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OMRI: Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 239, 96-12-12
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 239, 12 December 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] TURKEY ABANDONS PLANS TO OPEN BORDER WITH ARMENIA.
[02] INDEPENDENT BROADCASTERS IN KAZAKSTAN COMPLAIN ABOUT RESTRICTIONS.
[03] GRIM SITUATION FOR KYRGYZ ORPHANS.
[04] NEW AGREEMENT ON TAJIK CEASEFIRE.
[05] CORRECTION:
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[06] SERBIAN OPPOSITION CALLS FOR ASSET FREEZING.
[07] SERBIAN WORKERS JOIN PROTEST.
[08] UN POLICE SPOT BUT DO NOT ARREST KARADZIC.
[09] CROATIA'S TUDJMAN REPORTEDLY FIRES INTERIOR MINISTER . . .
[10] . . . AND PLAYS TENNIS WITH THE GOVERNMENT WATCHING.
[11] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES NEW GOVERNMENT.
[12] SNEGUR CLAIMS SUPPORTERS PERSECUTED.
[13] ANTI-CRIME CONFERENCE OPENS IN BULGARIA.
[14] BULGARIAN OPPOSITION PROPOSES NATIONAL CONSENSUS FORMULA.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] TURKEY ABANDONS PLANS TO OPEN BORDER WITH ARMENIA.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry on 11 December announced that Turkey will not
open its border with Armenia unless the latter "takes steps" toward
respecting Azerbaijan's sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh and provides for
a withdrawal of Armenian forces from the "occupied Azerbaijani territories,
" international agencies reported. The ministry statement contradictsa an
earlier announcement by Foreign Minister Tansu Ciller that the border will
be opened soon (see OMRI Daily Digest, 24 October 1996). The ministry
might be reacting to Armenia's refusal to sign a document that mentioned
Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan at the OSCE's recent summit in
Lisbon. Turkey closed its border with Armenia in early 1992 after accusing
it of "military aggression" against Azerbaijan. -- Emil Danielyan
[02] INDEPENDENT BROADCASTERS IN KAZAKSTAN COMPLAIN ABOUT RESTRICTIONS.
Representatives of more than 80 independent television and radio stations
in Kazakstan sent a letter of protest to President Nursultan Nazarbayev
complaining of "abuses" against non-governmental stations, ITAR-TASS
reported on 11 December. The letter specifically pointed to the shut down
of the radio and broadcasting company "M" and the radio station Totem, both
still off the air, as well as other stations banned for several days at the
beginning of November. The pro-government Kazak TV on 9 December, in a
broadcast monitored by the BBC, attributed the independent stations'
displeasure to their unwillingness to broadcast in the state language,
Kazak. -- Bruce Pannier
[03] GRIM SITUATION FOR KYRGYZ ORPHANS.
Children in Kyrgyz orphanages are mostly handicapped, live in buildings
with little or no electricity and where hygienic conditions are appalling,
and they receive minimum attention from staff, according to Reuters on 12
December. They are not given toys because, as one worker said, "they would
just break them." Tatyana Rupyova, a nurse at one of the orphanages who is
paid $15 a month, explained "we don't have medicine, clothes, or vitamins
to give them." The Kyrgyz economy is in crisis and many families with
handicapped children cannot afford to take care of them, and often give
them up to one of the country's four orphanages. Orphanage Director Maksim
Yelizanov said when they die at the orphanages "the parents don't even come
to bury their children." A Norwegian worker with the Save the Children
agency in Kyrgyzstan said the situation is "worse than in Romania." --
Bruce Pannier
[04] NEW AGREEMENT ON TAJIK CEASEFIRE.
Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov and United Tajik Opposition leader Said
Abdullo Nuri agreed to a ceasefire on 11 December during their meeting in
northern Afghanistan, according to Russian and Western press. The ceasefire
was due to come into effect at midnight the same day and the two leaders
will formally sign it at a 19 December meeting in Moscow. However,
government forces were reportedly launching an assault on Garm on 11
December in an attempt to free a special forces unit trapped in the town.
NTV reported that the opposition had suffered heavy losses in the battle.
In the Tajik capital Dushanbe, two bombs went off on 12 December killing
one person and injuring another. One of the bombs exploded outside the
Tajik Parliament, the other near the Pakistani Embassy. -- Bruce Pannier
[05] CORRECTION:
The item in the OMRI Daily Digest of 11 December 1996 (No. 238), titled
"19 Former OPON Members Arrested in Azerbaijan," should have said that
Yagub Mamedov is the former Azerbaijani parliament speaker.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[06] SERBIAN OPPOSITION CALLS FOR ASSET FREEZING.
Serbian opposition leaders asked the international community to freeze
overseas assets of twenty of Serbia's most influential families involved in
the governing of the state, international media reported. Miodrag Perisic,
vice president of the opposition Democratic Party, explained the request,
observing "this is a way in which the international community can punish
this dictatorship without imposing an economic embargo against the entire
population." Opposition leaders oppose a reintroduction of sanctions,
saying they hurt only ordinary people. Meanwhile, AFP reported that VOA
announced on 11 December it will be broadcasting a daily 30-minute TV
program throughout much of the former Yugoslavia in response to the
political upheaval in Serbia. The show, called "America Calling Serbia,"
will air five times weekly and feature newscasts. -- Stan Markotich
[07] SERBIAN WORKERS JOIN PROTEST.
Organized labor is beginning to add its voice to the peaceful mass protests,
which concluded their 22nd day in Belgrade on 11 December, Nasa Borba
reported. Meanwhile, CNN said that in some centers, such as Serbia's second
largest city, Nis, crowds are beginning to thin. Nevertheless, delegations
from throughout Serbia have arrived in the capital and Belgrade
demonstrations continue to draw at least 100,000 supporters. Nasa Borba
also reports that Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini is due in Belgrade
on 12 December for talks with both Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and
leaders of the opposition Zajedno coalition. Dini has told reporters he
hopes to make "a contribution to resolving the crisis." Reuters reported on
12 December that Zajedno leaders are "pinning ... hopes on [trade] union
backing and growing international support" in their efforts to have their
17 November municipal election victories recognized. -- Stan Markotich
[08] UN POLICE SPOT BUT DO NOT ARREST KARADZIC.
Members of the International Police Task Force (IPTF) saw indicted war
criminal and former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic pass by in a car
en route to his offices but did nothing to stop him, Oslobodjenje wrote
on 12 December. Karadzic was accompanied by Republika Srpska special police
armed with Kalashnikovs. The IPTF informed IFOR of the incident but the
peacekeepers took no action. "We are not authorized to chase war criminals,
" IFOR Spokesman Major Brett Boudreau said in Sarajevo, AFP reported.
Critics have charged that IFOR and the IPTF deliberately avoid bothering
indicted war criminals. The IPTF's spokesman nonetheless publicly reminded
the Bosnian Serb leadership that they are obliged to provide Karadzic with
only one escort, "and that's to The Hague." -- Patrick Moore
[09] CROATIA'S TUDJMAN REPORTEDLY FIRES INTERIOR MINISTER . . .
President Franjo Tudjman has fired Interior Minister Ivan Jarnjak, Radio
101 reported on 11 December. The ostensible reason was the discovery of a
bugging device in the office of the opposition mayor of Rijeka, but some
observers say the real reason was that Jarnjak failed to prevent massive
anti-government protests in late November. There was no official
confirmation of the firing, but the independent daily Novi List also ran
the story on 12 December. Tudjman has taken a tough line against all manner
of foreign and domestic "enemies" since his recent return from medical
treatment in the U.S. (see Pursuing Balkan Peace, 10 December 1996). --
Patrick Moore
[10] . . . AND PLAYS TENNIS WITH THE GOVERNMENT WATCHING.
Apparently to dispel rumors that he has terminal cancer, Tudjman appeared
on Croatian Television playing tennis with the government in attendance,
Reuters reported on 11 December. Critics called the event "surreal" and
likened it to similar public shows of vitality once put on by communist
leaders. Tudjman's recent statements against "enemies" have also been
compared to communist-era rhetoric. An unnamed diplomat said that Tudjman
is behaving like a man who has nothing to lose and will do as he wants. --
Patrick Moore
[11] ROMANIAN PARLIAMENT APPROVES NEW GOVERNMENT.
A joint session of the parliament's two chambers on 11 December approved
Victor Ciorbea's coalition government with 316 votes to 152, Radio
Bucharest reported. The vote followed a five-hour debate in which the
former ruling coalition, now in opposition, criticized the new government's
economic program for containing "little concrete." Referring to the issue
of Romania's integration into European and Euro-Atlantic structures, the
premier told the parliament that the next five years would determine "the
future of many generations." Ciorbea and his government are committed to
speed up the country's admittance into NATO and the EU. The new government
will be sworn in today. -- Zsolt Mato
[12] SNEGUR CLAIMS SUPPORTERS PERSECUTED.
Outgoing Moldovan President Mircea Snegur on 11 December decried the
persecutions to which his supporters were allegedly submitted to by the new
administration, Infotag reported. The statement came in response to an
appeal sent by the Pro-Snegur Civic Movement to both Snegur and President-
elect Petru Lucinschi, claiming that its members have been fired from their
jobs or received threats of physical violence. Snegur described the
campaign as "political blackmail" and warned that it "may seriously
destabilize the political situation." In a separate development, acting
Premier Andrei Sangheli on 11 December concluded a three-day official visit
to Moscow, the second in less than two months. Sangheli met with his
Russian counterpart, Viktor Chernomyrdin, and other senior officials, with
whom he discussed loan agreements and Russian fuel deliveries for the
winter. In exchange, Moldova will deliver, among other things, between 5
and 6 million liters of vodka. -- Dan Ionescu
[13] ANTI-CRIME CONFERENCE OPENS IN BULGARIA.
A three-day conference on combating organized crime and corruption opened
in Sofia on 11 December, RFE/RL reported. The meeting is jointly sponsored
by the Council of Europe (CE) and the EU. Ministers and experts from 16
Central and East European countries (Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech
Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland,
Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine) and CE legal and crime
experts will attend. The conference is part of a year-long "Octopus"
project, which aims at providing the participating countries with legal
instruments to fight crime. -- Stefan Krause
[14] BULGARIAN OPPOSITION PROPOSES NATIONAL CONSENSUS FORMULA.
The united opposition's Political Council on 11 December supported the
Union of Democratic Forces' (SDS) formula for national consensus on setting
up the currency board--an independent body in charge of monetary policy--
Duma and Demokratsiya reported. The plan links the consensus over the
board with the demand for early parliamentary elections. SDS Chairman Ivan
Kostov warned that if the currency board is set up by the current
government without a broader consensus, it will fail and hyperinflation and
a new moratorium on the foreign debt payments could be in the cards. The
opposition project will be forwarded to the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP)
for consideration before it reaches the parliament. BSP Deputy Nikola
Koychev told Trud on 10 December that Kostov's demands are "nebulous,"
adding that the currency board could be adopted even without a political
consensus, although this was not "desirable." -- Maria Koinova
This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media
Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in
Prague, Czech Republic.
For more information on OMRI publications please write to info@omri.cz.
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