Author: Mamian George

KurdishMedia, UK
Dec 7 2004

11 days before the summit of December 17

… and yet, repression reigns in Turkey

371 years ago, in 1633, Galileo Galilei said: “And yet, it does
move!”

The European governments are preparing the opening of the negotiations
on Turkey’s adhesion by applauding “the process of political reform in
Turkey and the adopted constitutional and legislative changes.” As for
Ankara, it seems sure that “a clear date for launching the negotiations
of adhesion will be announced on December 17, without any condition
and the necessity of revaluation.”

However, in spite of this Turkish-European optimism, the violations
or the non-respect of humans right always continue in this country
candidate to the European Union.

Info-Türk, which has fought for 29 years for a real democratization
in Turkey, will remind the alarming facts until the European Summit
of December 17 the 2004.

1. In Turkish prisons, there are still thousands of political
detainees. Even the Minister for Justice Cemil Cicek, in answer to a
parliamentary question, announced on November 27 that the number of
the prisoners for ” offences of terror” climbs currently to 5,557 and
that they are kept in 73 grand prisons of the country including 11
prisons of type-F. He added that still two other prisons of type-F
are in construction in Van and Kirikkale. These prisons are the
cause of the death of 117 people on hunger strike. The new law on the
execution of punishments, adopted on December 4 by the Parliament,
still maintains this carceral system. The ill-treatment of political
prisoners, particularly in the prisons of type-F continues in spite
of the alarming affidavits of the prisoners or their parents. (See:
the reports of the NGOs such as AI, IHD, TIHV, Mazlum-Der and FIDH
in the issues 316, 315, 314 of Info-Türk in last three months)

2. The summary execution and torture under arrest are always being
practiced. Very recently, 12 years a 12-year old Kurdish child
was killed by forces of security under pretext of “hunting for the
terrorists”. Torturers are not pursued in many cases in spite of
the complaint of the victims or of human rights associations. As
detailed by a report of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TIHV)
on November 25, rare lawsuits started against these criminals do not
lead to an exemplary judgment.

3. As it is often recalled by the press associations, the new Turkish
Penal Code, so applauded by the European Union, always constitutes
a threat against the freedom of press. Journalists are always judged
for insult to the Army, the government or the security forces because
of their criticisms, under the terms of article 302 (old article 159)
of the TPC. For example, an arrest warrant against the chief editor
of Info-Türk, Dogan Özgüden, is still in force within the framework
of a lawsuit relating to one of his articles criticizing the military
junta of the Seventies, and this in spite of the intervention of the
international press organizations and the Belgian ministry of the
Foreign Affairs. December 2, popular singer Ferhat Tunc was again
tried by a penal court for insulting the judiciary. November 26,
journalist Halit Ertas sentenced to eleven months for separatist
propaganda by means of Internet. (See: the reports of the NGOs such
as RSF, IFEX, IPI, NABA, WAN, WPFC, BIA and TGCin the issues 316,
315, 314 of Info-Türk in last three months)

4. In spite of some cosmetic reforms, the equal rights (teaching,
audio-visual expression, association) are still not recognized as well
for the Kurdish people as for the ethnic or religious minorities of the
country, in particular Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks and Alevis. All
the pacific initiatives of the Kurdish national movement in order
to arrive at a peaceful solution is systematically declined and the
military operations continue in order to satisfy the voracity of the
Army and the industry of war.

5. Ankara does not show any intention to recognize the injustices
and atrocities committed in the Turkish history and follows an
absolutely policy of negation. According to the statement of reasons
for Article 306 of the new Turkish Penal Code, a citizen who demands
the withdrawal of Turkish soldiers from Cyprus or declares that the
Armenian genocide actually took place during the First World War,
can be pursued by Justice. Moreover, the diplomatic missions of
Ankara often instigate the Turkish nationals and even the deputies
or candidates of Turkish origin of the European political parties
(Socialists, Liberals, Ecologists or Christians) to take part in the
demonstrations of negation.

6. In spite of the so-called “demilitarization” of the National
Security Council (MGK), the military continue to dictate their
militarist choices by well publicized declarations of the Chief
of the General Staff or the commanders of the land, air and naval
forces. Moreover, the Higher Military Council (YAS), charged to manage
the interne work procedure of the Army, continues to dismiss certain
officers considered “anti-secular” in spite of the opposition of
the government. Moreover, at the end of its last meeting on December
1st, 2004, the YAS released a completely political statement on the
relations with Europe and the neighbor countries. The commentators
estimate that the YAS thus gives the sign that it is rapidly replacing
the “demilitarized” MGK to ensure the military’s control over the
political life of the country.

7. Lastly, an undemocratic constitution preaching the superiority of
the Turkish race, imposed in 1982 by the military junta, is always in
force. Moreover, an electoral system imposing a national threshold
of 10% is always maintained with the detriment of the political
parties representing the different political opinions, in particular
pro-Kurdish or left-wing ones, so that the Islamist party remains
in power with an absolute majority in the Parliament in spite of its
electoral score less than 50%.

So, the European leaders should not yield to Ankara’s manipulations
or blackmails… Even if they are obliged to announce a date for
the opening of the negotiations, this opening must absolutely
be conditioned with the total suppression of all these failures
incompatible with the European Convention of Humans Right and with
the new European Constitution.

For all latest news on the situation of human rights in Turkey:

All news on the situation of human rights in Turkey since 1998:

–Boundary_(ID_uD2RBE3E0ivDrN66xhDQ2g)–

“ONE SHOULD EXTEND A HELPING HAND TO THE ARMENIANS TO TAKE AWAY A TRUMP-CARD
OF THE GENOCIDE FROM TURKEY’S ENEMIES,” “TURKIYE” WRITES

ISTANBUL, December 6 (Noyan Tapan). Turkey should extend a helping
hand to Armenia and cease conflicting with the Armenians to take a
trump-card of the Genocide away from the Turkey’s enemies. Rakhim
Eir, the author of an article published in the “Turkiye” newspaper
on November 30, expressed such an opinion. According to the Istanbul
“Marmara” newspaper, reaction of the Americans on the Turks’ attitude
towards the events in Falluja, was the reason for the article. The
Americans said, “If you (the Turks) accuse us of the genocide in
Falluja, we won’t hamper the approval of the resolution concerning
the Armenian Genocide.” After noticing that this “diplomatic threat
reminds of the fact that the Armenian Genocide overhangs Turkey as
the sword of Damocles”, the author responses, “Till what time will the
West threat us with the trump-card of the Armenian Genocide?” “Turkey
should take this card away,” Rakhim Eir is sure. “We should establish
the dialogue with the Armenians and find resolutions both in connection
with the historical events and in connection with the events in Nagorno
Karabakh. The progress is registered in the Kurdish cause. Today is
the turn of the Armenian cause,” reads the article in “Turkiye”.

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Dec 2 2004

OSCE report on Garabagh conflict discussed in Baku

Goran Lennmarker, the special envoy of the OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly (PA) on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, visited Baku last
week.

The OSCE PA special envoy told journalists at the airport that he has
arrived in Baku from Armenia where he held talks over seeking ways
for settling the conflict.
It is possible for the conflicting sides to find ways for a positive
resolution of the conflict, Lennmarker added.
During his visit, the OSCE envoy discussed the report he had prepared
on the Upper Garabagh conflict with the Azerbaijani government. The
parties also considered the disputed provisions, indicated by Baku
earlier.

President Ilham Aliyev receiving the OSCE envoy, stated that despite
the ongoing peace talks between the two countries, no results have
been achieved thus far. Armenia is failing to take serious steps at
resolving the problem and is again trying to postpone the process of
negotiations, he said.
Aliyev regarded as positive the close involvement of the Council of
Europe and other international organizations in the conflict
resolution process.
Lennmarker said after the meetings he had with people from Upper
Garabagh and other Azerbaijani regions under occupation, he has made
a conclusion that the conflict must be resolved soon.
“The people suffering from the conflict, including refugees and
displaced persons, are in urgent need of assistance and long for
returning home.”
Lennmarker added that it was important that international
organizations step up their attention to a peaceful resolution of the
conflict.

Leader urges debate of Turkey’s “blockade” of Armenia at EU summit

Mediamax news agency
2 Dec 04

YEREVAN

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has sent a letter to the leaders
of all the EU member countries calling for the discussion of Turkey’s
blockade of Armenia at the forthcoming EU summit on 17 December,
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said in the evening of 1
December in an interview with Armenian Public TV.

The Armenian foreign minister said that he had presented the Armenian
side’s position at a meeting with the ambassadors of the EU member
countries accredited to Armenia.

Yerevan is not expecting that an issue of lifting Turkey’s blockade of
the Armenian border will become an official precondition for Ankara at
the summit which will focus on the issue of possible dates for opening
talks on Turkey’s accession to the EU, Oskanyan said.

However, “we want the issue to be raised at the summit, as we consider
unacceptable the fact that the country, which is on the threshold of
the talks on the EU accession, has the closed borders with the country
involved in the EU’s New Neighbourhood Policy”, he added.

” We are carrying out very serious work in this direction and will
continue it within two weeks,” Vardan Oskanyan said.

Tajikistan: Central Asia to adopt unified law on earthquakes

ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow
2 Dec 04

Dushanbe, 2 December: A special unified law “On earthquakes”, like the
one already in force in Armenia and China, will be adopted in Central
Asian states. A agreement on this was reached at the first Central
Asian consultative meeting on reducing the risk of natural disasters
which ended in Dushanbe today, the Tajik deputy minister of emergency
situations and civil defence, Islom Usmonov, has told an ITAR-TASS
correspondent.

He said that all countries in the region were in a high seismic
activity zone. Each of them is potentially exposed to sudden
earthquakes. “However, joint efforts are needed to clean up the
aftermath,” Usmonov said.

He said that representatives from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan
and Uzbekistan had also agreed to draw up a joint plan on reducing the
risk of natural disasters. It is planned to develop the necessary
legal base and to conduct constant monitoring and train people in how
to act in the event of an emergency situation.

According to the data from the European Community Humanitarian Office,
natural disasters, including floods and earthquakes, claimed the lives
of 2,500 people and caused damage to 5.5m people in Central Asia over
the last decade, that is, to 10 per cent of the total population of
the region.

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Nov 29 2004

`Int’l organizations should step up attention to peaceful conflict
resolution’ – OSCE envoy

President Ilham Aliyev, receiving the special envoy of the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly (PA) on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict Goran
Lennmarker, stated that despite the ongoing peace talks between the
two countries, no results have been achieved thus far. Armenia is
failing to take serious steps at settling the conflict and is again
trying to postpone the process of negotiations, he said.
Aliyev regarded as positive the close involvement of the Council of
Europe and other international organizations in the conflict
resolution.
The OSCE envoy said after the meetings he had with people from Upper
Garabagh and other Azerbaijani regions under occupation during the
current visit, he has made a conclusion that the conflict must be
resolved soon.
`The people suffering from the conflict, including refugees and
displaced persons, are in urgent need of assistance and long for
returning home.’
Lennmarker added that it was important that international
organizations step up their attention to a peaceful resolution of the
conflict.*

MAMEDIAROV: ARMENIA ENDANGERS PEACEFUL NEGOTIATIONS

Azg/arm
27 Nov 04

A group of experts may be formed within the framework of OSCE Minsk
group to fix Armeniaâ~@~Ys policy of inhabiting the territories
under the control of NKR armed forces. According to Mediamax, this
information was spread by Baku mass media, referring to “the exchange
of views around this issue” that took place during the meeting of
OSCE Minsk group co-chairs Steven Mann (US), Yuri Merzliakov (RF)
and Henry Jackolin (France) with Elmar Mamaediarov, Azeri Foreign
Minister, and Araz Azimov, Azeri Deputy Foreign Minister, in New York.

The current stage of the peaceful negotiations was discussed during
the closed meeting. Mamediarov said that “conducting the policy of
inhabiting, Armenia not only violates the relevant formula of the UN
Security Council and the norms of the international humanitarian right,
but also endangers the peaceful negotiations held by the mediation
of OSCE Minsk group.”

Yerevan keeps saying that no policy of inhabiting is being conducted
in the territories under the control of NKR forces on state level. On
the other hand, Armenia states some Armenian refugee families from
Getashen, Shahumian and Azerbaijan dwell in these territories.

It’s worth reminding that the co-chairs left for New York after
the discussion on “the current situation in Azerbaijan’s occupied
territories” put forward by Azerbaijan at the UN. The OSCE co-chairs
voted against Azerbaijan’s initiative at the UN. Earlier, touching upon
the discussion of Nagorno Karabakh issue at the UN, Steven Mann stated
that the abovementioned issue had been traditionally discussed within
the OSCE framework. In the interview to Freedom radio station he said
that he respects the UN formulae, but, on the other hand, he asked
the question: “Will this step (discussion of Nagorno Karabakh issue
at the UN) yield a progress in the settlement of the conflict?” Mann
said that the sides in conflict should pose this question every time.

The American diplomat considered the resumption of the military actions
“absolutely foolish”. He emphasized that no negotiation on Nagorno
Karabakh settlement was held in 2004. He characterized the meetings
of the foreign ministers as “dialogues and exchange of views”. “If the
negotiation will not be resumed and the positions of the sides remain
unchanged, “neither war, nor peace” situation can last for decades,”
Mann said.

–Boundary_(ID_xgyC9T86TIA3sS6N3jBiwA)–

ZORYAN INSTITUTE OF CANADA, INC.
255 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite 310
Toronto, ON, Canada M3B 3H9
Tel: 416-250-9807 Fax: 416-512-1736 E-mail: [email protected]

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
George Shirinian

DATE: November 26, 2004 Tel: 416-250-9807

Portraits of Hope: The Armenians, Just Released in Germany, Reflects
in Its Afterword about the Zoryan Institute

Berlin — Verlag Hans Schiler has just released a unique new book
containing fifty-two articles in German by or about Armenia and
Armenians, both in Armenia and in the Diaspora. Released in October,
Portraits of Hope: The Armenians, is aimed at a wide, German-speaking
readership.

The editor, Huberta von Voss-Wittig, has previously published two
books, both translations of literature from French into English. She
explained the idea behind the book. “I started to take an interest
in the Armenians while my husband served as the German Ambassador in
Beirut and Nicosia. As an historian and journalist, I realized how
small my knowledge of the Armenians was. The deeper I got into it,
the more convinced I became that a book had to be written that shows
the human beings behind the mere facts and figures. The Armenians
are practically unknown to the German public today. That is why I
decided to make a book that addresses a wide readership. I convinced a
number of excellent German historians, authors and journalists-many of
them foreign correspondents in various countries for the best German
national newspaper-to contribute to the book.”

The book is divided into three broad sections. After an introduction
by famed Holocaust historian Yehuda Bauer, the first section deals
with Armenian history, and especially the Genocide. It contains
contributions by such renowned experts as Tessa Hoffman, and Zoryan
associated scholars Vahakn Dadrian, Taner Akçam, and Wolfgang Gust.

The second section deals with Armenians in the Diaspora, and is
subdivided into sections on history, literature, religion, art,
film and photography, music, activism, politics & diplomacy, and
“life-pictures.” It contains articles about such notables as Vahakn
Dadrian, Vartan Gregorian, Michael Arlen, Charles Aznavour, Atom
Egoyan, Vartan Oskanian, Catholicos Karekin II, and Catholicos Aram
I. Armenians from all over the world are represented.

The third section, “Places of Memory,” has articles on Armenians
in Jerusalem, Der-el-Zor, Bourj Hammoud, Franz Werfel and Musa
Dagh, the Murder of Talat in Berlin, and the Genocide Memorial at
Dzidzernagapert.

The book’s Afterword, written by K.M. (Greg) Sarkissian, President
of the Zoryan Institute, is a wide ranging essay that describes in
detail the Institute’s twenty-two-year history of accomplishments.

“This is a very important book for several reasons,” stated George
Shirinian, Director of the Zoryan Institute. First, it describes the
interesting and important activities of a number of very talented,
highly motivated, and tenaciously dedicated individuals. Second,
it demonstrates the commitment of Diasporan Armenians to the welfare
of their nation and may serve as an inspiration to others. Third, it
is an unusually broad and comprehensive representation of Armenian
activities, interests, individual voices, and issues. Finally,
as many of the articles stress the importance of the Genocide in
the modern Armenian reality, the book, hopefully, will sensitize
contemporary German society to the need for German historians to
conduct serious research and publish on the role of Germany in the
Armenian Genocide. We should all be grateful for the wonderful book
that Huberta Voss-Wittig has put together, providing us with a deeper
insight into where we have come from as a nation, where we are now,
and where we may be heading.”

While the book is in German, the English language version
of the Afterword is available on the Zoryan web site,
Go to “About Us” and click on “The Making of
a National Research Centre.” A printed copy may be had by writing to:
Zoryan Institute 255 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite 310 Toronto, ON Canada
M3B 3H9

Huberta von Voss, ed. Porträt einer Hoffnung Die Armenier. Lebensbilder
aus aller Welt. Berlin: Verlag Hans Schiler, 2004, 415p.

The Zoryan Institute is an international center devoted to the
research and documentation of contemporary issues related to the
history, politics, society, and culture of Armenia and Armenians
around the world.

–Boundary_(ID_QPRmn17rolI48Ti0bqe23A)–

AzerTag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
Nov 25 2004

BAKU CONFERENCE ON “GLOBAL INFORMATION-COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGIES-2004”
[November 25, 2004, 19:22:33]

Dear participants of Conference!

I am glad to welcome you in capital of Azerbaijan, in the city of
Baku, and I wish work of the Conference success, and each of you –
health and happiness.

Statement of principles and the Plan of the activity, adopted at the
December 2003 World Summit in Geneva, being extremely a successful
step on the way of creation of information society, have put in pawn
a strong basis for solution of global problems of mankind.
Azerbaijan, known in the world as the oil country, confidently coming
nearer to the information society, has stated at the Summit that is
ready to transform the oil resources into real potential of each
citizen of our country, and began to carry out concrete measures in
this direction.

The Ministry of Communications of Information Technologies created
after the Summit, playing a leading role in this area, within the
framework of the special state program realizes various projects
connected to economy, basing on knowledge. It is confident that
results of the work, which have been successfully implemented by
Azerbaijan together with a number of the international structures,
including the UN Development Program (UNDP), in many spheres on
application of information-communication technologies, will evoke
interest of participants of the Conference.

Azerbaijan as the most dynamically developed country of region
possesses today good opportunities for expansion of sphere of
information technologies. However, the occupation continuing for
already over ten years of the Azerbaijan lands by Armenia and stay
over one million people in position of refugees complicate
realization of large-scale programs. In this sense, the problem of
“Information divide” which will be discussed at the Conference
represents for us extremely great value.

I hope, that your conference will make worthy contribution to the
cause of establishment of information society.

Ilham Aliyev,
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Baku, November 24, 2004

The Tehran New York Express; Andranik Eskandarian
By Irankicks correspondent Nader Jahanfard

Irankicks.com (Iranian Soccer news)
Nov 25 2004

In Iran the strikers feared him, in Argentina they respected him and
in New York they cherished his style of play. His name is Andranik
Eskandarian and he is one of the most treasured defenders in Iranian
football history.

After Playing for Poolad and Ararat FC of Tehran, he moved to one of
the most famous clubs in Asia called; Taj FC of Tehran (now Esteghlal
FC). He was physical, speedy, smart and fearless.

For many years he played for the Iranian national team as a defender
and he helped Iran reach her first World Cup Finals in 1978
(Argentina). The same year he moved to United States and joined the
star studded football team New York Cosmos.

Andranik or “Eski” as they call him here in United States, is now 53
and he owns his own sports store in New Jersey. I had the honor of
interviewing this man who served his country on the pitch, Iranian
football owes him a lot of admiration for that matter.
I presented Andranik with a series of short questions and he answered
all of them meticulously.

Nader,
Iran?

Eskandarian,
I miss my country. I left Iran in 1978 to come and live here in the
United States. It’s all like a dream now.
We (Armenians) are a small minority in Iran but we are so close to
that soil. We have been living in Iran for centuries and they have
always counted us as one of their own.
People of Iran always respected me, I will never forget my people.

Nader,
Daei?

Eskandarian,
Daei is a good friend of mine. Any time he comes to New York area we
get together and dine. He is one of the greatest football players in
our history, unfortunately I never had the chance to watch him play
in person but I have seen many of his games on TV.

Andranik laughs and says; He is aging like me now!
In Argentina 78 we could have used Daei’s services. Hassan Roshan was
playing with injury and the teams we played against were great on
air. We needed some one to dominate that area for us and Daei could
have been awesome for that position.

Nader,
How about Ghafoor jahani?

Eskandarian,
Ghafoor was a very good player, I don’t want to take anything away
from him. Naturally a team has to have a good chemistry and coaches
are responsible for making that chemistry work for them. Our team had
this advantage.

To give you an example; my son Alecko who plays for D.C.United team
was benched last year because their coach believed in having a
“Target” striker. He told Alecko that he was too small for that role.
This year however, Peter Novak (D.C. United Coach) believed in Alecko
and as result my son became the MVP!
It’s all about the team and believing in players’ potentials.

Nader,
Alecko Eskandarian?

Eskandarian,
They ask me a lot of questions about Alecko these days. I always
advise Alecko on how they treated us in Iran. He was born here in
United States but my wife and I always talk to him about our
homeland.

We have told him that someday we will go back to visit and see Iran
because it is important that he gets to know Iran and feel that
emotion!
Alecko played for the U.S. Olympics team when he was only 15 years
old and so far he has played 20-25 games for the U.S. side.

Because of the international rules and regulations of FIFA he cannot
play for Iran.
Here in New Jersey area he grew up with many Iranian friends, he is
real proud of his heritage, he is proud to have an Iranian
background, he has a great future and I am proud of him.
Believe it or not they even asked me if he could play for the
Armenian national team!

Nader,
Given the chance, what would you like to do for Iran and its
football?

Eskandarian,
First of all let me tell you that I am proud of our fans in Iran, I
will never forget their kindness, I have a lot of great memories. I
would love to play a friendly in Iran with the veteran’s team,
unfortunately no one has ever invited me!

There are many games that are organized for different causes and I
like to be a part of them. Last week here in New Jersey they invited
me to play in a game, they were raising money for a good cause. We
can do the same thing in Iran.

Why don’t we invite the players who played in 1978 World Cup, arrange
a friendly and raise money for the “Bam” or cancer victims for
example?
I want to be part of something like that and help my people.

Nader,
In your opinion, who are Iran’s best players of the past three
decades?

Eskandarian,
Since I have not been living in Iran, I cannot judge everyone. I have
not seen many of our great players’ performance; it would not be fair
to many.
On the other hand, I have to say that our legionnaires have done so
much for our football.
We should applaud them all.

Nader,
What are our chances to make it to the World Cup in Germany 2006?

Eskandarian,
We shouldn’t even use the word “Chance”!
We are still above everyone else in Asia, if sometimes we don’t get
good results it’s because of the internal problems in our football.
No other team in Asia has as much talent as we have in Iran.
We should make it to Germany with ease.

Nader,
Hejazi or Abedzadeh?

Eskandarian,
Hejazi.
I like Nasser Hejazi, he was my roommate, I will never forget him.
In general you have to have special qualities to be a goalie.
Anytime I hear someone wanting to be a goalkeeper I ask him or her;
“Are you crazy enough to be a goalkeeper?”

There is a certain attitude that goes with being a great keeper and
Hejazi had that, he was the ultimate goalie in my book.

Nader,
Who was the toughest forward you ever faced in Iran and abroad?

Eskandarian,
In Iran I played as a sweeper.
We always had problems playing against Persepolis forwards.
Behzadi, Kalani and Iranpak were among the toughest.
I miss the rivalry.

When I played for Cosmos they placed me in different positions,
because I was the only one who could deal with tough situations.
I remember the very first game with Cosmos I played as the right back
against the legendary George best.
The following week they changed my post to left back and I had to
face the great Cubillas from Peru (Cubillas scored three goals
against Iran in Argentina). The third week I went back to the right
position to face the well-known Johan cruyff of Holland.
It was like this every week right to the end of the season.

Nader,
Talk about your best memories?

Eskandarian,
Every game has its own story. But the memory of winning the “Takhte
Jamshid” championship with Taj FC stands above the rest.
Winning the Asian Cup was also real sweet.

Nader,
What is your message for the young players in Iran?

Eskandarian,
Most of us who play football don’t think about the future, the sports
life of a football player is very short. They have got to think about
their future, this can be achieved through education or business
investment.

When I hear things about financial circumstances of some of the
players who have done so much for our football in the past I get
emotional.
I hope that our youth learn their lesson and don’t take things for
granted.
Nothing is everlasting!

Nader,
Mr.Eskandarian, it was a pleasure talking to you.. I wish you and
Alecko the greatest success in the future. Iranian football will
never forget its sweet defender.
I am proud to be your countryman.

Acknowledgments:
Many thanks to Mr.Manook Khodabakhshian and Mr.Hassan Alesafar who
made this interview possible.

By Irankicks correspondent Nader Jahanfard, San Jose California