AK-47

Did anyone else see the miserable call by the ref? I can't believe that wasn't a penalty shot for Lahm. Amot.

And the last two goals were lucky. The 2nd one came off the trivial lob that Cech should've easily handled and the final goal seemed very offside. How did the officials miss that one?

Did you see the Turkey match with Czech

Claims of Armenian Killing Spree in Khojalou is Azeri Propaganda OTTAWA--There is no evidence that the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabagh committed "genocide against Meskhetian Turks of Khojalou," said Canadian military historian Patrick Wilson Gore, during the launch of his latest book last week Thursday. The allegation are merely claims from the Azeri propaganda machine, Gore said. The Canadian military historian made the statement at the launch of “Tis Some Poor Fellow's Skull---Post-Soviet Warfare in the Southern Caucasus” at the embassy of the Republic of Armenia. The gathering was co-sponsored by the Armenian Embassy and the Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC). After welcoming remarks by Arman Agopian, the charge d'affaires of the Republic of Armenia and an introduction of the author by Paul Douzjian, board member of the ANCC, Gore presented a brief history of Nagorno-Karabagh, the legal and political aspects of the crisis, the origins of the war, economic background, battles, strategic objectives, the aftermath, and the current state of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe peace negotiation. Gore stated that Stalin's inclusion of Nagorno-Karabagh within the territory of Azerbaijan was due to his "paranoia" of Armenians and a secret deal between him and Ataturk, the Turkish dictator. The Canadian expert stated that for 70 years, Armenians of Nagorno-Karabagh were treated as second-class citizens under Azeri rule. The treatment of Armenians by Azeris was a classic case of ethnic cleansing. After the Sumgait and Baku massacres of Armenians in the early late 1980s and early 1990s, the Armenians were forced to fight to defend their families and their lives, he explained. The author went over the battles of Shoushi, Lachin, Shahumian, Khojalou and other important battles, internal turmoil in Azerbaijan, and other political, economic, and military factors which decided the outcome of the war and the current status of the region. In regard to the Khojalou incident, Gore said “Azeri troops ran faster than the Meskhetian Turk civilians that they had been using as human shields.” Upon their retreat to Agdam, civilians of Khojalou were fired upon by the Azeri OMON garrison of Agdam, mistaking them for Armenian forces. He said that a day before the start of Khojalou battle, the Azeri forces executed 32 Armenian prisoners of war. Regarding the ongoing Azeri government threats of resumption of war to take Nagorno-Karabagh, Gore said that “peace is for the benefit of both sides.” Gore said that although it is true that the Azeri government is getting emboldened with its new-found oil wealth, Aliev government has to “consider that their oil and gas pipelines run 30 km north of Nagorno-Karabagh, and Azeris have invested heavily in their Baku facilities.” He questioned whether Azeris want to jeopardize their vital pipelines and “risk their money sources.” Gore also commented on Turkish government political and military support to Azerbaijan, the use of mercenaries by the Azeri government, the Minsk Group mediation, and other matters related to the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict. The timely publication of the objective and probing book is of vital importance for the comprehension of the situation in the region and to everyone interested in the future of the Caucasus. The solution of the conflict is of vital importance because the war was fought in the bottleneck between Russia and Iran, through which Central Asian and Caspian oil and natural gas pipelines run, and through which U.S. and allied air traffic to and from Afghanistan and Pakistan must pass. The author of the 139-page book is a Canadian specialist in military history and theory. He studied at Oxford, and subsequently graduated from the National Defence College at Kingston, one of NATO's senior command colleges. Much of his career has focused on strategic intelligence. This is his eleventh book. He used to be paratrooper and marine commando. Tuesday, June 10, 2008 Source: http://www.asbarez.com/#AMC=Open&ASBSC=Closed

LOL nice one.

Why does Azerbaijani army need multipurpose pilotless vehicles? Harmes 450 Azerbaijan is likely to buy Hermes 450 multipurpose pilotless vehicles from the Israeli company Silver Arrow 10. 1news.az reports referring to the Russian internet resource GDSearch.org that the pilotless vehicles will be used for “control over the territories of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia”. The phrase pilotless vehicles became part of the word stock of journalists after the Georgian pilotless vehicles were brought down by either the Abkhazian or Russian air force. This incident caused the new phase of the Russian-Georgian confrontation continuing so far. Tbilisi says the vehicles were brought down by the Russian force, and the Abkhazians say their radars detected the vehicles. And now the Georgian ministers take an oath that Tbilisi will not declare a war on Russia. Apparently Baku has also decided to stage a similar incident. It is buying vehicles from Israel to launch them, knowing that they will be brought down to start а propaganda war against Armenia to push it into hysteria and spontaneous action. The money is a pity, the vehicles must cost expensive. 06-06-2008 13:53:43 - ArtsaxOpen Source: http://Artsax-open.com/src/index.php?lan...d=9698&id=2

You mean like Russia did http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TK-gi6YUoY...Hermes_450.html

Well the good news is, Baku got eliminated today from Olympics 2016 contention Good riddance!

Even more Israeli arms for the baboons... this is not good news. -------------------------------------------- Azerbaijan to buy 10 pilotless reconnaissance aircrafts from Israel 05 June 2008 [10:59] - Today.Az http://www.today.az/pictures/pic45453.jpg Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry intends to buy 10 multi-mission pilotless reconnaissance aircrafts Hermes 450 from Israeli Silver Arrow company, reports GPSearch.Org with reference to a source from the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan. As is reported "the purchased pilotless aircrafts will be used to control the areas, occupied by Armenians". "While selecting the technique, we took into account its "invisibility" for the enemy's air defense", said the source. The reference of the AirWar.ru website says: "Hermes 450 is a multi-mission pilotless aircraft, invented by Israeli Silver Arrow. It is designed for observation, patrol, reconnaissance and correction of fire support as well as communication maintenance during hostilities. Hermes 450 is designed of composite materials, which makes it difficult to reveal it by enemy's air defense systems. It flies in the autonomous regime by using GPS fata. Hermes 450 flies and lands from the low prepared landing strip extending to up to 350 meters". /Day.Az/ Source: http://www.today.az/news/politics/45453.html

Local musician applies to become Armenian Friday, May 30, 2008 MİKAİL PELİT MALATYA – Doğan News Agency A local musician in the eastern province of Malatya applied to court Wednesday to get a name change, declaring that he was really an Armenian. Kazım Akıncı, who lives with his mother and makes a living selling his albums, said his family hid the fact that they were Armenian Christians, but had decided to stop hiding his true identity after Turkish journalist of Armenian decent Hrant Dink was killed early last year. He applied to a Malatya court to change his name to Serkis Nerseyan and went to the local population registry to change the religion section of his identity card from Muslim to Christian. Speaking to the Doğan news agency, he said, �I live in Malatya and neither I nor the society has any problem with me being an Armenian. However, my family hid this fact for years due to a baseless fear.� He said his sadness over Dink' murder had made him decide to declare his identity. �I make a living by selling my albums. I am well liked by those around me. They like me not because I am �Kazım' or �Serkis.' I am liked because of my personality. There is no reason for fear or hiding.� Dink was shot and killed in front of the office of the weekly Armenian newspaper Agos in January 2007 by an ultra-nationalist teenager. Dink was also found guilty of insulting Turkishness by a court. Malatya made the headlines in April last year when five ultra-nationalists raided the offices of a publishing house, murdering two Turkish Christian converts and a German national, all of whom were working as Christian missionaries. Source: http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article...?enewsid=105856 ------------------------------------------------ En francais, Un arménien qui veut redevenir un arménien en Turquie dimanche1er juin 2008, par Stéphane/armenews Un musicien de la province orientale de Malatya en Turquie a demandé à la cour mercredi 28 mai 2008 d’obtenir un changement de nom, déclarant qu’il était vraiment un arménien. Kazim Akinci, qui vit avec sa mère et gagne sa vie en vendant ses albums ( sous le nom de Kazin Akses), a dit que sa famille a toujours caché le fait qu’ils étaient des arméniens, mais qu’il avait décidé d’arrêter de cacher sa vraie identité après que le journaliste Hrant Dink ait été tué au début de l’année 2007. http://www.armenews.com/IMG/arton41673-298x200.jpg Il s’est adressé à une cour de Malatya pour changer son nom en Serkis Nerseyan et est allé au service de l’état civil pour changer son statut sur la section religion de sa carte d’identité passant de musulman à chrétien. Selon l’agence de presse Dogan, Kazim Akinci a déclaré « je vis à Malatya et ni moi ni la société n’avons le moindre problème que je sois un arménien. Cependant, ma famille a caché ce fait pendant des années en raison d’une peur sans fondement ». http://www.armenews.com/IMG/16671-ermeni-300x158.jpg Il a aussi précisé qu’il était triste au sujet de Hrant Dink dont le meurtre l’a décidé à déclarer son identité. « Je gagne ma vie en vendant mes albums.Je suis bien aimé autour de moi. Ils m’aiment pas parce que je suis « Kazim »ou « Serkis ». On m’aime à cause de ma personnalité. Il n’y a aucune raison à avoir peur ou à la dissimulation ». Source: http://www.armenews.com/article.php3?id_article=41673

You gotta be joking

LOLLL at Otuzbirian. Kurdoghlian i've heard around.

General of the army Michel Sleiman elected new president of Lebanon. Dawn of a new era? ----------------------------------- Sleiman elected Lebanon’s new president http://www.france24.com/files/story/20080525-liban-president-m_0.jpg Sunday 25 May 2008 After 19 postponements in six months, Lebanese lawmakers elected Gen. Michel Sleiman as president, ending a deadlock which has left the post vacant since November. Lebanese lawmakers elected Michel Sleiman as president of their deeply divided nation Sunday in a critical first step towards ending a crippling 18-month political crisis. At a packed swearing-in ceremony in Beirut, Sleiman took the oath of office, pledging to protect the country's constitution, sovereignty and independence. His terse swearing-in statement was greeted by a standing ovation inside Lebanon’s parliament building, where the ceremony was held, while firecrackers and celebratory gunshots erupted on the streets of Beirut. Sunday’s swearing-in ceremony ended a political deadlock between rival political blocs that had left the nation without a president since November. Wearing a black suit and grey tie, Sleiman called for a minute of silence for Lebanon’s “martyrs” shortly after taking the oath – a poignant reminder of the violent confrontations and strings of assassinations that have gripped the country since the Feb. 14, 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Speaking to a gathering of Lebanese parliamentarians as well as foreign dignitaries at the ceremony, Sleiman appealed for unity in a fractiously divided nation that earlier this month hovered precariously on the brink of civil war. "I call upon all of you, politicians and citizens, to start a new phase called Lebanon and the Lebanese... in order to achieve the interests of the nation," he said. The election comes six months after the presidential post was vacated by Syrian ally Emile Lahoud, a period during which Lebanon’s competing sectarian leaders repeatedly failed to elect a successor. With each faction accusing the other of serving external masters, the Lebanese political crisis is widely viewed as an extension of rifts between Shia and Sunni Muslim powers as well as the confrontation pitting the West – especially the United States – against Iran and Syria. Sunday’s ceremony is being billed as a “reconciliation wedding” by a population weary of their politicians’ inability to end the country’s crippling power standoff. Indeed the guest list at the ceremony reflects the country’s rapprochement hopes. The 200-odd dignitaries at the event include Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa, a US congressional delegation, the foreign ministers of France, Syria and Iran as well as Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. It was Qatari mediation during talks in Doha last week that brokered a deal to end a recent bloody confrontation between pro-and anti-Syrian groups that killed 65 people and plunged Lebanon to the brink of civil war. A neutral figure in a divided nation While in most countries the election of a military chief as president would raise alarm bells, in Lebanon, Sleiman is viewed as a compromise candidate for both, the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority led by Saad Hariri, the son of assassinated Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, as well as the opposition led by Hezbollah. But while the two opposing blocs have long agreed on Sleiman, they have repeatedly failed to agree on the makeup of a new cabinet, postponing the presidential vote 19 times since Lahoud’s departure. A Maronite Christian with a 30-year military career, Sleiman is nevertheless seen as a neutral political figure. “The army is my life and I always tried to shelter it from political and denominational conflicts in a country where the political organization rests on a denominational basis,” Sleiman told FRANCE 24 in April. “I will not allow it to be divided.” Like all the public office of the country, the Lebanese army is built on denominational model that is designed to maintain a power balance between the country’s 18 religious sects. But the pressures of uniting Lebanon are immense. Days before his election, Sleiman warned against pinning all of Lebanon’s political hopes on his shoulders. "I cannot save the country on my own," he told the pro-opposition daily As-Safir. "This mission requires the efforts of all.” Source: http://www.france24.com/en/20080525-lebano...&navi=MONDE

Yeah I saw that too Last year, we had 12 from Turkey. Of course, Azerbaijan was not competing last year... Only reason we lost was because we did not consistently get points. We had more 'douze points' (with 8) than any other country but some (like those Scandinavian countries) gave us nothing. Even the Georgians gave us 12 points.

The murdered Armenian soldier was actually 19 years old. It happens more to them than it happens to us, don't worry. And the good part is, we sometimes don't even need to fire a shot. For example, http://www.today.az/news/society/45191.html or http://www.today.az/news/society/44961.html

Good eye! I knew he looked familiar, I just couldn't figure out from where... hehe.

Maybe would've been different if the game was held in England even though the match was between two English clubs. Great match, a classic. I thought it was over for sure when Terry was gonna shoot the last penalty kick...wow.

Reply to yesterday's murder of an Armenian soldier by baboonjan soldiers. -------------------------------- Azerbaijani army officer killed by Armenians 17 May 2008 [12:07] - Today.Az One more officer of the Azerbaijani armed forces was killed in the result of ceasefire violation today. Day.Az reports with reference to the ANS-Press Artsax bureau that on at 19:30 on May 16 24 year old lieutenant Vuqar Najafov died of gun wound in Chemenli village of Aghdam. It should be noted that Najafov was recruited by the military commissariat of Fizuli region.

UN: Armenia votes against resolution on return of displaced to Abkhazia /PanARMENIAN.Net/ The General Assembly today adopted a resolution in which it recognized the right of return of all refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), regardless of their ethnicity, to Abkhazia. With 14 votes in favor, 11 against and 105 abstentions, the Assembly adopted a Georgian-sponsored text that recognizes the right of return for IDPs and refugees and also their descendants. The resolution stresses the importance of preserving the property rights of the refugees and IDPs and underlines the urgent need for a timetable to ensure the prompt voluntary return of all refugees and IDPs. Assembly members also requested that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon submit a comprehensive report at the Assembly’s next session on the implementation of today’s resolution. The countries which supported the resolution make 7 per cent of the total number of the UN member states. In favor: Albania, Azerbaijan, Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, U.S. and Ukraine. Against: Russia, Armenia, Venezuela, India, Iran, China, Myanmar, Serbia, Syria, Sudan, the UN news center reports. Source: http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=26073

According to baboon sources, we officially voted AGAINST ------------------------- Azerbaijan votes for, but Armenia against the UN General Assembly resolution on Abkhazia [ 16 May 2008 12:48 ] Baku. Lachin Sultanova –APA. UN General Assembly has passed resolution on the “Status of refugees and internally displaced persons in Abkhazia (Georgia)”. 14 countries, including Azerbaijan voted for, but 11 against, including Armenia. 105 countries, including members of European Union abstained during the voting. Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, USA, Albania, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden voted for and Russia, Armenia, Belarus, North Korea, India, Iran, Myanmar, Serbia, Sudan, Syria and Venezuela voted against the resolution. The resolution urged to schedule voluntary and immediate returning of Abkhazian refugees and internally displaced persons to their homelands. The document noted that it was inadmissible to change the demographic situation existed before the Abkhazian conflict and condemned all efforts toward this. The resolution requested the UN Secretary General to submit a comprehensive report on the implementation of this resolution. The resolution is non-binding and its implementation is not constrained in distinction from the resolution of UN Security Council. Georgian Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili welcomed the resolution. “This resolution recognizes facts of ethnic cleansing and violation of international law in Abkhazia. The document guarantees returning of refugees and internally displaced persons to their homelands and their property rights and declares any economic activities and other illegal actions as illegitimate. The General Assembly requested UN Secretary General to make report on the implementation of the resolution in September”. Source: http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=48922

Armenian soldier killed at border /PanARMENIAN.Net/ As result of firing commenced by the Azeri side, on May 15, at 11.45 a.m. Armenian soldier Andranik Hayrapetyan, 19, was wounded in abdomen. As RA Defense Minister’s spokesman, colonel Seyran Shahsuvaran told PanARMENIAN.Net, Hayrapetyan was taken to hospital and died at 12.30 p.m. Investigation has been launched. Source: http://www.panarmenian.net/news/eng/?nid=26069

Analysis: Does Azerbaijan Face A New Irredentist Threat? By RFE/RL analyst Liz Fuller Two separate recent developments have served to focus attention on the potential for conflict posed by the division between Russia and Azerbaijan of the historic homeland of the Lezgins. The first is the need to legalize the status of the two villages of Khrakhoba (Qıraqoba) and Uryanoba in northern Azerbaijan that under an agreement signed in 1954 and extended for a further 20 years in 1984 were designated Russian exclaves within Azerbaijan, and whose Lezgin population is now reportedly demanding that the districts again be formally declared a Russian enclave. The second is a conference that opened in Moscow on May 14 at which printed materials were distributed outlining and apparently endorsing Lezgin territorial claims on Azerbaijani territory. The Lezgins are a northeastern Caucasian ethnos who claim to be the descendants of the ancient kingdom of Caucasian Albania that fell to Arab conquerors in the 8th century A.D. Their historic homeland was divided in 1860 between two gubernias of Tsarist Russia, Daghestan, which in 1918 remained part of Russia, and Shemakha, which formed part of the shortlived Azerbaijan Democratic Republic that was subsumed into Soviet Russia in 1920. The border between the two entities, which since the collapse of the USSR in late 1991 has become an international frontier, is the Samur River. At the time of the 2002 Russian Federation census, there were 336,698 Lezgins living in Daghestan, primarily in the south of the republic. Estimates of the number of Lezgins in Azerbaijan vary widely. According to official data, they number only 178,000, while unofficial estimates range from 400,000 to 850,000. The first demands by Lezgins in the USSR for a separate territorial-administrative unit date back to 1965, and were swiftly suppressed. In July 1990, inspired by Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of glasnost, Lezgins in Daghestan formed an informal organization named Sadval (Unity) to campaign for the "unification" of Lezgin-populated territories, a demand that resonated with at least some of their co-ethnics in the Azerbaijan SSR. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, some Sadval members, primarily in Daghestan, advocated lobbying for an independent state. Possibly for that reason, the Russian Justice Ministry suspended the organization's registration in July 1993. Following infighting among its members in 1995, Sadval officially renounced its campaign for an independent Lezgin state at its sixth congress in April 1996. Two years later, however, Sadval split into a radical wing and a more moderate wing. The former resurrected the dream of an independent Lezgin state, while the latter advocated the creation of an autonomous territory for the Lezgins within Daghestan that would have the status of a separate federation subject and of a free economic zone, according to "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on January 27, 1999. Infighting between the two factions continued for several years, during which the movement apparently forfeited much of what popular support it once enjoyed. In an interview with "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on August 25, 2004, one of Sadval's co-chairmen, Nasyr Primov, admitted that Sadval was experiencing "a period of stagnation." Primov nonetheless insisted that Sadval's goals remain unchanged, namely, "to unite the Lezgin nation, make the frontiers transparent, and give people the opportunity to meet and move freely." Asked whether Sadval still harbored territorial claims on Azerbaijan, Primov denied that it pursues any aims in Azerbaijan, but in a seeming contradiction he added that "our only desire, our dream if you like, is to unite the entire Lezgin people in one state." As of early 2006, indications surfaced that the moderate wing of Sadval intended to resurrect that goal, by redrawing the borders of Azerbaijan to incorporate the Lezgin-populated regions of southern Daghestan and creating a Lezgin autonomous region, according to an article published on January 26, 2006, in the Azerbaijani online daily zerkalo.az. The paper quoted an unidentified source within Sadval as arguing that "the Daghestan Lezgins cannot remain within a republic that is being turned into a breeding ground for international terrorism and which is choking in the grip of an interethnic confrontation in which several foreign countries have a hand." In other words, by 2006 Sadval's ultimate objective had apparently shifted from an independent state, to an autonomous Lezgin region within Daghestan that would subsume part of northern Azerbaijan, to an autonomous Lezgin region within Azerbaijan, which would have necessitated the surrender of Russian territory. There still exists, however, a government-backed body within Azerbaijan that claims to represent the Lezgins' collective interests. Named Samur, that organization abjures any territorial claims on the Russian Federation; in a May 15 interview with day.az, its chairman, Shair Gasanov, insisted that the rights of Lezgins in Azerbaijan are not infringed in any respect. The sponsors of the Moscow conference, which is formally devoted to the history and culture of the Lezgin peoples from the era of Caucasian Albania to the present day, include the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Regional Development Ministry, and the Russian State Duma, implying official backing at the very highest state level. And among the materials distributed at the conference, according to the online publication echo-az.com on May 15, is a brochure published jointly by the Federal National-Cultural Autonomy of the Lezgins and the State Duma's Committee for Nationality Affairs, the author of which calls for official condemnation of the division and "ethnocide" of the Lezgin people in the 1920s. He further slams the current border between the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan as "illegitimate" and demands it be redrawn to incorporate the northern districts of Azerbaijan into Daghestan. Speaking on May 15 at a press conference in Baku, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Xazar Ibragim said the Azerbaijani Embassy in Moscow is following developments at the conference, and that Azerbaijan will "respond appropriately" to any "separatist" moves or threats to its territorial integrity, day.az reported. Source: http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/...59B6D974B4.html

Won't be a problem for us. We can play this game pretty well as we did during the 1975-1990 civil war. We're number one in the world in chess anyway

Indeed. ARF has also split with Aoun and returned to neutrality with Michel Murr. The ARF was previously with Aoun and Hizballah because of some electoral disputes with the Hariri clan who were forcing the ARF to join them but which would result in less seats for the 80% ARF voice within Armenians. I think it was some dispute similar to that. Worthy to mention that Hasan Nasrallah has a good relationship with Armenians, having spent most of his childhood in Bourj Hammoud. He can speak Armenian too.

Makes much more sense, thanks for the info garmag. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Social_Nationalist_Party