YEREVAN (Armenpress)–Armenian President Robert Kocharian handed out prizes to Armenia’s best athletes and coaches on Thursday for their outstanding performance in 2005.
Among those honored were 2005 World Cup Chess champion grand master Levon Aronian–judoist Armen Nazarian–and wrestler Movses Karapetian–who won medals in European championships.
The head of the Armenian National Olympic Committee Gagik Tsarukian revealed that Armenian athletes won 69 medals in international competitions during 2005.
President Kocharian also awarded academics and scientists for their contribution to the development of science–among them–the head of the Academy of National Sciences–Fadey Sargsian received the "Peter the Great" medal–and Stepan Mirzoyan was awarded "Knight" medal. Academics Lavrenti Barsegian and Marine Safarian received the "Catherine the Great" medal.
6) Turkey Denies Cooperation with US against Iran and Syria
(Cihan)–Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul dismissed last week–reports that the US had offered a deal to attack the PKK kurdish organization in return for allowing an attack on Iran.
German news agency (DPP) had claimed on Friday that CIA director Peter Goss requested support from Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his visit to Ankara last week for an aerial attack on Iran’s nuclear plants–Cihan News Agency reported.
According to the report–Gul said that the top level visits from the US to Turkey were not related to third countries–including Iran and Syria. "Those claims are pure imagination," Foreign Minister Gul told the reporters on Saturday in the city of Bursa.
The DPP had claimed in the news that Goss–in return for Turkey’s support–promised that Turkey would be allowed to hold raids against PKK camps in Iran–by letting Turkey know that the US offensive is to begin in a few hours on the same day.
Turkey has strong strategic relations with the US–however–the relations between Turkey and neighboring Iran have also improved in remarkable ways in recent years following reciprocal trust boosting measures.