Armenian speaker calls for expanding relations with Iran

IRNA, Iran
Sept 2 2004

Moscow, Sept 2, IRNA — Armenian National Assembly Chairman Arthur
Baqdasaryan on Thursday called for further expansion of mutual
cooperation between his country and Iran in various areas.

In a meeting with Iran`s Ambassador to Yerevan, Ali-Reza Haqiqiyan,
Baqdasaryan said the forthcoming visit by Iran`s President

Mohammad Khatami to Armenia is considered as a significant factor to
promote bilateral ties.

He also attached significance to Iran-Armenia mutual cooperation,
parliamentary relations and further communication between parliamentary
friendship groups of the two countries.

The Iranian diplomat, for his part, attached significance to
Khatami`s visit to Yerevan and parliamentary cooperation between the
two countries.

“The Republic of Armenia enjoys special status in Iranian foreign
policy. Tehran calls for strengthening stability and security and
economy of Armenia, said Haqiqiyan.

President Mohammad Khatami is scheduled to pay an official visit to
the Republic of Armenia in near future.

Armenian official stresses boosting ties with Iran

IRNA, Iran
Sept 1 2004

Moscow, Sept 1, IRNA — Head of Armenian Constitutional Court Gagik
Harotunyan on Wednesday in a meeting with Iranian Ambassador to
Armenia Alireza Haqiqiyan called for bolstering Iran-Armenia ties.
Noting the prospect of cooperation and continuity of Tehran-Yerevan
consultations, Harotunyan called expanding bilateral cooperation in
different fields as `important`.

He referred to the measures taken by Iran to remove financial problems
of Armenia, saying cultural and historical affinity are proper backing
for Iran-Armenia relations.

Harotunyan underlined the need to consolidate regional cooperation
and urged establishment of new frameworks for expanding such relations.

Iranian ambassador, for his part, referred to the growing trend of
mutual relations and called the upcoming visit of President Mohammad
Khatami as a step toward further expanding relations.

He reiterated the Iranian stance on regional cooperation, calling
Dialogue Among Civilizations (proposed by President Khatami) as the
main factor in removing tension from relations.

Minister underlines importance of Khatami`s visit to Yerevan

IRNA, Iran
Aug 28 2004

Moscow, Aug 28, IRNA — Armenia`s Minister of Defense Serzh Sarkisyan
Saturday underlined the significance of a visit by Iranian President
Mohammad Khatami to Yerevan.

In a meeting with Iran`s Ambassador to Armenia Ali-Reza Haqiqiyan,
Sarkisyan underlined growing relations between the two countries in
various areas as well as bilateral and regional cooperation.

The Iranian diplomat, for his part, stressed Iran`s willingness to
strengthen relations with Armenia.

Haqiqiyan reiterated that Khatami`s visit to Yerevan would lead to
further mutual cooperation.

President Khatami is to pay an official visit to the Republic of
Armenia soon.
From: Baghdasarian

Herald Sun

What a smashing match

Anna Cock
New York
04sep04

NICOLAS Massu, fresh from his dual gold-medal triumph in Athens,
threw a temper tantrum of epic proportions during his five-set loss
to Armenian Sargis Sargsian yesterday.

Lasting five hours and nine minutes, the second-longest match in
US Open history was marked by an extraordinary outburst from Massu
after chair umpire Carlos Ramos awarded a penalty game against the
racquet-tossing Chilean at the start of the fifth set. Up 1-0 and
serving, Massu threw his racquet to the ground at 0-30, a third code
violation for which Ramos awarded the game to Sargsian.

Massu took issue with the decision during an animated argument with
Ramos and then with tournament referee Alan Mills.

While Sargsian received treatment for cramp courtside, an infuriated
Massu spoke to himself at length until play resumed.

“I lost control completely for a moment,” Massu said after losing 6-7
(6-8) 6-4 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-4.

Arguing with tournament officials for an hour afterwards, Massu told
the post-match media conference Ramos’s decision was “unbelievable”.

Massu said he had not broken his racquet when he threw it for the
third time, arguing it was therefore not a code violation and didn’t
deserve the penalty.

“I didn’t lose the match because (of) that, but it is hard to believe
that this guy (Ramos) didn’t use the head a little bit, the mind,”
10th seed Massu said.

Ramos had issued a warning to Massu in the first set and another
in the second, which resulted in a point loss after he trashed his
racquet by slamming it against a wall.

An emotional Massu said he could not come to terms with the defeat.

“(It) is too much in five hours to believe everything, to fight,
to arrive to the locker, to accept that you lost the match,” he said.

In other upsets yesterday, Olympic silver medallist Mardy Fish was
ousted by Czech qualifier Michal Tabara 6-3 3-6 1-6 6-3 6-3, while
French Open champion Gaston Gaudio lost 6-3 2-6 6-4 6-4 to Swede
Thomas Johansson.

In the women’s event unknown Russian 17-year-old Anna Chakvetadze
defeated compatriot and world No. 3 Anastasia Myskina 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.

“I couldn’t believe I could win. I still don’t believe I beat Myskina,”
Chakvetadze said after the match.

MARATHON MAN
By BRIAN LEWIS

New York Post
September 3, 2004

September 3, 2004 — Sargis Sargsian dropped to his knees and
covered his moist eyes, overcome with a mixture of exhaustion
and emotion. He draped an Armenian flag over his shoulders and
celebrated the second-longest win in U.S. Open history — and the
most dramatic of this summer’s classic. He had just upset two-time
Olympic gold medallist Nicolas Massu 6-7 (8), 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (6),
6-4 in a marathon that lasted five hours and nine minutes, a tilt
that saw the 10th-seeded Chilean lose first his poise, then the
hotly-contested match on Court 11.

“I lost the match and I’m so [peeved] about it,” Massu said. “I can’t
believe they…what happened on the court is too much. It’s too much
for five hours to believe in everything, to fight…to accept that
you lost the match. It’s difficult.”

It was the second-longest match ever at the U.S. Open, behind only
Stefan Edberg’s 6-7, 7-5, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 win over Michael Chang that
lasted five hours and 26 minutes in 1992.

Sargsian kept his cool, with his serve getting better and better as the
match went on. Meanwhile, Massu showed precious little sportsmanship or
Olympic spirit with an on-court tantrum. “I was too tired to notice,”
Sargsian said. “My legs were [going to give out], so I was just trying
to hold on.”

After spraying a return shot long, Massu dropped his racquet to
the court and yelled at it, as if it were to blame. He battered the
U.S. Open sign with his racquet and got warnings in the first two sets,
and lost a point, dropping the second set 6-4. In the fourth set, he
argued a call with chair umpire Carlos Ramos. He slammed his racquet
down so hard, it bounced up over his head.

Destroying a racquet is an automatic penalty, so Sargsian was awarded
the first game of the fifth set. Massu appealed to famed Wimbledon ref
Alan Mills — serving as Grand Slam ref — but his backhand deserted
him in the fifth set, and Sargsian went on earn a third-round date
with Paul Henri-Mathieu, who beat Taylor Dent.

“I didn’t lose the match because of that, but it’s hard to believe
this guy didn’t use his head. All the players throw the racquet,”
said Massu, who spent close to an hour after the match griping to
Open officials. “I play for five hours, I fight, and this guy comes
and gives me three warnings.”

The Cincinnati Post

Gold medalist out at U.S. Open

By Diane Pucin
Los Angeles Times

EZRA SHAW/Getty Images

Sargis Sargsian celebrates after defeating Nicolas Massu in five sets.

NEW YORK — All day, all night, all around the grounds of the United States
Tennis Center, emotions overflowed.
An Olympic gold medalist howled in despair.

Nicolas Massu, who played a four-hour, five-set match against Mardy Fish in
Athens, Greece, to win that gold, played the second-longest match in U.S.
Open history and lost Thursday night.

On Court 11, packed with cheering Chilean fans for him and noisy Armenian
fans against him, the 10th-seeded Massu was upset by 31-year-old Sargis
Sargsian, 6-7 (6), 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4. It took 5 hours 9 minutes, and at
the end Massu bent over, exhausted and disgusted. Sargsian was serenaded by
rooters who had chanted in Armenian all during the match. Only once, in a
1992 semifinal, had a match here gone longer when Stefan Edberg took 5:26 to
beat Michael Chang 6-7, 7-5, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4.

Massu broke rackets and carried on a 10-minute argument with chair umpire
Carlos Ramos after being penalized a game in the fifth set for his third
broken racket, one that was bounced so hard it caromed as high as his head.
Massu’s rant to Ramos was profane. His tirade an hour after the match was
angry.

“I can’t believe I lost the match,” Massu said. “It’s hard to believe that
this guy (Ramos) didn’t use the head a little bit. This guy come here, put
to me two, three warnings. If I have to pay something I pay, no problem. But
the third one? Unbelievable.”

The first warning for equipment abuse had come to Massu at 4-4 in the first
set after he wrecked a racket. Ramos gave Massu a point penalty in the 10th
game of the second set before taking away a game from him to start the fifth
set.

In a statement, tournament referee Brian Earley explained why Massu was
penalized a game. “There were three code violations for racket abuse,”
Earley said. “Following the Grand Slam code of conduct, the first code
violation resulted in a warning. The second violation resulted in a point
penalty. The third violation resulted in a game penalty.”

Three crushed rackets had been discarded by Massu, stark proof of his anger.

The Olympic silver medalist didn’t have a good day either. Fish, seeded
26th, quarreled about line calls and hung his head after bad shots instead
of fighting to hit better ones until he left a 6-3, 3-6, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 loser
to Czech qualifier Michal Tabara.

French Open champions grumbled and groaned as well.

Anastasia Myskina, seeded fourth, was dismissed, 7-6 (3), 6-3, in the second
round by a fellow Russian, 17-year-old Anna Chakvetadze who is ranked 175th.
And Gaston Gaudio of Argentina, seeded ninth, was a mostly passive
participant in his 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss to Thomas Johansson of Sweden.

Myskina considered the performance “a pretty bad match for me,” then said
she was all done in. “I’m really empty right now,” the 23-year-old said. “I
didn’t want to fight. I didn’t want to run. I didn’t want to do anything.”

Paying customers should love hearing that.

Gaudio, too, just shrugged and muttered, “Too bad,” as he walked away from
the court.

But there were sounds of joy around the grounds.

Shikha Uberoi, an Indian American with an infectious laugh, embraced the
gargantuan Arthur Ashe Stadium court, clapped for herself and for her
opponent Venus Williams after good shots for both, giggled with glee when
Williams ended an enthralling rally with a winning passing shot and later
spoke with awe about the way the lights made her racket sparkle.

Uberoi, ranked 275th, fought hard against 11th-seeded Williams before losing
a second-round match, 7-5, 6-1.

Publication Date: 09-03-2004

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Children face deep trauma

The Star Online
Saturday September 4, 2004

PARIS: The children ensnared in the three-day hostage drama in North
Ossetia will have probably suffered major psychological damage and
some may never get over their ordeal completely, a French expert
warned yesterday.

Gilbert Vila, a paediatrician who specialises in child trauma at Necker
Hospital, said a child subjected to a deep shock of this kind was
likely to show a long range of symptoms, including anxiety, depression,
turbulence at school and problems in his family relationships.

“This case is of the gravest kind,” he said. “The psychological
problems will be major.”

Vila has authored several studies into the psychological impact on
children who suffer a catastrophic shock, including a group of primary
schoolchildren taken hostage at their school in the Paris suburb of
Neuilly in 1993.

Detailed research into Cambodian children who were tortured under
the Pol Pot regime and Armenian children who survived an earthquake
shows that, for most victims, the big symptoms will gradually ease
but for a minority, the problems will be lifelong, Vila said.

In those cases, 90% of the children showed significant trauma symptoms
during the first few weeks after their trauma.

That figure fell to 50% after six months, and to around 15% two or
three years later. Some, though, were never completely cured.

In the Cambodian study, “some children who were aged between eight
and 12 years at the time of their ordeal were still experiencing
problems at the age of 30,” he said.

More than half of the children in this category had problems that
seriously hampered their daily life.

As for very young children and babies, “we still lack data” on the
long-term repercussions, said Vila, noting however that there had been
cases of children younger than four “who showed the same post-trauma
symptoms as (US) Vietnam vets.” – AFP

Azerbaijani newspapers protest Armenian officers’ arrival in Baku

AP Worldstream
Sep 04, 2004

Leading Azerbaijani newspapers ran blank front pages Saturday to
protest the arrival of officers from rival Armenia for a NATO-sponsored
exercise, while some electronic media stopped broadcasting for
several hours.

The front pages carried only the words, “The media of Azerbaijan
protest the arrival in Baku of the Armenian military.”

A statement of protest published in Friday’s newspapers called the
visit “an insult to the Azerbaijani people,” which endangered the
nation’s stability.

The statement was signed by the chief editors of nine newspapers
representing a wide political spectrum and the heads of the ANS and
Azernet agencies.

Earlier in the week, members of the Organization for the Freedom of
Karabakh, including its leader, were sentenced to between 3 and 5
years in prison for organizing disturbances in protest of the arrival
of Armenian officers.

The NATO Cooperative Best Effort-04 seminar is scheduled to run
Sept. 13-26.

Azeri media protests against Armenian officers’ visit to Baku

BBC Monitoring research
4 Sep 04

Azerbaijan’s main broadcast and print media outlets protested on 4
September against a planned visit by several Armenian officers to
attend Baku-hosted NATO exercises.

The private ANS TV and ANS CM radio stations suspended broadcasts
between 0500-0600 gmt under the slogan “The Azerbaijani media protests
against Armenian officers’ visit to Baku” which was posted on ANS
TV’s screen. The stations are planning to suspend broadcasts between
1100-1200 and 1500-1600 gmt as well.

The country’s opposition Azadliq, Yeni Musavat, Muxalifat, Baki Xabar
dailies and private Ayna/Zerkalo, Ekho, Ekspress, Sarq, Xalq Cabhasi
and 525-ci Qazet daily newspapers published blank front pages under
the same slogan. Official and pro-government media organizations did
not join the protest.

The Cooperative Best Effort-2004 exercises organized under NATO’s
Partnership for Peace programme are planned to be held between 13-26
September.

Iranian leader’s visit to Armenia of importance to region – paper

Azg, Yerevan
4 Sep 04

Text of Akop Chakryan’s report by Armenian newspaper Azg on 4 September
headlined “Iranian President Khatami’s visit is of special importance
to Armenia” and subheaded “It cannot but interest the South Caucasus
republics, as well as the states which have interests in the region”

The president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mohammad Khatami,
will arrive in Armenia on 8 September for a two-day official
visit. President Khatami visited Azerbaijan on 5 August and is going
to visit Turkey by the end of September. Mohammad Khatami’s visit to
Azerbaijan is important to Armenia in terms of the Karabakh issue,
which was discussed there, and Azerbaijan’s indignation at Iran’s
pro-Armenian policy.

We can assume that Turkey will also draw President Khatami’s attention
to these issues. Thus, Mr Khatami’s visit to Turkey should also be
viewed as being important to Armenia. First Vice-President Habibi’s
visit to Armenia in 1996 was the first ever visit by a high-ranking
Iranian official. And now Armenia is going to host the president of
the republic. Armenia is looking forward to maintaining closer ties
with Iran after the visit.

A regular session of the two countries’ intergovernment commission is
going to be held during the president’s visit. Iran will be represented
at the session by Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Safdar
Hoseyni. President Khatami will meet [Armenian President] Robert
Kocharyan, make a speech in the parliament, visit Yerevan State
University and participate in ceremonies organized for high-ranking
officials.

Taking into consideration Iran’s influence and authority in the
region, the president’s visit should go far beyond the borders of
Armenia. It will be important to Georgia, Azerbaijan, as well as
Russia and Turkey. The USA should not be left off this list as it is
Russia’s rival in maintaining its influence in the South Caucasus.