Author: Taslakhchian Andranik

QUISLING’S CASTLE BECOMES CENTER FOR HOLOCAUST

Armenian Genocide to Be Represented There As well

Azg/arm
19 Jan 05

The Deutsche Press Agentur news agency informed from Oslo, Norway,
that the castle of Vidkun Quisling, former nazi ruler Norway, is
rebuilt into the Center for Holocaust Studies. The castle is situated
on the Bigdoy Island, in the west from Oslo. After long-lasting
construction works, 25 historians and other scientists will move to
the castle which has an area of 3 thousand square meters. In 1933-45,
the former minister and the head of the former Norwegian nazi occupant
government cooperated with Hitler. At present, only the study of
Quisling and the jewelry parlor of her wife are left untouched in the
castle and can remind of the former owners and the dwellers of the
building. 735 Norwegian Jews were killed in the times of Holocaust in
total and only 50 survived. According to the January 8 issue of The
Armenian Mirror Spectator, that cites other newspapers, Quisling was
arrested on May 9, 1945. He established Nacional Samling, Norwegian
party of Nazi in 1933. His name became the synonym for the term
“traitor.” He was executed on October 24, 1945.

It is envisaged that a permanent exhibition dedicated to the Holocaust
will open in the castle in September, 2006. Photos and documents of
the Herero genocide (South-Western Africa, 1905), the Armenian
genocide in Turkey (1915), the Cambodian genocide (1975), the genocide
in Rwanda (1994), the Balkan genocide (1995) will be exhibited at the
center, as well.

“Perhaps, we will also include historical documents concerning the
events in Darfur (Sudan) in the exhibition, too,” stated Odd-Bjorn
Furen, 62-year-old historian, stated. The representatives of the Oslo
Jewish community make the half of the center’s administration.

The idea of making the castle a center for genocide studies belongs to
retired general Bjorn Egg, former prisoner of the Sachsenhausen
concentration camp.

“We are not going to appeal to the feelings. We will emphasize
reasonable thinking and serious studies, to avert such tragedies in
future,” the head of the center said.

By Hakob Tsulikian

The Messenger

Friday, January 14, 2005, #007 (0781)

CIS Press Scanner

Prepared by Anna Arzanova

United States prepares revolutions in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Moldova

The Azeri newspaper Novoe Vremya writes that Namakom, a Russian
political analysis center created by former employees of the Russian
foreign intelligence service, believes that political revolutions will
continue to spread to other CIS countries. Namakom claims that the
United States is behind the recent revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine,
and believes that Azerbaijan will be the sight of the next U.S. project.

Namkom cites Washington’s dislike of communist leadership for its
interest in “the greater Black Sea region,” composed of Azerbaijan,
Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. The paper writes that the
post-Soviet leaders are not convenient for the West at all. However,
analysts think that Washington will not rest on its achievements: Baku
and Yerevan irritate Washington at the moment and Ilham Aliev as well
as Robert Kocharian have been criticized by the West several times,
because neither one responds to the current U.S. requirements. That is
why they should be replaced, as the paper reports, “perhaps according
to the pre-term scenario.” The analysis continues that after the
revolution in Tbilisi and Kiev, Washington intends to activate
attempts to settle the Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh and
Transdnestre issues. Simultaneously Washington is preparing for
parliamentary, and possibly presidential, elections in Azerbaijan and
Armenia. The paper forecasts that the next change of the power will
take place in Moldova. “The main role in conducting these revolutions
will be given to the United States,” the paper writes. Azeri
political analyst Gabil Guseinli also acknowledges the possibility of
the same revolution in Azerbaijan, though he thinks that lots of
things must be done before it will take place in the country.
Particularly, the creation of youth organizations, independent TV
channels, and the strengthening of the democratic election system need
to occur in the country by all means. He thinks Western support is
necessary for all of this. According to the paper, the United States
intends to pay serious attention to Azerbaijan after the second
inauguration of George Bush. There is also information that
Washington has started intensive consultations with representatives of
the Azeri opposition. The paper notes that the centennial of the
beginning of the first Russian revolution in 1905 approaches. It is
not enough to overthrow a ruler, the paper states; just as important
the U.S. must not allow the same authoritarian force to come to power
once again. “Will the West take care of this as well or not?” asks the
paper. Putin rejects “beer law” According to the Russian newspaper
Vedomosti, Russian President Vladimer Putin vetoed a law limiting
consumption of alcohol in public places. According to the
Vice-Speaker of the Duma Lubov Sliska, his veto letter concerning this
issue was received by the lower chamber of the parliament. She also
said that proceeding from the recommendations of the president, the
law needs revision, something she says is “quite fair.” Sliska also
stated that the president has remarks regarding the territory on which
the sale of beer will or will not be allowed. Moreover, she said that
there are many disputable issues regarding beverages prepared from
ethyl alcohol, a process that should also be prohibited. The law would
prohibit the sale of alcohol in educational and medical facilities,
forbid consumption of alcohol in public areas such as stadiums, public
transport, and parks, and forbid the sale of alcohol to minors.

Kyrgyz president condemns revolutions The Russian newspaper Vremia
Novostei reports that Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev is actively
preparing for the parliamentary elections in the republic that are
scheduled for February 27. He is very concerned about the fate of the
“Kyrgyz model of liberal democracy” which “we have been building for
13 years.” However, Akaev thinks that “none of the revolutions [in
the CIS] have led to positive results” and that revolutionary ideology
threatens the stability of a country. Speaking about the issue at a
central university, Akaev cited Yugoslavia as an example of the
destabilizing nature of revolutions. He also claimed that the Rose
Revolution in Georgia was financed by outside sources. As for
Ukraine’s Orange Revolution, he said that the country was split in two
and that “a civil war almost took place.” He also claimed that
opposition leader Yulia Timoshenko is wanted by international
organizations. Akaev thinks that it is impossible to call Georgia an
“independent state, because President Saakashvili and his ministers
receive salaries from the other side of the ocean, from the
multi-millionaire George Soros.” The paper notes that Akaev’s speech
was similar to one given by Russian President Vladmir Putin last year,
“although Putin did not question Georgia’s independence.”

The Messenger.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
January 14, 2005 Friday 12:08 PM Eastern Time

Moscow notes signs of rapprochement in Karabakh settlement

By Sergei Bushuyev

MOSCOW

Moscow noted with satisfaction on Friday that the meetings between
Armenian and Azerbaijani officials at various levels, including
between the presidents and within the framework of “the Prague
process”, have become regular.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said so in connection with the talks in
Prague earlier this week between Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mamedyarov.

Taking part in the meeting were co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk group
for Nagorno Karabakh settlement /Russia, the United States and
France/.

At the consultations, Armenian and Azerbaijani representatives review
practically all aspects of the situation related to the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict, including troops withdrawal, the demilitarization
of the territory, international guarantees, and the status of Nagorno
Karabakh.

“Both parties confirm their readiness to continue joint work,
oriented toward the necessity to seek an easing of tensions around
the Nagorno Karabakh problem and, consequently, normalization of the
situation in the whole region of southern Caucasus,” the Russian
Foreign Ministry said.

The ministry also noted certain headway in a rapprochement of Yerevan
and Baku’s views and their conceptual approaches.

Fitting in this context are the parties’ accords to continue the
implementation of the earlier decision on sending officials from the
OSCE Minsk group to the occupied territories around Nagorno Karabakh
with a fact-finding mission, and work toward organizing a new meeting
between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in Warsaw this
summer.

Moscow reiterates its readiness to contribute, together with the
other participants of the OSCE Minsk group, to the deepening of
mutual understanding between Armenia and Azerbaijan with the aim of
resolving the Nagorno Karabakh conflict through talks and by peaceful
means, the Russian Foreign Ministry underlined.

ArmenPress
Jan 12 2004

FRENCH ARMENIAN GOES ON HUNGER STRIKE DEMANDING MEETING WITH
PRESIDENT CHIRAC

MARSEILLE, JANUARY 12, ARMENPRESS: A French Armenian woman in
Marseille went on hunger strike on January 6 in an Armenian church
requesting a meeting with president Jacques Chirac whom she wants to
put forth Turkey’s recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide as
precondition for joining the EU.
Les Nouvelles d’Armenie Internet website reports that the 50-year
Koular Gharibian, a writer, explained what had prompted her to take
the step. ” I was outraged by debates in France over Turkey’s
possible membership with the European Union. Germany is part of the
EU, but it had acknowledged the Holocaust and apologized to Jews ,”
she said.
She first requested a meeting with Chirac in 2004 October
announcing her decision to go on hunger strike if he refused to
accept her.
She sent a second letter to Chirac before going on hunger strike
saying she would end it after Chirac agrees to meet her and gives
assurances that Turkey would be allowed to join the EU after
recognizing the 1915 genocides and apologizing to Armenians.
“Would president Chirac allow me to fell victim to the hunger
strike?” she said.

ARMENIANS WHO LOST THEIR HOMES IN MARAKHA START NEW LIFE IN BERDZOR

Azg/arm
12 Jan 05

Author of “The Black Garden” British journalist Tom de Waal wrote in
his book that the Azeris invaded Marakha village on April 10 of 1992
but Armenian forces fought the village back the next day and buried 43
beheaded and burnt bodies of Armenians. 50 more Marakha Armenians were
captured 19 of whom didnot return anymore.

The village with a rich economy became an enemy territory and its
inhabitants spread all over Russia, USA and elsewhere. Some of them
began a new life in the region of Qashatakh, in the river gorge of
Hakar. Four families settledin Berdzor, former Lachin. Roza Avanesian,
82, says that her Marakha house has turned into a vantage point for
snipers. “I’ve left there my two-storied house and my pregnant cows. I
shudder to think of that. Lamentation accompanied us on our way out of
the village”, Roza Avanesian tells.

The Avanesian’s family was one of the first to settle in Berdzor.
Armenian forces conquered Lachin in May 18 of 1992, a month later
after the Marakha pogroms. On November 26 of 1991 the Supreme Council
of Azerbaijan ordered the ministries of defense and home affairs to
clear Nagorno Karabakh off Armenian population and to defend local
Azeris. But the Karabakh forces managed not only to defend the
Armenian population of the region but also to conquer strategic
territories out of the administrative territory of Karabakh.

“We left our homes naked. We went to Hrazdan at first but it was
impossible to make a living there. We were going to leave for Russia
when learnt aboutthe chance to settle at the liberated Berdzor. And we
have been here since 1994”, Valiry Avanesian says.

Angela, Valiry’s sister, also settled in Berdzor with her husband and
4 children. “We fled from the Turks, and now they live in our houses”,
Angela Avanesian says.

Berdzor is the administrative center of Qashatakh region and was
formed in 1994 including Hakar river gorge, regions of Lachin,
Khubatlu (nowaday Qashunik) and Zangelan (nowaday Kovsakan) that were
forcibly united with the Soviet Azerbaijan at the beginning of the
past century.

Plumber Slavik Grigorian notes with pain that 5 more villages of
Martakert region together with his native Marakha are still under
Azeris’ control. “I left my home in overalls, leaving everything we
had. We feel in safety her, though we are not as rich as we were in
Marakha”, Slavik Grigorian says praising God.

Armenian refugees of Azerbaijan and of the Northern Martakert region
are not the only inhabitants of Berdzor and Qashatakh. There are also
people from Armenia each of whom has his own reason for settling in
the Hakar gorge.

Father Atanes Movsisian serving at Qashatakh region, settled in
Berdzor for8 years ago. “We have great spiritual legacy in these
territories liberated at the price of our martyrs. There were churches
once but unfortunately most of them lie in ruins today.
Tsitsernakavanq, a church of 4th century, has been reconstructed.
Today there are 3 churches that hold weekly services in Qashatakh”,
father Atanes says.

The Holy Ascension Church of Berdzor was built after the territory was
liberated, Tsitsernakavanq was reconstructed on the money the Najarian
family from the US and another church was built in Aghavno village.
There are dozens of semi-ruined churches and hundreds of khachqars
(cross-stones) in Qashatakh.

The regions of Khubatlu, Zangelan and Lachin that are included in
Qashatakh were once Armenian regions in Syuniq province. Muslims,
mainly Turkish-speaking Kurds, penetrated the territories in 18th
century. In 1923, when Stalin created the autonomous region of Red
Kurdistan, the Armenian Qarvatchar, Qashatakh, Qashunik and Kovsakan
regions were included into newly formed unit.

On m y way back to Yerevan, Kamo, the taxi driver, was telling that if
the Azeris had opened the Lachin corridor in 1991-92 when the Karabakh
forces were retreating and Azerbaijan had half of Karabakh, then
Armenians would possibly leave Karabakh for Armenia. He reminded that
Karabakh forces broke through enemy ‘s defense on May 18 and opened
the humanitarian corridor. Now Kamo’s taxi was picking up speed on the
corridor’s paved road.

By Tatoul Hakobian

ArmenPress
Jan 10 2005

ARMENIAN FM EXPECTS PROGRESS IN KARABAGH TALKS THIS YEAR

YEREVAN, JANUARY 10, ARMENPRESS: Armenian foreign affairs minister
Vartan Oskanian has left today for the Czech capital Prague where he
will resume January 11 the internationally mediated talks with his
Azeri counterpart Elmar Mamedyarov on ways to resolve the protracted
Armenian-Azeri dispute on Nagorno Karabagh.
This will be the fourth separate Oskanian-Mamedyarov meeting in
Prague in the presence of American, French and Russian diplomats
co-chairing the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe.
“I believe this year’s negotiations will be substantially
different from what we had in the first stage of the Prague process,
as on January 11 we shall address specific issues and details, while
in the first phase we focused on outlining the general format and
common principles,’ Oskanian told the Russian Interfax before
departing to Prague.
“The further we go into the details the more complicated the talks
become… When we get to deal with details, we have to be ready for
concessions,” he was quoted as saying.
“When talking about flexibility, I mean the negotiation process
and the sides’ readiness for compromises. Each side has to evaluate
the situation realistically and the other side’s potentialities in
order to issue demands relevant to its potentialities,” Oskanian
said.
Oskanian also expressed hope that “the already reached agreements
will help us to mark a turning point in the conflict resolution in
2005.”
Last week Azerbaijani leaders claimed the January 11 talks will
discuss the so-called “phased” strategy of conflict resolution that
has been rejected by the Armenian side. Also Yuri Merzlyakov,
Russia’s chief Karabagh negotiator, was quoted by an Azerbaijani
newspaper Ekspress last Thursday as saying that the Armenians have
finally agreed to the stage-by-stage formula.” However, officials in
Yerevan did comment on this, saying only that Merzlyakov’s statements
have been distorted by the Azerbaijani media in the past.

USC Armenian Institute
University of Southern California
R. Hrair Dekmejian <[email protected]>
Professor

PRESS RELEASE

$500,000 Raised for USC Armenian Institute
In Advance of February 13 Inaugural Gala

Los Angeles – The campaign leading to the February 13 Inaugural Gala Banquet
for funding USC’s Institute of Armenian Studies has gone into overdrive in
response to unprecedented expressions of widespread financial support from
the Armenian community. As a result of rapidly increasing commitments during
December 2004, over $500,000 has already been raised.
This is a great start towards the initial target of $1,000,000 to be
achieved by the time of the banquet which would permit the Institute to
begin its work as a distinguished center of Armenian academic, intellectual
and cultural life. An endowment fund of several million dollars would
eventually be needed for a fully functional institute. The list of donors is
growing exponentially by the ever-expanding ranks of Armenian Trojan alumni,
students, parents and friends of the University of Southern California.
Prospective donors are invited to make their pledges as soon as possible to
be included in the Institute’s Honor Roll and program listings, and to
reserve a place at the February 13 Inaugural Gala Banquet. Early
reservations are suggested because of the limited seating at USC’s Town &
Gown Banquet Hall.

For further information contact
Savey Tufenkian at (818) 956-8455
Noelle Moss at (213) 740-4996 or
Dr. R. Hrair Dekmejian at (213) 740-3619
[email protected]

Tax deductible contributions & reservations to be sent to:
USC Institute of Armenian Studies Inaugural Dinner
University of Southern California
USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences
3551 Trousdale Parkway, ADM 204
Los Angeles, CA 90089-4015

Hellenic resources Network

Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media, 04-12-28

At a time when Turkey exerts efforts to pose as model or example for the
neighbouring countries, Turkish professor tries to justify the Armenian
genocide by Ottoman Turks

Ankara Anatolia news agency (27.12.04) reported from Konya that Prof. Dr.
Yusuf Halacoglu, chairman of the Turkish History Society, has stated that
foreign population statistics openly and clearly refute Armenian allegations
that 1.5 million Armenians were massacred by Ottoman Turks.
Participating in a conference, titled ”Armenian Resettlement and
Realities,” at the Selcuk University’s Suleyman Demirel Cultural Centre,
Dr. Halacoglu said that until the 1870s the Turks and Armenians had good
relations.

”However, with the establishment of missionary schools after 1863, things
began to change,” said Halacoglu. ”During these years, many missionary
schools were opened by Americans and minorities. While these schools did not
admit Muslim students until the Ottoman-Russian war, as of the 1877-1878
school year, Muslim students began to be admitted into these schools.
Armenian missionary activities continued after 1881 with parties and
associations. As of 1900s, there were 21 organized parties in the Ottoman
Empire,” remarked Halacoglu.

According to Halacoglu, Armenians had the aim of establishing an independent
Armenian state on Ottoman soil and were heavily supported by the West with
tools such as bomb attacks and assassination attempts.

At the beginning of 1906, Armenians in eastern city of Van and southern city
of Adana were involved in attempts of uprising against the Ottoman rule.

”The uprisings and movements of Armenians in Van and Adana were perceived
by the West as a massacre of Armenians. Such rumours of massacres resulted
in pressure placed on the Ottoman rule by the Westerners. Consequently, the
Ottoman State was forced to sign a document that created an Armenian state
comprised of six cities in eastern Anatolia. With this agreement, Armenians
were able to make the Armenian language the second language of the Ottoman
Empire.”

”Due to the serious uprisings, the Ottoman government decided to resettle a
portion of its Armenian population to a region which is now Syria. Today,
Armenians claim that millions of Armenians were massacred during the
resettlement,” expressed Halacoglu.

Halacoglu added that, according to a research conducted by the Armenian
Patriarchate, the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire in 1913 was
1,915,653. ”In a separate research done by foreigners, the Armenian
population of the Ottoman Empire in 1918 was 1,479,000. The war years
indicate a difference of 400,000 between the two researches. The difference
could be due to casualties caused by illness and poverty. The data collected
by the foreign research openly and clearly disprove the allegation that 1,5
million Armenians were massacred by the Ottoman government,” stated
Halacoglu.

Halacoglu said that the Turkish History Society has made a call to all
international historians to conduct research on the topic of Armenians so
that all nations would respect the outcome of the research. ”To this day,
we have not received any reply from any country,” said Halacoglu.

The conference was attended by dozens of professors and students.

World Magazine
Dec 22 2004

Wanting both
Looking for love in the right places |
by Marvin Olasky

Since both my wife and I formally became Christians (through baptism)
in the same year we were married, 1976, our love for each other in
some loopy way is tied up with our love for Christ’s church. Our
Christian beliefs, growing even before we were fully aware of them,
pushed us to marriage, and marriage pushed us to church membership.

Wonderfully, we’ve never had any significant frustrations in our
marriage; providentially but not so happily, we’ve had some in church
relationships. Yet Christianity is true and churches are God’s major
vehicles for growing believers, so despite all that goes wrong in them,
they’re still the only true game in town.

My favorite 20th-century writer of fiction, Walker Percy, poured
on the criticism in his next-to-last novel, The Second Coming
(1980). He complained that the contemporary Christian is “nominal,
lukewarm, hypocritical, sinful, or, if fervent, generally offensive
and fanatical. But he is not crazy.” The unbeliever is, because of
the “fatuity, blandness, incoherence, fakery, and fatheadedness of
his unbelief. He is in fact an insane person.”

Percy continued, “The present-day unbeliever is crazy because he finds
himself born into a world of endless wonders, having no notion how he
got here, a world in which he eats, sleeps . . . works, grows old,
gets sick, and dies . . . takes his comfort and ease, plays along
with the game, watches TV, drinks his drink, laughs . . . for all the
world as if his prostate were not growing cancerous, his arteries
turning to chalk, his brain cells dying off by the millions, as if
the worms were not going to have him in no time at all.”

Percy describes the typical academic: “The more intelligent he is, the
crazier he is. . . . He reads Dante for its mythic structure. He joins
the A.C.L.U. and concerns himself with the freedom of the individual
and does not once exercise his own freedom to inquire into how in
God’s name he should find himself in such a ludicrous situation.”

The international news of 2004 once again showed how far from sanity
this world resides. Iraq. Sudan. Israel. Afghanistan. Holland. China.
Chechnya. Cuba. Nagorno Karabakh. On the surface, our domestic
news is better. No terrorist attacks. No mass murders in schools
or churches. But Percy’s quiet terror continues: arteries to chalk,
brain cells to mush, dust to dust.

This was a year in which many people sought the love of another. I
feel extraordinarily blessed to love Susan and be loved by her, but
millions have bad marriages or no marriages, and I see how lonely many
are, unless they are called to singleness. Hit television shows like
Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives, as well as Tom Wolfe’s
fine novel I Am Charlotte Simmons, display the desperate desire for
love that some sadly reduce to a desperate search for sex – as if
momentary excitement can substitute for years of contentment.

Some of the gays and lesbians who lined up for “marriage licenses” in
San Francisco early this year merely wanted to poke their fingers in
the eyes of straights they hate, but others were there because they
thought they suddenly had an antidote to loneliness. They deserve
not our hatred but our pity.

What’s more striking is how the desperate search for horizontal love,
person to person, is not matched by what should be an even more
desperate search for vertical love, person and God. Here’s Walker
Percy again: “I am surrounded by two classes of maniacs. The first are
the believers, who think they know the reason why we find ourselves
in this ludicrous predicament yet act for all the world as if they
don’t. The second are the unbelievers, who don’t know the reason and
don’t care if they don’t.”

Confession: I often act for all the world as if I’m clueless. So do
most Christians I know – and those who don’t act clueless often act
as if they know everything, which is even more obnoxious. But here’s
my continuing New Year’s resolution, now 24 years old, taken from the
end of The Second Coming, after protagonist Will Barrett has fallen
in love and also come to understand a little about God: “Am I crazy
to want both, her and Him? No, not want, must have. And will have.”

King Vic wants to rule
By GRANTLEE KIEZA

Daily Telegraph, Australia
Dec 20 2004

VIC Darchinyan, Australia’s latest world boxing champion, returned
home to Sydney yesterday promising that the IBF flyweight title was
just the start of his world domination.

And Australia’s most powerful boxing official Ray Wheatley, who
orchestrated Darchinyan’s assault on the long-time IBF world champ
Irene Pacheco in Florida last Friday, says the new champ can keep the
crown for many years.

“Vic can dominate the flyweight title in the same way Kostya Tszyu
has ruled the junior-welterweights for nearly a decade” said
Wheatley, the IBF vice-president. “Kostya won the IBF
junior-welterweight title back in 1995 and then went on to crush the
champions of the other major boxing organisations – the WBC and WBA.

“I can see Vic doing the same thing.

“Irene Pacheco was a great champion who had held the title for five
years and had never lost in 30 fights dating back to 1993.

“He had been an exceptional champion for the IBF but with Jeff Fenech
calling the shots Vic came out and crushed him.”

Darchinyan, 28, used a series of left hooks to separate Pacheco from
his crown in round 11 and wants to apply the same brutal force to
Thailand’s WBC flyweight champ Pongsaklek Wongjongkam, a pocket-sized
southpaw sharpshooter who shot down the title hopes of Fenech’s other
flyweight contender Hussein Hussein in Bangkok last year.

“I will crush Pongsaklek,” said Darchinyan, who was in Hussein’s
corner that night and has been licking his lips ever since for his
chance to tangle with the Thai terror.”

Darchinyan wants to make one defence of the IBF title – possibly
against Brian Viloria in Hawaii – and then go after the WBC champ.

He will enjoy a few weeks holiday with his parents who are coming out
from Armenia for three months to celebrate his triumph.

Then he will resume training with Hussein, who hopes to face WBO
champ Omar Narvaez of Argentina at Penrith Panthers on February 6.

It has been a remarkable rise for Darchinyan who lost in the
quarter-finals at the Sydney Olympics when representing Armenia and
using his real first name, Vakhtang.

Not long ago the fierce 51kg fighting force wanted to have his photo
taken with that other great Vic, Vic Patrick, but was too shy to ask.

Patrick was Australia’s great lightweight of the 40s and the pair
have a similar style, with a crab-like southpaw stance and awesome
power in both hands. But Darchinyan also boasts the intensity and
relentless aggression of his trainer.

“Vic is an incredibly strong guy,” said Fenech, who claims his
fighter can match his feats of three world titles at different
weights.

“Not only does Vic have tremendous power but he has great desire and
determination, too.

“He’d fight Mike Tyson if he had the chance and like Kostya he is
incredibly professional and focused on what he wants to achieve.”