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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 1, No. 69, 97-07-09
RFE/RL NEWSLINE
Vol. 1, No. 69, 9 July 1997
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER ON RUSSIA, NAGORNO-KARABAKH, DOMESTIC POLITICS
[02] AZERBAIJAN APPLIES FOR WTO MEMBERSHIP
[03] RUSSIAN SPOKESMEN DOWNPLAY AZERBAIJANI-TURKMEN OIL ROW
[04] TURKMEN AGRICULTURE MINISTER SACKED
[05] KAZAK DEMONSTRATORS PUNISHED
[06] KYRGYZ HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST STILL IN JAIL
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[07] OSCE SAYS ALBANIAN ELECTIONS VALID...
[08] ...WHILE ALBANIAN POLITICIANS DISCUSS FUTURE
[09] NATO WARNS AGAINST ATTEMPT TO OUST PLAVSIC
[10] BOSNIAN SERBS STEP UP SECURITY FOR KARADZIC, MLADIC
[11] PLAVSIC REJECTS MEETING WITH MILOSEVIC
[12] OSCE URGES PUNISHMENT OF WAR RAPES
[13] NEWS FROM FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
[14] ROMANIAN BANKER DETAINED
[15] MOLDOVAN LABOR DISPUTE SETTLED
[16] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENTARY DEPUTIES QUIT FACTION
[17] BULGARIAN PREMIER ON ORGANIZED CRIME
[18] EU APPROVES MEDICAL AID PACKAGE TO BULGARIA
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER ON RUSSIA, NAGORNO-KARABAKH, DOMESTIC POLITICS
Speaking at a press conference in Yerevan on 8 July to mark his first 100
days in office, Robert Kocharyan urged the expansion of cooperation with
Russia, especially in the economic sphere, ITAR-TASS reported. Kocharyan
said an Armenian delegation is currently holding talks in Moscow with
Gazprom representatives on creating a joint company to export Russian gas
to Turkey via Armenia. Kocharyan greeted Russian President Boris Yeltsin's
proposal to set up a Russian-Armenian-Azerbaijani government commission to
investigate Russian arms shipments to the Caucasus, Armenian agencies
reported. Kocharyan also called for direct talks between Baku and
Stepanakert on resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He rejected the
assertion by Yerevan Mayor Vano Siradeghyan that government ministers
should be political figures, not professionals, arguing that this is
appropriate for Western Europe but not for Armenia.
[02] AZERBAIJAN APPLIES FOR WTO MEMBERSHIP
Officials at the Geneva headquarters of the World Trade Organization said
on 8 July that Azerbaijan has submitted a formal request to join the
organization, according to Reuters. Negotiations on Azerbaijan's accession
to the organization are likely to last at least two years, and Baku will be
required to demonstrate a commitment to opening up its economy to foreign
goods and services. Azerbaijan is the 13th former Soviet republic to
request WTO membership. Only Turkmenistan and Tajikistan have not yet done
so.
[03] RUSSIAN SPOKESMEN DOWNPLAY AZERBAIJANI-TURKMEN OIL ROW
Spokesman Igor Shabdurasulov told journalists on 8 July that the Russian
government does not intend to take any action in response to Turkmenistan's
demand for the annulment of a recent agreement between two Russian oil
companies and the Azerbaijan state oil company SOCAR to explore the Kyapaz
oil field. Ashgabat claims that the oil field lies in its sector of the
Caspian Sea. Shabdurasulov said the two Russian oil companies, LUKoil and
Rosneft, should decide on their own whether to suspend participation and
what their obligations are to SOCAR and Turkmenistan. The Russian Foreign
Ministry considers the Kyapaz deal "a purely commercial one," a spokesman
told Interfax.
[04] TURKMEN AGRICULTURE MINISTER SACKED
President Saparmurat Niyazov signed a decree on 7 July relieving the
Minister of Agriculture Pirguly Adayev as well as the governor and all
local officials of Akhal Province of their duties, RFE/RL correspondents
reported. Akhal Province, where the capital Ashgabat is located, is one of
the country's two major grain producing regions. This year, the province
will meet only 35 percent of its target figure for grain output Niyazov
told the Akhal officials and the minister that they were fired because of
incompetence, mismanagement, fraud, and nepotism. Official figures show
Turkmenistan will meet only 50 percent of its target for grain in 1997.
[05] KAZAK DEMONSTRATORS PUNISHED
Two miners accused of organizing an unsanctioned demonstration in Karaganda
in June to protest pension reforms (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 June 1997)
have been put under "administrative arrest." according to ITAR-TASS on 8
July. Vladimir Karpov and Vyacheslav Sheigarchuk were sentenced to 15 and
seven days in jail, respectively. The men were originally fined one month's
pay, but the Karaganda town council subsequently decided to put them in
jail. The miners' union says this is a clear violation of the due process
of law because there was no court hearing. Miners object to the
government's decision to raise the age at which they become eligible for
pensions to 63. They note that few miners live to reach that age.
[06] KYRGYZ HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST STILL IN JAIL
Tursunbek Akunov, the leader of the Kyrgyz Human Rights Movement, has been
sentenced by a Bishkek court to 15 days in jail for organizing an
unsanctioned meeting, RFE/RL correspondents reported on 9 July. Eleven
other people arrested in connection with the demonstration were freed after
receiving a warning from the same court.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[07] OSCE SAYS ALBANIAN ELECTIONS VALID...
Officials of the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe issued a report in Warsaw on 8 July, in which they
called the recent Albanian parliamentary vote "acceptable." The study noted
that some 73% of eligible voters turned out, despite "irregularities" that
included shoot-outs at polling places. Catherine Lalumiere, the Council of
Europe's representative for the elections, said the election proved that
Albanians "want to get out of chaos and put an end to violence." She added
that the politicians must now put their differences behind them and work
together if they want Albania to receive international aid again.
[08] ...WHILE ALBANIAN POLITICIANS DISCUSS FUTURE
Election officials in Tirana reported on 8 July that there are still no
results from seven electoral districts and that the final, nation-wide
total may not be available for weeks. Fatos Nano, the Socialists' prime
minister-designate, nonetheless said he wants to name his government by 20
July. But President Sali Berisha's Democrats have not made clear what sort
of policy they will conduct as the leading opposition party. Nor has
Berisha said when he will resign the presidency, although news agencies
reported on 8 July that he has already begun to move his belongings out of
the president's office. The previous day, the Socialists nominated Rexhep
Mejdani, a little-known professor of mathematics, as their candidate to
replace Berisha. The parliament elects the president, whose position the
Socialists have promised to make less powerful.
[09] NATO WARNS AGAINST ATTEMPT TO OUST PLAVSIC
The Western alliance issued a statement in Madrid on 8 July saying that
NATO "will not tolerate any recourse to force or violence" in Bosnia.
Observers said this is a clear warning to opponents of embattled Republika
Srpska President Biljana Plavsic not to try to oust her by force. The U.S.
and its major allies had earlier expressed support for Plavsic, and SFOR
has increased patrols in and around her stronghold of Banja Luka. The
statement in Madrid also said there cannot be any "lasting peace without
justice" in the former Yugoslavia, and called on Croatia, Bosnia-
Herzegovina, and Serbia to arrest the approximately 70 indicted war
criminals still at large on their respective territories. The text repeated
the international community's warning that the former Yugoslavs'
implementation of the Dayton agreement will be a "prerequisite for
continued assistance" to the three republics.
[10] BOSNIAN SERBS STEP UP SECURITY FOR KARADZIC, MLADIC
Aleksa Buha, the head of the governing Serbian Democratic Party, told the
Belgrade daily "Blic" on 8 July that protection has been increased for
Radovan Karadzic and Gen. Ratko Mladic, who are the two most prominent
indicted war criminals in the former Yugoslavia. Buha warned that those who
guard the men "will not sit on their hands" in the face of possible moves
by the U.S. or NATO to capture the two and take them to The Hague (see
"RFE/RL Newsline," 7 July 1997). Karadzic lives in Pale, while Mladic was
last seen in public in Belgrade in June. AFP reported on 8 July, however,
that Mladic is vacationing in the Montenegrin coastal village of Rezevici
Rijeka, where he is allegedly accompanied by 15 bodyguards.
[11] PLAVSIC REJECTS MEETING WITH MILOSEVIC
Biljana Plavsic has turned down Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's
offer to host a meeting between her and Momcilo Krajisnik, the Serbian
member of the Bosnian joint presidency. Plavsic said in Banja Luka on 8
July that "there is nothing to discuss" with Milosevic, who "has already
destroyed everything of value in Serbia." Earlier that day, Plavsic met
with Gen. Pero Colic, her army chief of staff, who reaffirmed the
military's support for Plavsic as commander-in-chief. He also pledged to
respect the decisions she makes as president. Pro-Milosevic media in
Belgrade had previously carried the text of a letter, allegedly written by
Colic, criticizing Plavsic's dissolution of the parliament. Colic told the
pro-Milosevic Belgrade daily "Vecernje novosti" on 8 July that foreigners
must not interfere in Bosnian Serb affairs.
[12] OSCE URGES PUNISHMENT OF WAR RAPES
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, meeting in Warsaw on 8 July, urged that
rapes committed during the war in the former Yugoslavia be prosecuted by
the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague, Reuters reported. The
assembly noted that charges of rape had been withdrawn in a number of cases
as victims dared not give evidence. In a statement issued after its four-
day session, the assembly requested the "OSCE and participating states
ensure that war crimes in the form of rape are referred to the
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and are given
equal treatment as other grave war crimes."
[13] NEWS FROM FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
In Podgorica, Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic said Serbia and Montenegro
must be equal partners in the Yugoslav federation. Djukanovic charged that
Milosevic has been undermining Montenegro's position, an RFE/RL
correspondent reported from the Montenegrin capital on 8 July. In Zagreb,
Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic said his country now accepts that UN
civilian administrators will stay on in eastern Slavonia until 15 January
1998. In Belgrade, Jacques Klein, the UN's chief administrator in eastern
Slavonia, said that federal Yugoslav citizens will not need a visa to go to
that region once it returns to Croatian control on 15 July, the Belgrade
daily "Danas" reported.
[14] ROMANIAN BANKER DETAINED
Razvan Temesan, the former president of Bacncorex, was detained on 8 July
by Bucharest police. He is suspected, among other things, of having
approved in 1992 the payment of $1.8 million to a private company at a
lower exchange rate than the official one. Temesan is known to be close to
former President Ion Iliescu. The Pro TV private channel reported that
Temesan says he is a "political prisoner" and has denied any wrong doing.
He is also reported to have begun a hunger strike.
[15] MOLDOVAN LABOR DISPUTE SETTLED
Representatives of the government and the trade unions on 8 July signed an
agreement on settling the labor dispute that began several days previously
(see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 July 1997), BASA-press reported. Under the terms
of the agreement, wage arrears will be paid by 27 July and compensation to
cover cost-of-living increases will be paid to policemen by October. The
executive will also compensate those sectors of the population hardest hit
by increases in energy prices. Trade union leader Ion Godonga said the
protests will resume if the government fails to honor its commitments.
[16] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENTARY DEPUTIES QUIT FACTION
Vladimir Slonari, Dimitrii Uzun, and Ilya Trombitskii announced on 8 July
that they have quit the Socialist Unity-Edinstvo faction in the parliament,
Infotag and BASA-press reported. Trombitskii was expelled from the party
shortly after the expulsion of Slonari and Uzun (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7
July 1997). They said their decision was due to a "difference of principles,
" and they attacked the anti-reform stance of Socialist Unity-Edinstvo. The
three said they support the idea of early elections if the parliament
continues to block reforms. Slonari said that by failing to support
President Petru Lucinschi, Socialist Unity-Edinstvo is "pushing the
president to rightist postures." He also predicted that the faction will
lose more deputies. Twelve out of its 28 deputies elected in 1994 have
already quit.
[17] BULGARIAN PREMIER ON ORGANIZED CRIME
Ivan Kostov on 8 July said organized crime in Bulgaria is threatening to
destroy the authority of the state and has already virtually replaced that
authority in some regions, Reuters reported. Interior Ministry secretary
Bozidar Popov told the agency that Russian mafia were also operating in the
country with the help of local criminal groups, sometimes "using Bulgarian
frontmen to buy estates and hotels." He said Russian criminal groups were
involved in drug dealing and trafficking with women, who are sent to work
as prostitutes in neighboring Greece and Turkey. Those groups, he said,
also include citizens of former Soviet republics such as Ukraine and
Georgia as well as Chechnya.
[18] EU APPROVES MEDICAL AID PACKAGE TO BULGARIA
The EU Executive Commission on 8 July approved a $770,000 emergency aid
package for medical supplies to Bulgaria, saying difficulties in delivering
medical aid to Bulgaria have been exacerbated by the "chaotic political
climate" there since 1989. The commission said medical supplies are among
Bulgaria's most urgent needs--both in hospitals and at government-run
institutions for the elderly and children. It added that although elections
recently brought the anti-Communist opposition to power, there is no
prospect of a quick solution to current problems, BTA reported.
Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
URL: http://www.rferl.org
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