Greece gets second chance at Euro 2004
BY KYRIACOS CONDOULIS

FOX Sports
May 27 2004

Associated Press
May. 27, 2004 11:59 a.m.

ATHENS, Greece (AP)— Greece is playing in a European Championship for
the first time in 24 years with hopes of erasing past embarrassments.

A good performance at Euro 2004 in Portugal would also give the
country a sporting boost ahead of the Aug. 13-29 Olympics.

Greece’s German coach Otto Rehhagel is aiming high. After completing
a lap of honor with his players last year to celebrate qualification
for the June 12-July 4 finals, “King Otto” spelled out his team’s
intentions.

“We want to make an impact in Portugal. We don’t just want to put in
an appearance.”

Greece topped Group 6, forcing favorites Spain to the playoffs,
in a qualification stunner.

Having lost just one match in 16 encounters, Greece is feeling
optimistic despite a daunting fixture list – hosts Portugal in the
tournament’s opening match on June 12, followed by a revenge-hungry
Spain and unpredictable Russia.

On top of this, Greece’s record at the highest level is dismal. The
country has never won a game in the finals of any major competition.

Humiliation last came in 1994 in the United States, when Greece’s first
World Cup appearance ended in disaster with three heavy defeats. In
their first game against Argentina, Greece conceded a goal just 83
seconds into the match and went on to lose 4-0.

An early exit in Portugal would kill the sense of pride revived since
Rehhagel’s arrival in 2001.

The German triggered a change in the team’s fortunes after another
failed campaign in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers and a walkout by
Demis Nikolaidis and other star players disgusted at the state of
Greek soccer.

Rehhagel set out methodically to reinvent the team, luring back
Nikolaidis to join Angelos Haristeas and Zissis Vryzas in attack and
form a trio that fired Greece through the Euro 2004 qualification
campaign.

Early signs of recovery were evident in the 2-2 draw with England in
a 2002 World Cup qualifier at Old Trafford. Nikolaidis put the Greeks
ahead early in the second half and England only scraped through thanks
to David Beckham’s historic last-minute free kick.

The road to Portugal started badly for the Greeks who suffered 2-0
defeats at home to Spain in September 2002 and away to Ukraine a
month later.

But Rehhagel’s confidence in his men was rewarded and Greece bounced
back four days later to beat Armenia 2-0 at home with Nikolaidis
scoring both goals. Haristeas received the honors in April 2003 when
Greece beat Northern Ireland in Belfast with two goals from the Werder
Bremen striker.

Greece’s finest hour came last June when a stunning 1-0 away victory
against Spain, with the damage dome by Bolton Wanderers midfielder
Stelios Giannakopoulos.

Qualification was suddenly with reach, and victory against Ukraine
four days afterward with a late Haristeas goal put the Greeks squarely
back in contention.

Rehhagel’s men leapfrogged Spain to go top after the favorites were
held by Northern Ireland.

There was no looking back.

Greece traveled to Armenia to deliver a 1-0 defeat, in a match marred
by bribery allegations that were eventually dropped by Armenian
officials. And a final 1-0 victory over Northern Ireland sealed the
winning run.

Key to Greece’s revival was the squad’s newfound unity and attacking
mentality, with German rigor imposed on a traditionally undisciplined
side.

Rehhagel’s innovations including a strong defense line with Nikos
Dabitzas and Traianos Dellas joining Yiannis Goumas or Michalis
Kapsis. The fast footed Yiourkas Seitaridis played right and Stelios
Venetidis or Panagiotis Fyssas played down the left.

Superb goalkeeping from Antonis Nikopolidis kept the Greek unbeaten,
despite being sidelined by his own Athens club in a salary dispute.

Angelos Basinas, Vassilis Tsiartas – who grabbed the winning goal
against Northern Ireland – and captain Theodore Zagorakis are likely
to feature prominently in the Greek midfield. Inter Milan agile
midfielder Giorgos Karagounis adds an extra dose of creativity.

Greece conceded four goals in eight qualification matches, in the
face of attacking might of players like Real Madrid’s Raul Gonzalez
and AC Milan’s Andriy Shevchenko, both firing blanks.

Rehhagel, a former Werder Bremen coach, is not expected to make any
substantial changes to the spine of the team.

A reality check for Greece came on April 28 when the unbeaten streak
was finally ended by a 4-0 friendly defeat at the hands of fellow
qualifiers the Netherlands.

It was an uncomfortable reminder of their crushing 5-0 defeat to
England at Wembley prior to the 1994 World Cup. Greece went on to
concede 10 goals – scoring none – in the finals.

Greece didn’t heed the warning then. An entire nation is hoping they
will now.

Armenians, Tajiks Suffer From Hunger Most, Report Says

Baku Today
May 27 2004

Among countries of the former Soviet Union, Armenia and Tajikistan
are those suffering from hunger most, said a report by a UN Food
and Agriculture Organization expert, David Sedik, ANS reported on
Wednesday.

According to the expert, 40 percent of Armenians and Tajiks are living
on the edge of starvation.

In Azerbaijan Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kirgizistan, 35
percent of population does not have enough to eat, the report said.

The figure is 20 percent in Belarus, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and
Moldovia. In total, 38 million people suffer from malnutrition in
former Soviet republics, according to the report.

However, the problem is not so serious in ex-Communist countries that
now are members of the European Union. Among the mentioned nations, the
worst situation with inefficient nutrition is in Latvia and Slovakia.

The figure doesn’t surpass 2 percent in Czech republic and Hungary and
it is only 1 percent in Poland, the report says, explaining that the
problem with starvation arises mainly from low salaries and pensions.

Germany to lend Armenia 3.5 mln euros for deposit guarantees

Interfax
May 27 2004

Yerevan. (Interfax) – Germany will lend Armenia 3.5 million euros to
bolster its credit guarantee fund, Karapet Gevorkian, a representative
of Germany’s KfW, which will disburse the money, told Interfax.

KfW will release the money after it has approved a feasibility study,
due to be completed at the end of June, Gevorkian said. In addition,
the bank is still waiting for Armenia’s parliament to pass a law on
guaranteeing personal bank deposits, he said.

Armenia started its deposit guarantee fund on July 1, 2003, but this
will not be in a position to start payments until July 1, 2005.

It is thought the guarantee fund will receive the credit, which will
be repayable in 40 years, at 0.75% annually. The credit will enable
banks to lower mandatory deductions to the fund from 0.5% to 0.2%
of the deposits they receive.

Germany has issued 110 million euros in credits and grants to Armenia
to date.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pepsi plant opens in Georgia

Interfax
May 27 2004

Tbilisi. (Interfax) – A Pepsi plant costing $7 million opened this
week in Tbilisi and it will be the exclusive distributor of PepsiCo
products in Georgia and Armenia.

The plant is owned by Georgia’s Iberia Group, the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and two individuals, the plant’s
General Director David Lomjari told Interfax.

The Bank of Georgia extended a $2 million loan and the EBRD loaned
1 million euros to finance the project. The plant has a capacity of
12,000 liters of soft drinks a day, which will completely satisfy
market demand, Lomjari said. The plant will produce soft drinks,
including Pepsi, Pepsi Light and Miranda.

EBRD to lend $70 mln for Azerbaijan power plant upgrade

Interfax
May 27 2004

Baku. (Interfax) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(EBRD) is ready to extend Azerbaijan a $70-million loan to upgrade
the Azerbaijan State District Power Plant, the country’s largest,
a source in the EBRD’s office in Baku told Interfax.

An agreement is planned to be signed at the end of 2004 or the
beginning of 2005, the source said.

The project will include upgrading the power plant’s eight generating
units. Azerbaijan estimates the project will cost $80 million.

The Azerbaijan State District Power Plant is located on the Upper
Karabakh Canal 400 kilometers west of Baku. The plant’s first
generating unit was built in 1981 and the eighth in 1989. The eight
units have a total generating capacity of 2,400 megawatts (300
megawatts each). The plant generates more than half of Azerbaijan’s
electricity.

Azerbaijan has been a member of the EBRD since 1992. The EBRD has
extended loans under government guarantees to Azerbaijan worth $131.79
million and $9.5 million to the private sector to date. The EBRD is
planning to loan Azerbaijan $350 million in the 2004 fiscal year.

Azerbaijan has implemented two projects in the energy sector with
EBRD loans: upgrading the Minyachevir hydropower station for $21
million and building the Yenikend hydropower station for $53 million.

Awareness of 1915 genocide gains
By ERIC STERN, BEE CAPITOL BUREAU

Modesto Bee, CA
May 27 2004

SACRAMENTO — When Adolf Hitler was planning his 1939 invasion of
Poland and the extermination of Jews, he wasn’t worried about the
consequences of his brutality.

“Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”
he asked.

Nearly a century later, the effort to raise awareness about the
1915 genocide of 1.5 million Armenians reached the state Senate on
Wednesday. California is home to hundreds of thousands of people with
Armenian ancestry.

“I grew up knowing of that experience,” said Sen. Chuck Poochigian,
R-Fresno, whose great-grandparents were murdered in the Turkish-led
genocide.

By a vote of 37-0, the Senate agreed with Poochigian to exempt from
taxes any insurance settlement payments to heirs and beneficiaries
of Armenian genocide victims.

The measure puts descendants of the Ottoman Empire-era atrocities
on par with those from the Holocaust, German labor camps and
Japanese-American internment camps. Those survivors and heirs also
don’t pay taxes on reparations or insurance payments.

Will cost state $500,000 to $700,000

In January, New York Life Insurance Co. reached a $20 million
settlement with heirs and beneficiaries of about 2,400 Armenian
genocide victims who took out policies between 1875 and 1915.

Armenian groups say policy documents were lost and destroyed during
the massacre. This year’s measure follows a 2000 bill by Poochigian
that extended the statute of limitations for lawsuits to be filed
against insurance carriers for unpaid claims.

The state expects a loss of $500,000 to $700,000 in tax revenue because
of the bill. But Poochigian said the bill is bigger than the modest
tax relief it provides.

“It’s a matter of simple justice that they get these payments,”
he said.

The bill heads to the Assembly, where it will receive strong —
and emotional — backing by Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian, R-Stockton,
whose grandparents fled the region in 1915, eventually settling in
California in the 1950s.

Aghazarian said the bill is about recognizing the genocide. “It’s
important to keep the awareness of this high,” he said.

Turkey, a U.S. ally, rejects the genocide claim and maintains that
Armenians were killed in civil unrest during the collapse of the
Ottoman Empire.

Bee Capitol Bureau reporter Eric Stern can be reached at 916-326-5544
or [email protected].

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Former FM accuses Armenia of delaying talks

Azer News, Azerbaijan
May 27 2004

A roundtable, “Upper Garabagh: from deadlock to progress, from
ceasefire to peace”, started in Moscow on Tuesday. Former Foreign
Minister Tofig Zulfugarov said that Baku sees no alternative to the
stage-by-stage settlement of the Upper Garabagh conflict.

He criticized Armenia’s position in the peace talks and accused Yerevan
of trying to prolong the negotiations. Armenian political analyst
Migranian suggested that the experience of the Turkish-Armenian truce
commission (which closed earlier this year) should be considered in the
course of peace talks. He said the Upper Garabagh conflict should be
considered a part of the long-lasting Turkish-Armenian confrontation.

Migranian added that the deadlock in the peace talks was caused by
unacceptable terms put forward by both parties. Former co-chair of
the OSCE Minsk Group, Vladimir Kazimirov agreed with him and added
that the demands of neither party will be met in the next ten years.

Pressure group may resort to radical steps

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
May 27 2004

Chairman of the Garabagh Liberation Organization (GLO) Akif Naghi
was quoted as saying on Monday that the participation of Armenian
military personnel in the upcoming NATO training is unacceptable.

He said Armenian authorities are trying to cooperate with Azerbaijan
in order to divert attention from Armenia’s occupation of Azerbaijan’s
territories. Naghi said such collaboration is possible only after
Armenia withdraws from the occupied land.

He said his organization would resort to radical measures, including
protest actions, to prevent the participation of the Armenian
military in NATO training sessions in Baku. Naghi added that the
responsibility for this will rest with the government of Azerbaijan
and NATO administration.

Spartacus ready for big comeback

Suffolk Evening Star, UK
May 27 2004

May 27, 2004 12:39 — COMEBACK kid Steve Spartacus is ready to return
to the boxing ring – and fully prepared to get back to winning ways.

Ipswich fighter Spartacus, real name Steve Smith, faces Varuzhan
Davtyan in a light-heavyweight fight next Wednesday, four months
after suffering his only professional defeat in 16 fights.

But the 27-year old boxer admits he was unprepared for that ill-fated
bout with Ovill McKenzie which came just a month after he had won
the inaugural English light-heavyweight crown with victory over Scott
Lansdowne at Bethnal Green

He said: “It was all going so well for me – I’d won the English
title and I came back in to the gym after Christmas and was told
there would be no fight for me until April.

“Then, at short notice, the fight came up with McKenzie and I went
for it. I wasn’t fit enough but I believed my own hype and believed
I could beat him. I was a fool to think I could as you need six weeks
preparation before a fight and I didn’t get it.”

Since the McKenzie defeat, Spartacus has spent time sparring overseas
in a bid to get back to the condition he was in last December when
he took the light-heavyweight crown in a third round knockout.

“I’ve been dogged by injuries recently and have been over in Denmark
sparring – the injury is to my left elbow which has been a bit of
a nightmare. But I’m having plenty of physio on it and it’s getting
better.

“I’m still not 100 per cent fit now but I am better prepared than
for the McKenzie fight.”

In Nottingham next Wednesday he faces Armenian Davtyan, a former
Russian middleweight champion with an impressive record of 27 wins
and five defeats in his native country.

Davtyan, 31, relocated to Birmingham in 2002 and has won five and
lost ten fights since then. Spartacus admits it is a fight he really
should win.

“Davtyan is a boxer I know a bit about. His last fight was at the end
of March when he beat Jamie Hearn in Southampton but ten days before
that he fought my gym mate Andrew Lowe.

“Andrew won that fight so I’ve been speaking to him about Davtyan
and he will lend me the video of the fight to watch.

“Davtyan is a hard-working fighter but when he fought Andrew he was
fat and out of shape – he likes to move around the ring which is
something I don’t really like – I would rather just get in there and
tear him up.”

After fighting Davtyan on Wednesday, Spartacus is all set to face
25-year-old Londoner Peter Haymer in a long-awaited grudge match.

Spartacus faced Haymer when the two boxers were amateurs and lost
the fight on a controversial points decision.

“We met in 2000 when I was still an amateur and he beat me 16-15 on
points and we’ve been on a collision course to meet as pros ever since.

“Even now in gyms around London people come up to me and talk about
the Haymer fight and still tell me I should have been given the
points decision.

“That is the big fight I am waiting for but it won’t take place
until September.

“After that I am hoping to bring a fight back to Ipswich. That would
really be something special.”

Remembering Armenia
By Anna G. Eshoo

San Francisco Chronicle, CA
May 27 2004

Serbia, Rwanda and the Jewish Holocaust stand as stark reminders in
the American psyche of the brutality humankind is capable of committing
against itself. But many Americans are not aware that these atrocities
were preceded by another, equally horrendous act of barbarity against
the Armenian people.

Eighty-nine years ago, in 1915, the Ottoman Empire began rounding
up hundreds of Armenian leaders and putting them to death, a process
that eventually killed 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children
through forced death marches, mass burnings, rape and starvation.
Another half million were forced into exile. It was the 20th century’s
first genocide, and it served as a prototype for future genocides. In
justifying his regime’s policies two decades later, Adolf Hitler was
heard to say “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of
the Armenians?”

Today, the 50,000 Armenian Americans in the Bay Area and others around
the world are speaking out about this tragedy. Most are the children
and grandchildren of those who survived the genocide, haunted by their
loss and determined that not only will this crime never be forgotten,
but that it never happens again.

But “never again” is a phrase that we have uttered too many times
over the past century, whether in the bleak landscape of a German
concentration camp, the killing fields of Cambodia, or the red clay
hills of Rwanda. Too often it seems, the world’s collective horror
arrives too late, its sympathy tainted by the failure to act sooner,
to act decisively. Our moral determination has seldom been matched
by our political willingness to act.

Fortunately, history is not destiny. The African nation of Sudan
is enduring violence that many believe could lead to genocide. The
international community must be firmly united in demanding that
both sides in this conflict allow full access by humanitarian aid
organizations and the United Nations to the more than 1 million people
at risk. If the killing is stopped, history shows that the Sudanese
can survive the scarring of genocide, a crime that strikes not just
a people, but a culture, language and history as well.

But the history of Armenia demonstrates that the healing process
can take generations. Today, Armenia has a democratically elected
government with strong ties to the United States. Located at the
crossroads of Europe and Asia, Armenia has the potential to make
tremendous strides in improving the quality of life for all its
citizens. But regrettably, Armenia’s economic development is hindered
by continuing conflicts with Azerbaijan and Turkey, who blockade
most of Armenia’s borders, forcing all international trade to be
delivered by air or to travel overland via Georgia and Iran. The
United States has repeatedly affirmed its commitment to the people of
Armenia and their country’s security and development. U.S. technical
and developmental assistance is an essential component of this effort
and one I’m proud to support.

Ten years ago, the world stood aside while the killers in Rwanda
implored their supporters to push on, declaring that “the graves
are not yet full.” Today, we stand with our brothers and sisters in
Armenia, Rwanda, Cambodia and Europe in our shared resolve that the
horrors of genocide not be inflicted on another generation in Sudan.
The graves are, indeed, too full. It’s our responsibility as survivors
and descendants of survivors to ensure that they are never filled
again.

Rep. Anna G. Eshoo, D-Atherton, represents the 14th Congressional
District. Of Armenian and Assyrian descent, she is a member of the
Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues.