FIDE to Kasparov: one more week
20.01.2005 The world chess organisation has reacted to _Garry Kasparov’s
withdrawal_ () from the
reunification cycle, stating that the bank guarantees Kasparov had demanded would
have been in place on January 25. It is impossible, says FIDE, to secure
high prize funds without the necessary time, and when the participants demand
excessive financial guarantees.
The World Chess Federation (FIDE: _
() ) regrets Garry Kasparov’s announcement to withdraw from playing the World
Chess Championship match against Rustam Kasimdzhanov at the scheduled dates
of April 25th to May 14th 2005.
During the latest FIDE congress in Spain, the Turkish Chess Federation
expressed its strong desire to organize this match. FIDE informed the General
Assembly that the Turkish bid was actively supported by the former world champion
Garry Kasparov who urged FIDE to ‘give somebody else the authority to act
unless FIDE already has the money from the Dubai organizer’. On 2 December
2004, FIDE entered discussions with the Turkish Chess Federation and requested
the necessary bank guarantees before signing any agreement or issuing player’s
contracts. Garry Kasparov had made it clear several times that he would not
sign anything before he receives ‘acceptable’ financial guarantees.
During the negotiations with the Turkish Chess Federation Garry Kasparov and
World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov were kept fully informed about all
developments. They knew that:
a) FIDE authorized the Turkish Chess Federation on December 7 to secure the
necessary funds in order to organize this match in Turkey with an initial
deadline of 29 December.
b) On 3 January 2005 the Deputy Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic, Mr
Mehmet Ali Sahin, informed FIDE in writing that Turkey is ready to provide all
necessary guarantees for the organization of the match, including the prize
fund of 1.000.000 USD, organizational costs, etc.
c) Following this letter of the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister, FIDE gave the
Turkish Chess Federation a new deadline of 18 January for the issue of bank
guarantees of 200.000 USD for each player and 50.000 USD for FIDE. The total
amount of 1.272.000 USD would have to be transferred to FIDE’s bank account
no later than 25 March 2005.
Meanwhile, both players agreed that the match would begin on 25 April 2005.
A few days ago, the representative lawyer of the Turkish Chess Federation, Mr
Cemal Dursun, informed Garry Kasparov that no bank guarantees could be
issued before 25 January. After receiving this information, Garry Kasparovsent an
email to FIDE on 18 January announcing that he is no longer available to
participate in this match for the dates that had been agreed (25 April â=80` 14
May).
It is obvious that we are facing again a stalemate situation concerning the
realization of the Prague Agreement, a situation for which FIDE cannot be held
accountable. The official letter of the Turkish Deputy Prime Minister
represents for FIDE a strong guarantee in order to provide the Turkish organizers
with the necessary time to deal with the formal procedures concerning the
issuance of the required financial guarantees.
Garry Kasparov, who for a long time has sincerely co-operated towards the
realization of the Prague Agreement, should have at least shown his respectto
his opponent Rustam Kasimdzhanov and his appreciation for the efforts of the
Turkish Chess Federation and the Turkish Government before announcing his
unilateral decision to withdraw from this match.
It has to be clear to everyone that it is impossible to secure such high
prize funds from legitimate sponsors, acceptable to FIDE and the IOC, without
providing the candidate organizers with the necessary time to complete their
efforts, especially when the government of a country is the guarantor for the
organization of the match. It is even more difficult to secure these prize
funds when the participants demand excessive financial guarantees before
committing themselves in writing.
FIDE continues to seek solutions concerning the funding of the World Chess
Championship, in co-operation with its national federations and in close
contact with all interested parties.
The World Chess Federation (FIDE: _
() ) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the supreme
body responsible globally for the game of chess and its championships. FIDE
organizes the World Chess Championship as well as all World Championships for
women, junior and youth categories, the bi-annual Chess Olympiad and it also
publishes the official FIDE Rating List (currently No.1 is Garry Kasparov of
Russia). FIDE has a membership of 160 national chess federations and it
retains offices in Greece and Russia.
For more information contact:
Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE)
Mr George Mastrokoukos
tel.: (+30) 2109212047, fax: (+30) 2109212859, email: office(at)fide.com
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MRS. JONES DOESN’T MEAN WHAT SHE SAID
Ambassador Evans: We Are Armenia’s Good Friends
Azg/arm
25 Jan 05
John Marshal Evans, the US ambassador to Armenia, in the course of the
interview given to Armenia TV repeated for five times that Elizabeth
Johns, assistant of the US State Secretary, didn’t call the Karabakh
authorities secessionists. “I know ambassador Johns for 30 years. When
I heard about the statement I thought that something is wrong. I have
very attentively read the text of her answers and understood that the
things she meant didn’t concern Nagorno Karabakh”, ambassador Evans
said.
“Johns stated that Russia should more actively cooperate with the US
in the settlement of the four frozen conflicts, and, in order to
emphasize her statement, she added that there are some criminal
elements by the very border of Russia. I know Geography and I don’t
think that she meant Nagorno Karabakh, except for the context when she
spoke of the necessity to settle the four frozen conflict,” Evans
stated, adding, “I don’t think she meant Nagorno Karabakh.”
In response to the direct question put by Armenia TV reporter, whether
ambassador Johns called NKR authorities secessionists, John Evans
said: “Ifyou read the text, you will see that she speaks of such
elements, two of which are in Georgia, one is in Moldova. While in the
next sentence she said that there are some unsolved issues in Nagorno
Karabakh.”
Ambassador Evans repeated that on January 13, in Moscow, Elizabeth
Johns made no statement on the US policy and Washington’s position in
the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh issue hasn’t changed. He said if
somebody wants tomake harm to the Armenian-American relations, can
keep saying obstinacies addressed to Ambassador Johns.
Ambassador Evans reminded that for many years the US have rendered
humanitarian aid to Nagorno Karabakh. “We are the second country
(together with Armenia) that render humanitarian aid to Nagorno
Karabakh.” The US ambassador also wished that the Nagorno Karabakh
issue is settled, so that “the people living there don’t suffer from
the difficulties of an unrecognized state.”
On January 20, Armenian Public TV informed that Elizabeth Johns called
Vartan Oskanian, RA foreign minister, and express regret that her
statement having no relation with Nagorno Karabakh made such an
impression in Armenia.
By Tatoul Hakobian

OCULUS, Fall 2004
A publication of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter
Volume 66 Issue 3
THE SECRET LIVES OF ARCHITECTS
Mixing Palettes
By Ruth Altchek
Associate Editor of I.D. Magazine
Nishan Kazazian, AIA, wishes that art and architecture were not
thought of as distinct disciplines.” Look at all the mosques in Iran,
the temples in Greece. When did art stop being part of architecture
and vice versa?” he wonders. “Art, architecture, politics, commerce
mixing together – you have to be able to talk about all of it. If you
are not able to do that, your work becomes limited.”
Kazazian holds master’s degrees in art and architecture, both from
Columbia University. Since 1985, he has worked to re-wed the two
disciplines as principal of the Chelsea-based A&A Design Group (the
A’s stand for art and architecture), which focuses on residential and
commercial projects in the New York metropolitan area. His wood
construction from the 1990s are single planes of material that unfold
to generate forms, blurring sculpture, furniture, and
architecture. More recently, animation has been Kazazian’s chosen
medium. With his assistant Peter Mathias, Kazazian conceives and
directs politically themed, architecturally influenced animations.
For example, Endless Cycle? suggests parallels between September 11
and the Armenian genocide, for example. In the haunting
two-minute-long animation, zombie-like figures emerge and back into a
murky abyss, just as, Kazazian points out, “we raise our heads only
briefly before going back to our daily routines.” In Bleached Blood, a
ziggurat of contemporary world flags collapses, its colors dissolving
into a muddy pool. Set to a score of national anthems, the piece calls
into question themes of national identity, warfare, and shared
humanity. Kazazian’s animations have been shown at Art Resources
Transfer in New York and several international film festivals.

ATPtennis.com
Jan 24, 2005
Hewitt Survives Nadal Test
Local favorite Lleyton Hewitt outlasted Spanish sensation Rafael Nadal in a
thrilling five-set encounter on Monday in Melbourne. The Australian edged
through 7-5, 3-6, 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-2 and will next meet David Nalbandian for a
spot in the last four. In a match that finished just after 2am local time,
Nalbandian ousted compatriot Guillermo Coria in four sets. Andy Roddick
advanced to the quarterfinals for the eighth time in his past 10 Grand Slam
tournaments after defeating German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 7-6(6), 6-1.
Roddick will next face Nikolay Davydenko, who looked impressive in his 6-3,
6-4, 6-3 defeat of Argentine Guillermo Cañas. On Sunday, Andre Agassi
withstood a world-record 51 aces from Joachim Johansson Sunday to set up an
enticing quarterfinal showdown with Roger Federer.

World Azeris urge European body to impose sanctions on Armenia
Trend news agency
24 Jan 05
Baku, 24 January: The Azerbaijanis of the world demand that the
Council of Europe impose sanctions on Armenia and revoke the mandates
of the Armenian deputies of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe PACE , the Congress of the World Azerbaijanis says in a
statement forwarded to PACE and the parliaments of PACE member states,
Trend reports.
“If the Council of Europe is interested in establishing a lasting
peace in the region and preventing the threat posed to it, it has to
be objective in approaching the Nagornyy Karabakh issue and act in
line with the decisions it passed itself in the past,” the document
says.
To recap, PACE is expected to discuss rapporteur on Nagornyy Karabakh
David Atkinson’s report on 25 January.
“European parliamentarians have to realize that any decision by the
Council of Europe can change the situation in the conflict settlement
and give a political and practical assessment to the steps being taken
by Armenian separatists in violation of stability in the region,” the
statement says.
“We, the Azerbaijanis of the world, are aware of the role PACE can
play and appreciate it. We hope the European deputies can give an
objective assessment to the situation and support the prevention of
the Armenian aggression,” it says.

IRAN CONDEMNS OCCUPATION, USE OF FORCE BY ANY COUNTRY – PRESIDENT
IRNA web site, Tehran
24 Jan 05
TEHRAN
Immediately after the formal ceremony to welcome Azeri President Ilham
Aliyev, Iranian and Azeri presidents talked to reporters calling for
expanding Tehran-Baku relations.
President Mohammad Khatami accompanying President Ilham Aliyev told
reporters at Sa’dabad that Iran is keen on further development of
relations with Azerbaijan Republic.
Responding to an Azeri reporter about what Iran will do to help
resolve Karabakh crisis, President Khatami said that Iran is among the
few countries which supports Azerbaijani national sovereignty and
territorial integrity.
“Iran believes that the Karabakh crisis would be resolved through
logic and understanding between the two parties without resorting to
force. I believe that Karabakh conflict will be resolved if the two
sides seriously decided to do so,” President Khatami said.
He said that Iran has friendly relations with both Azerbaijan and
Armenia and is ready to mediate between them to help resolve the
crisis and hoped for immediate settlement of Karabakh conflict.
Another Azeri reporter asked Khatami whether there is similarity
between occupation of the Arab lands by the Zionist regime and
occupation of Karabakh by Armenia, the Iranian president said that
Iran condemns occupation and use of force being exercised by any
country.
“Of course, there is a difference. I believe Israel has occupied the
entire Palestine and has established illegitimate existence, but,
Armenia is a country itself and at the same time occupation and
seizure of an inch of the other’s territory is condemned and the
international community should help end the occupation,” President
Khatami said.
President Aliyev told reporters that his visit to Iran is aimed at
developing relations in all fields including the economy.
He pointed to the accords President Khatami has signed during his
visit to Baku and said Azerbaijan Republic calls for implementation of
these accords.
The Azeri president said that Tehran-Baku relations are developing
rapidly and political and economic cooperation is excellent.
“The exchange of visits by presidents of the two countries indicated
the extent of relations both countries enjoy,” President Aliyev said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN TECHNOLOGICAL GROUP OF AMERICA HAS IMPLEMENTED A NUMBER OF
HUMANITARIAN PROGRAMS IN NAGORNY KARABAKH SINCE 1995
STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 24. ARMINFO. An Armenian Technological Group of
America has implemented a number of humanitarian programs in Nagorny
Karabakh since 1995.
According to ARMINFO’s correspondent to Stepanakert, the group, in
particular, implemented programs “Wheat,””Honey,””Wine,”provided
vegetables seeds, corn and other to farming economies in NKR. In 1999,
the organization started implementation of a program “Farm” (in the
territory of the village of Khramort) with the object of stimulating
development of wine-growing. Since the greatest part of arable lands
in Karabakh is infected with phylloxera, the program first of all
pursues a goal of creating phylloxera-stable plants. At present,
phylloxera-stable grafts and 20 sorts of grapes are grown in 2,5 ha of
lads. The cost of one graft is 600 AMD.

EU REPRESENTATIVE FOR SOUTH CAUCASUS HOPES FOR PROGRESS IN SETTLEMENT
OF KARABAKH CONFLICT
YEREVAN, JANUARY 24. ARMINFO. Serge Sargsian, Minister of Defence of
the Republic of Armenia, Secretary of National Security Council at the
president, met with EU Special Representative for South Caucasus,
Ambassador Heikki Talvitie. In the delegation staff is Head of the
representation of the European Commission for Armenia and Georgia
Torben Holze, representatives of the European Commission William Boen
and Harry Camarine, as well as British Ambassador to Armenia Thorda
Abbot Watt.
Spokesman of Armenia’s defence minister, Colonel Seyran Shahsouvarian
informed ARMINFO, during the meeting Serge Sargsian welcomed the
guests and stressed the important of the meeting. “We regard ourselves
as Europeans and our goal is to become a full member of that family”,
Serge Sargsian said. In his turn, Heikki Talvitie stressed that one of
his tasks is the creation of good bases for cooperation for the
purpose of settlement of the conflicts. The Ambassador stressed that
when preparation of programs of individual cooperation all the
countries will be estimates in accordance with real
potentialities. Concerning the problem of Nagorny Karabakh, the
defence minister mentioned that he has always advocated the peaceful
settlement of the conflict and is sure that this problem will be
solved only by peace. Welcoming this statement, Heikki Talvitie
expressed hope that a real progress will be registered in the process
of peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict in the nearest future.

MINSK GROUP AND OSCE MONITORING MISSION TO BEGIN REGIONAL VISIT FROM
ARMENIA
Azg/arm
25 Jan 05
Last week, Minsk group co-chairs and the OSCE Monitoring Mission
(including representatives of Italy, Finland, Sweden and Germany) met
in Vienna to specify the details of their regional visit envisaged on
this week. Andzej Kasprchyk, personal representative of the OSCE
chairman, said in the interview to Free Azerbaijan TV that they are
going to discuss all the details of the monitoring mission in the
course of the meeting in Vienna, including the issue of appointing the
head of the mission.
On January 20, Kasprchyk met with the Azeri foreign minister in
Baku. After the two-hour meeting Elmar Mammediarov told the
journalists that “after visiting the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan,” the monitoring mission will prepare a report on
inhabiting these regions by the Armenians. “Let’s wait and see what
kind of a report it will be. Let the mission accumulate facts and we
will see what will happen,” Mammediarov said.
It hasn’t been decided which regions under the control of Karabakh
forces will be visited by the monitoring mission. It has been
preliminarily announced that they will visit Qelbajar, Lachin,
Jebrail, Ghubatlu and Zangelan regions. The monitoring mission is
expected to gather in Yerevan on January 28 and leave for Stepanakert.
Masis Mailian, NKR deputy foreign minister, stated that “Stepanakert
positively evaluates the OSCE monitoring mission’s visit to
NagornoKarabakh. We will spare no efforts to contribute to the
monitoring mission”. “We have nothingto hide from the international
community and we are ready to show the OSCE mo nitoring mission both
the regions in the territory of NKR and all the regions under the
control of our forces situated out of our borders,” Mailian said.
Mailian reminded that Stepanakert has invited such missions to NKR for
many times to deny Azerbaijan’s accusations addressed to NKR.
By Tatoul Hakobian

Karabakh will never give up independence – Karabakh leader
Regnum, Moscow
24 Jan 05
Regnum news agency Mr President, there has been some fuss of late over
the Nagornyy Karabakh problem (Baku’s initiative in the UN, Atkinson’s
report to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe PACE ,
the forthcoming visit of the OSCE factfinding mission to assess the
situation on the territory controlled by Nagornyy Karabakh, as well as
the statement of US Assistant State Secretary Elizabeth Jones ). In
this context, how justified are the worries of a number of politicians
that the Armenian side is losing ground in the talks?
Gukasyan First of all, I would like to specify that two Armenian sides
are parties to the conflict – Nagornyy Karabakh and Armenia. Since
Karabakh has been artificially isolated from the talks, it would be
wrong to appraise its diplomatic activities in any way.
As for Armenia, incessant meetings between the Armenian and
Azerbaijani foreign ministers are useful, of course. Yet they are
unable to substitute a fully-fledged talks process with the equal
participation of Nagornyy Karabakh. It must not be forgotten that the
Nagornyy Karabakh problem was raised by the Nagornyy Karabakh people
and is about the status of Nagornyy Karabakh. The rest are the
consequences of the war that was thrust upon us by Azerbaijan, which
does not recognize the right of the Nagornyy Karabakh people to
self-determination, and therefore, is not willing to discuss the
status of Nagornyy Karabakh. I believe that the concerns of
politicians which you mentioned are related to the latter fact.
Regnum Do you think that Yerevan and Stepanakert Xankandi are making
enough efforts to prevent undesirable formulations on Nagornyy
Karabakh in various international bodies?
Gukasyan The reason that a number of formulations detrimental to us
have appeared in the documents of the European bodies is that Karabakh
is not present in the international bodies when this issue is
discussed. The negotiations and discussions on Karabakh, mainly within
the framework of mutual relations between the two states – Armenia and
Azerbaijan, are bound to result in such formulations from time to
time. This is not about the degree of the efforts we are making, but
about the conceptual approach to the principles and mechanisms of the
settlement.
Regnum How possible is that Baku will succeed in dragging the Nagornyy
Karabakh issue into other international bodies and what is the
involvement of other international bodies in the resolution of the
issue fraught with? In your opinion, why does Azerbaijan not like the
format of the OSCE Minsk Group?
Gukasyan Azerbaijan is busy getting as many international bodies as
possible to sign various documents (even if they are only
recommendations) that portray Armenia as an aggressor and Nagornyy
Karabakh as an allegedly uncontrolled territory. Such behaviour stems
from Baku’s perception of the conflict as Armenia’s aggression against
Azerbaijan. Therefore, Baku is unwilling to make any concessions.
Since international bodies include countries which have nothing to do
with the settlement of the Karabakh conflict (and they constitute the
overwhelming majority), such tactics may yield some temporary
political dividends for Baku. What’s more, the decision-making
procedure in such bodies, say in the UN, allows the Baku authorities
to do so.
As for the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen, which include Russia, the USA
and France and who mediate the talks, I am sure that they know very
well the underlying cause of the conflict, as well as the
circumstances that led to the current military and political status
quo in the conflict zone, which does not suit Azerbaijan. As you
understand, those circumstances are not in Azerbaijan’s favour. Hence,
the Azerbaijani leadership is trying to get rid of the mediation of
the OSCE Minsk Group which advocates a mutually acceptable compromise
to peacefully resolve the conflict and respects the Karabakh side’s
position by maintaining contacts with the authorities of the NKR
self-proclaimed Nagornyy Karabakh Republic .
Regnum Isn’t it high time for Yerevan to raise the question of
Nagornyy Karabakh’s involvement in the peace process more
specifically?
Gukasyan First, I am the wrong person to ask. Second, it is impossible
to peacefully resolve the problem in the language of ultimatums. Nor
will it be resolved without the full involvement of the Karabakh side
in the talks. Judge for yourself.
Regnum Recent developments testify to increasingly closer relations
between Russia and Turkey. Do you have any apprehension that close
relations between Moscow and Ankara may reflect negatively on the
resolution of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict?
Gukasyan In my view, Russia has declared its stance quite clearly. As
is known, Russia’s position is that the problem should be resolved by
the sides to the conflict and Moscow can only give them all possible
assistance and act as a guarantor of the agreements that have been
reached. Obviously, such a position stems from Russia’s interests and,
to all appearances, it will continue to maintain this
position. However, nothing can be ruled out.
At least, Turkey, which unequivocally supports Azerbaijan on the
Karabakh issue, will try to influence Russia in order to make it put
pressure on Armenia and Nagornyy Karabakh.
Regnum What is Stepanakert’s principled position on Nagornyy
Karabakh’s future status?
Gukasyan The position of the Nagornyy Karabakh leadership on the issue
is based on the will of our people. This means that the security and
prosperity of Nagornyy Karabakh and its people are inconceivable if it
is to be under the jurisdiction of Azerbaijan. We can only talk about
equal relations between the two subjects of international law – the
NKR and Azerbaijan. Not least because the NKR has demonstrated to the
world that the level of democratic transition here is higher than in
Azerbaijan, and that beyond the jurisdiction of Baku, the NKR’s
economy, social sphere and culture are developing at a rate that would
be unthinkable if Nagornyy Karabakh was part of the Azerbaijani
state. This is confirmed by many foreign guests of the NKR, including
your colleagues – journalists.
I do not even mention the fact that Azerbaijan, having imposed on us a
gruesome blockade and then a war, has never concealed and does not
conceal its intention to wipe out or expel the Armenian population
from Karabakh. Hardly anyone has the right to accuse us of taking up
arms and defending our right to live in our historical motherland.
We went through trials and tribulations to gain our independence, and
naturally, we will never give it up.