BOSTON — Benefactors of Armenian Heritage Park gathered at the home of Charles Talanian in Boston on Monday, December 15, to celebrate a major milestone — the signing of the agreement authorizing the Armenian Heritage Foundation to develop Armenian Heritage Park on Parcel 13 of the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston.

The park will commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923 and will celebrate the contributions of Armenian Americans and other immigrant groups to Massachusetts and Boston. Construction is planned for 2009.

In their remarks, both Rep. Peter Koutoujian, honorary co-chair, and James Kalustian, president of the Armenian Heritage Foundation, extended their appreciation to Gov. Deval Patrick and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority for their leadership and commitment towards the realization of Armenian Heritage Park. They also thanked the leadership of Boston’s North End and Rowes Wharf communities for their tireless commitment to the park’s designation on Parcel 13. Appreciation was also extended to Bruce Bagdasarian, Esq., legal counsel, who represented the foundation in the negotiations with the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and to the key benefactors for their important leadership support.

The Armenian Heritage Foundation is a 501-3c comprising representatives from 38 Armenian American parishes and organizations throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. A few naming opportunities remain at the park. For sponsorship opportunities, please call James Kalustian (781) 777-2407, Charles Guleserian (617) 484-6100, Haig Deranian (617) 484-2215 or Dr. Jack Kasarjian (617) 232-6350. For further information, visit www.ArmenianHeritagePark.org

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A group of about 200 Turkish intellectuals on Monday issued an apology on the Internet for the Armenian Genocide earlier in the century in Turkey.

The group of prominent academics, journalists, writers and artists avoided using the contentious term “genocide” in the apology, using the less explosive “Great Catastrophe” instead.

But the apology is a sign that many in Turkey are ready to break a long-held taboo against acknowledging Turkish culpability for the deaths.

Historians estimate that, in the last days of the Ottoman Empire, up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks in what is widely regarded as the first genocide of the 20th century. Armenians have long pushed for the deaths to be recognized as genocide.

“My conscience does not accept that (we) remain insensitive toward and deny the Great Catastrophe that the Ottoman Armenians were subjected in 1915,” read the apology. “I reject this injustice, share in the feelings and pain of my Armenian brothers, and apologize to them.”

Nearly 8,000 members of the public also signed the online apology, giving their support to the intellectuals.

Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk was prosecuted after he commented on the mass killings in 2005. Hrant Dink, an ethnic Armenian journalist, was shot outside his Istanbul office in 2007, following his prosecution for comments he made about the killings of Armenians.

Turkish nationalists have criticized the online apology and on Monday a group of some 60 retired Turkish diplomats described the move “as unfair, wrong and unfavorable to national interests.”

“Such an incorrect and one-sided attempt would mean disrespecting our history,” the diplomats said.

Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the Nationalist Action Party said: “No one has the right to insult our ancestors, to present them as criminals and to ask for an apology.”

By late Monday, there were no public threats of legal action over the petition.

The apology comes at a time when Turkey and Armenia have taken steps toward repairing ties. The two neighbors have no diplomatic relations and their shared border has been closed since 1993, when Turkey protested Armenia’s occupation of Nagorno- Karabagh. Turkey backs Azerbaijan’s claims to the region, which has traditionally been a part of Armenia, but during the Soviet times, was handed to Azerbaijan by Stalin.

In September, however, President Abdullah Gul became the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia, where he and Armenian President Serge Sarkisian watched their countries’ football teams play a World Cup qualifying match.

YEREVAN — The World Bank will likely allocate hundreds of millions of dollars in additional loans to Armenia to help its government mitigate negative effects of the global financial crisis on the domestic economy, a senior bank official said on Tuesday.

Armenia’s banking sector has so far been barely affected by the credit crunch that plagued leading finance corporations in the United States and Europe earlier this year. However, there are growing indications that the crisis is reflecting negatively on its robust economic growth, which slowed into single digits in the fourth quarter of this year.

The slowdown has been particularly sharp in construction, a key driving force behind the growth in recent years. Another major sector of the Armenian economy, mining, has been hit even harder by the recent plunge in international prices of copper and other non-ferrous metals. Some economists expect a major fall in multimillion-dollar cash remittances from abroad received by a significant part of the country’s population.

The Armenian government says it can offset these knock-on effects by launching large-scale infrastructure projects and making it much easier for local firms to obtain low-interest loans. The government hopes to secure up to $250 million in loans from the World Bank that would be made available to small and mediumsized businesses.

The World Bank, according to the head of its Yerevan office, Aristomene Varoudakis, is ready to provide at least $100 million of such assistance. Varoudakis told a news conference that its first installment will likely be disbursed early next year.

“We are working very closely with the government so as to design appropriate programs to counter the impact of the financial crisis on Armenia and are at the same time thinking about how to make the economy more resilient,” he said, adding that negotiations between them are still going on.

Prime Minister Tigran Sargisian has said that his government expects the World Bank to provide it with a total of $800 million in low-interest loans in the next three or four years.

Varoudakis indicated that the government is well placed to get a package aid of this scale. He said the World Bank’s board of directors could approve it next March.

YEREVAN (ArmeniaNow) — On December 7 at 11.41 a.m. sharp, Armenians in Gumri and throughout the country stopped for a moment to observe a minute’s silence and hear the church bells ringing in commemoration of their compatriots who lost their lives in a natural calamity exactly 20 years ago.

On December 7, 1988, the northern provinces of Armenia were hit by a devastating earthquake that claimed more than 25,000 lives, many more tens of thousands crippled and hundreds of thousands homeless.

Some of the settlements at the epicenter of the quake, such as village Nalband (now Shirakamut) and town of Spitak were razed to the ground by the powerful tremor and repeated aftershocks. The towns of Leninakan (now Gumri), Kirovakan (now Vanadzor), Stepanavan, and other populated areas also sustained heavy losses.

Presiding over a special church liturgy at the Yot Verq (Seven Wounds) Church in Gumri, Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II revisited the great tragedy and recalled the heroic resistance of the Armenian people and its friends to the blow of nature that struck unexpectedly as well as people’s tenacity to cope with the multiplied hardship that ensued.

“Work of tremendous scale has been done since the earthquake… Today, the efforts of our country’s government and people are combined in order to remove all the consequences of the earthquake, illuminating with reconstructions and improving life the future of our country — the homeland of all Armenians,” said Karekin II, the Catholicos of All Armenians.

A monument to the victims of the earthquake and the people who reached out to help Armenia was inaugurated in Gumri later on Sunday.

Despite pledges of all successive Armenian governments to completely rehabilitate the disaster area, thousands of families still continue to be affected by the immediate consequences of the tragedy.

President Serge Sargisian again vowed that rehabilitation of the disaster zone and turning into a development zone will remain a priority of his administration until 2013.

The priority also reached the corporate level on Sunday as VivaCell MTS communication company president Ralph Yirikian surprised 10 families in Gumri by presenting keys to new apartments to those who’d lived in temporary housing for 20 years.

The company donated the 11 apartments — estimated at a combined value of about 93.27 million drams (more than $310,000) — as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility program.

Sargisian and many other government members, state officials and senior guests attended the church service commemorating the victims of the tragedy as well as the following ceremony of unveiling the monument.

The president spoke of the work done so far and emphasized that all consequences of the earthquake will be overcome in the coming years.

“I will not consider the problem solved until the last family affected by the calamity receives an apartment and conditions for dignified life,” he stressed.

In his speech, Sargisian said, “It’s hard to express with words the pain and sorrow we felt. The blind disaster destroyed our cities and villages, took the lives of thousands of people, left hundreds of thousands without shelter. For many years the northern part of our country was called the ‘disaster area.’ On these days we recall the memory of our brothers and sisters who fell victims of the tragedy, we extend words of condolences and encouragement to all those who witnessed those December days of 1988, whose relatives and friends were killed by the horrible tragedy.

“It’s a double disaster, when you bear the tragedy alone. However, from the very first day of the devastating earthquake our people felt the spirit of warmth of human soul and friendship. The world joined our pain.

“Today it’s our duty to extend words of gratitude to everyone, the rescuers and constructors, the pilots and statesmen, those who brought water and bread, those who sent blankets and tents. People were visiting Armenia to support us, to say words of encouragement, to inspire hope and faith, and simply to share our pain and not leave us alone. Today we say thanks to everyone.”

The tragedy of Spitak has been remembered not only in Armenia, but also in other countries of the former Soviet Union and well beyond that had made a collective effort to respond to the tragedy of the Armenian people 20 years ago.

President Sargisian awarded Armenia’s Ananya Shirakatsi medals to several Russian citizens for their considerable contribution in the rehabilitation efforts.

He also cited “the will of the people of Armenia” to sign a decree to confer the title of Armenia’s National Hero on former USSR Prime Minister Nikolay Ryzhkov for his “weighty personal contribution to the organization of rehabilitation works after the earthquake.”

Sargisian thanked the awardees not only for their efforts on post-earthquake rehabilitation, but also for their “moral support and humane, warm attitude shown to our people during those cruel days.”

In his acceptance speech, Ryzhkov, currently a member of the Russian parliament’s upper chamber, said he was humbled by the appraisal of his services.

“I am proud to have been next to the Armenian people during those hard days and I am very moved that my work has deserved such a high appraisal,” Ryzhkov said.

Delegations from more than two dozen countries, including prominent public figures and intellectuals were in Armenia to participate in the events marking the 20th anniversary of the earthquake.

By Thomas C . Nash
and Taleen Babayan
Mirror-Spectator Staff

WATERTOWN and NEW YORK — The havoc caused by the December 7, 1988 earthquake in Armenia will be remembered this year as an event that brought the diaspora together.

The earthquake leveled the city of Spitak, where the epicenter was, and destroyed much of Leninakan (Gumri). About 25,000 persons died and more than 100,000 others were injured, causing damage from which Armenia has yet to fully recover.

Nona Baghdasarian, an employee at the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), was a 10-year-old student in Yerevan when the earthquake struck.

“I was at school when the earthquake hit,” Baghdasarian said. “My mom was a doctor and I remember when the victims were brought to the hospitals in Yerevan … people were donating blood to save them.”

Buildings throughout Gumri, near Spitak, and elsewhere in Kirovakan and Stepanavan crumbled when the quake hit. Sub-par construction standards had left many buildings in ruins, taking thousands of lives with them despite the quake’s modest Richter-scale rating.

Armenia — still a part of the Soviet Union — was suddenly in the world’s spotlight, as former Mirror- Spectator editor Barbara Merguerian recalls.

“The Soviet Union for the first time allowed outside help,” Merguerian recalled. “And the result was an outpouring of help from the diaspora. Having been born in America, it was strange (seeing) Armenia on the front page. It was distressing.”

For the first time in the Soviet Union’s history, humanitarian aid from Western governments and the world’s population at large was allowed into the country.

Dr. Carolann Najarian, who made her first trip to help victims in January 1989, remembers that after the earthquake, the dynamic between the Soviet Bloc country and the West changed.

“Armenia opened up to the outside world, and people poured in from all over,” Najarian said. “From day one, there was no more Iron Curtain.”

An Outpouring of Help

Najarian, who still maintains efforts to help the earthquake’s victims, will be speaking at a memorial concert titled “Music for Life” at the National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Mass.

Najarian has been working with victims through the Armenian Health Alliance (AHA), which she founded in response to the need for help. The organization established a primary care center in Gumri in 1994 and a center for pregnant women in Karabagh a year later.

“What I think was very special about that time was that a terrible disaster brought the Armenian community together,” Najarian said. “Volunteerism reached new heights from all parts of the community. People got to know each other and it strengthened the community tremendously.”

Merguerian also remembers the aftermath of the earthquake as a time when the diaspora became more conscious of the welfare of Armenians.

“When we first got the news, we didn’t realize how serious it was,” Merguerian said. “It built up over time. It was a turning point in the relations between the Armenians and the diaspora be cause we realized we depended on each other.”

Relief efforts also coalesced through the Armenian Church and the leaders of the Eastern Diocese, headed by Archbishop Torkom Manoogian, set off for Armenia to see what help they could offer.

“Imagine some of what we found: a blockaded border, hundreds of thousands of homeless refugees, a total breakdown of essential services, a destroyed distribution system and an overwhelmed Soviet bureaucracy. There was also the chaos caused as relief agencies from many nations were attempting, all at once, to pour massive aid into Armenia,” said Kevork S. Hovnanian who accompanied Manoogian in 1988. “It was painful to see the plight of the Armenians, and we had to help by arranging for all possible aid as quickly as we could.”

After assessing the situation, the American-Armenian community began to provide medicine and medical equipment, food and vitamins, clothes and blankets and temporary shelter. The first shipments arrived just days after the earthquake. This effort of the Armenian Church evolved into the Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR).

FAR initially focused on reconstructing demolished homes and schools as well as distributing food. It also provided medical assistance, clothing, agricultural equipment and seeds, television and radio antennas, irrigation and potable water pipes, skills training in various domains and small business development opportunities. FAR caters its general relief and development programs to meet the changing needs of the people in Armenia.

“FAR was instrumental to overcome the suffering in Armenia after the 1988 earthquake. Much has been done, more has to be done in the future. FAR has evolved and today, we are proud to be a true partner in the continued growth of Armenia’s economy and society. Hope, opportunity, and empowerment — a helping hand — this is how we at FAR are helping Armenian people design their own future,” said Archbishop Khajag
Barsamian, the president of FAR. Living in the Aftermath

Both Najarian and Merguerian said much of Armenia continues to struggle with the effects of the earthquake, which many say was worsened by poor construction practices.

“I don’t think [the authorities] are any more organized,” Najarian said. “I think what we as a community helped to do was get them out of the acute crisis. After that, there were longer-term issues and they didn’t get all the promised help. [Former Soviet leader Mikhail] Gorbachev said [the country] would be rebuilt in two years. It’s still not re-built. There has been progress, but there are still people living in pretty dismal consequences.”

Najarian continues to work with Armenians in need of medical assistance through the AHA.

While pointing out the nature of her work means she sees people at their most desperate, Najarian said she is surprised the earthquake’s effects have lasted so long. “People I work with are still struggling,” she said. “I thought when I first started that in five years the need would not be there anymore, but that’s not what happened.”

“Music for Life” will be hosted at the National Heritage Museum on December 7 at 2:30 p.m. Admission is free.

LOS ANGELES — Hayastan All Armenian Fund held its most successful ever telethon on Thanksgiving Day, November 27. The telethon raised $35 million during the 12-hour live broadcast from Los Angeles.

The funds raised during the Telethon 2008 will go towards the revival of border villages in Armenia and Artsakh.

Donations made by the Hayastan Fund affiliates include: Hayastan Fund USAWest Coast affiliate, around $1,300,000; Lebanon, around $200,000; Montreal, around $130,000; Argentina, $100,000; Great Britain, $200,000; Netherlands, $40,000; Australia, $50,000; US Fund New York, $200, 000; France, $1,500,000;
Germany, $85, 000; Switzerland, around $33,000; Toronto, $250,000; Greece and Cyprus, around $40,000.

In the days leading to the Telethon, a number of fundraising activities were organized around the world including phoneathons held in France, Argentine and New York, fundraising bike-ride, radiothon, galas and charity concerts registered unprecedented activity, significantly upping the bar of the precious fundraising
efforts.

Telethon 2008 secured a significant increase in public participation, as well as small and medium-sized donations next to large ones. Russian-based Armenian businessman Samvel Karapetian has pledged $15 million, which will be used to construct a hospital in Stepanakert. Other major donors include VivaCell-MTS, Mikael Vardanyan, Samvel Aleksanyan, Eduardo Eurnekian, Gagik Adibekyan, Varujan Grigoryan, Gagik Zakaryan, Norik Petrosyan, Barsegh Beglaryan, Aram Kocharyan, Khachik Manukyan, Karapet Aleksanyan.

Armenia’s involvement in Telethon 2008 was marked by a significant rise in the number of people who made a donation, making their investment in the future of our homeland. People made their contribution by transferring funds to the Hayastan Fund’s accounts, through the local post offices or by visiting the Fund’s office on the Republic Square. Among the ordinary donors was the Hovsepyan family from Yerevan, who visited the Fund’s Executive Board office shortly before midnight with the young members — Armen 4, Vache 11, Arman 11 and Ara 13 — each contributing several dollars to the telethon. Ara said he had participated in the last year’s telethon as well. His wish was that Hayastan Fund constructs more nice schools and kindergartens.

Eleven years since the first telethon was broadcast from Los Angeles on Thanksgiving Day, these annual events have grown to become an established and time-honored tradition attracting thousands of millions of viewers during the twelve hours of live airtime. This year, Armenians from around the world were able to tune in using television, satellite, cable and Internet networks and be part of the all Armenian effort of bringing change and a new hope to the people living in the border communities. These villages — some ravaged by war, others by economic turmoil — face a variety of complex issues, some of which will now be possible to solve thanks to the patriotism and generosity of our compatriots from around the world and Armenia itself.

Among the guests were President of Nagorno-Karabagh Bako Sahakyan, Primate of the Artsakh Diocese Archbishop Parkev Martirossian, Hayastan All Armenian Fund Acting Executive Director Ara Vardanyan, other benefactors and public figures.

“This year’s telethon is a testament to the strength and unity of our nation,” said Vardanyan. “These are trying times, not only for Armenia and Artsakh but for the entire world that was badly shaken by current economic crisis. And yet, despite the many difficulties and obstacles, Armenians from around the world have come forth and extended a helping hand to their compatriots in the villages of Armenia and Artsakh in
an unprecedented show of compassion and patriotism. I think that this is a day when each of us should be especially proud to be an Armenian, part of the nation that never gives up and is ready to build the future with its own hands.”

Karabagh Primate, Representative to US Accompany Sahakian

WATERTOWN, Mass. — Nagorno Karabagh President Bako Sahakian and a highlevel delegation, which included Karabagh Primate Archbishop Parkev Martirossian and the Karabagh representative in the US, Vartan Barseghian, visited the Greater Boston Armenian community, ahead of the Armenia Fund USA Telethon on Thursday, November 27.

During the visit, Sahakian spent about an hour answering questions at the offices of the Armenian Mirror-Spectator.

During the interview, Sahakian stressed that what matters most to the government of Karabagh is to play a role in the decisions that will shape its fate. As for the recent agreement that the Azerbaijan and Armenian governments signed in Moscow, he said he was hopeful, but without Karabagh’s involvement, the situation would not be easily resolved.

Sahakian praised the co-chairs of the Minsk group, suggesting that they should get the credit for maintaining the peace in Karabagh.

He also addressed a border violation incident on November 16, the day after he left Karabagh for this most recent trip to the US. The attack was repelled by Karabagh forces and one Azeri soldier was killed as a result.

“Before I left, I met with the border battalions and presented medals to those in charge. All who try to deprive us of the right to work and live can meet the same fate as the attacker,” he said.

Sahakian said that the fate of Karabagh could not be compared to other contested, newly-independent states, such as Kosovo and Ossetia. “Artsakh has unique qualities that are not comparable to other countries.”

He added that clearly, the number of legal countries in the world was increasing. “The United Nations did not have as many members when it was formed,” Sahakian noted.

When asked about the new government in the US, Sahakian said, “I’ve congratulated Mr. Obama in writing. I expressed the hope that ties will be established between our two countries.”

He added, “We think Artsakh is one of the countries that values human rights and democracy. The proof is that all the elections in Karabagh have been praised by other nations. Those are the bases for our desire to have closer relations with the US.”

He said that the Karabagh government also expects positive moves by the incoming US administration with regard to the Genocide, as well as aid to Armenia.

As for the “Football Diplomacy” between Armenia and Turkey, he said that he was always in favor of discussions, as opposed to armed conflict. Turkey, he added, needs to own up to the Genocide in order to gain the moral high ground in the region as well as internationally.

Sahakian said that he is focusing on the country’s economy and is trying to create paths to help people there. He also referred to the recent mass wedding ceremony in which 750 couples got married. Sahakian noted that 3,000 couples had married in Karabagh during the current calendar year and that the number of births had already surpassed last year’s by 200. Also, he said, the government was providing mortgages. All these steps, he said, were taken with the aim of repopulating the region.

The agrarian nature of the economy of Artsakh was stressed, suggesting that work was being advanced to increase the productivity of farming per hectare. In addition, Sahakian noted, an agricultural college has been founded in Stepanakert.

He also stressed the country’s dedication to helping veterans and families of veterans of the war for Karabagh’s independence. Sahakian praised Armenia Fund USA for its efforts in Armenia, noting that they helped heal the veterans’ wounds and helped improve the economy.

“We rate highly their involvement and their humanitarian work,” Sahakian said.

After the visit to the Mirror-Spectator, Sahakian visited the Hairenik Building and met with the Armenian Weekly staff as well as representatives of other organizations based there.

In the afternoon, Sahakian met with Alan Berger, editorial writer of the Boston Globeand later met with the Board of Directors of the Armenian Assembly of America at the Sheraton Commander Hotel.

At night, the Armenian Assembly Regional Committee invited the president to meet with their members at a reception held at the Armenian Cultural Foundation in Arlington. Anthony Barsamian and Lu Ann Ohanian introduced Sahakian to those gathered.

At night, members of Knights of Vartan and Armenia Fund USA had a private dinner with the president and his entourage at Grill 23 Restaurant in Boston.

— Alin K. Gregorian

By Ruben Meloyan

ISTANBUL (RFE/RL) — Armenia’s leader will pay a visit to Turkey next fall, it emerged late on Monday after the talks of the Armenian and Turkish foreign ministers in Istanbul.

President Serge Sargisian is expected to attend theWorld Cup qualifier between the Armenian and Turkish national teams, to be held here in October 2009.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul attended a similar soccer match in Yerevan last September.

Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian was in Turkey to attend a meeting of the Istanbul-based Black Sea Economic Cooperation, an organization with a dozen member nations, including Armenia, which recently assumed its rotating chairmanship.

Before meeting his counterpart, Ali Babaçan, Nalbandian held a press conference during which he said that the establishment of diplomatic relations and opening of the border between Armenia and Turkey is in the interest of both nations and can serve as a means for establishing security in the region.

“When I am saying normalizing relations I mean the opening of borders without any precondition and establishing diplomatic relations, and Armenia is ready to do that without any preconditions,” Nalbandian said. “We expect the same approach from the Turkish side. I am optimistic because I don’t think we have any serious obstacles to normalizing our relations.”

The two states have not had diplomatic relations since 1993.

“Meetings will be continued at different levels and an agreement was reached to continue joint efforts aimed at normalizing bilateral relations,” the spokesman added.

“I think re-opening the border is also among Turkey’s priorities; it is important for both countries’ interests,” he added.

Some rapprochement has been observed in the relations between the two estranged neighbors after the Turkish head of state responded to his Armenian counterpart’s invitation and paid a historic visit to Yerevan to attend a soccer match.

The latest negotiations between the two countries’ top diplomats reportedly lasted more than two hours and were held behind closed doors. The sides were reportedly to have discussed bilateral relations, the recent Turkish initiative of establishing a so-called cooperation and security platform in the Caucasus as well as other issues concerning the broader region.

“Our aim is to totally normalize bilateral relations,” Babaçan said after the meeting, according to media reports.
(The BBC contributed to this report.)

By Tatevik Lazarian, and Harry Tamrazian

DRESDEN, Germany (RFE/RL) — The Armenian Men’s Chess Team repeated its win of two years ago at the biannual World Chess Olympiad on November 25.

The news sparked celebrations among chess fans in Yerevan and throughout Armenia.

Many fans had followed live the final-round action between Armenia and China in a closely-packed Chess House in central Yerevan. The long-awaited victory was met with prolonged jubilations.

Armenia’s men’s chess team, who won the previous World Chess Olympiad in Turin, Italy, in 2006, beat China 2.5-1.5 in the 11th and final round of the tournament to secure an overall victory in Dresden.

Grandmaster Levon Aronian, Armenia’s current No. 1, drew with China’s Wang Yu on the top board, with Vladimir Hakobian, Gabriel Sargsian and Tigran L. Petrosian finishing the job, respectively, against Bu Xiangzhi, Ni Hua and Li Chao B. Armenia’s only winning point, however, came from Petrosian on the fourth board.

Armenian Chess Federation Deputy President Vanik Zakarian described the win as fantastic for a small country like Armenia.

“It is a very amazing result, a fantastic result,” he commented.

President Serge Sargisian, who also heads Armenia’s Chess Federation, has been in Dresden since Monday to encourage the team before the crucial match against China.

According to Zakarian, Sargisian had made the symbolic first move for Aronian, who played with black pieces. Before that, World Chess Federation (FIDE) President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov did the same on behalf of Aronian’s Chinese opponent.

“Our team had been seeded as ninth at this Olympiad. But there is no other team among the Olympiad participants that would have the same solidarity and level of organization. The victory comes very natural,” Zakarian added.

Armenians have traditionally excelled in chess, which is one of the most popular sports in the country.

The FIDE general assembly announced Monday that the 2012 Olympiad would be held in Istanbul, Turkey. The 2010 Olympiad is scheduled to take place in Khanty-Maniysk, Russia.

By Ruzanna Stepanian

YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — International mediators have reported an “improved mood” in the ongoing Armenian- Azerbaijani negotiations over Nagorno- Karabagh, but said the parties are “not there yet” for an ultimate peace accord.

The United States, Russian and French cochairmen of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group spoke at a press conference in Yerevan Monday afternoon after what was their longer-than-usual regional tour, including stops in the capitals of Armenia and Azerbaijan as well as in the disputed Nagorno-Karabagh region itself.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza, who chairs the Group from the US, was cautious not to give any precise period of time for a finalized framework agreement that the sides have been said to be inching towards and even close to signing by the end of this year.

“We would like that to be the case that we are just on the very edge of the agreement eing finalized, but we are not. But what I can say is that the mood between the presidents has improved significantly since the meeting November 2 in Moscow, for which we are grateful to our Russian colleagues,” Bryza said.

The US negotiator denied recent media speculations that the negotiations are months away from a big agreement and also that there is some secret protocol leading to a nontransparent set of commitments by Armenia.

“That’s absolutely untrue,” Bryza said. “There can be no secret protocols… I don’t sense either president is looking at the negotiations as an opportunity to make concessions as much as a new opportunity to see the conflict from the other president’s eyes and find a way to achieve what each president needs to gain agreement of their society.”

Bryza’s French and Russian counterparts similarly sounded cautiously optimistic about a future peace plan.

“It is important to understand that we are at a preliminary stage of the elaboration of the future peace agreement. Of course, it would be great if we could already be discussing all the details of the situation on the ground, but, unfortunately, we are not yet. We are still at the level of formalization of the general basic principles,” said Bernard Fassier, the Minsk Group’s French cochairman.

And Yuri Merzlyakov, of Russia, added: “The sides’ agreeing with the basic principles of settlement does not yet mean the elaboration of a peace accord, which will also take some time.”

The cochairmen made the statements after meeting the leaderships in Azerbaijan, Armenia, as well as Nagorno-Karabagh to where they traveled from Yerevan over the weekend.

The current negotiations for a settlement in the protracted dispute are believed to focus on proposals drafted by the Minsk Group and presented to the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan at the OSCE summit in Madrid in November 2007.

The mediators’ regional tour comes amid renewed international hopes for a breakthrough in the peace talks after the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan pledged an intensified search for a solution to the long-running dispute.

Only about two weeks ago, in a joint declaration with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Serge Sargisian and Ilham Aliyev agreed to take into account the so-called Madrid principles of a Karabagh settlement — a proposed framework agreement that calls for a phased solution to the conflict eventually to end in a referendum of selfdetermination in Nagorno-Karabagh.

It is assumed that the Minsk Group proposals aim at reconciling the seemingly conflicting principles of international law, namely territorial integrity and self-determination.

Under the yet undisclosed plan, Nagorno-Karabagh is likely to enjoy an interim status before a referendum is held at some indefinite future date to decide its ultimate status.

Other provisions of such a settlement might include strong international guarantees of security to the population of the area backed up with an overland link connecting Nagorno-Karabagh to Armenia as well as financial aid from the international community for rehabilitation in the conflict zone.

In remarks to Armenian Public Television this weekend, President Sargisian, visiting Nagorno-Karabagh, listed a number of key prerequisites that he said would be essential to reaching an agreement.

“The Karabagh problem can be solved only if Azerbaijan admits that the people of Karabagh have and can exercise their right to self-determination,” Sargisian said. “And secondly, if Nagorno-Karabagh and Armenia have a shared land border and the population of Nagorno-Karabagh receive strong guarantees of security.”

After a meeting with Sargisian earlier on Monday, the Minsk Group troika did not disclose the details of the discussions.

“It is important to use and choose words very carefully,” Bryza explained.

The French cochairman, however, spoke about some of the isues concerning security.

“The security of Nagorno-Karabagh’s people in the present status quo is only depending on Nagorno-Karabagh itself and Armenia, with strong opposition, to put it mildly, from Azerbaijan. What we have in mind to try to create for the situation in the future is to ensure that the security of Nagorno- Karabagh’s people could be provided and guaranteed by a set of complex security measures and international guarantees as well as the agreement of these measures by Azerbaijan,” Fassier said.

“The people of Karabagh have to feel safe — safe from physical attack and safe from any economic pressure as well,” Bryza added.

And the Russian representative, Merzlyakov, said: “The [Armenian-controlled] territories now play a significant role in ensuring the Karabagh population’s security. If an adequate replacement can be found, including international guarantees of security, they can be returned.”