December 27, 2004 - 19:10 AMT
IS TIMOSHENKO REALLY ARMENIAN?
During the press conference held on December 26 "an Azeri journalist with horror asked Yulia Timoshenko whether she really has Armenian roots". According to the rumors, Timoshenko's maiden name is Gregian (short from Grigorian). Timoshenko herself refuted the hearsay stating that " she is Latvian by father and Ukrainian by mother", Ukrainskaya Pravda newspaper writes. With an odd regularity all the recent revolutionists including Saakashvili and Timoshenko "are suspected" of having Armenian roots. However, they themselves deny such suppositions. The exception was Z. Zhvania, who said he is Armenian by mother. To complete the picture let us note that the first Armenian mentioned in the historical sources was Khaldita. As Persian King Darius I informs in his notes, our smart compatriot posing as the King of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar launched a revolution to overthrow the Persian dominion. According to the data available, he was also asserting he is not Armenian. It seems to become a tradition