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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 132, 00-07-12Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 4, No. 132, 12 July 2000 Caucasus Report," Vol. 33, No. 22, 1 June2000). NeitherCONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION INTO ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT SHOOTINGSCOMPLETEDThe Armenian Military Prosecutor's office formally announced on 11 July that the preliminary investigation into the 27 October parliament shootings has been completed, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Fourteen people have been charged with either perpetrating the killings, aiding and abetting the five gunmen, or illegal possession of arms. The accused, their defense lawyers, the parliament deputies injured in the attack or held hostage during the night of 27- 28 October, and the relatives of those murdered have 50 days to acquaint themselves with the details of the case. On 10 July, the Military Prosecutor explained to the parliament his rationale for terminating criminal proceedings against five people originally charged in connection with the killings, including presidential aide Aleksan Harutiunian. LF [02] ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS TO MEET IN CRIMEAArmenianForeign Minister Vartan Oskanian told journalists in Yerevan on 11 July that Armenian President Robert Kocharian and his Azerbaijani counterpart, Heidar Aliev, will meet in Yalta on 15 August to resume their discussion of approaches to resolving the Karabakh conflict, Interfax and RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Meanwhile the OSCE Minsk Group will meet in Vienna on 12-14 July to discuss the mediation process ahead of OSCE Chairwoman in Office Benita Ferrero-Waldner's visit to Armenia and Azerbaijan on 18 July. Naira Melkumian, the foreign minister of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, has been invited to Vienna, but it is not clear whether she will attend the Minsk Group talks. Oskanian said that the Minsk Group co-chairmen did not propose any new approaches to resolving the conflict when they visited the region last week but that they hope next month's talks between Kocharian and Aliev will yield new proposals that give fresh impetus to the peace process. LF [03] AZERBAIJAN, TURKEY REAFFIRM 'SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP'NewTurkish President Ahmed Necdet Sezer was in Baku on 11 July on his first foreign visit, thereby underscoring what he termed the "special relationship" between the two countries, Reuters reported. During two hours of talks, Sezer and President Aliev discussed the prospects for expanding bilateral economic relations and for resolving the Karabakh conflict. Aliev urged Sezer to commit Turkey to import gas from Azerbaijan's off-shore Shah Deniz field, noting the delays in implementing earlier plans for Turkey to import gas from Turkmenistan (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 July 2000). Interfax quoted Sezer as agreeing in principle to that proposal and to Aliev's request to expedite the start of construction of the planned Baku-Ceyhan export pipeline for Caspian oil. LF [04] GEORGIA, ABKHAZIA AGREE ON STABILIZATION MEASURES...At a 11July meeting in Sukhum of the Coordinating Commission established in 1997 under the aegis of the UN, Georgian Minister of State Gia Arsenishvili and Abkhaz Premier Vyacheslav Tsugba, together with UN Special Representative Dieter Boden and the commander of the CIS peacekeeping forces in the conflict zone, Lieutenant General Sergei Korobko, signed a protocol outlining measures to prevent new destabilization in southern Abkhazia, Caucasus Press reported. The two sides undertook to refrain from seeking to resolve the conflict by force and agreed to reduce to no more than 600 the number of police and troops each side deployed in the conflict region and create special groups charged with cracking down on cross-border smuggling and crime. The two sides signed similar undertakings aimed at preventing hostilities in summer 1997, spring 1998, and earlier this year (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 August 1997, 26 May 1998 and 20 January 2000). LF [05] ...IN SPIRIT OF 'PRAGMATISM'Abkhaz President VladislavArdzinba on 12 July characterized the previous day's meeting as a victory for pragmatism over politics, Caucasus Press reported. Arsenishvili said the two sides agreed to focus on practical issues such as economic reconstruction in Abkhazia's southernmost Gali Raion. Arsenishvili also said that he received a favorable impression of Ardzinba, whom he had met on 11 July for the first time. He noted Ardzinba's respect for President Shevardnadze. In a related gesture of reconciliation, the central Georgian government has donated a consignment of rare books to the Dmitri Gulua Abkhaz Institute of Humanitarian Studies, which Ardzinba formerly headed, Caucasus Press reported on 12 July. LF [06] LITHUANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS GEORGIAVisiting Tbilision 10-11 July, Algirdas Saudargas discussed with his Georgian counterpart, Irakli Menagharishvili, parliamentary speaker Zurab Zhvania, and President Shevardnadze prospects for expanding bilateral relations and cooperation between the Baltic and Black Sea regions, Caucasus Press reported. Zhvania noted that the two countries' approaches to greater integration into European structures coincide, while Shevardnadze said that Lithuania's experience in that field may prove valuable to Georgia. Saudargas told journalists after his meeting with Menagharishvili that Lithuania's accession to the GUUAM alignment is "out of the question" at present, but he did not exclude that his country might join GUUAM sometime in the future. LF [07] NEW GEORGIAN ANTI-CORRUPTION BODY CREATEDIn accordance witha presidential decree. a working group has been set up that will be chaired by Supreme Court Chairman Lado Chanturia and will draft a national program for fighting corruption, Caucasus Press reported on 11 July. Once that program is completed, a new anti-corruption agency will be established in late September. Speaking on national television the same day, President Shevardnadze said corruption in Georgia has reached the stage where it poses a threat to statehood and undermines the authority of the country's leadership, according to Reuters. Shevardnadze said that the anti- corruption policy will target primarily bureaucrats who abuse their official position. LF [08] GEORGIAN OPPOSITIONIST CALLS FOR PRE-TERM ELECTIONSOpposition Labor Party chairman Shalva Natelashvili toldjournalists in Tbilisi on 11 July that the Georgian Constitution should be amended to provide for the creation of a Constituent Congress on which the present parliament and government, authorities, opposition political parties and movements, and the government and parliament of deceased President Zviad Gamsakhurdia should all be represented, Caucasus Press reported. Natelashvili said that congress should then adopt a new constitution that would introduce a cabinet of ministers and a bicameral parliament. He also called for pre-term parliamentary and presidential elections to be held on 29 April 2001. Natelashvili had argued last month that pre-term elections are needed in order to bring to power "patriotic forces" that can create improve social conditions and prevent what he termed an impending split in society. LF [09] U.S., KAZAKHSTAN DISCUSS OIL EXPORTS, DOMESTIC POLITICSStephen Sestanovich, who is special adviser on the CIS to theU.S. secretary of state, said in Astana on 11 July after talks with Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Qasymzhomart Toqaev that the U.S. supports Kazakhstan's commitment to multiple oil export pipelines, Russian agencies reported. President Nursultan Nazarbaev last November signed an agreement to export some of Kazakhstan's oil via the planned Baku-Ceyhan pipeline (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 19 November 1999). ITAR-TASS quoted Toqaev as saying that "the more pipelines we have to export Kazakh raw materials, the better it is for Kazakhstan." Sestanovich and Toqaev also discussed Kazakhstan's relations with international financial organizations, its planned entry into the World Trade Organization, regional security issues, and the domestic political situation. Sestanovich expressed the hope that the Kazakh authorities will begin a dialogue with the opposition this fall. LF [10] KYRGYZSTAN DETAINS 'ISLAMISTS'Three citizens of Uzbekistanhave been detained in the southern Kyrgyzstan city of Osh on suspicion of engaging in clandestine activities on behalf of Djuma Namangani, one of the leaders of the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Interfax reported on 11 July. LF [11] TURKMENISTAN REGISTERS SOLID ECONOMIC GROWTHTurkmenistan'sGDP and industrial output both increased by 14 percent during the first six months of this year compared with the same period in 1999, Interfax reported on 11 July. Output in the fuel and chemical sectors rose by 18 percent during that period. Revenues targets for the first half of the year were met by 100 percent. LF [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[12] DJUKANOVIC: MILOSEVIC PUSHING MONTENEGRO TOWARD INDEPENDENCEMontenegrin President Milo Djukanovic said in Dubrovnik on 11July that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's recent constitutional changes have led to a rise in pro-independence sentiment in his republic (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 11 July 2000). He argued that holding a "referendum on independence is a constitutional right of Montenegrin citizens.... And unfortunately, because of the irresponsible acts of the authorities in Belgrade, we are every day closer to using that [possibility]. But as you can see from the overall policies of the Montenegrin government, we haven't rushed to make that move," an RFE/RL correspondent reported. After meeting with his Czech, Slovenian, and Croatian counterparts, Djukanovic said: "Montenegro will in any case do all it can to avoid a new conflict in the Balkans, [but] we will fight and defend ourselves" if a conflict breaks out, AP reported. PM [13] MONTENEGRIN PARTY INVITES SERBIAN OPPOSITIONDjukanovic'sDemocratic Socialist Party (DPS) has invited representatives of "democratic" parties in Serbia to Sveti Stefan on 14 July to "exchange opinions on current political developments in Montenegro and Serbia, especially following the latest [acts of] political violence by the Belgrade regime against the constitutional structure of the state," Miodrag Vukovic of the DPS steering committee said in Podgorica on 11 July. In Belgrade, several Serbian opposition leaders expressed support for Montenegro, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. "We will discuss the strategy how to preserve the joint state but only as a reformed, democratic union," said Zoran Djindjic of the Democratic Party. Observers note that the question of Montenegro's political status has been of only minor importance in Serbian politics. There is little enthusiasm among Serbs for tiny Montenegro's demand to be treated as the constitutional equal of much larger Serbia. Djukanovic and other Montenegrin leaders have expressed support for the Serbian opposition but stressed that change in Serbia must be the work of Serbs themselves. PM [14] MILOSEVIC, DUMA DELEGATION CALL FOR ABOLITION OF HAGUETRIBUNALYugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic met in Belgrade on 11 July with a Russian State Duma delegation headed by Dimitrii Rogozin, who is the chairman of the Duma's foreign affairs committee. The guests and their host agreed "on the need to abolish the Hague[-based war crimes] tribunal, which is an instrument of defense of interests of the United States and NATO," ITAR-TASS reported. Few foreign visitors have called on Milosevic since the Hague tribunal indicted him for war crimes in May 1999. His most recent prominent guest was Chinese parliamentary speaker Li Peng (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 June 2000). PM [15] YUGOSLAV FOREIGN MINISTER HAILS COUNTRY'S 'PRESTIGE'InBelgrade on 11 July, Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic said that "Yugoslavia's ties and cooperation with three-quarters of the world's nations--which accept it as a valid, reliable, and equal partner--and its achievements in reconstruction and development" prove that sanctions against Belgrade have failed, Reuters reported. The Milosevic-run daily "Politika" wrote that "the international position and reputation [of Yugoslavia] are growing by the day." PM [16] BOSNIAN MUSLIM LEADER CALLS FOR 'JUSTICE'...Mustafa Ceric,who heads the Islamic religious community in Bosnia, said at a memorial prayer service near Srebrenica on 11 July that "we do not come here for revenge, but neither to forgive. We are here so that everyone may know that we haven't-- and that we won't-- abandon our search for justice," an RFE/RL correspondent reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 July 2000). PM [17] ...WHILE HOLBROOKE SEEKS 'RECONCILIATION'Speaking at the UNon 11 July, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke praised the "brave" Muslims who attended the prayer meeting in Serb-held Srebrenica. He added that the "butchers" responsible for the deaths of thousands of Srebrenica's males in 1995 must be brought to justice. The architect of the 1995 Dayton peace agreement added, however, that "Srebrenica must not be forgotten, and people must learn from it. But at the same time, we must have reconciliation in the region," AP reported. He added that "the world meanwhile has shown that Srebrenica must not be forgotten, that the name Srebrenica will go down into history books along with Babi Yar, Lidice, Oradour, and other places of horrible massacres in the late 20th century," Reuters reported. Meanwhile at a conference sponsored by Bosnian Ambassador to the UN Muhamed Sacirbey, a report concluded that "the cardinal lesson of Srebrenica is that a deliberate and systematic attempt to terrorize, expel or murder an entire people must be met decisively with all necessary means." PM [18] KOSOVA'S SERBS CALL FOR HARMONYA broad-based delegation ofSerbs from Kosova discussed the situation in the province with leaders of the Serbian opposition in Belgrade on 11 July. The Kosovar Serbs said in a statement that "the biggest responsibility and the gravest blame for the current tragic status of the Serbs and other ethnic groups in Kosovo lie with Slobodan Milosevic, his regime, and Albanian extremists," Reuters reported. The statement added that "as a part of the democratic opposition in Serbia, all representatives of the Kosovo Serbs present agreed to avoid internal clashes and verbal attacks [against each other] in the future." The delegation included hard-liners, such as Oliver Ivanovic, and moderates, such as Serbian Orthodox Archbishop Artemije. The archbishop noted that the two groups of Kosovar Serbs have the same goals but differ on the means to achieve them. PM [19] HARADINAJ AIDE KILLED IN KOSOVAA KFOR spokesman said inPrishtina on 12 July that a gunman killed Sadri Ahmet Sheraj near Decan the previous day, dpa reported. Witnesses told UN police that they recognized the killer. Sheraj was close to political leader and former Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) commander Ramush Haradinaj. There has been a series of violent incidents in recent months involving former UCK commanders who are now political rivals. Haradinaj himself was injured in a grenade attack on 7 July (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 July 2000). PM [20] KOUCHNER NAMES RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN...Bernard Kouchner, whoheads the UN's civilian administration in Kosova, said in Prishtina on 12 July that he has appointed Polish lawyer Marek Antoni Nowicki as human rights ombudsman for the province, dpa reported. The previous day, Kouchner appointed British journalist Richard Lucas to head Radio-Television Kosova. PM [21] ...REBUFFS THACIKouchner said in Prishtina on 11 July hewill soon sign legislation on setting up local government offices in mainly Serbian areas, Reuters reported. He argued that Kosovar leader Hashim Thaci's decision to "suspend" work with Kouchner's civilian advisory council over the issue was merely a ploy aimed at winning votes in the local elections slated for the fall (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 July 2000). PM [22] TENSIONS MOUNT IN CROATIAN COALITIONPolitical differencesbetween Social Democratic leader and Prime Minister Ivica Racan and Social Liberal leader Drazen Budisa over changes in the cabinet slated for the fall have developed into an "open conflict," "Vecernji list" reported on 12 July. Budisa said that Racan has wrongly accused him of planning to form a coalition with the late President Franjo Tudjman's Croatian Democratic Community (see "RFE/RL South Slavic Report," 22 and 29 June 2000). Racan, for his part, reminded the Social Liberals and his smaller coalition partners that his party is the largest one, adding that "our patience has its limits," "Jutarnji list" reported. He suggested that he might call early elections if the feuding within the six-party coalition continues. PM [23] CROATIAN SOLDIERS DESERTSome 42 Croatian soldiers desertedtheir unit in Pula, dpa reported on 12 July. The men told reporters that their superiors had mistreated them. A lieutenant who allegedly stole from the recruits also disappeared from the barracks. An Defense Ministry spokesman said that authorities are investigating the two incidents. PM [24] ROMANIA'S LIBERALS TO FORSAKE PNTCD ALLIANCE?NationalLiberal Party (PNL) Chairman Mircea Ionescu-Quintus on 12 July said the two "realistic" options for the PNL in the fall elections are an alliance or merger with the Alliance for Romania (APR) or running on separate lists. He spoke after a meeting of the PNL Central Standing Bureau. The bureau directed the negotiating team, led by First Deputy Chairman Valeriu Stoica, to continue talks with the APR but said it backs former Premier Theodor Stolojan--not APR chairman Theodor Melescanu--as presidential candidate. Earlier on 12 July, Stolojan repeated that he will join the alliance only if the two parties merge. In a letter to PNL members made public the same day, Stoica said a return to an alliance with the National Peasant Party Christian Democratic (PNTCD) must be ruled out. He described the PNTCD as a "sick party, lacking vision, vigor, and imagination." MS [25] RUSSIAN STATE DUMA SPEAKER IN ROMANIAGennadii Seleznev, whois on a two-day visit to Romania, is to meet with President Emil Constantinescu on 12 July. The previous day Seleznev met with Prime Minister Mugur Isarescu, Foreign Minister Petre Roman, and the chairmen of Romania's parliamentary chambers. Seleznev said the pending bilateral treaty between the two countries is unlikely to be concluded before the campaign for the fall elections in Romania is over. He said experts representing the two sides should deal with the problem of the Romanian state treasure held in Moscow since World War I but emphasized that Russia "does not want to set a precedent" that could affect problems with other states. Both sides agreed that commercial ties are unsatisfactory. MS [26] MOLDOVAN CONSTITUTIONAL STALEMATE EMERGINGTheConstitutional Court on 11 July ruled that the amendment to the basic law proposed by President Petru Lucinschi does not infringe on the constitution. The amendment grants the president the right to call plebiscites on constitutional amendments and thus contradicts the parliament's recent decision to transform Moldova into a parliamentary republic. Under the proposed legislation, the president could call a referendum within six months after the parliament approves the initiatives. Lucinschi's term in office ends in December 2000, and observers say the parliament may not even discuss the initiative until then. The proposed constitutional amendment also calls for electing 70 percent of parliamentary deputies in single constituencies and 30 percent on party lists. At present, a proportional system based on party lists is used to elect the entire parliament, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. MS [27] MOLDOVAN PRISONER CASE TO BE EXAMINED BY EUROPEAN COURTTheEuropean Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has notified the Moldovan and Russian governments that it intends to consider the case of the "Ilascu group" detained in Tiraspol. It asked both governments to present their official position on the case. Members of the detained group and their families requested that the court make a ruling. They consider both Moldova and Russia responsible for the acts of the internationally unrecognized Tiraspol separatists, Flux reported. MS [C] END NOTE[28] RUSSIAN JOURNALISTS NOT UNITED TO DEFEND PRESS FREEDOMby Floriana FossatoAccording to opinion polls, public trust in the Russian media has plummeted over the past 10 years. A 1990 survey conducted by the Commission for Freedom of Access to Information--a Russian NGO--found that more than two-thirds (70 percent) of respondents believed what the media reported. Six years later, a poll by the same organization found that only 40 percent trusted journalists. Today, that figure is 13 percent. Iosif Dzyaloshinskii, the commission's founder and a Moscow University journalism professor, told RFE/RL that several factors explain the Russian media's loss of public trust and interest. In most Western countries, he notes, news media developed parallel to a flourishing class of traders willing to make decisions based on information. Historically, he says, this was not the case in Russia. "The press in Russia developed, from the beginning, among thinkers. They were writers, they were opposition activists or, on the contrary, they were people close to the government. These people started publishing newspapers, writing in newspapers, not because they wanted to disseminate information, but because they wanted to influence the situation. [Since then] a journalist in Russia cannot simply act as an informer. It is an accepted fact that a journalist [is somebody who] must teach how to live." When Russia started its experiment with democracy after the breakup of the Soviet Union, journalists were eager to meet the challenge, although they were poorly prepared for it. Many journalists regard the period from 1989 to 1992 as a golden age of the Russian press. They say that in the turmoil when the communist state apparatus was crumbling, reporters had unprecedented access to all kinds of sources. But, according to Dzyaloshinskii, this was also a period of great confusion and superficiality, when few journalists could figure out what kind of information was out there and who would be interested in it. Gradually, a new wave of promising young journalists appeared. They were interested in presenting facts gathered in a professional way. The sector of the public most interested in their product was the elite, the new businessmen, and economic reformers. There followed the rise of large media companies controlled by business and political leaders who were interested in hiring professionals and were willing to sustain money-losing newspapers and broadcast stations in order to acquire tools of influence. Journalists, in turn, were interested in finding financial backers. It seemed a fair exchange, but some now say it turned to the journalists' disadvantage. Leading journalists started being associated-- both in the eyes of the authorities and of the public--with their outlets' owners and backers. Many were regarded as little more than well-paid propagandists engaged in slander and disinformation. According to Dzyaloshinskii, until very recently most Russian journalists took little notice of the public's negative perception. But when the government last year began moves to control the press--banning certain coverage of Chechnya, using the granting of licenses to pressure the media, raiding a prominent media company-- journalists realized that the public was not on their side. Yet few exhibited solidarity toward their colleagues. "At the moment, everyone believes that he or she is personally good. [In this view] there are some negative figures, but it's up to them to justify their conduct. [But] what we are now witnessing is how [people's negative] reaction to the bad work or to the immoral conduct of some journalists falls on all journalists," Dzyaloshinskii comments. Dzyaloshinskii also argues that to defend themselves, journalists should unite and act as a professional class-- especially if the government starts to tar them all with the same brush. But he says this has yet to happen. A huge gulf between Moscow-based journalists and their colleagues in the regions has not been overcome. Egregious cases of intimidation by local authorities against regional journalists have received publicity in Moscow but have not led to solidarity among journalists. Moscow journalists often show disdain for the skills of their regional colleagues. In turn, journalists outside the capital resent what they call the "rich Moscow caste." Sergei Parkhomenko, the editor-in-chief of the Moscow- based weekly "Itogi," says Russian journalists are wary of banding together because of Russia's bad experience with solidarity. "In Soviet times," he says, "solidarity among workers was compulsory and false. Everybody was aware of this. That created antibodies that will last for a long time." In recent times, Parkhomenko adds, Boris Yeltsin called on Russians to show solidarity for the new cause of creating capitalism and democracy. Many felt they had been misled. After all those developments, Parkhomenko says, solidarity among people belonging to the same professional category or solidarity in society on humanitarian issues, democratic freedoms, and access to information is next to impossible. The author is an RFE/RL correspondent based in London. 12-07-00 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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