. I think, that in the
modern history of Azerbaijan this operation is the most significant
and is our success. The Azerbaijan state has shown the force, this
criminal group has been neutralized and done responsible.

In the statement I have noted, that it is entrusted to Minister of
Internal Affairs that the ministry has carried out internal
investigation. Simultaneously, investigation is carried out by both
Office of Public Prosecutor, and by each person involved in the
crime, will be done responsible. The point is as about criminal, and
the administrative responsibility. Everyone who is involved in this
crime will be done responsible; other measures will be accepted also.

Q.: Mr. President, you have noted, that the some people try to take
advantage from the incident and to undermine the Ministry of Internal
Affairs. What measures will be accepted that it has not received
wider scope? In fact, this campaign can be directed on blacking,
declination of surnames of the management of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs.

A.: For this reason I have told, that we should not admit this
campaign. Certainly, it is very sad fact and as I have told, a big
stain, the Ministry of Internal Affairs should wash off this stain
and to take serious corrective measures. This person worked in the
given organization more than 10 years, how could it happen, what
employees working with him have not replaced all it? How could it
happen, what the criminal group made these acts within 10 years? Why?
Because, probably, it was sure that these crimes will stay
unrevealed. Probably, it was sure in the impunity. Therefore,
certainly, the point is on the responsibility, and each person should
realize the responsibility. At the same time, we in any way do not
allow generalization of the given question and carrying out of
campaign against Minister of Internal Affairs.

In the statement I have noted, I want to repeat, that the Ministry of
Internal Affairs has done huge work on protection of social order in
Azerbaijan, in fighting criminality. We cannot deny it, and one case
should not cross out all the done work. All should be on justice, and
I am the supporter of justice. All guilty will be done responsible.

Q.: Mr. President, what will face Ramil Usubov? The media says that
you will send him to resignation.

A.: I do not know, what media has written that. It is my competence,
my business, and I have no such idea. I repeat, that the incident
should not create public excitement. Nobody should use it for the
sake of political campaign.

You know, unfortunately, the cases, which have occurred in
Azerbaijan, some murders, certain dirty forces turn it to campaign on
maintenance of the interests. Pay attention, as far as some political
forces in connection with murder of Elmar Huseynov accomplish immoral
acts. And again should not be admitted any campaign. Keeping Ramil
Usubov on work or his displacement is my competence, and the happened
should not play any role. As a whole, I am pleased with work of Ramil
Usubov. Such events can take place. He does not bear the
responsibility for each employee. Therefore, do not pay attention to
the similar materials published in press.

Q.: Mr. President, there is such opinion, that, as a whole, – in
Georgia the given variant was used, henceforth, activity of the
Ministry of Internal Affairs as useful structure, can appear under
doubt. Whether the variant of association of the Ministry of National
Security and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and creation of uniform
structure is possible?

A.: No, I do not think at all of it. In the past, such practice in
Soviet Union took place, if I am not mistaken, in my opinion, in the
time of Khrushchev – but has not justified. I do not believe, that
this practice can justify itself. It is impossible to unite these two
ministries. As a whole, they have various functions. On the other
hand, messages of the various ministries represent great value and
for my work. That is I cannot receive the information only from one
source. Both of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministries
of National Security has its functions, and there cannot be merger of
these two ministries.

Q.: Mr. President, the government is going to undertake what new
steps in connection with obligations of Azerbaijan to the Council of
Europe?

A.: Obligations are carried out. As you know, in this direction,
great work has been done, and all obligations should be fulfilled. We
have accepted the obligation to perform it. But each obligation has
the term, time. They are in due time carried out. Somewhere, there is
a certain delay. That has objective reasons.

As you know, there is an obligation connected to creation of public
TV. It is created, and now the material questions are solved. Each
obligation should be fulfilled. Entering the Council of Europe,
Azerbaijan has accepted these obligations and will observe them.

Q.: Mr. President, yesterday in Parliament such ideas have sounded,
that behind many offensive places in Azerbaijan stand the chiefs of
police. You have told you gave instruction to Minister of Internal
Affairs. Whether there was an instruction on carrying out in
structure of the ministry of serious rearrangements, and whether
there is a version about this or that connection happened with murder
of Elmar Huseynov?

A.: You know, you say that the press writes so. Now, the Parliament.
Remember, both in press, and in the Parliament the opposition lifts
this question. Yesterday, at session of parliament the representative
of opposition has lifted this question. And you say that it was
lifted by parliament. Or the oppositional press, using it, writes the
materials, and you say that the press writes. It is not same. As a
whole, I repeat, that it is impossible to use such questions in
political ends.

Indecent places are contained with opposition. The opposition visits
these places and with a shame leaves there from. Recent events have
confirmed it. Therefore, it is not necessary to generalize the
question. Lacks of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and of all other
law enforcement bodies are available. Nobody denies it, and we know
it. It is necessary to combat these lacks. But in normal conditions
and in the normal order. I repeat, that I cannot admit any campaign.

The opposition has already lost all opportunities. For a long time
has lost trust of people. Barbarous actions after October elections
have reduced it. The have no any means for aggravation of situation.
There is one that in Azerbaijan there was any chaos, anarchy, any
unpleasant events, and they could criticize or accuse authority. And
it is impossible. Murder of Elmar Huseynov has once again shown their
immoral acts. Their unworthy statements have not caused in the
society any resonance. On the contrary, the uncooperative attitude
towards them in the society has amplified, as they began to speculate
with tragedy of the person, families. About what morals do you speak?

Therefore, I think, that we should not generalize this question.
Lacks are available in each organization, each establishment. The
strict instruction as soon as possible is given to investigate. And
not only on this incident. As a whole, in the Ministry of Internal
Affairs it is necessary to stop the negative facts, to take strict
measures, to make serious personnel rearrangements. Guilty employees,
the employees engaged in unworthy affairs, should be exposed and done
responsible.

As if to connection happened with murder of Elmar Huseynov, I can
tell nothing about it. While preliminary investigation has not
revealed any links. But investigation continues and in the near
future we shall see.

Q.: Mr. President how you regard infringement of the ceasefire
regime? Whether it can, as a whole, be reflected in process of
negotiations?

A.: I negatively estimate infringement of the ceasefire regime. You
will not receive another answer. Anyway, violation of ceasefire is
not the positive fact. In fact, as you know, the position of
Azerbaijan now became much stronger and if to compare, it is possible
to be convinced that we have achieved big successes in the cause of
settlement of the conflict. As diplomatic, political, and other
successes. Therefore, it is not favorable. It is provocation of the
Armenians. Probably, try to carry out in such way any purposes. We
are ready to this if they will disturb ceasefire, will go over to the
offensive, we shall give due repulse.

Q.: Mr. President, you undertake certain steps in connection with
creation of transparency in oil-and-gas, power sector. Gas has risen
in price. But in the country, there was a serious problem. That is
people do not have any maintenance, however, they are obliged to pay.
In this sphere, there are negative facts. In this connection,
managements of “Azerigas~T, “AZreenergy”, “Azersu” result the certain
examples, that supposedly means are not allocated, therefore, we
cannot make it. Whether entering by you into this business of any
innovations, changes are expected?

A.: First, means for them are allocated. It is allocated 30 billion
manat that due to these means to establish counters. Second, they
have also means. As you know, in connection with rise in prices will
grow also their incomes. It is their duty. As you know, “Azerigas”
receives at the State Oil Company free-of-charge gas, does not pay
for it. The oil Company receives gas from abroad and free-of-charge
transfers it to “Azerigas”. All this work should be done due to
internal opportunities of “Azergas”. I repeat, that Azerigas has
received 30 billion manat. Certainly, counters should be shortly
established, as people should know, for what they pay. Unfortunately,
we and in the past did not have counters. In spite of the fact that
they were in other republics of Soviet Union, in Russia, counters
everywhere have been established. In Azerbaijan, for some reason and
in the past this question has remained unresolved. Now, it is
necessary for us to correct position. This requires large means.
Nevertheless, I think, that solvent people should get counters. In
apartments of insolvent people, which do not have money, certainly,
counters will be established by state. But as it can be, that the man
of means who, for example, has bought in new buildings an apartment
for 100 thousand dollars, cannot get the counter. Let buy and
establish.

Q.: Mr. President, according to the Armenian sources, in the near
future is expected the next meeting of Presidents. Whether are
specified, as a whole, a place and date of this meeting?

A.: Offers on carrying out of the meeting are available. I do not
object, but on condition that the meeting will be devoted to the
certain theme. We already repeatedly met. It is possible to tell, all
questions have been discussed, and the positions are stated. In our
position, there cannot be any changes. On what compromise we can go,
what we have taken from them to return? Therefore, about mutual
compromises cannot be and speeches. It from the very beginning was
only the thesis, that supposedly the conflict should be settled on
the basis of mutual compromises. Someone has put forward it, and, as
they say, this thesis lived some time. I think, that we have nothing
to go on the compromise. The unique step is possible – I have not
named the compromise, – safety of living in Nagorno Karabakh of the
Armenians and Azerbaijanis who there will come back. On this, we, as
they say, can work, and here there are themes for negotiations. Any
other compromises are not present.

As to the meeting, probably, the meetings of Ministers of Foreign
Affairs should create ground for this purpose. If on these
negotiations, if Armenia will hold constructive position and, at
last, will understand, that the given question can find its solution
only on the basis of norms of international law, and the meeting of
Ministers of Foreign Affairs will be fruitful, in this case, possible
will be the meeting of Presidents.

Q.: Mr. President, in the US Congress, under the initiative of
congressmen in the center of attention will be the project about
promotion of democracy. It regard as process of distribution of
“velvet” revolutions, in particular, in the former Soviet republics.
Some political scientists assert, that the next revolution will take
place in Azerbaijan. Whether expects, as a whole, the President of
Azerbaijan such danger?

A.: You expect such danger?

Q.: I cannot answer.

A: You always refer to any political scientists. No, I do not expect
such danger. Azerbaijan cannot face such threat. Revolutions occur
where between the people and the authority exists a precipice,
mistrust when the authority is not supported. In Azerbaijan, the
situation completely is other. Pay attention to the interrogations
which have been carried out by opposition or any independent, if so,
it is possible to tell, foreign funds. Look at the rating of
authority, including the President. He is at the highest level. I
even can tell, that after presidential elections he has reached,
probably, the highest level. That is, I say it not to praise myself.
It is the truth. If you have not asked, I would not begin to speak
about this reality. Probably, to speak about it somehow it is not so
good, but it is true. The authority of Azerbaijan serves people. All
work done by us pursues one purpose: That our country became even
stronger, that rose the authority of Azerbaijan, that the conflict
with Armenia has been settled in our favor. And that we became even
stronger, and have strengthened our army, and have solved social
questions. In such conditions, revolutions, usually, do not occur.
Revolutions occur where the economic situation worsens, the social
status worsens, either the authority undertakes those or other steps,
which are negatively perceived by people. In Azerbaijan, anything
such is not present and will not be. I shall try and to work
henceforth so that people always supported me. Thanks.

presstelegram.com
Article Published: Friday, March 11, 2005 – 11:01:01 AM PST

Tongues tied to diversity

L.A. County has some of the most exotic languages in nation.

By Jason Kosareff
Staff writer

Looking for a conversation in Efik? How about Wu? Want to chat over
coffee in the language of Ladino or Frisian?

Good luck finding conversationalists in these exotic languages spoken
by less than 80 people each in Los Angeles County.

There are 135 languages spoken in the county, which ranks first in
the nation for diversity of tongues, according to a study released
this week.

While California has 11.97 percent of the American population, the
state has a majority of the country’s Armenian, Cantonese, Mandarin,
Samoan, Spanish and Tagalog speakers, according to the study by
the U.S. English Foundation, a Washington, D.C.,-based nonpartisan
interest group. A total of 207 languages were counted in the state.

Many of the languages are spoken in the Long Beach area, including
Khmer spoken by Cambodians, Tagalog spoken by Filipinos, and dialects
of India.

Using Census data, researchers counted 321 languages spoken across
the nation.

Rex Chang of Monterey Park speaks Hakka, the 108th most common language
in the county. For the Hakka, anyone who comes from somewhere else
is a part of their culture. They are a people fond of traveling and
the name Hakka simply means “guest,’ Chang said.

The Hakka diaspora reaches around the globe, Chang said. What keeps
everyone on the same page is the language, which originates from
China’s earliest dynasties in the Yellow River region.

“I don’t know about other families, but my family still forces everyone
to learn to speak Hakka,’ Chang said.

The most obscure language in the region is Pennsylvania Dutch, with
just 20 speakers, according to the study. Other exotic languages
include Cajun with 25 speakers, Hopi with 25 speakers, Palau with 30
speakers, while Keres, Ojibwa and Melanesian round out some of the
rarest of tongues here.

telegram.com
Saturday, March 12, 2005

Religion Digest

Annual Lenten dinner at Armenian church

WORCESTER – The Nor Serunt of the Armenian Congregational Church of the
Martyrs, 22 Ormond St., will present the church’s annual Lenten dinner at 1
p.m. tomorrow in the church. The menu will feature traditional Armenian
Lenten dishes, including Vospov Kheyma, a lentil and bulghur patty, and
Yalanchi, grape leaves stuffed with rice. Tickets, to be sold at the door,
cost $10 for adults and $5 for children. For reservations, call Crystal at
(508) 792-2539.

Christian music artist to perform in Hudson

HUDSON – Nancy Tutunjian of Watertown will perform at 7 p.m. March 19 at The
Higher Ground Coffee House in First United Methodist Church, 34 Felton St.
She has been writing and recording contemporary Christian music for 15
years. A donation will be collected at intermission.

Turkish poll shows support for US president at below 1 per cent

TRT 1 television, Ankara
11 Mar 05

The view that anti-Americanism is spreading in Turkey has been on the
agenda lately. Even if the voices coming from the US side say the
opposite, a survey conducted by the International Strategic Research
Organization reveals that a majority of the Turkish people define the
United States as an ally. The survey also shows that the Turkish
people’s views on the United States are directly related to the
policies of the US administration.

The survey was conducted on 1,250 persons in four large cities of
Turkey from 10 February to 1 March. The questions were on Turkish-US
relations. Accordingly, 74 per cent of those polled said Turkey and
the United States were allies, and only 6 per cent considered the
United States an enemy. Some 74 per cent listed the existence of the
terrorist PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party] in northern Iraq as the
primary problem between Turkey and the United States. Nine per cent
said the US policy regarding the Kurds was the primary problem, and 3
per cent said the Armenian question was the main problem.

Fifty-eight per cent of those polled said they were not enemies of
the United States, while 16 per cent said they were. Some 12 per cent
said they were partial enemies of the United States, which raises to
28 per cent the ratio of those who felt hostility towards the United
States. Fourteen per cent replied that they did not know.

What lies beneath this growing anti-Americanism? A large majority of
the Turkish people do not approve of the policies of George Bush.
Less than one per cent support Bush. On the other hand, 49 per cent
said that they used to support Clinton’s policies when he was
president. This shows that the Turkish people’s views on the United
States are directly related to the US administrations’ policies.

Friday, 11 March, 2005, 18:34 GMT

Kasparov: King who reigned supreme

By Finlo Rohrer
BBC News

Those who meet Kasparov are struck by his intensity

Garry Kasparov’s retirement at the age of 41 brings to an end 20 years of
domination of the world of chess.

In the black-and-white world of chess, Kasparov is regarded by many as the
greatest.

There are those who are drawn to the flashes of brilliance of the eccentric
former US world champion Bobby Fischer, but Kasparov’s relentless two-decade
crushing of the opposition has left most chess aficionados awed.

Like a Schumacher or a Sampras, the genius from Baku has an aura of
invincibility that will live long in the memory.

He may have lost his championship to the younger Russian Vladimir Kramnik in
2000, but he is retiring as the undisputed world number one.

English grandmaster and Sunday Telegraph chess columnist Nigel Short is one
of those who has been on the wrong end of Kasparov’s brilliance, losing their
world championship clash in 1993.

He is just a giant figure in chess – it is the passing of an era

Nigel Short

Speaking from his Athens home, he told BBC News that facing Kasparov across a
chess board was a uniquely formidable prospect.

“He is one of the very few opponents I’ve been afraid to play. I can play a
guy like [world number two Viswanathan] Anand and I respect him greatly, I’ve
huge admiration, but I’m not afraid of him.

“I think [Kasparov’s] greatest strength was the moves on the board but there
was this physical presence when you played him, you felt this aggression.

“It is sad. In a way it is quite emotional. He is just a giant figure in
chess. It is the passing of an era.”

Kasparov’s frustration

Much of the motivation for his retirement seems to stem from a desire to get
away from the frustrating “politics” of world chess and spend more time with
his real political interest, toppling Russian President Vladimir Putin.

When Kasparov spoke exclusively to the BBC News website on a trip to London
in January, he was full of frustration at the cancellation of a championship
match with Uzbek star Rustam Kasimdzhanov in Dubai.

He was candid about his disillusionment with efforts to organise a match with
Kramnik, and about his feeling that he had achieved everything as a player
and was now becoming a historian of the game.

Nigel Short has been on the receiving end of Kasparov’s genius

He said: “I don’t care. I no longer have the same passion for playing the
world championship.”

It is Kasparov’s consistency, since his triumph over Anatoly Karpov in 1985
to claim the world championship, that marks him out as the greatest.

“Fischer stopped playing tournament chess at 29, Kasparov is 42 next month
and he has gone on and he has won again and again and that is why he is really
great,” Short concluded.

“The Karpov match was an almighty struggle. He has more or less been on top
ever since then, awesome.”

Those who meet Kasparov are struck by his extraordinary energy and his
intensity, and his play is equally affecting.

Writing praise

To Raymond Keene, English grandmaster and chess correspondent for the Times,
Kasparov’s play is “very dynamic, active, highly tactical and ambitious,
clearly the best player the world has ever seen”.

“Even in retirement many will still see him as the king across the water.

“The world champion is Kramnik, but he will never replace Kasparov.”

He is fed up with the world championship, with the idiots in charge of it

Malcolm Pein
Chess writer and master

And for Keene, Kasparov’s writing on the game, and particularly his recent
series on the world champions, My Great Predecessors, are a considerable
achievement.

“His books on the previous champions are a milestone in chess writing. It is
rather as if Michelangelo had produced a treatise on Da Vinci.

“You don’t often get one great genius agreeing to evaluate the achievements
of another.”

Those looking back on Kasparov’s career will see many guises, the young star
setting himself against the Soviet establishment in the 1980s, the
all-conquering champion, and the anti-Putin firebrand.

That he is a complex character, few doubt.

Chess writer and master Malcolm Pein said: “He is a man with a mission. He
doesn’t take kindly to people who waste his time or say things that don’t make
any sense. He uses every minute of the day.

“He is fed up with the world championship, with the idiots in charge of it.”

Great genius

And Short adds: “I’ve had ups and downs with Gary. At one time I didn’t like
him at all, he is a flawed character, but we all are.

“When he is doing things I think of him as a great genius but sometimes he
behaves in an annoying or childish way. I very rarely have no opinion – I tend
to have strong opinions for him or against him.

“When I saw him last he was very happy to chat and very affable, a familiar
figure in a changing chess world.”

Like retired boxers, always surrounded by rumours of a return, there will be
many, not least Fide officials missing their most bankable star, who will long
for Kasparov to change his mind.

But old adversary Short is not sure.

“I suspect that is it. But he is the greatest player of all time.”

TOP EUROPE STORIES NOW

RUSSIA IS READY TO CLOSE RUSSIAN MILITARY BASES IN AKHALQALAK AND
BATUMI IN 3-4 YEARS

Azg/arm
12 March 05

According to BBC, the representatives of RF Defense Ministry,
stated that they are ready to withdraw the Russian military base 62
in Akhalqalak and 12 in Batumi from the territory of Georgia. Moscow
has been stating that at least 11 years are needed for that. “3-4
years are the minimal deadline,” Anatoli Mazurkevich, RF Defence
Ministry’s high-ranking official, told Interfax.

Referring to a high ranked official of RF Defence Ministry, Novosti
agency informed that the two Russian military bases will be withdrawn
from Georgia, when “new highland gunnery detachments are formed in the
Caucasus. “We can’t be present in Russia forever. We will leave for
Caucasus, where highland gunnery detachments are being formed. Their
formation will be though in 3-4 years,” the official said.

YEGHISHE CHARENTS 108TH BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY TO BE CELEBRATED ON
MARCH 13

YEREVAN, MARCH 11, NOYAN TAPAN. March 13 is Yeghishe Charents’s 108th
birthday. As every year, representatives of the intelligentsia,
students and schoolchildren will visit the memorial complex of
the great poet where Charents’s readings are to be held. As Lilit
Hakobian, the Director of Charents House-Museum informed Noyan
Tapan’s correspondent, an exhibition on the occasion of the poet’s
108th birthday anniversary will be opened at the museum. There is also
desire to celebrate Charents’s birthday in his birth-place Kars this
year. The 40th anniversary of the foundation and the 30th anniversary
of the opening of Yeghishe Charents House-Museum to be celebrated this
year. A number of events will be organized at the museum, as well as
relics: exclusive manuscripts, inscribed books and others will be got
during the year. “We must foster and estimate our values. Charents
is one of the exclusive writers whose works remain modern in all
times. That keeps Charents alive forever, that is to make him the guide
of generations,” the Director of the poet’s House-Museum mentioned.

IMPROVEMENT OF TAX AND CUSTOMS ADMINISTRATION BRINGS POSITIVE RESULTS

YEREVAN, MARCH 11, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA President Robert Kocharian
informed reporters on March 11 that in the two first months of
2005, the state budget was overfulfilled. According to him, the
recent discussions on the issues of improving the tax and customs
administration have brought their positive results. According to the
President, the more stable the state budget, the more useful it is for
the country. NT: It is noteworthy that in January, 2005, the revenues
and official transfers of the RA state budget grew 58.1% compared with
January, 2004, and made 28 bln 30.7 mln drams (about 61.7 mln USD). In
the month under review, the current revenues of the budget grew 58.1%
to 27 bln 937.2 mln drams. The tax revenues increased 23.3% to 19
bln 479.6 mln drams, whereas the state duty revenues decreased 4.6%
to 837.4 mln drams. The budget made 16 bln 496.4 mln drams in Janyary.

ARMRUSGASPROM TO EXPORT ELECTRICITY TO GEORGIA UNTIL MARCH 31

YEREVAN, MARCH 11, NOYAN TAPAN. The Director General of ArmRusgasprom
Karen Karapetian stated at the March 11 press conference that
ArmRusgasprom is currently conducting negotiations on the issue of
electricity export to Georgia with the United Georgian Distribution
Energy Company. According to a contract with the Georgian company,
which expires on March 31, ArmRusgasprom has been supplying electricity
to Georgia since October 16, 2004. Under the terms of the contract,
during the indicated period, over 100 mln kw/h of electricity will
be exported to Georgia. K.Karapetian said that the Georgian side has
made payments by 100%.