San Diego Union Tribune
March 18 2004

Russian, Armenian community targeted
By Joe Hughes
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Two Russian immigrants have been arrested in connection with a scheme
to defraud members of San Diego’s Russian and Armenian community out
of hundreds of thousands of dollars, police said yesterday.

Yasha Kuper, 55, and his son, Roman Kuper, 28, were held last week,
Detective Christine Gregg said.

Bail for Roman Kuper was set at $1 million. Yasha Kuper posted
$10,000 bail after his arrest, but a second arrest warrant has been
issued and he is scheduled to surrender this week, Gregg said.

Sixteen victims have been identified, but that list will grow, police
said.

“We feel there are many other victims out there who are afraid to
come forward,” Gregg said. “We want these people to contact us if
they have had dealings with the Kupers.”

The Kupers, Gregg said, told victims that they were new to the
country and did not have Social Security numbers or bank accounts.
Victims allegedly were duped into providing their bank account
numbers on the premise that money would be wired from the Kupers’
accounts in Russia to the victims’ accounts here.

In exchange for helping out, the victims were told they could collect
a portion of the Kupers’ funds, police said.

Money was never transferred from Russia, Gregg said, and the victims
later found their accounts had been cleaned out.

Victims were solicited, Greg said, through advertisements placed in
Russian-language newspapers.

The Kupers moved to San Diego from Chicago late last year.

Police ask that anyone who has been victimized in the scam call Gregg
at (619) 528-4100.

The Free Lance-Star, VA
March 18 2004

Work by Picasso, Miró, others at MWC

Picassos, Pissarros and Mirós are included in the art collection of
Tia and Robert Cadow. The paintings can be seen at the Ridderhof
Martin Gallery on the MWC campus.

By ADELE UPHAUS
THE FREE LANCE-STAR

Alexandra Nechita is just 18, but she’s already one of the most
recognized names in the art world.

The Romanian-born child prodigy started drawing with pen and ink when
she was 2 years old and held her first show at the age of 8.

Today, she’s known as the “petite Picasso,” and her colorful cubist
paintings, which often go to benefit organizations like the September
11th Fund and the Special Olympics, sell out to masses of art
collectors.

Fredericksburg residents can see two of Nechita’s original paintings
at the Ridderhof Martin Gallery on the MWC campus in a show opening
tonight. They also can see a work by her inspiration–Pablo Picasso
himself–and art by other 20th century masters such as Joan Miró,
Camille Pissarro and Marc Chagall.

“Contemporary Masters: Selected Works From a Private Collection” will
be on display at the gallery through June 6, with an opening
reception tonight.

The collection belongs to local couple Robert and Tia Cadow, who own
Fredericksburg Supplies and Rentals near Four-Mile Fork. The show
represents a wide variety of 20th-century genres, from impressionism
to abstraction. Tying it together are themes of color, vitality and
romance.

“They’re all very different styles–it’s a nice mix,” Tia Cadow said
of the collection.

Not only is the collection varied by style, it’s also a veritable
United Nations of artists. There’s the Spanish Picasso and Miró, the
French Pissarro and the Russian Chagal. There’s work by the
Armenian-born Yuroz, whose bright, abstract paintings depict quietly
intimate moments between couples, and vigorous character studies by
Italian Aldo Luongo, who dedicated a painting of a red-haired
ballerina to Tia Cadow.

The collection also includes cartoonist Al Hirschfeld and Iranian
Abrishami Hessam, whose color-washed canvases look like something
from a daydream.

Cadow said she and her husband purchased their first piece of art in
1990–a seriograph, or limited edition print, by Linnea Pergola,
depicting a bustling Times Square cityscape. After that, she was
hooked.

“It just started,” she said.

She doesn’t consider herself or her husband “into art” in the sense
that they feel they need to buy a certain painting in order to
complete their collection. Rather, she purchases art when it appeals
to her.

“We buy them because we like them, not because of value. They’re
fun,” Cadow said.

For the most part, the works that appeal to her are bold, lively and
colorful, such as “Friendship” by Aldo Luongo, which depicts three
women with champagne glasses raised high, and a street scene by
Pissarro, which the couple acquired from London only two weeks ago.

“It shows all the street painters and it’s very colorful,” she said.

The Cadows also own several works by local artists and are fans of
the local art scene.

The collection has never been exhibited before, Cadow said. The
exhibition came about because the college is their client and Cadow
offered to lend the paintings to the gallery.

“I’m excited about it,” she said. “I’m excited to see people’s
reactions. The paintings are fun to look at. They’re just very
colorful.”

A1 Plus | 19:38:15 | 18-03-2004 | Official |

ARMENIAN CITIZENS DETAINED IN EQUATORIAL GUINEA

On the 8th of March 2004, in the evening, 6 citizens of the Republic of
Armenia were detained in Equatorial Guinea. They have been charged with
participating in a coup d’etat attempt. There are a number of civilian
pilots of Armenian citizenship who work in the countries of Equatorial
Africa, on contracts with private aircraft companies.{BR}

In this matter, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia
has made all possible efforts to obtain more specific information on this
situation as well as in providing the necessary legal assistance to those
Armenian citizens. Armenia’s ambassadors in New York and Moscow have met
with their counterparts from Equatorial Guinea.

At the same time, taking into consideration the fact, that the Republic of
Armenia has no diplomatic representation in the region, the Ministry has
applied to third country friendly states with certain influence in that
country for possible assistance.

—

Armenian leader, OSCE head discuss Karabakh, Georgian crisis

Arminfo
17 Mar 04

YEREVAN

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan today met a delegation led by the
OSCE chairman-in-office, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passi.

The press service of the Armenian president reports that Robert
Kocharyan welcomed the OSCE chairman’s visit and said that such visits
were already becoming a tradition. The president said that the visit
will allow the sides to sum up all the directions of bilateral
cooperation.

Touching on the Karabakh conflict, the sides agreed that there was no
alternative to a negotiated settlement.

The sides also spoke about the recent developments in the
region. Speaking about the situation in Georgia, Kocharyan said
stability in Georgia was extremely important to Armenia and that
Yerevan was interested in the speediest solution to all problems.

The president praised effective cooperation between the Yerevan office
of the OSCE and pointed to joint work on an anti-corruption programme
and the Armenian electoral code.

Armed Turks infiltrate Georgia’s Armenian-populated region – agency

Arminfo
17 Mar 04

AKHALKALAKI

Armed citizens of Turkey constantly infiltrate Georgia’s Akhalkalaki
region without official permission, A-Info news agency reports.

According to the source, the Javakhk section of the Georgian-Turkish
border is virtually unprotected. The Armenian-populated village of
Kartsakh in the Akhalkalaki region is particularly vulnerable.

The infiltration of Turkish citizens into Akhalkalaki has become more
frequent since the Turkish side started supplying Georgian border
posts with electricity.

Armenian PM regrets lack of OSCE condemnation of officer’s killing

Arminfo
17 Mar 04

YEREVAN

Official Yerevan deeply regrets the fact that the OSCE
chairman-in-office and the chairman of the Permanent Council have not
condemned the crime committed in Budapest, Armenian Prime Minister
Andranik Markaryan told the visiting OSCE chairman-in-office,
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passi.

The Armenian prime minister said that this step would have been seen
as very appropriate, given the fact that the Azerbaijani authorities
are trying to justify the dirty move by their serviceman.

To recap, Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov hacked to death an
Armenian colleague, Gurgen Markaryan, in Budapest on 19 February. The
Hungarian police are completing the investigation into this
crime. Both officers were undergoing English language training in
Budapest.

Armenian opposition set to overthrow incumbent president in April

Noyan Tapan news agency
17 Mar 04

YEREVAN

Some members of Armenia’s Justice and National Unity opposition
factions, which are boycotting the parliament’s work, made rather
harshly-worded statements in the National Assembly on 16 March.

The secretary of the Justice faction, Viktor Dallakyan, said the
following: “As a result of the mounting nationwide movement in the
republic, in April we will overthrow the regime of [Armenian President
Robert] Kocharyan who has repeatedly violated the constitution and has
usurped power.”

According to a member of the same faction, Vardan Lazarian, the
Justice bloc, realizing responsibility for an organized and painless
change of power, has set up a coordinating centre. Having analysed the
current situation, the centre prepared a programme and submitted it to
the bloc for approval. It envisages meetings with the public. The MP
said that although the local authorities are doing everything in their
power to hamper the opposition’s meetings with the people, the
meetings are very popular.

According to another member of the faction, Shavarsh Kocharyan,
numerous meetings in different residential settlements have shown that
“people hate the illegitimate president and demand decisive steps”. He
said that the only way to establish legitimate authorities without any
shocks is to conduct a referendum on a vote of confidence, but that is
quite unlikely to happen because Robert Kocharyan and his entourage
are giving an unrealistic assessment of the situation in the country.

Members of the Justice faction, Aram Sarkisyan and Grigor Arutyunyan,
and a representative of the National Unity faction, Amayak Ovanesyan,
also made statements against the incumbent authorities.

Armenian nationalists condemn British envoy’s genocide remarks

Noyan Tapan news agency
16 Mar 04

YEREVAN

The faction of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation – Dashnaktsutyun
[ARFD] in the National Assembly has accused the British ambassador to
Armenia, Thorda Abbott-Watt, of violating the norms of diplomatic
etiquette. Speaking at a session of the National Assembly on 16 March,
the leader of the faction, Levon Lazarian, stated that according to
these norms, a diplomat has to respect the history and principles of
the people and the country in which he works. Mrs Abbott-Watt noted at
a press conference back in January that she did not think that the
recognition of the 1915 events as genocide “will be useful”.

“How can one explain the fact that she dares to make such remarks at a
time when one of the priorities of Armenia’s foreign policy is the
recognition of the Armenian genocide,” the MP noted.

Levon Lazarian recalled that in response to a query from the
editor-in-chief of the US newspaper California Courier, Harut
Sassounian, the ambassador answered that “the British government had
condemned the massacres, but the evidence was not sufficiently
unequivocal that what took place could be categorized as
genocide”. The head of the faction advised the ambassador to read a
letter from the British queen to Sultan Abdul Hamid to see for herself
that “the evidence was sufficiently unequivocal that what took place
could be categorized as genocide”.

“On what system of values does the ambassador of a country playing a
key role in European politics rely, considering the recognition of the
extermination of 1.5m people and the deportation of a whole nation
from its motherland to be not very useful? What moral principles does
the ambassador see in her remark about usefulness on the threshold of
the 21st century? And most importantly, how does she see her future
activities in the Republic of Armenia?” Levon Lazarian said.

He said that these questions will be also be addressed to the Armenian
Foreign Ministry, demanding that a special note be sent in connection
with the remarks and behaviour of Thorda Abbott-Watt.

Armenia against Turkey’s presidency in OSCE – premier

Arminfo
17 Mar 04

YEREVAN

Armenia is against Turkey’s presidency in the OSCE in 2007, Prime
Minister Andranik Markaryan told the visiting OSCE chairman-in-office,
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passi.

According to the Armenian prime minister, Yerevan can reconsider this
position only if Turkey establishes full diplomatic relations with
Armenia and opens its borders.

Andranik Markaryan stressed the importance of establishing cooperation
with Turkey without any preconditions and prejudiced attitude. He said
that the Armenian and Turkish peoples are neighbours who have to live
side by side, and the sooner the existing differences are narrowed and
the more there is good will to do that, the better for both sides.

However, Andranik Markaryan said Turkey is reluctant to accept this
simple fact.

OSCE chairman conveys Azeri message on Karabakh to Armenians

BTA web site, Sofia
17 Mar 04

Yerevan, 17 March: The authorities in Armenia insist on respect for
the right of Nagorno-Karabakh to self-determination, Armenian Prime
Minister Andranik Markaryan and Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said
when they conferred with Bulgarian Foreign Minister and
Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) Solomon Pasi here on Wednesday [17 March].

Pasi conveyed to Yerevan Baku’s message on bilateral and vigorous
dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan on settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Bulgarian Foreign Ministry Information
Directorate Chief Viktoria Melamed told Bulgarian journalists in
Yerevan.

The Armenian prime minister and foreign minister told the OSCE
chairman-in-office that Yerevan is ready to consider the dialogue
alternative even though it finds disturbing certain recent statements
by Baku. According to Oskanyan, a more concrete European prospect for
Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan will encourage the finding of
solutions to a number of problems in the region. The Caucasus
countries need a positive signal to stimulate the leaders and peoples
in the region to look at the conflicts from a different angle,
Oskanyan said.

For his part, Pasi noted that OSCE is doing an enormous amount of work
in the Balkans and he wants the same attention and efforts to be
devoted to the Caucasus as well. “The Balkans were different 15 years
ago and I am sure that the Caucasus will become different, too,” Pasi
said.

Earlier on Wednesday, he visited the ancient Armenian capital of
Echmiazin, where he conferred with Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and
Catholicos of All Armenians.