Azad Azabycan
Aug 14 2004

AZERI POLICE ARREST JAPANESE STUDENT SUSPECTED OF SPYING FOR ARMENIA

BAKU, 14.08.04. An act of sabotage by Armenia was foiled in Baku
today. Employees of [Baku`s] Sabayil district police department
detained Japanese citizen (?Ogawa Siniawa), 28, when he was taking
photos of the Azarbaycan Hotel and other facilities.

The preliminary investigation showed that the Japanese resident, who
is a first-year student of Yerevan State University`s social studies
department, arrived in Tbilisi from Yerevan on 1 August and went to
Saki [northern Azerbaijan] two days later. He stayed in Saki for
three days, arrived in Baku on 6 August and stayed at a hotel in
Baku. He came to Azerbaijan as a tourist. The investigation is
continuing.

Noyan Tapan, Armenia
Aug 14 2004

ROBERT KOCHARIAN: `THE ARMENIAN-POLISH RELATIONS DEVELOP QUITE

YEREVAN, 14.08.04. The Armenian-Polish relations develop quite
dynamically. RA President Robert Kocharian said about it, receiving
newly appointed Ambassador of Poland to Armenia Tomash Knohte on
August 13. The newly appointed Ambassador of Poland to Armenia
presented his credentials to the RA President. Robert Kocharian
mentioned the importance of the development of mutual relations with
Poland in the context of the European direction of the foreign
policies of Armenia. Stressing that Poland has been a full member of
the European Union since 1 May 2004, the RA President mentioned that
Armenia, which is on the way to the European integration, within the
framework of the European Union found a new partner in the person of
Poland supporting its aspirations. According to the RA presidential
press service, the sides considered the official visit of the RA
President to Poland scheduled for September 5-7 as key in the matter
of the further development of the Armenian-Polish relations.

Noyan Tapan
Aug 14 2004

COOPERATION OF ARMENIA AND OSCE TO STRENGHTEN

YEREVAN

RA Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanian received Ambassador
Steven M. Minikes, Head of the US delegation to the OSCE, on August
12. During the meeting the sides discussed the activities of the OSCE
structures and departments, its Yerevan Office, as well as the wide
circle of problems regarding regional security. The sides also
discussed the Karabakh problem, the processes and prospects of the
settlement of the confrontation.

According to the press service of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
the sides expressed hope that Armenia-OSCE cooperation will continue
and strenghten in a constructive spirit.
Noyan Tapan

Xinhua Online
2004-08-14 20:12:50

Results of men’s 10m air pistol finals

ATHENS, Aug. 14 (Xinhuanet) — Following are the results of men’s 10m air
pistol finals at the Athens Olympic Games here on Saturday:

1. Wang Yifu, China, 690.0 points
2. Mikhail Nestruev, Russia, 689.8
3. Vladimir Isakov, Russia, 684.3
4. Tanyu Kiriakov, Bulgaria, 683.4
5. Jin Jong Oh, South Korea, 682.9
6. Kim Hyon Ung, DPR Korea, 682.0
7. Norayr Bakhtamyan, Armenia, 681.9
8. Kim Jong Su, DPR Korea, 681.2

U.S. middleweight Dirrell wins first bout

SportsTicker

ATHENS, Greece (Ticker) – American middleweight Andre Dirrell won his
first bout as the Olympic boxing tournament opened Saturday, defeating
Dabateer Ha of China after a slow start.

Dirrell, one of the few true medal hopes for the United States, lost
the first round before using his tremendous hand speed to record a
25-18 four-round decision over the Asian.

“It was not a good start,” he admitted. “I should start faster, but I
always come on strong at the end.”

Making his Olympic debut, Dirrell admitted to some nerves as the
reason for his early tentativeness.

“Getting nervous is a tradition for me, but I think it is good because
I am more aware in the ring when I am nervous,” he said.

United States boxers were shut out of gold medals in Sydney four years
ago and won just one each in 1992 and 1996.

Dirrell was the only American in action Saturday. The Michigan native
owns victories over reigning 165-pound world amateur champion Gennadi
Golovkin of Kazakhstan and Cuban Olympic representative Yordanis
Despaigne Herrera.

Dirrell will have a week off before his next bout against Nabil Kassel
of Algeria, who fought off Gaucelio Abreu of Brazil, 41-36.

Herrera also was in the ring Saturday, advancing with a 36-24 decision
over Jean Pascal of Canada.

Among 12 middleweight bouts, medal contender Gaydarbek Gaydarbekov of
Russia got past Christopher Camat of the Philippines, 35-13.

There also were a dozen light heavyweight bouts, none involving any
serious medal contenders. American Andre Ward could surprise in that
weight class.

American welterweight Vanes Martirosyan faces Benamar Meskine of
Algeria on Sunday. The 18-year-old Martirosyan was born in Armenia
and moved to the U.S. when he was 4.

08-14-04 16:52 ET

AZERI MINISTER TO DISCUSS RUSSIA’S KARABAKH EFFORTS IN MOSCOW

Zerkalo, Baku
14 Aug 04

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov will pay an official
visit to Moscow on 17 August at the invitation of his Russian
counterpart. It is noteworthy that Mammadyarov will go to Moscow
immediately after visits to Azerbaijan by Iranian President Mohammad
Khatami and US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld. That is why one
can be 100-per-cent sure that the Russian capital is looking forward
to Mammadyarov’s visit because the Kremlin is hardly indifferent to
the results of these visits to Azerbaijan, especially their
confidential aspects. For example, in Baku Rumsfeld did not hide that
he had an interest in the talks between Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev and Khatami.

In an interview with our Zerkalo correspondent, Mammadyarov said that
this is his first official visit to Moscow after his appointment to
the post (of foreign minister). “I was appointed foreign minister on 2
April this year. But Mr (Russian Foreign Minister Sergey) Lavrov was
appointed several months after that.

“The main issue that will be raised by the Azerbaijani side during
this visit is Russia’s role as a mediator and co-chairman of the OSCE
Minsk Group in settling the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict. This is a fundamental issue for us. That is why there is no
doubt that we will hold detailed discussions of this issue. The second
package of issues which will definitely be discussed during the visit
are related to economic relations between the two countries.”

(Passage omitted: The intergovernment commission is working actively;
ties between the two ministries and international issues will be
discussed as well)

Although the current world is different from the world of the early
1990s, Mammadyarov believes that “along with the other co-chairmen of
the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia is playing a major and even a key role in
settling the conflict”. He said Azerbaijan’s position was that it
would be impossible to achieve stability in the region without
resolving this conflict: “That is why we believe that a politically
stable and economically strong Caucasus is of benefit to all the
countries that have their interests in our region.”

Mammadyarov said that Russia has “deeper relations with Armenia” and
strong interests in Azerbaijan, at least from an economical
viewpoint. “As for Russia’s position on this issue, growing numbers of
people believe that if Russia is interested in settling the conflict,
peace will be established in our region very quickly,” Mammadyarov
said.

Generally speaking, there is a strange situation in the talks
process. The declared positions of the sides, at least their official
positions, are absolutely different. In these conditions, frequent
statements are made in society, especially among the military, that
the continuation of the talks has no prospects and it is necessary to
liberate the occupied territories by force. Commenting on the
aforesaid situation, Mammadyarov said: “You and I are talking at the
Foreign Ministry, not at the Defence Ministry. As the foreign
minister, I will back the peaceful option for settling the conflict to
the bitter end. Although, if you are aware of the Foreign Ministry’s
latest statement, you know that Azerbaijan is more and more
disappointed in the destructive position of the Armenian side.

“Armenia’s actions run counter to the purposes and spirit of the talks
held with the OSCE Minsk Group’s mediation. Some staff exercises and
illegal local government elections have been held on the occupied
territories. In addition, resettlement is under way on the occupied
territories. Such actions can hardly have a positive impact on the
talks, during which, as the sides maintain, they are reportedly trying
to achieve peace. It is difficult to hold peace talks in these
conditions.”

But Mammadyarov added that the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group, at
least the USA, have already reacted to the Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry’s statement. “The USA has already voiced its position on
both the military exercises and illegal elections. It said that the
USA recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. The OSCE
chairman-in-office issued a similar statement. The Council of Europe
secretary-general expressed his negative attitude to the events that
have occurred in recent weeks. We, however, believe that if our
attitude to the peace talks is serious and Azerbaijan actually wants
to achieve a breakthrough during the talks, we expect the same
attitude from the opposite side as well,” he said.

KARABAKH WAR GAMES DEADLY BLOW TO CONFLICT SETTLEMENT – AZERI ARMY OFFICIAL

Zerkalo, Baku
14 Aug 04

As is known, military exercises were held by the separatist regime on
the occupied territory of Nagornyy Karabakh a couple of days ago and
Armenian Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan watched the course of the
exercises. We contacted the head of the Defence Ministry’s press
service, Col Ramiz Malikov, for comments.

(Passage omitted: background details)

(Ramiz Malikov) By holding the military “exercises” on the occupied
territory, the Armenian political and military leadership demonstrated
their aggressive stance towards Azerbaijan. These exercises showed
once again the true face of the Armenian separatists.

The Armenian military leadership wanted to demonstrate the existence
and might of the “Karabakh army” to the world. However, who will
believe in their fairy tales? The entire world knows that the Armenian
occupying troops took part in these exercises.

The participation of Armenia’s senior generals clearly showed who
planned this make-believe under the guise of exercises. (Armenian
Defence Minister Serzh) Sarkisyan wanted to demonstrate his muscles to
Azerbaijan. However, it is useless. Azerbaijan is well aware of their
military force.

I think that the exercises held on the occupied territory were a
deadly blow to the peaceful settlement of the conflict. It is the
Armenian side which is fully responsible for this.

(Correspondent) “One of the principles applied to the large-scale
military exercises conducted by the Karabakh defence army was to bring
these exercises as close to military operations as possible,” the NKR
(Nagornyy Karabakh Republic) defence minister, Seyran Oganyan,
said. “I think that the future military operations, if they happen to
take place, will be different from those of 1992-94. The present
exercises were like military operations that could be expected in the
future.” What can you say about this?

(Malikov) Azerbaijan has not heard of and does not know anything about
“the Karabakh army”. It is a gang that is functioning on the occupied
territory of Azerbaijan. This gang includes thugs, drug addicts,
terrorists and separatists. Therefore, I do not want to comment on
statements issued by the ringleader of a bandit formation.

However, I can say that the Azerbaijani army is much stronger than the
Armenian. The strength of our army is based on the logistics and
economy of our state, which makes the army develop continuously.
Armenia, however, is independent only in words. The troops of another
state are guarding its borders today. In fact, Armenia’s entire
industry is in the hands of another country. Armenia is not a
sovereign state, it is a vassal of another country.

(Passage omitted: minor details)

AZERI ENVOY CONCERNED ABOUT RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN MILITARY TIES

Trend news agency, Baku
14 Aug 04

BAKU

Trend correspondent E. Huseynov: The OSCE Minsk Group, of which Russia
is a co-chairman, should take a stricter position on a peaceful
settlement to the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict and clearly and loudly
announce that the territory is under occupation, Trend news agency has
quoted the Azerbaijani ambassador to Russia, Ramiz Rizayev, as saying.

(Passage omitted: reported details)

Voicing Baku’s concern about Moscow’s rapprochement with Yerevan in
the military field, Rizayev noted that it was particularly distressing
against the backdrop of the still unresolved conflict in Nagornyy
Karabakh.

“We know that many Armenians served and are continuing to serve in
Russia’s military units. This factor has had an exclusively negative
impact on the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict…(ellipses as published)

Suffice it to say that the 366th regiment of the Soviet army, over 70
per cent of whose servicemen were Armenians, was involved in the
bloody events in Xocali (Azeri-populated Karabakh town which was
seized by Armenians in February 1992). The issue of the illegal
handover to Armenia of Russian arms worth over 1bn dollars is also
still unresolved. But we do hope that the current leadership of Russia
will finally show wisdom in this vital issue and these problems, which
we have inherited from the past, will be resolved,” he said.

Asked about the possibility of Azerbaijan’s admission to NATO, the
diplomat said: “We do not see any need to join any military bloc or
organization.”

Assa-Irada
Aug 13 2004

Parliament to discuss Garabagh conflict in fall

BAKU

A group of Azerbaijani parliament members has proposed to discuss the
Upper Garabagh conflict in the fall session of the Milli Majlis
(parliament).
Leader of the Party of Civil Solidarity, MP Sabir Rustamkhanli
supported the proposal despite the fact the Milli Majlis leadership
said this was not appropriate amidst ongoing peace talks.
Rustamkhanli told `525′ newspaper that the Garabagh problem, with
`its acute nature’, will be put on the parliament agenda in the fall
as an `all-national problem’ that requires joining effort by all the
layers of the Azerbaijani public.*

Los Angeles Daily News, CA
Aug 12 2004

Plenty of fight

Young Glendale boxer a surprise Olympian

By Paul Oberjuerge , Staff Writer

ATHENS, Greece — Vanes Martirosyan’s enthusiasm is endearing. And
sometimes endangering.
The 18-year-old welterweight from Glendale revels in the chance to
box for his adopted country in the Athens Olympics.

“It’s so exciting,” he said Tuesday, a heavyweight smile erupting on
his boyish face. “When I sit and think about it, sometimes I get
tears in my eyes. Like, where am I? Is this really true? It’s like a
big dream. Then you wake up, and the coaches are there saying, ‘Let’s
go run,’ then you go, ‘Yeah, this is true. I am here.’ ”

“Here” is the Summer Olympics, the apex of the amateur boxing world.
No wonder Martirosyan is fired up.

But that youthful exuberance can be a detriment in the ring.

Martirosyan is most effective, U.S. assistant coach Joe Zanders said,
when he sticks with the technical, “Russian style” long-distance
boxing he learned from his father and personal coach, Norik, who
moved his family to Glendale from Armenia in 1990.

“What we want him to do is box,” Zanders said of the 152-pounder. “We
don’t want him to get into a fight. He gets excited, and he will
fight; he’s got that kind of heart.

“We have to keep him doing the things he’s done so far to get himself
here.”

That Martirosyan is here at all, preparing to walk in Opening
Ceremonies on Friday, is a significant upset. He wasn’t one of the
country’s well-regarded welterweights when the selection process
began this year, and his progress through the U.S. Trials surprised
even him. If not his father or his uncle, Serge, who repeatedly told
him, “You’re the best. You don’t know how good you are.”

He began to think maybe his father and uncle were right after he
defeated fifth-ranked Timothy Bradley in the Western Trials. Then he
clinched a berth in the Athens Games by defeating second-ranked Andre
Berto of Haiti in the continental qualifier in Tijuana, Mexico.

“My confidence kept going up and up,” he said. “I was getting better
and better.”

Martirosyan believes he is “a puzzle” to opponents because he can
change styles at the drop of a glove.

He grew up with the Russian style his father learned while boxing in
the former Soviet Union. “But I can fight American style, and I had a
Mexican coach (Joe Lopez), so I can fight Mexican style, too,” he
said. “Guys don’t know what they’re going to get from me.”

Lopez said he was not surprised when Martirosyan qualified for the
Olympics.

“He has been training very hard,” said Lopez, who until three years
ago trained Martirosyan out of Glendale. When Lopez was offered a job
at the Baldwin Park Boxing Club, he accepted, and Martirosyan
followed.

“He worked really hard in the gym and I think it is his
determination,” Lopez said. “No matter how much anybody tries to
discourage him, he believes in himself and he goes for it.”

Louie Escobar is head trainer at the Baldwin Park Boxing Club. He
said that when Martirosyan first set foot in his gym at age 15, he
knew he was something special. And not just as a boxer.

“I could see that he was very, very respectful, a good role model for
the younger kids,” Escobar said. “And I could see that he was very
talented. Raw, but talented.”

Zanders suggest Martirosyan is best served by the heady,
at-a-distance Russian style that can help him rack up jab points in
the electronically-scored Olympic tournament.

“He fights more like a Russian than anybody who’s not a Russian,”
Zanders said. “Guys who move and punch at the same time. He does that
extremely well.”

Zanders said Martirosyan was holding his own with 2003 world champion
Lorenzo Aragon of Cuba after two rounds in a tournament bout here in
May. Then the excitement factor bushwhacked the Glendale Kid,
something even Martirosyan concedes.

“The first two rounds, I was doing good, and the coaches tried to
calm me down because I get so excited, I’m having so much fun,” he
said. “I just started throwing raw punches. In the third round,
(Aragon) was running from me, and I was chasing him, but he was
scoring punches, while he was running.”

Martirosyan lost a decision, but perhaps gained some perspective.

“He didn’t stick with his game,” Zanders said. “If he listens to the
coaches, things will be a lot different. Losing to the Cuban is maybe
his greatest motivator, to this point. Now he has a better idea of
what this is about.”

Martirosyan’s father tried for 10 years to emigrate to the U.S., and
the family is so thankful to have joined relatives in Glendale that
Vanes sees the Olympics as a chance “to thank this country because it
made room for me and my family. Just to wear these (red, white and
blue) colors is a thrill for me.”

Martirosyan has become something of a celebrity in Glendale’s large
Armenian community. “They support me a lot,” he said. “When I walk
out of the house they come up and hug me and kiss me and say, ‘Go do
it.’ They show me a lot of love.”

According to USA Boxing spokeswoman Julie Goldsticker,
Armenian-American grocers sometimes refuse to take Norik
Martirosyan’s money, telling him to “go feed his son.”

Vanes Martirosyan will be joined here this week by his father and
uncle, as well as little brother Vatche and cousin Ilousha. His first
bout is Sunday.

A strong Olympics showing often has been a springboard into a
lucrative professional career. American welterweights who fought in
the Olympics include Sugar Ray Leonard, Donald Curry, Mark Breland,
Pernell Whitaker, Fernando Vargas and Oscar De La Hoya. The Golden
Boy happens to be a favorite of Martirosyan’s.

“The way Oscar won the gold and dedicated it to his mother, that was
great,” Martirosyan said.

The home-schooled boxer said he will not decide about turning pro
until after the Olympics. Hr added that his father and uncle will be
prime movers in that choice.

“I box; they handle everything else,”he said.

Martirosyan is not a medal favorite. The top welterweights figure to
be two-time gold medalist Oleg Saitev of Russia and Cuba’s Aragon.
Then again, Berto was a bronze medalist at the 2003 World
Championships, and Martirosyan defeated him during his breakthrough
year.

Said Zanders: “I think he has a chance to be a real problem for some
of the better boxers. I would not be surprised at any level he
achieves.”

Said Martirosyan: “Every day I sit in my room and dream what it would
be like to win a gold medal,” and another monster smile lights up the
room.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress