Author: Zaminian Bedik

ARMENIA STAY IN FRONT
by Malcolm Pein

The Daily Telegraph (LONDON)
May 30, 2006 Tuesday

Armenia stayed at the head of the field at the 37th Chess Olympiad
in Turin with an impressive 3-1 win over the Netherlands. World No 3
Levon Aronian bounced back from his defeat by Vladimir Kramnik and
dispatched Ivan Sokolov before the latter had developed any of his
kingside. This victory set the tone for the match and the Armenians
stretched their lead to a full point.

Russia also won 3-1 against Belarus, with Kramnik demolishing the
Berlin Wall, an opening variation he popularised by confounding
Garry Kasparov with it in their world title match in London in
2000. This game also finished rapidly after a bizarre blunder by
Alexey Alexandrov.

England lost to Norway as the teenage prodigy Magnus Carlsen ground
down Michael Adams in a long endgame. Nigel Short played superbly
and has now drawn three with black and won three with white, but
Jon Speelman’s switch from solidity to creativity failed and a pawn
sacrifice never worked out.

Scotland are the leading British team again after defeating
Finland 2.5-1.5. Jon Shaw now has 4/4, quite a way to celebrate the
ratification of his GM title. Jonathan Rowson outplayed Tommy Nyback
and missed a difficult win.

Leaders: 1 Armenia 21; 2 Russia 20; 3 Cuba 19.5; 4-7 Uzbekistan,
Ukraine, Georgia, Czech Rep 19; 8-13 Netherlands, Germany, Denmark,
France, USA, Sweden 18.5. (36 Scotland 16.5; 38 England 16; 68 Ireland
14.5, 84 Wales 14, 126 Guernsey 10.5 130 Jersey 10; 148 teams.)

N Short – LE Johannessen

37th Olympiad Turin (7)

Caro Kann Advance

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 h5 5.c4 (Nigel plays a straightforward
attacking line that Boris Spassky also favoured.) 5…e6 6.Nc3
Nd7 7.cxd5 cxd5 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Ne7 10.Nf3 Nc6 11.0-0 Be7 12.Bg5
(Safeguarding the h4 pawn and threatening Nc3-b5-d6+) 12…a6 13.Rac1
Nb6 14.Ne2 Qd7 15.Nf4 Nc4 (Not satisfactory but Black has no safe
place for his king if 15…0-0-0 16.Rxc6+ bxc6 17.Qxa6+ Qb7 18.Qxb7+
Kxb7 19.Bxe7 or 15…g6 16.Bf6 Bxf6 17.exf6 Qd6 18.Nxe6 fxe6 19.Qxg6+
Kd8 20.Qg7 Rf8 21.Qxb7 or 15…Rc8 16.Bxe7 Qxe7 17.Ng5 Rc7 18.Ngxe6
fxe6 19.Ng6) 16.b3 Na3 17.Rfd1 Rc8 18.Bxe7 Qxe7 19.Rc5 Rc7 20.Rdc1
(White has two plans, Nf3-g5 with sacrifices on e6 or g6 and Qd3-c3-b2
and a queenside pawn advance) 20…g6 21.Ng5 Rd7 22.Rxc6! bxc6
23.Nxg6! fxg6 24.Qxg6+ Kd8 25.Rxc6 1-0

Johannessen

Short

Final position after 25.Rxc6, 26.Nxe6+ will win the queen.

GOVERNMENT COMMISSION ENDORSES COMPANY BID TO RAISE DRINKING WATER PRICE

Armenpress
May 30 2006

YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS: From July 1 residents of Yerevan and
33 communities lying in close vicinity will pay 172,8 drams per
one cubic meter of drinking water instead of current 125 drams. The
decision was made today by the Armenian government Public Services
Regulatory Commission which has actually endorsed an application by
Yerevan Water company seeking a hike in the price of drinking water
and waste water removal.

This price was originally suggested by the French General des Aux
company that won an international tender to run the Yerevan Water
Supply and Removal company for ten years. It was renamed later the
Yerevan Water.

Under the agreement signed by the Armenian government and General des
Aux, the tariff will be reduced gradually to 90 drams by 2016. However,
the exchange rate of the Armenian national currency-Dram-against Euro
and some other factors may prompt the company to revise these tariffs.

Serge Popoff, the chief manager of Yerevan Water, said the company
will work to improve the quality of drinking water and meet consumers’
demands. He said by the end of the contract term 95 percent of Yerevan
population will have 24-hour water supply against 78 percent now.

The company has pledged to invest $22 million of the World Bank credit
into improvement of the system together with 16.7 million euros from
the company’s future profits and 9.1 million euros will be invested
by General des Aux.

AZERI MPS, MGER SHAHGELDIYAN AND VLADIMIR ZHIRINOVSKI CLASHED DURING NATO PA

Today, Azerbaijan
May 30 2006

In the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO session operating in London for
Conflicts and new state organization center director Denis Summut
has dealt with Nagorno Karabakh problem and conflicts in Georgia,
in his report dedicated to conflicts in South Caucasus.

According to APA, after the report Azerbaijani delegation making a
speech expressed their attitude to the lecture. Azerbaijani delegation
member in NATO PA Gudrat Hasanguliyev made his remarks to Denis Summut
on not being reflected the information on occupied territories and
refugees related to Nagorno Karabakh conflict. He stated that more than
20 percent of Azerbaijani territories have been occupied by Armenians,
more than 1 million refugees and displaced people exist in Azerbaijan.

After that Mger Shahgaldiyan has accused Azerbaijani parliamentarian
in false information. According to his claim, Azerbaijani territories’
13 percent is under occupation, not 20, and the number of refugees
is 600 thousand not 1mln.

The statement of Mger Shahgaldiyan irritated Denis Sammut: “You have
occupied the territory of a state even 2 percent not 20, why did you
occupy? What right do you have? If this state begins to restore its
territory tomorrow again war will break out. You have mentioned that
the number of refuges is 600 thousand, is it small figures? Why should
600 thousand people live in condition of refugee?”

Russian parliamentarian Vladimir Zhirinovski said that Azerbaijan
lives in the account of Russia. According to him Azerbaijanis work in
Russia, earn money, and in this way they solve their social problems.

The Azerbaijani parliamentarian Gudrat HAsanguliyev stated that
Azerbaijnanis work in Russia, but Russia needs this working power,
and even President of Russia stated of it. Hasanguliyev said simply
Azerbaijanis serve income of financial means to the budget of this
state, and that is why their living in this country is provided.

URL:

President Kocharyan received Head of the Orthodox Church of Finland

ArmRadio.am
26.05.2006 14:48

President Robert Kocharyan received today Head of the Orthodox Church
of Finland, Archbishop of Carelia and All Finland Leo accompanied by
the Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II.

The President expressed his appreciation for the visit of Archbishop
Leo and noted that the countries and peoples benefit from the warm
relations between the two Churches.

Characterizing the current Armenian Apostolic Church ` State relations
as excellent, Robert Kocharyan said that Armenia is situated in a
region where maintenance of church, religion and traditions is of
fatal importance.

Archbishop Leo and Catholicos Garegin II highly appreciated the
cooperation between the Orthodox Church of Finland and the Armenian
Apostolic Church. The interlocutors attached importance to
interchurch ties and exchanged views on Christianity and the problems
humanity faces.

PROSPERITY OR UNIFICATION

Lragir.am
26 May 06

Aghasi Arshakyan, National Unity Party, thinks that new political
parties are established when the existing political parties and their
ideologies are not sufficient to improve the situation. `They are set
up to improve the situation and the founders must sooner or later
account who is to blame for the situation.’ Nevertheless, Aghasi
Arshakyan thinks that in reshaping the political sphere everyone
realizes that it will be impossible to hold new elections in an old
manner. `Therefore, new extremely powerful forces are being created.
These are artificially set on the arena. And in order to have complete
control of the entire sphere, Bargavach Hayastan Party led by a highly
respected person is set up on the one hand, and on the other hand, the
Unification for Armenia Party is established to counterbalance
Bargavach Hayastan, thinks Aghasi Arshakyan.’

CRASHED ARMENIAN PLANE’S BLACK BOXES TO BE CHECKED IN PARIS

RIA Novosti, Russia
May 25 2006

YEREVAN, May 25 (RIA Novosti) – The flight recorders from an Armenian
Airbus that crashed into the Black Sea May 3 will be sent to Paris
for checking before being decoded in Moscow, an official said Thursday.

Gayane Davtyan, of the Armenian civil aviation authority’s press
service, said speculation that the flight recorders were too severely
damaged to be decoded was premature.

“The black boxes from the A-320 airliner will be decoded in Moscow.

However, they will first be sent to Paris, where Armenian, Russian,
and French experts will work to ascertain their technical condition.

The black boxes will then be opened, and the chips will be taken from
them and delivered to Moscow for decoding,” she said.

The recovery operation at the scene of the tragedy was officially
declared over on Wednesday.

Tatiana Anodina, head of the Interstate Aviation Committee, said
experts may face problems deciphering data from the wreck’s cockpit
flight recorder, because of damage to the recording medium.

The airliner, operated by Armenia’s Armavia, crashed while flying
from the Armenian capital, Yerevan, in stormy weather 6 kilometers
(3.7 miles) from Russia’s Adler airport, which services the popular
resort of Sochi. All 113 people on board died.

NEWSPAPER DEMANDS CRIMINAL CASE AGAINST SARKISIAN BROTHER
By Ruzanna Stepanian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
May 24 2006

An opposition-linked newspaper demanded on Wednesday that Armenian
law-enforcement authorities launch criminal proceedings against
a controversial brother of Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian who
reportedly verbally abused and threatened one of its journalists.

Taguhi Tovmasian of the “Iravunk” bi-weekly reported last week that
Aleksandr “Sashik” Sarkisian clashed with several reputed crime figures
during a birthday party at one of Yerevan’s expensive restaurants
earlier this month. Tovmasian says Sarkisian confronted her in the
Armenian parliament on Tuesday to express his fury with the article
and demand that she disclose its source. She says he threatened to
create “problems” for her after she refused to do that.

In separate letters to the police, the Prosecutor-General’s Office
and the National Security Service (NSS), the “Iravunk” management
said all of this is sufficient grounds for a criminal case against
the influential businessman and member of Armenia’s parliament. It
also demanded that the law-enforcement agencies ensure the physical
security of its young female employee.

“He [Sarkisian] wants to know the source? I am the source,” Hayk
Babukhanian, the “Iravunk” editor-in-chief, told RFE/RL.

Tovmasian also struck a defiant note. “Sashik Sarkisian cared not so
much about the veracity of the information as its source,” she said.

“He was endlessly making threatens like ‘If you don’t name the source,
you’ll have problems; you know who I am.'”

“He didn’t care whether or not what I reported was true,” she added.

“This only shows that what I wrote was true. It can be said that I
rubbed salt against his wounds with that article. He proved this with
his brazen behavior.”

“Iravunk,” which is linked to a small opposition party called the
Union for Constitutional Rights, claimed that Sarkisian went to the
restaurant on May 2 to celebrate with dozens of crime figures the 50th
anniversary of a prominent Russian mobster. The paper, one of the
best selling in Armenia, said that at one point he started angrily
quarrelling with some them over a business-related matter. It also
noted that some of them were among the passengers of the Armenian
airliner that crashed off the Russian Black Sea coast a few hours
later.

Sarkisian, meanwhile, refused to speak to journalists and comment
on the scandal as he attended a parliament session on Wednesday. His
powerful and normally reserved brother Serzh is currently attending
the Chess Olympiad in Turin, Italy and was not available for comment.

“INTELLIGENCE BRIEF: MONTENEGRO VOTES FOR INDEPENDENCE”

PINR – Power & Interest News Report
May 23 2006

On May 21, 55.4 percent of Montenegro’s voters chose independence
from Serbia in a referendum held in this former Yugoslavian republic.

The European Union had decided that the poll would be valid if the
result surpassed 55 percent. As a result, Podgorica will soon be
independent from Serbia.

Montenegro’s political decision has important geopolitical
implications. First of all, Serbia will lose its last access point
to the Mediterranean Sea and will be from now on a country without
coastal outlets. Belgrade will be separated from Montenegro for
the first time since 1918 and will likely soon face a reinvigorated
pro-independence push in Kosovo. Fifteen years after conflict erupted
in the former Yugoslavia, Serbia has lost its maritime dimension
completely and is now dramatically reduced in size. Its future is
in the European Union — unless the E.U.’s enlargement process is
stopped indefinitely, which is unlikely for the moment — but it will
access the European club as a minor power, with much less strategic
and economic capabilities than only one decade ago.

Second, the E.U. will now have to integrate yet another state. As the
period preceding the referendum showed, Montenegro’s complex political
and religious geography is a source of conflict and will keep the new
state’s political risk high in the coming years. This means that the
E.U. will need to cope with a predictable lack of investment in an
already poorly industrialized country. Extreme political fragmentation
in the Balkans will remain a key issue in European security policy
and will demand more attention from Brussels.

Serbia will be more dependent than ever on the E.U. for its future
economic prospects, and Brussels will need to design a viable road map
to integrate its Western Balkanic countries. Whereas Croatia can count
on Austro-German support, the future is more complicated for the Former
Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, and Montenegro —
whereby political instability in Kosovo and Montenegro will play a
crucial role in these area’s chances to integrate successfully into
European structures.

Brussels is, however, in a difficult position. The European
Commission postponed until October 2006 its final say on Bulgaria’s
and Romania’s accession, and does not appear to have “digested” the
2004 big enlargement. The E.U., however, would risk even more if it
did not successfully integrate the former Yugoslavian region because
of identity-based conflicts that may explode once again without a
credible external power functioning as a stabilizing force.

Montenegro’s independence also bears consequences for Russia and for
Moscow’s relationship with the Western geostrategic realm. Moscow’s
historic ally, Serbia, will be a less palatable partner than before
because of Belgrade’s reduced geopolitical weight. Moreover, should
regionalist pushes continue to advance in the broader region from
the Adriatic to the Caucasus, Russia’s historic sphere of influence
will be marked by other secessions, such as Transdniester (from
Moldova), Abkhazia (from Georgia), and possibly Nagorno Karabakh
(from Azerbaijan).

Look for secessionism, political instability and political risk to
continue to undermine the post-Cold War geopolitical environment in
Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. Expect the European Union to reassess
its enlargement strategy, whereby the question of the E.U.’s internal
political configuration will need to be re-addressed and effectively
resolved. The E.U. government will be under pressure since the question
of an E.U. constitutional draft is already starting to take center
stage in public policy debates. The political management issue and
the very viability of the European single currency will also soon
surface as unexpectedly complicated issues that will dominate the
agenda during the next two years.

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR) is an independent
organization that utilizes open source intelligence to provide conflict
analysis services in the context of international relations.

PINR approaches a subject based upon the powers and interests
involved, leaving the moral judgments to the reader. This report
may not be reproduced, reprinted or broadcast without the written
permission of [email protected]. All comments should be directed
to [email protected].

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ARMENIAN CLERGYMEN CONCERNED WITH THE VICTORY OF “LORDI” AT “EUROVISION-2006″

ArmRadio.am
23.05.2006 14:28

Araratyan Patriarchal Diocese is concerned with the victory of
the Finnish ” Lordi” group at “Eurovision-2006,” which was singing
“Halleluiah” dressed in monsters’ costumes.

Participants of today’s discussion noted that the victory of this
group speaks about degradation of Europe and the trend of returning
to heathenism.

Votes in favor of the Finnish group were cast in most part by the
young and children. Armenian children were no less impressed.

Singer Hamlet Gevorgyan sees anti-educational and hidden anti-Christian
components in the performance of “Halleluiah” in monstrous masks.

Fr. Tovma Andreasyan considers that such choice at “Eurovision” is
the result of degradation of Europe and a proof that the world is
returning to heathenism.

“The performance of Finns cannot be considered a show,” said director
Arman Arakelyan.

Psychologist Mickael Hambartsumyan liked and watched the performance
of the Finns with great pleasure. According to him, the performance
should be considered a show solely, and to watch it does not mean to
step away from the Apostolic Church.

To note, the Finnish group also calls on the millions of “Eurovision”
viewers not to take their show too serious.

It needs to be noted that Armenian was one of the three countries
that gave no points to Finland.

Citizens can refer their questions about this performance and Den
Brown’s ” The Da Vinchi Code,” calling 58 47 22.

59 ISSUES, 16 INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS INVOLVED IN DRAFT AGENDA OF FORTHCOMING NA FOUR-DAYS SITTINGS

Noyan Tapan
May 22 2006

YEREVAN, MAY 22, NOYAN TAPAN. Drafts to the decision on making
additions to the agenda of the 7th session of the 3rd convention
of the RA National Assembly and to the agenda of the May 22-25 NA
four-days sittings were discussed at the May 19 working consultation
which was presided by Tigran Torosian, the Deputy Speaker of the
Parliament. As Noyan Tapan was informed by the NA Public Relations
Department, 11 draft laws were involved in the part of additions of the
agenda of the seventh session of the NA third convention. 59 issues,
16 international agreements were involved in the draft agenda of the
coming four-days sittings of the Parliament. The draft to the decision
on making additions to the agenda of the seventh session of the third
convention of the National Assembly and the draft agenda of the May
22-25 NA four-days sittings will be affirmed at the May 22 sitting
of the Parliament.