revive Armenian rugby

Unlike its Georgian neighbor, Armenia has seen its practice of rugby decline to become anecdotal, especially because of a national federation accused of corruption. The association Armenia rugby union team wants to put this sport back in fashion and restore confidence to the Armenians in this sport.

At the time of the Soviet bloc, Armenia was rugby champion in the USSR. Since then, Armenian rugby, supported by a national federation accused of embezzlement, has fallen into inactivity. The last match of the national team dates from 2012. In 2013, the national federation closed its site, before being banned from the European federation, in 2014, for inactivity. Determined to give Armenian rugby acclaim, Hrach and Sahak set up an association dedicated to replacing this federation, which now exists only officially but whose activity has stopped.

The first is used in the construction of roads, the second architect. They have rugby in their blood. Both are co-presidents and founders of the Armenia rugby union team. ” Our goal is to make rugby popular again, to put it back in fashion, ” said Sahak confidently. Smiling bearded, his eyes sparkle as he evokes their project.

They started at ten, three years ago. They are now a small thirty, including ten young people. ” Our goal is to become the official national rugby federation in Armenia, ” says Sahak. ” Today, people do not even know if there is a rugby federation ,” he laments. Blame it on its president, who is, according to both rugbymen, responsible for the departure of the players of the national team and the disappearance of Armenia from the world stage.

armenia ruby union — A player from the Armenia ruby union team. (Credit: Sahak Zarbabyan)

“We want people to be no more disappointed with rugby”

” If the good traditions had been respected, if we had a competent federation, we would have the level to face the All Blacks “, regrets Hrach. ” If all goes well, it will take us ten years to return to the international scene ,” says his comrade. Ten years is the time they give to eight-year-olds to reach the age of majority. ” We want to develop a modern rugby by welcoming new people, young people, ” explains Hrach. ” In a serious match, I could not play, ” he adds from his top forty.

In the meantime, the mission of the two co-presidents is to show their seriousness and attractiveness so that the government grants them the position of official national federation. ” We want people to be no more disappointed with rugby, we want to give them hope, ” Sahak hopes. And their approach begins to work: ” We have many people who come to us, who ask us when can they play with us, ” he said.

But the shadow of the president of the current federation, appointed when his brother was mayor of Yerevan, closes many doors. ” Between those who do not know anything about rugby, who believe that we will fight, and those who are afraid of this man, it’s been three years since we move from local to local, ” Sahak collapses. ” But we are rugby players, we will get there ,” adds his teammate. Their jerseys are even already drawn and both say they are ready to leave their trades as soon as they can live (even “survive”) rugby.

http://papiers-armenie.fr/2018/02/13/armenia-rugby-union-team/

Ankara seeks to restore the disintegrated Ottoman Empire by dividing Syria and Iraq and turning them into Turkish protectorates, the Syrian information minister said.

DAMASCUS (Sputnik) – The Turkish leadership wants to split Syria up and destroy it in hopes of reviving the Ottoman Empire and its previous territories, Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said.

“Turkey’s goal is to try and revive the Ottoman Empire that was earlier divided into provinces. There were the provinces of Damascus, Mosul, Aleppo, Jerusalem, Beirut, and so on, and it is this main goal that’s leading to the wish to divide Syria and Iraq into emirates or provinces that would exist under the protectorate of the empire and in its interests. These types of ambitions raise controversy with the United States,” al-Zoubi told RIA Novosti in an interview.

The information minister said that Ankara and its Western allies’ ambitions were put at risk after the Russian Aerospace Forces began their military air campaign in Syria.

“Russia’s active intervention unexpectedly changed the balance of powers. First, this is the actual existence, and second, [the West] wants to drive Russia out of the Arab world and make it an enemy of the region like Libya or Yemen,” al-Zoubi said.

West’s Real Goal in Syria is to Destroy the Country

“In 2015, the Syrian leadership, under the true support of Russia with President Vladimir Putin at the head, was able to reveal the West’s actual policy of wanting to destroy Syria using the slogan of peaceful settlement,” al-Zoubi told RIA Novosti.

The minister said that everything predicted by Damascus in 2015 has come true in that terror would spill beyond Syria’s borders.

“The pressure created by terrorists in the world should convince everyone that the fight against terrorism demands common coordinated efforts,” al-Zoubi said.

Russian forces have been conducting airstrikes against extremists in Syria since September 30, at the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

On Tuesday, a Russian Su-24 was downed by an air-to-air missile launched by a Turkish F-16 jet over Syrian territory, falling 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the Turkish border. Putin described the Turkish attack as a “stab in the back” carried out by “accomplices of terrorists.”

The Ottoman Empire was founded in 1299 and broken up in 1923. It encompassed current Syrian, Iraqi and Lebanese territories, among others.

An alternative federation to revive Armenian rugby

Turkey Trying to Revive Ottoman Empire by Dividing Syria, Iraq – Damascus