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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 2, No. 76, 98-04-22Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 2, No. 76, 22 April 1998CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] MORE TURKMEN DISSIDENTS RELEASEDOn the eve of Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov's meeting with U.S. President Bill Clinton in Washington, more Turkmen dissidents have been released from detention, RFE/RL correspondents reported. On 17 April, Durdymurat Khojamukhammed, a co-leader of Turkmenistan's Democratic Progress Party, was allowed to leave a psychiatric hospital in Goek-Teppe, where he had been detained since 1995. Khojamukhammed told an RFE/RL correspondent that the Turkmen authorities demanded he give up political activities. According to Erika Dailey of Human Rights Watch, Begmurat Khojayev and Batyr Sakhetliyev have also been released after being held by the authorities since they allegedly organized a demonstration in Ashgabat on 12 July 1995. Former Foreign Minister Avdy Kuliev was released from detention on 20 April, but reports suggest he remains under house arrest. BP[02] KAZAKH ENERGY MINISTER, OIL HEAD SACKEDPresident Nursultan Nazarbayev on 21 April dismissed Energy Minister Asygat Zhabagin and the head of the state oil company, Baltabek Kyandykov, RFE/RL correspondents reported. They are replaced by 35-year-old Mukhtar Ablyazov and 28-year-old Nurlan Kapparov, respectively. Both were involved until now in private business. Nazarbayev also criticized the government's performance in the first quarter of 1998, noting oil prices in the country have risen, despite a drop in prices worldwide. BP[03] UZBEK MINISTER POSTHUMOUSLY EXONERATED OF CHARGESThe Supreme Court on 21 April declared that evidence against former Cotton Production Minister Kahobjon Usmanov is insufficient and overturned the verdict of guilty handed down by the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union, ITAR-TASS reported. Usmanov was caught up in the cotton scandal of the mid- 1980s during a Soviet anti-corruption campaign and was accused of taking bribes. Usmanov was found guilty in August 1986 and executed. BP[04] KYRGYZ DEPUTIES RAISE QUESTIONS OVER LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLYThree members of Kyrgyzstan's Legislative Assembly have called for the body to be dissolved, RFE/RL correspondents reported on 21 April. Parliamentary deputies Anvar Artykov, Alevtina Pronenko, and Tokon Shailieva questioned the need for 20 parliamentary commissions when the assembly currently only has 33 members. The assembly has asked the Prosecutor-General's Office to open a libel case against Artykov for an article he published in the 17 April edition of "Vecherny Bishkek" claiming that the chairmen of the 20 commissions and the speaker of the parliament and his deputy have used their two-thirds majority to turn the legislature into "a mafia-corrupted organization." BP[05] U.S. TO REMOVE FISSIONABLE MATERIAL FROM GEORGIAN REACTORThe U.S. government will assist in the removal of some 4 kilos of uranium and nuclear waste from a mothballed experimental nuclear reactor near Tbilisi, Western agencies reported on 21 April. The material will be transported to the British nuclear complex at Dounreay. The operation was requested by Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze in 1996 to prevent terrorists from stealing nuclear materials. The Georgian experimental reactor was built in 1959 and closed following protests by Georgian ecologists in 1990. LF[06] ABKHAZIA CUTS GOVERNMENT STAFFPresident Vladislav Ardzinba has fired three deputy premiers and the head of the cabinet office, Caucasus Press reported on 22 April. Financial problems will necessitate the closure of a number of ministries, and the funds saved will be used to pay salaries at the Defense and Interior Ministries, according to the news agency. LF[07] TURKISH ENERGY MINISTER IN BAKUCumhur Ersumer met with President Heidar Aliev in Baku on 21 April to discuss the proposed Baku-Ceyhan oil export pipeline. Aliev expressed dissatisfaction with the Turkish government's delay in beginning construction of the pipeline. He added that its planned throughput capacity should be doubled, as estimates of Azerbaijan's oil reserves have been revised upward since the project was first discussed. The pipeline will also be used to transport oil from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Ersumer agreed that there is "no alternative" to the Baku-Ceyhan route but said that Turkey is seeking ways to reduce the estimated $2.3 billion construction costs, Interfax reported. Meeting with Prime Minister Artur Rasi-zade and Natik Aliev, president of the state oil company SOCAR, Ersumer also discussed Turkish companies' participation in developing Azerbaijani oil fields and creating a joint energy system between Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, Turan reported. LF[08] BAKU HALTS RETRANSMISSION OF RFE/RL AZERBAIJANI BROADCASTSThe Azerbaijani Ministry of Communications on 20 April stopped the medium- wave retransmission of RFE/RL's Azerbaijani broadcasts on the grounds that RFE/RL has failed to comply with a requirement introduced last year that all electronic media acquire a broadcasting license. The Azerbaijani authorities notified RFE/RL of that requirement only three days before halting the broadcasts. Azerbaijan Popular Front Deputy Chairman Ali Kerimli demanded in the parliament on 21 April that the decision be revoked. Press Minister Siruz Tabrizli said that retransmission will be restarted if RFE/RL acquires the necessary license, an RFE/RL correspondent in Baku reported. LF[09] NEW ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER GIVES FIRST NEWS CONFERENCEArmen Darpinian on 21 April said members of his cabinet have been appointed for one year and that an extension of their term in office will depend on their performance, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Darpinian commended Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian's "high degree of responsibility" in giving up his U.S. citizenship to become an Armenian citizen. He also praised Interior and National Security Minister Serzh Sarkisian for "the deepest sense of [Armenian] statehood" and said he "cannot imagine the Armenian army" without Defense Minister Vazgen Sarkisian. The new premier stressed that Armenia will continue to adhere to cooperation agreements it has signed with international economic organizations. He forecast economic growth of 7 percent for 1998, compared with earlier predictions of 5.2 percent, and inflation below10 percent, according to ITAR-TASS. LF[10] DEFEATED ARMENIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE TO RUN FOR PARLIAMENTKaren Demirchian is one of eight candidates who will contend a vacant seat in the National Assembly, Asbarez reported on 21 April, citing the news agency Snark. The former ruling Armenian Pan-National Movement has proposed ex-National Bank chairman Bagrat Asatrian as a candidate. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[11] REPORTS OF MILITARY BUILDUPS IN KOSOVA CONTINUEA convoy of armored vehicles and troops from the Yugoslav army were reported heading toward the Kosovar town of Pec, AFP reported on 21 April. Belgrade- based B92 radio reported the same day that Yugoslav army garrisons in the Decani region have been reinforced and heavy artillery positioned near the ethnic Albanian towns of Djakuvica and Decani. Serbian sources report that the Kosova Liberation Army (KLA) is receiving arms and manpower across the border from Albanians. The Yugoslav army accused the Albanian government last week of aiding that process. Reuters reported that the KLA controls the villages of Glamocelj, Glodjane, Rznic, Dubrava, Crni Breg, Prilib, Ratise, Lubarda, and Maznik. In Prishtina, a few thousand ethnic Albanians staged a peaceful demonstration for the 12th consecutive day against Serb rule.[12] INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CALLS FOR DIALOGUEU.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott said that both sides in the Kosova conflict should immediately begin unconditional negotiations, an RFE/RL correspondent in Warsaw reported on 21 April. Talbott spoke after meeting with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe chairman Bronislaw Geremek. Talbott recently toured the Balkans and Moscow ahead of a meeting of the Kosova Contact Group in Rome on 29 April. Geremek reiterated that an OSCE envoy was prepared to go to the Yugoslavia to find a solution to the crisis. Belgrade has until now rejected the offer. In Brussels, EU External Relations Commissioner Hans van den Broek said that both sides should hold talks in a neutral location. Belgrade has offered to talk with ethnic Albanian officials in Kosova but only on the condition that independence for the province is not on the agenda. PB[13] SILAJDZIC SAYS BOSNIA PARTITION BEING CONSOLIDATEDHaris Silajdzic, the Muslim co-chairman of the Bosnian Council of Ministers, said on 21 April that the "de facto partition" of Bosnia-Herzegovina is being consolidated. Silajdzic, a Muslim, made his comments in Stockholm after meeting with Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson. Fellow Bosnian co- chairman Boro Bosic, a Serb, was more optimistic, saying that the "peace process is going in a positive direction." Silajdzic said that more than half of Bosnia's population are unable to return to their homes, a right guaranteed to them in the Dayton accords. Silajdzic said he "measures everything" by that fact. Bosic, Silajdzic, and their Croatian colleague Nevin Tomic were in Sweden to discuss the peace process and the plight of the some 60,000 Bosnian refugees living there. PB[14] UN SACKS MORE OFFICIALS IN DRVARThe police chief of the Croatian-run town of Drvar and the local interior minister were fired on 21 April by the UN in response to the murder of a Serbian couple last week, AFP reported. Ivan Jurisic was dismissed for failing to provide a safe environment and was decertified as a policeman. He was told of the sacking in a letter from the commissioner of the UN's International Police Task Force. Barisa Letica was released from his post as interior minister of Canton 10, where Drvar is located. The Serbian couple were shot and their house set on fire, one of several house-burnings directed against Serbs returning to their pre-war homes. PB[15] VOLKSWAGEN TO REOPEN FACTORY IN BOSNIAThe German automaker Volkswagen said on 21 April that it will reopen its Vogosca factory near Sarajevo in July, AFP reported. The factory was first opened in 1979 but was closed and then pilfered during the war. Husein Musabegovic, the general manager of Tvornica Automobla Sarajevo, a VW partner in the operation, said they hope to produce 5,000 cars this year and 15,000 in 1999. "Oslobodenje" said the first group of employees has already begun training. PB[16] MACEDONIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN ANKARAMeeting on 21 April with visiting Macedonian Foreign Minister Blagoy Handziski, President Suleyman Demirel pledged continued Turkish support for Macedonia, assessing bilateral relations as "very good," according to the "Turkish Daily News" on 22 April. Handziski requested continued Turkish support for his country's bid for NATO membership. He said that his talks the previous day with his Turkish counterpart, Ismail Cem, on increasing Turkish financial and technical aid to the Macedonian armed forces were "very productive." Referring to the ongoing tensions in Kosova, Demirel called on the region's Albanian population to "be patient and work for a peaceful solution." LF[17] NEW ALBANIAN GOVERNMENT NEARLY COMPLETEAlbanian President Rexhep Meidani has approved two more ministers in the reshuffled cabinet of Prime Minister Fatos Nano, Reuters reported on 21 April. The appointment of Maqo Lakrori as minister for Euro-Atlantic integration and Ilir Meta as minister for European integration leaves only two of the nine new ministers unapproved by Meidani. The president's failure to approve the cabinet last week (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 April 1998) led the prime minister to accuse Meidani of creating a political crisis. Nano's office issued a statement on 20 April assuring the international community "that there is no...governing crisis in Albania." PB[18] ALBANIAN UNITS CARRY OUT EXERCISE NEAR KOSOVAR BORDERThe Albanian army held an artillery firing exercise in the northeastern town of Kukes, Albanian Television reported on 21 April. A Defense Ministry statement said the practice session was held to indicate the military's "high level of preparedness." The Albanian military was in ruins after the chaos and riots that engulfed the country last year. The government has re- established several army units in recent months and has stationed a division near Kukes, which is just a few kilometers from the Yugoslav province of Kosova. PB[19] ROMANIA REJECTS AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORTBoth Premier Radu Vasile and Interior Minister Gavril Dejeu on 21 April rejected a report on infringements of human rights presented on the same day by Amnesty International at a press conference in Strasbourg, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Vasile and Dejeu acknowledged that there have been "isolated cases" of police violence against detainees but said they were "isolated instances" such as can also be found in Western democracies. Dejeu added that "disciplinary measures" have been taken against the perpetrators. In an interview with RFE/RL, the Council of Europe special rapporteur for Romania, Gunnar Janson, said the report was "well founded" and its conclusions "coincide in many points" with his own. A committee of the council's Parliamentary Assembly will decide on 23 April whether to place Romania on the council's special monitoring list. MS[20] ROMANIAN DEFENSE MINISTER DEFENDS ARMY'S ROLE IN 1989Defense Minister Victor Babiuc, in a statement released on 21 April, says the Romanian army "deserves the gratitude of the nation" for the role it played in December 1989 and "not the harassment to which it is subjected today." Babiuc said that only the then supreme commander of the army (Nicolae Ceausescu), Defense Minister (Vasile Milea, who committed suicide) and the chief of staff (Stefan Guse, who died of natural causes) can be held personally responsible for ordering the opening of fire; the rest "followed orders," he argued. Babuic added that the " presumption of guilt" hanging over the army as a whole is "illegal, immoral, and contrary to reality." Former Defense Minister Victor Stanculescu and former Interior Minister Mihai Chitac are currently on trial for having ordered the army to open fire on demonstrators at that time. MS[21] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT FAILS TO ELECT CHAIRMANThe new Moldovan parliament convened for the first time on 21 April but failed to vote on electing a chairman, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. The Party of Moldovan Communists faction intended to propose its leader, Vladimir Voronin, for that post. The other three factions, however, requested a 10-minute break for consultations, and the vote had to be postponed until 22 April. President Petru Lucinschi earlier addressed the legislators, warning them against turning the "national ideal" into "an inimical and aggressive" one that could affect "inter-ethnic peace." Observers say the warning was addressed primarily at deputies from the Democratic Convention of Moldova and the Party of Democratic Forces who favor union with Romania. Lucinschi called on the deputies to cooperate "on the basis of reasonable compromises" since no faction has a majority and can claim that it alone represents voters' interests. MS[22] CENTER-RIGHT COALITION FORMED IN MOLDOVAThe pro-presidential For a Democratic and Prosperous Moldova Bloc (PMPD), the rightist Democratic Convention of Moldova (CDM), and the Party of Democratic Forces (PFD) on have formed a joint faction in the parliament, Romanian state radio reported on 22 April. The faction, called the Alliance for Democracy, has 61 deputies and thus is larger than that of the Party of Moldovan Communists, which is 40-strong. Former president Mircea Snegur, co-chairman of the CDM, was elected leader of the joint faction. The move paves the way for the election on 22 April of PMPD leader Dumitru Diacov as chairman of the parliament. Citing sources that requested anonymity, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported on 21 April that an agreement has been reached on setting up a center-right cabinet supported by the PMPD, the CDM, and the PFD. MS[C] END NOTE[23] RUSSIA'S CONSTITUTIONAL COURT CHAIRMAN DISPLAYS LEGAL RESOLVEby John HelmerMarat Baglai, the chairman of Russia's Constitutional Court, called his first press conference in almost a year to dismiss the constitutional claims of acting Prime Minister Sergei Kirienko and the president's representative at the court, Sergei Shakhrai. There has been no comparable rebuke to ranking government officials since Valerii Zorkin, the first chairman of the Constitutional Court, publicly told Boris Yeltsin that his presidential order disbanding the Supreme Soviet in 1993 was illegal. Baglai, who is the third chairman in the court's six- year history, dismissed Kirienko's claim that during Yeltsin's recent visit to Japan, the acting premier would take over the presidential duties. According to Baglai, "an unconfirmed chairman of the government cannot, of course, carry out the duties of the president." Kremlin aides subsequently said Yeltsin would not delegate any of his powers while traveling. Baglai's repudiation of Shakhrai was even more sweeping. Last week, Shakhrai had called his own press conference to announce that if the State Duma voted Kirienko down three times and were to be dissolved, the new election might be postponed until 27 September or 11 October. In the six-month interval, Shakhrai hinted, Yeltsin might rule by decree as he had done in 1993. "It would be inhuman, "Shakhrai announced, "to fix the date of the elections in July, since in the summer the people must have an opportunity to forget about politics." Shakhrai also claimed that the new Duma elections might be conducted according to majority-vote rules that have yet to be enacted but might be ordered by presidential decree. Baglai reacted strongly. He made it clear that the Kremlin cannot violate the article of the constitution mandating an election within three months of the dissolution of the parliament. He rejected Shakhrai's suggestion of an election postponement and warned the Kremlin against threats to impose new vote-counting rules by presidential decree. Such a decree abrogating the law is "impossible in our country," Baglai said. Shakhrai, a lawyer by profession, is the last surviving office-holder among Yeltsin's advisers who, in December 1991, helped him break up the Soviet Union, along with the leaders of Belarus and Ukraine. He is also the last of Yeltsin's advisers from the disbanding of the 1993 Supreme Soviet to remain on the Kremlin staff. According to Shakhrai himself, only half his time is spent on Constitutional Court and legal matters. The other half, he said recently, is spent on giving political advice to Yeltsin. When asked how often he speaks to or meets with Yeltsin, Shakhrai replied: "every day." Shakhrai's tactics last week contrast with his earlier hesitation to answer a question about the legality of a third presidential term for Yeltsin. Shakhrai's aide, Svetlana Popova, tells RFE/RL Shakhrai did not feel he had a right to express an opinion "before the decision of the Constitutional Court." Suggesting behind-the-scenes pressure on Constitutional Court judges to rule Yeltsin's way on a third term, Baglai said "there is no constitutional legal crisis in the country." Recently, after the Court ruled that the president had no legal right to refuse to sign legislation on returning wartime art trophies--after parliament overrode his veto- -Yeltsin referred to the ruling as a "slap in the face." The author is a Moscow-based journalist who regularly contributes to RFE/RL. 22-04-98 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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