Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
March 26, 2004, Friday

TWO SIDES OF THE 102ND BASE

SOURCE: Nezavisimoe Voennoe Obozrenie, No 10, March 19 – 25, 2004, p.8
Translated from Russian
by Igor Plugatarev

Several hundred meters divide checkpoints of two military units in
Yerevan outskirts.Closer to the city is the Russian regiment, and the
other one is a communication regiment of the Armenian Armed Forces.
According to the military, both units are elements of the Russian
102nd military base in Armenia. It means that they comprise a single
military structure. And yet, differences are undeniable. Entrance to
the Russian checkpoint is barred by slabs of concrete making entry
more difficult. The Armenian unit does not have this fortification
against terrorists. The Armenians are surprised as well, that Russian
soldiers manning checkpoints always wear heavy bulletproof vests. “Why
bother?” the locals shrug.

Armenia does care for the military. Lieutenant Colonel Vartan
Stepanjan, 43, communication regiment commander (he became an officer
by chance, it happened during the war in Nagorno-Karabakh) claims that
officers of the Armenian army have no reasons to complain. “Status of
our officers is higher than that of an average citizen,” he explained.
“Average salary in Armenia amounts to 15,000 drams while officers are
paid three or four times that. Sometimes, they are even paid six or
seven times that, depending on the position.” The sum is an equivalent
of between $150 and $250, while average teachers for example are paid
$30-50. “Moreover, salaries in the army are always paid on time,”
Stepanjan added.

The two cantonments are divided by a concrete wall topped with barbed
wire. There is a metal door painted green with an inspection hole in
the wall.

“What about the division of functions from the point of view of combat
tasks?” this correspondent inquired. “There is no definite division,”
Stepanjan replied. “Russian servicemen and we accomplish whatever
missions are given us.” “Any problems with the language?” – “No. All
negotiations are restricted to the upper level of command. Everybody
speaks good Russian there. At the same time, almost all our soldiers
speak Russia too because it is taught at schools.” Almost all soldiers
in the regiment are Armenians.

According to Stepanjan, the regiment is a unit of permanent combat
readiness. It provides communications for Supreme Commander-in-Chief
Robert Kocharjan, Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisjan, and chief of the
General Staff. Military hardware here is of Soviet vintage or Russian
(that is so throughout the Armenian army). The regiment is between 15%
and 20% men under complement which enables it to deal with the tasks
dished out by the command. The regiment was in charge of
communications of the united command post of the Russian army group in
Armenia in the past. These days, this is the task of the Russian
communication battalion withdrawn from Georgia to Gyumri (former
Leninakan).

The Armenian national army is a carbon copy of the Soviet Army. All
four battle codes are verbatim copies of codes of the Soviet Army.

Everything in old brick barracks is the way it as in the Soviet Army
too.

All soldiers come from the provinces. Under the national legislation,
a conscript cannot be assigned to an unit closer than 50 kilometers
from his home. Soldiers are drafted for two years. They are paid 1,560
drams (approximately $3 or 100 Russian rubles). According to
commanders, their subordinates do not have anything to complain about.
They do not look hungry or frightened indeed.

Neither do soldiers of the Armenian national army complain of cruelty
in the barracks. “I cannot say that we do not have it in the army at
all,” Stepanjan said. “I served in a lot of places and units and I can
tell you that we do not have cruelty in the barracks by 98%. There is
no such thing in my regiment here.” The officer ascribes it to
“commanders’ efforts, our mentality, attitude of the people toward the
army, and our traditions.” There are other problems – AWOLs and drinki
ng – but Stepanjan is philosophical about that. “Soldiers will remain
soldiers,” he said.

In 2003, Stepanjan’s regiment participated in the exercise of eleven
CIS and eight NATO countries. Said Stepanjan, “Watching our guys
handle the military hardware, the Americans wanted to know how they
were and how long they had already served. We informed them that some
servicemen had spent six months in service, others twelve months. The
Americans were impressed by our professionalism.”

The Armenian military does not think too much of the Americans. “They
are poor shooters. Their vaunted assault rifles misfired all too
frequently at shooting ranges. Not so our guys who hit all targets
with their AKMs and K-3s” (an Armenian automatic rifle resembling the
Israeli Uzi – Nezavisimoe Voennoe Obozrenie).

As a matter of fact, the Armenians are convinced that NATO servicemen
participating in that exercise were “mostly CIA and army intelligence.
They came to find out the state of affairs here, to gauge our fighting
spirit, and see what military hardware we operated.”

BusinessWorld Publishing Corporation, The Phillippines
March 26, 2004, Friday

Chess Piece; Who’s the youngest now?

by Bobby Ang

We all know that Bobby Fischer became the youngest-ever
international grandmaster when he finished among the top in the 1958
Portoroz Interzonal, thus qualifying for the Candidates’ Tournament
which brings with it an automatic grandmaster title. At that time he
was 15 years, six months and one day old. His record was to stand for
33 years until broken by Judit Polgar during the 1991 Hungarian
Championship. But who was the youngest-ever GM before Fischer? And,
with the tidal wave of ever-younger talents, who holds the record
now?

1. When the International Chess Federation (FIDE) created the title
in 1950 they also created the first batch of international
grandmasters, the youngest of whom was 26-year-old David Bronstein
(bet you didn’t know that).

2. This record lasted for two years, in 1952 the Armenian legend
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian qualified for the Candidates’ Tournament
(as mentioned above all candidates are automatically awarded the
title) at the age of 23.

3. Boris Spassky set a new record at age 18 when he became a GM in
1955, also by qualifying for a Candidates Tournament.

4. The next record was set by Bobby Fischer via the same route of
qualifying for the Candidates’. Lest you think that qualifying for a
Candidates’ Tournament or match is easy, none of the other ones in
the list is to get the title in this manner.

So there you have it, the sequence leading up to Bobby Fischer. Now
we give you the all-time list of youngest-ever GMs:

1. Sergey Karjakin (Ukraine), 12 years, 7 months.

2. Bu Xiangzhi (China), 13 years, 10 months, 13 days

3. Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan), 14 years, 14 days

4. Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine), 14 years, 17 days

5. Etienne Bacrot (France), 14 years, 2 months

6. Peter Leko (Hungary), 14 years 4 months, 22 days

7. Koneru Humpy (India), 15 years, 1 month, 27 days

8. Hikaru Nakamura (USA), 15 years, 1 month, 28 days

9. Judit Polgar (Hungary), 15 years, 4 months, 28 days

10. Alejandro Ramirez (Costa Rica), 15 years, 5 months, 14 days

11. Bobby Fischer (USA), 15 years, 6 months, 1 day

12. Francisco Vallejo Pons (Spain), 16 years, 9 months

13. Garry Kasparov (Russia), 16 years, 11 months, 29 days

A few comments on the above list.

* * *

SERGEY KARJAKIN is currently the youngest on the list, but some
quarters have voiced their doubts on the legitimacy of his title, in
as much as all his GM results were obtained in obscure Ukrainian
tournaments with no publicity at all until after he got the three
norms. As to whether or not his norms will stand up to intense
international scrutiny I have no opinion on this, since Ponomariov
also obtained his GM norms in obscure Ukrainian events, but look at
him now – he is FIDE world chess champion! However, it is true that
Karjakin’s games have a certain quality in them which are not very
convincing – he went to Malaysia to represent his country in the
world Under-16 Olympiad, and was rather a big failure, losing to an
Indian player who was not even the top in his age group.

The same can be said about BU XIANGZHI, whose last two norms were
obtained in local Chinese events and his wins were against his
compatriots. But I don’t buy the vicious innuendos about Bu’s title
norm, since the 1999 Qingdao Cup where he obtained his final norm had
Mr. Ignatius Leong as Arbiter, and this guy, who ran for FIDE
President two years ago, is a stickler for propriety and would have
exposed any shenanigans had there been some.

Anyway, both Karjakin and Bu have subsequently showed that they are
of GM-class, not yet superstars but strong enough to belong. The same
is not true for GM TEIMOUR RADJABOV of Baku (same hometown as Garry
Kasparov). He is now 17 but his ELO rating had gone up to the high
2600s. Not only that but the quality of his games promise a bright
future for this teenager. Even Garry Kasparov has fallen for one of
his sacrificial attacks!

Kasparov,G (2847) – Radjabov,T (2624) [C11]

Linares 20th (2), 23.02.2003

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 a6 8.Qd2
b5 9.a3 Qb6 10.Ne2 c4 11.g4 h5 12.gxh5 Rxh5 13.Ng3 Rh8 14.f5!?

Naturally Kasparov plays for a win against the upstart from Baku.

14…exf5 15.Nxf5 Nf6! 16.Ng3

[16.exf6 Bxf5 17.fxg7 Bxg7 18.Rg1 Bf6 is OK for Black]

16…Ng4 17.Bf4 Be6 18.c3 Be7 19.Ng5 0-0-0 20.Nxe6 fxe6 21.Be2
Ngxe5!?

Brave fellow, this Radjabov.

22.Qe3

It was wise not to accept the sacrifice. A sample line is 22.dxe5 d4
23.cxd4 Rxd4 24.Qc1 Na5 25.Be3 Nb3 26.Bxd4 Qxd4 27.Qd1 Qe3 and wins.

22…Nd7 23.Qxe6 Bh4 24.Qg4 g5! 25.Bd2 Rde8 26.0-0-0 Na5 27.Rdf1?

A serious oversight. Simply 27.Kb1 is OK.

27…Nb3+ 28.Kd1 Bxg3! 29.Rf7

[29.hxg3 Qg6! 30.Bc1 Qb1 31.Qxg5 Nxc1 32.Qxc1 Qe4 wins]

29…Rd8 30.Bxg5 Qg6 31.Qf5 Qxf5 32.Rxf5 Rdf8

Now to cash in on Black’s extra piece.

33.Rxf8+ Nxf8 34.Bf3 Bh4 35.Be3 Nd7 36.Bxd5 Re8 37.Bh6 Ndc5! 38.Bf7
Re7 39.Bh5 Nd3 0-1

* * *

In Dortmund 2003 we were witness to a most fantastic display of
tactical fireworks with Viswanathan Anand (!) as the victim.

GM Viswanathan Anand,V (2774) – Radjabov,T (2648) [B32]

Dortmund Dortmund (2), 01.08.2003

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5

This is known as the Kalashnikov Variation, a departure from the more
popular Sveshnikov (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5).
You might think the two are more-or-less similar, but the plans of
attack are different. Here in the Kalashnikov Black’s idea is to
play…Bf8-e7-g5 to exchange bishops, a plan which, for obvious
reasons, is not available in the Sveshnikov.

5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 Be7 7.b3!?

Apparently Anand got the idea of attacking Black’s d6 with Ba3.

7…f5 8.exf5 Bxf5 9.Bd3 e4!? 10.Be2 a6 11.N5c3 Bf6!

Black changes his original plan and, in view of White’s self-imposed
weakness on the long diagonal, positions itself on f6.

12.0-0 Nge7 13.a3!

Prevents…Nb4 as well as getting ready to move his rook to d2.

13…0-0 14.Ra2 Qa5 15.b4 Qe5 16.Re1 b5! 17.cxb5 axb5 18.Bxb5 Nd4!?
19.Bf1?

[19.Bc4+! was stronger. After 19…Kh8 20.f4! Black’s queen would be
in deep trouble. There only remains 19…d5 20.Nxd5 Nxd5 21.Bb2 and
the threat of exchanging on d4 and winning back the piece by Rd2
would ensure a big advantage for White]

19…d5 20.Rd2 Be6 21.f4 Qxf4 22.Rf2! <D>

[ 22.Rxd4?? Qf2+!]

22…Qxf2+!!

Fantastic!

23.Kxf2 Nb5!!

An even more fantastic follow-up. 24.Nxb5 is refuted by 24…Bd4
double-check 25.Kg3 Bf2 checkmate.

24.Kg1

[24.Nxb5 Bd4+ 25.Kg3 Bf2#]

24…Nxc3 25.Nxc3 Bxc3 26.Bb5 Bxe1 27.Qxe1 Nf5 28.Bb2 Rac8!? 29.Ba4!

Preventing Black’s rook from coming to the second rank.

29…Rf7 30.h3 h5!

Preparing h5-h4 and Nf5-g3.

31.b5 h4 32.Be5 d4?

Throws away the win. There was no need to hurry. He could have played
32…Rb7! followed by…e3 and…d4.

33.b6?

It is Anand’s turn to slip. He should have played 33.Qxe4! Rc1+
34.Kh2 Ne3 35.Qxh4 Rff1 36.Qd8+ Rf8 37.Qxd4 forces the boy from Baku
to take the draw with 37…Nf1+ 38.Kg1 Ne3+ 39.Kh2 Nf1+ etc.

33…e3! 34.Kh2 d3 35.Qb4 e2 36.Bc3 Rxc3! 37.Qxc3 Ng3 38.b7 Rxb7
39.Qa5 Rb8! 0-1

* * *

HUMPY KONERU is now the youngest female in chess history to get the
male version of the international grandmaster title, beating out
Judit Polgar by around three months. I’ll try not to comment on this
too much, but there has been some skepticism as to what is Koneru’s
true age. Physically she looks much older than the 17 she is now.

Now, we go to the latest wunderkind to follow in Bobby Fischer’s
footsteps. Already controversial (he has been called the rudest GM in
the international circuit), HIKARU NAKAMURA started playing
tournament chess in 1995 at the age of seven. Whilst reading the
Guinness Book of World Records at nine, he made a chance discovery
that he had only three-months to beat a record by becoming America’s
youngest National Master – so he decided to do something about it.
History was achieved in the Marshall Chess Club a few months later
when he achieved an official USCF rating of 2203 at the age of l0
years and 2 months old. In the US the Master title is automatic when
you fit 2200.

Hikaru’s mother is Japanese while his stepfather is the famous Sri
Lankan (now US) chess coach Sunil Weeramantry, who has written a
best-selling book on Best Lessons from a Chess Coach.

Nakamura achieved his final GM norm by placing second in the 2003
Bermuda International Tournament, beating Bobby Fischer’s record by
four months. A creature of internet chess, he is one of the most
active GMs in the internet chess servers, playing blitz and bullet
(one-minute chess) from morning till night. This has affected his
tournament play somewhat, as in the opening and early middle game
Hikaru tends to play somewhat superficially. When the chips are down
though we see his enormous strength in tactics – he has squirmed out
of many bad or losing positions by toughing it out, finding hidden
resources and counterattacking hard.

This is my favorite Nakamura game:

GM Gennady Sagalchik (2491) – Nakamura,H (2568) [C15]

American Continental 2nd Buenos Aires (9), 27.08.2003

Played during the 2003 Pan-American Continental Championships, this
game was instrumental in qualifying Nakamura for the FIDE World
Championships.

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bg5 e6 4.e4 Bb4 5.Nge2 dxe4 6.a3 Be7 7.Bxf6 gxf6
8.Nxe4 f5 9.N4c3 c6 10.g3 b6 11.Bg2 Bb7 12.Qd3?!

Some people would call this an error. White’s e2-N is not doing
anything and he should transfer it to its optimum square on d3, which
White had just carelessly occupied with his queen.

12…Nd7 13.Nd1 Qc7 14.c4 0-0-0 15.Ne3 Kb8 16.Qc2 Bd6 17.f4 h5 18.h4
Nf6

Black is obviously standing quite well here.

19.0-0-0 c5 20.d5 Rhe8 21.Nc3 a6 22.Rhe1 Rg8 23.Nf1?

White, a well-known GM, has obviously underestimated his young
opponent and overlooked Black’s fine reply. It was imperative that he
play 23.dxe6 fxe6 24.Bxb7 Kxb7 25.Nf1 with an unclear position.

23…Rxg3! 24.Nxg3 Bxf4+ 25.Kb1 Bxg3 26.Re2 Bc8 27.Rd3 Be5 28.Na4 Ka7
29.Rb3 Nd7 30.Bf3 Rg8 31.Bxh5 exd5 32.cxd5 b5 33.Nc3 c4 34.Rxb5?

A blunder. White had to tough it out with 34.Rb4 Bd6 35.Rxb5 Rg1+
36.Ka2 Rg3 37.Bxf7 Rxc3 38.Qxc3 axb5 39.Be6 when he still had chances
to save the game.

34…Bxc3 35.d6 Qxd6 36.Rxf5

And now we come to a sensational finish.

36…Rg1+ 37.Ka2 Qxa3+!!

Beautiful.

38.bxa3 Ra1# 0-1

* * *

The first time we heard of the name ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ was at the Bled
2002 Olympiad. In the first round a 14-year-old kid from Costa Rica,
not exactly a renowned chess nation, held Russia’s Alexander
Morozevich to a draw. At the age of four he had asked his father to
teach him how to play chess after he had seen the moving “Searching
for Bobby Fischer” and this was what that sample request had led to.
Delighted with the fantastic result in his first-ever game against a
grandmaster, Ramirez told the press that his ambition was to be a
grandmaster himself before his 18th birthday. The GM norms soon
followed and, at the Los Immortales Tournament in Santo Domingo,
Ramirez achieved his third GM norm at the age of 15 years, five
months and 14 days to become the first Central American grandmaster
ever and, currently, the second youngest grandmaster in the world.

The avalanche of young chess geniuses has not yet stopped. Whereas
before a grandmaster expects to reach his peak at 35 years of age
nowadays that is the retiring age. It is no longer a rarity to have
grandmasters who are still in their teens. Among our top players now
I can immediately name Radjabov, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan
19), Evgeny Alekseev (Russia 18), Ernesto Inarkiev (Russia 18), David
Navara (Czech 19), and Ferenc Berkes (Hungary 18), and I have limited
the choice down to those GMs whose ratings are in the super-GM level
(ELO 2600).

And the advances are not confined to the youngsters winning chess
tournaments – they have also made it imperative for all professional
players to inspect the youth tournaments for opening and theoretical
novelties.

The following game was played in the Russian Under-14 Championship,
won by the player of the White pieces below. He refutes the opening
setup of Black quite convincingly.

FM Nikolay Pokazaniev – Yakov Khosroev [B49]

RUS U14-Ch Dagomys, 2002

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be2 a6 7.0-0 Nf6
8.Be3 Bb4

The principal continuations here are either 8…d6 or 8…Be7, going
into the Scheveningen. However, this move, transposing into the
Taimanov, also has a lot of followers here among Filipino National
Masters.

9.Na4 Bd6 10.g3!

Stopping the threat to his h2 and dangling the e4-pawn to the Black
knight.

10…Nxe4?!

Judit Polgar got the same position after White’s 10th move against
Garry Kasparov in 1997 Linares, and played more prudently with
10…Be7 but then Garry proved that after 11.c4! d6 (11…Nxe4 12.Bf3
Nf6 13.c5) 12.f3 Bd7 13.Rc1 0-0 14.Nxc6 Bxc6 15.Nb6 Rad8 16.b4!
Black’s problems are not so easy to solve. Kasparov,G-Polgar,J/
Linares 1997 1-0 (41).

11.Bf3 f5

Now GM Ftacnik recommends that White play 12.Nb6 Qxb6 13.Nxf5! with
an attack. Czech great Jan Smejkal had met this position against
Luben Spassov in Oerebro 1966, and obtained a winning attack after
12.Bxe4 fxe4 13.Nxc6 Qxc6 14.Nb6 Rb8 15.Qh5+ g6 16.Qh6 Be5 17.Bf4
Bxf4 18.Qxf4 d6 19.Nxc8 Rxc8 20.Qf6, but Pokazaniev’s method is even
more forceful.

12.Nxf5! exf5 13.Bxe4 fxe4 14.Nb6 Rb8

[14…Ra7 15.Nxc8 Qxc8 16.Qxd6 Ra8 17.f3 does not give grounds for
optimism either]

15.Nc4 1-0

If the bishop moves away then Bb6 will win the queen. 10…Nxe4 seems
to have been refuted.

Younger and younger they get. There was a time when the only youth
championship we had was the Under-20. Nowadays we have Under-18,
Under-16, Under-14, Under-12 and even Under-10. In Southeast Asia
Ignatius Leong is experimenting with Under-8!

Pretty soon we will have kindergarten championships. Believe me.

Reader comments/suggestions are urgently solicited. E-mail address is
[email protected]

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
March 26, 2004 Friday 12:26 PM Eastern Time

No problems in Turkey-Armenia air traffic – ambassador

By Yelena Volkova, Yelena Starkova

MOSCOW

There are no problems in air traffic between Turkey and Armenia, but
there are some in the definition of the land frontier, Turkish
Ambassador to Russia Kurtulus Taskent told Itar-Tass on Friday.

Armenian airlines make flights to Turkey, and some private Turkish
airlines make flights to Armenia, the ambassador said. There are no
diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia, but representatives
of the two foreign ministries meet from time to time, he remarked.

He hopes that Armenia will respect territorial integrity of
neighbors, and all problems will be solved.

Associated Press Worldstream
March 26, 2004 Friday 1:48 PM Eastern Time

U.S. official says opening Turkey’s border with Armenia would bring
benefits

by AVET DEMOURIAN; Associated Press Writer

A top U.S. diplomat said in Armenia on Friday that if Turkey opened
its border with this ex-Soviet republic, the benefits would be swift
and plentiful – a view at odds with Azerbaijan’s warning this week
against such a move.

“It seems to me that the opening of the border between Armenia and
Turkey would benefit the peoples of both sides rather dramatically
and rather quickly,” said Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage,
during a visit to the Armenian capital, Yerevan.

Armenia and Azerbaijan are at odds over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave,
which Armenian forces seized from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s. A
1994 cease-fire has largely held, but no final settlement has been
reached.

Turkey, which is allied with Azerbaijan, has maintained a trade
embargo against neighboring Armenia, and has pledged not to lift it
until the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is settled. Azerbaijan views that
embargo as a key part of its negotiating leverage.

But in recent years Turkey and Armenia have expanded business
contacts, and settling the dispute would boost Turkey’s candidacy to
join the European Union.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliev warned this week that opening the
border would make the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh impossible, and
he urged Turkey to resist what he called strong pressure.

Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage refused to comment
directly on Aliev’s statement.

He said that the United States has discussed the issue with Turkey.

“I think to be fair, our Turkish friends have had their hands full
recently with concerns about northern Iraq and the ongoing Cyprus
talks, but I hope as those concerns are ameliorated that they will be
able to turn their attention to the reopening of the border,”
Armitage said.

He also warned that the solution to Nagorno-Karabakh can’t “be
imposed from top-down, from the outside.”

Knight Ridder/Tribune
March 26, 2004, Friday

Wacky facts from World Almanac for Kids

Dating back to 783 B.C., Armenia’s capital city of Yerevan is one of
the oldest continuously occupied towns in the world.
_

The Schottengymnasium, a school in Vienna, Austria, has been open
since 1155.
__

Founded in 301 A.D., San Marino claims to be Europe’s oldest country.
___

Wanna know more? Go online to for
more fun facts and games.

ArmenPress
March 26 2004

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT RECONFIRMS COMMITMENT TO ENLARGE TIES WITH EU

YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS: President of Armenia, Robert
Kocharian, has reaffirmed today his administration’s commitment to
enlarge and deepen the scope of ties with the European Union.
Receiving a Special Representative of the EU for the South Caucasus,
Heikki Talvitie, Kocharian said:” It is a strong incentive to go on
with large-scale and diverse reforms and bring the country and its
legislation in compliance with European standards.”
The conversation between Kocharian and Talvitie was centered on
possibilities for involvement of the South Caucasian nations into
what has been termed as “Wider Europe: New Neighbors.”
Ambassador Talvitie emphasized the resolution of regional
conflicts and development of economic ties between the region’s
countries and Europe. The two men, according to Kocharian’s press
office, also exchanged views on ways to boost resolution of the
Karabagh conflict, constitutional reforms in Armenia and a string of
other issues.

ArmenPress
March 26 2004

RICHARD ARMITAGE RECEIVED BY ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER

YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS: US Deputy Secretary of State
Richard Armitage, who arrived today in Yerevan for a short visit from
Kiev, Ukraine, was received by Armenian foreign minister Vartan
Oskanian to discuss the full scope of prospects and possibilities for
regional development and the current situation in the South Caucasus.
The Armenian foreign ministry said the two men exchanged also
ideas on resolution of the Karabagh conflict and expressed their
satisfaction over the current level of bilateral relations, sharing
the same view that diverse and well-developed bilateral contacts must
be boosted by a deeper political dialogue. Later in the day he is
scheduled to meet with Armenian president Robert Kocharian.
Armitage’s visit to Yerevan is part of a regional visit and today
he will leave Yerevan for Baku, Azerbaijan.
In Baku Armitage will discuss the interaction in fighting with
terrorism with president Ilham Aliyev and other top official of the
country, apart from discussing regional security, development of
bilateral relations, political and economic reforms in Azerbaijan,
implementation of large-scale projects in the energy sector, and the
settlement of the Karabagh problem. Armitage also plans to meet with
some leaders of opposition parties.

ArmenPress
March 26 2004

JUSTICE MINISTRY DENIES RUMORS ABOUT RELEASE OF CRIMINALS

YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS: Armenian justice minister has
flatly denied today a report by a pro-opposition daily, claiming that
“criminals sentenced for committing grave crimes were released from
prisons to stir up provocations during mass protest rallies to be
staged by the opposition in early April.”
A local pro-opposition daily, Haykakan Zhamanak, quoted today a
senior member of an opposition National Unity party, as claiming that
the released criminals were promised in return full discharge and
hefty money rewards.
A spokesman for justice ministry, Ara Saghatelian, said no
criminals were released and will not be released, except cases set by
legislation.

ArmenPress
March 26 2004

AROUND $1 BILLION INVESTED IN ARMENIA IN LAST DECADE

YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS: Deputy trade and development
minister, Tigran Davtian, predicted today that the average amount of
annual investments in the Armenian economy will from now on range
between $200 million-250 million. Speaking to a news conference
today, he said last year some $230 million had been invested, of
which $160 million were direct investments, $40 of it came from a
Russian-Armenian deal known as Assets for Debt, by which Armenia
handed over some of its leading enterprises to Russia in return for
its almost $100 million debt to Moscow. He said the amount of
aggregate investments in Armenia since its independence is nearing $1
billion.
He then praised local businessmen, who are increasing gradually
the volume of their investments in domestic enterprises. He said the
structure of investments is also changing from commerce to industrial
investments.
Davtian also cited some other figures, particularly, related to IT
sector, whose exports last year amounted to $50 million, 85 percent
making software products.

ArmenPress
March 26 2004

GERMAN NEWSPAPER NAMES AVET TERTERIAN STAR OF THE YEAR

YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS: Avet Terterian was awarded by a
German Az-Abendzeitung newspaper the title of Star of the Year for
his Earthquake opera. The world premiere of the Armenian composer
Avet Terterian’s opera “The Earthquake” was held on March 16, 2003 at
Munich’s Gertnerplatztheater. The opera’s libretto was written by
Gerta Stecher together with Terterian.
Heinrich von Kleist’s famous 1806 novella “The Earthquake in
Chile” provides the basic outline of the dramatic operatic subject,
which is the destruction of Santiago de Chile in 1647. Kleist tells
of a nobleman’s daughter who was placed in a convent in order to
separate her from her lover. When the lovers are caught in the
convent garden, they are sentenced to death. An earthquake frees them
shortly before the execution. The lovers go to the city’s half
destroyed cathedral in order to take part in the Mass and thank God
for saving them. They are recognized there and branded guilty at the
trial, then killed by the enraged crowd.
Avet Terterian’s creativity is rooted in the archaic traditions of
Armenian music. Melodic flourishes are present, but are used as sound
gestures contrasting with passages rich in tone color. The point of
departure of Terterian’s style is often a single tone held out over
long stretches of time.
In a conversation with Hannelore Gerlach, Terterian commented upon
his work as follows: “The confrontation between the individual and
the masses is the stimulating thing about this subject. It is the
problem of a pure, honest love amidst collective cruelty arising from
the insensitive adherence to outmoded moral concepts. Many problems
come to a head here through the occurrence of the earthquake –
people’s behavior towards each other, their weaknesses, their
transformations. The point is not the unsettling of the earth as a
natural event, but rather the unsettling of each individual person
and the behavior caused by it.”
Terterian was born in Baku, Azerbaijan in 1929 and died in 1994 in
Yekaterinburg, Russia. He graduated from Yerevan Conservatory and
wrote 8 symphonies, two operas, a ballet and many other works.