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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 153, 00-08-10Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 4, No. 153, 10 August 2000CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] UNKNOWN GROUP PROTESTS DELAY IN SOLVING ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTSHOOTINGSLeaflets distributed in Yerevan on 10 August and signed by the hitherto unknown "Avengers of October 27" express concern that "it is becoming clear that under the present authorities the terrorist act of 27 October last year will not be solved, and we by our silence are participants in that malicious crime," ITAR-TASS reported. The preliminary investigation into the shooting by five gunmen of eight senior government officials and parliament deputies was completed last month (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 July 2000). LF [02] ARMENIAN MINISTER DENOUNCES PROPOSED NEW POLITICAL ALLIANCEAgriculture Minister Zaven Gevorgian told a press conferencein Yerevan on 9 August that he categorically opposes the emerging alliance between Stepan Demirchian's center-left People's Party of Armenia (HZhK), with which he is aligned, and the nationalist Right and Accord bloc headed by Artashes Geghamian (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 3, No. 31, 3 August 2000), RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Gevorgian said he has nothing against "cooperation," provided that it is not "directed against the president of the republic or aims to destabilize the political situation." A former senior Armenian Communist Party functionary, Gevorgian was close to HZhK founder and former Armenian Communist Party First Secretary Karen Demirchian. The HZhK board has decided to expel Hmayak Hovannisian, one of the authors of the party's 1998 manifesto, from the party's ranks for "going against the party line." Hovannisian told RFE/RL on 8 August he believes the HZhK is being manipulated by other political groups. LF [03] COUNCIL OF EUROPE SPOKESMAN REFUTES AZERBAIJANI PRESSALLEGATIONSRobert Massie, deputy head of the Council of Europe Press Service, on 8 August denied reports in the Azerbaijani press that the issue of Azerbaijan's full membership in that organization had been removed from the agenda of a planned 6 September meeting of the Council of Europe's Council of Ministers, ANS and Turan reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 August 2000). LF [04] GEORGIA DENIES SUPPLYING ARMS TO CHECHENSThe GeorgianNational Security Ministry on 9 August issued a statement rejecting as "groundless" Russian allegations that unmarked Georgian planes regularly conduct air-drops of arms, food, and ammunition to Chechnya, Interfax reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 August 2000). The statement termed the Russian allegations an attempt by the Russian Defense Ministry to conceal its own incompetence. LF [05] BALCEROWICZ PROMISES SWIFT IMPROVEMENT IN GEORGIAN ECONOMYPolish economist Leszek Balcerowicz said in Tbilisi on 9August after meeting with President Eduard Shevardnadze that he does not consider the economic situation in Georgia "absolutely hopeless," noting that the country's geographical location, stability, allies, and friends constitute "significant economic development capital," Caucasus Press reported. He said that the Georgian leadership should develop a more precise model of the type of society they hope to build, redefine the role of the state in the economy, and develop the necessary legislative base. Balcerowicz, who has accepted the post of Shevardnadze's economic advisor, promised a "fast and efficient" economic upswing. LF [06] KAZAKH PARLIAMENT DEPUTY CRITICIZES MINISTERS FOR'ILLITERACY'Speaking at a press conference in Almaty on 8 August, Serik Abdrakhmanov, a member of the lower chamber of Kazakhstan's parliament, complained that the Kazakh-language text of a bilateral agreement with Iran on combatting crime signed last year by Kazakhstan's foreign minister, Erlan Idrisov, contained no less than 150 spelling and grammatical errors, RFE/RL's bureau in the former capital reported. A Kazakh-Indian agreement signed by Premier Qasymzhomart Toqaev contains numerous similar mistakes, Abdrakhmanov said, branding the two ministers as "illiterate." LF [07] ACQUITTED KYRGYZ OPPOSITION POLITICIAN REVIEWS ELECTIONTACTICSFormer Kyrgyz Vice President Feliks Kulov told journalists in Bishkek on 9 August that he does not intend to withdraw from the 29 October presidential poll, although he may wait to announce his candidacy formally. He told Reuters that his first priority is to reactivate the district network of his Ar-Namys party, many of whose activists went underground following his arrest in March (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 3 April 2000). "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on 10 August quoted Kulov as saying that Ar-Namys is likely at its upcoming congress to endorse both his presidential candidacy and that of Omurbek Suvanaliev. Kulov added that he does not rule out an attempt by the authorities to disqualify him from the poll on the grounds of his less-than-perfect mastery of the Kyrgyz language. All presidential candidates must undergo a written and oral test to demonstrate their fluency in Kyrgyz (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 29 June 2000). LF [08] KYRGYZ PROSECUTOR TO APPEAL KULOV'S ACQUITTALSharapidinSheishenaliev, who acted as prosecutor at Kulov's trial on charges of abusing his official position while serving as National Security Minister in 1997-1998, told RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service on 9 August that he intends to appeal Kulov's acquittal on the grounds that the presiding judge ignored evidence produced by the investigators. Sheishenaliev said he considers it strange that the court acquitted Kulov while handing down sentences of up to seven years' imprisonment on three co-defendants who were his former subordinates at the ministry. LF [09] TWELFTH CANDIDATE ANNOUNCES INTENTION TO CONTEST KYRGYZPRESIDENTIAL POLLParliament deputy and ambassador Tursunbai Bakir Uulu announced his candidacy for the 29 October presidential poll in Bishkek on 9 August, RFE/RL's bureau in the Kyrgyz capital reported. He is the twelfth candidate to do so. LF [10] UZBEKISTAN CLAIMS TO HAVE KILLED 15 ISLAMISTSA spokesmanfor the Uzbek Defense Ministry told Interfax on 9 August that Uzbek forces had killed 15 members of the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan in an attack using combat helicopters and grenade launchers. He said the remaining Islamists, whose numbers are estimated at around 80-90, are surrounded in a mountain gorge 450 kilometers southwest of Tashkent (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 and 9 August 2000). He denied media reports that the Islamists had shot down an Uzbek air force plane on 9 August. During a telephone conversation on 9 August, Uzbek President Islam Karimov assured his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbaev that "the situation is under complete control," and there is no danger that the conflict could escalate, according to Interfax. Also on 9 August, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Yakovenko condemned unverified and sensational media reports of the fighting, advocating "a more cautious approach to information from unverified sources." LF [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[11] CLINTON HAILS CROATIA'S PROGRESS UNDER NEW LEADERSU.S.President Bill Clinton met with Croatian President Stipe Mesic and Prime Minister Ivica Racan in Washington on 9 August. White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said that "the president wants to use this meeting to praise the Croatian government for the important work they've done over the last six months, the good start they've gotten...and to continue our efforts to promote both economic and political reform in Croatia." Clinton offered his guests nearly $30 million in economic assistance, Reuters reported. The money will be used to help small and medium-sized businesses, implement programs for refugee returns, and modernize the military. Clinton stressed that Croatia must continue to implement economic reforms and serve as an example of democracy to countries of the region. PM [12] MESIC: CROATIA CAN BE EXAMPLE FOR SERBSMesic said thatCroatia can help promote democracy in Serbia by treating its own Serbian minority well, the VOA's Croatian Service reported on 10 August. He stressed that if Croatia succeeds, it will have shown people in Serbia that it is not necessary for all Serbs to live in one state, as Serbian nationalists have argued. He also told the VOA that he intends to publish all important transcripts of recorded conversations by the late President Franjo Tudjman. PM [13] ALBRIGHT: SERBIAN ELECTIONS OFFER OPPORTUNITYSecretary ofState Madeleine Albright said in Washington on 9 August after meeting the Croatian guests that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic will try to cheat in the 24 September elections, but added that Yugoslavs can still decide their destiny if they truly want to. She called the election an opportunity to repudiate "Milosevic's policies of isolation and ethnic hatred," Reuters reported. PM [14] GUARDIAN ANGELS FOR MONTENEGRO?Zeljko Perovic, who isMontenegro's chief diplomatic representative at the UN, told Montena-fax news agency on 9 August that the international community is closely following developments in and around Montenegro. He added that he has met with more than 40 foreign diplomats in the three months that he has been in New York, noting that all of his interlocutors, "without exception," appreciate the policies of the Montenegrin government. Perovic noted that many diplomats have told him that Montenegro should not take Milosevic's provocations seriously. PM [15] BELGRADE SLAMS STRASBOURG MISSION TO MONTENEGROThe Yugoslavauthorities have formally protested to the Council of Europe for its decision to send a representative to Montenegro without obtaining Belgrade's permission, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported on 9 August. The council opened an office in Podgorica on 6 July with Slovenia's Eva Tomic as its representative. PM [16] EU'S SERBIAN 'WHITE LIST' A FLOPLondon's "Financial Times"reported on 10 August that the EU's plan to exempt from sanctions Serbian businesses it deems free of Milosevic's influence "is failing" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 25 July 2000). Many of the businesses on the list have asked Brussels to remove them because Belgrade has branded them traitors and imposed restrictions on them. An unnamed Western diplomat told the London daily that "there is a perception [in the EU] that something is very wrong--that the whole system needs a thorough review. But Brussels is on holiday in August and nothing can be considered until September." PM [17] VETERAN SERBIAN NATIONALIST 'DISTURBED' BY OPPOSITIONDEVELOPMENTSNationalist writer Dobrica Cosic, whom many consider the spiritual father of the Serbian nationalist movement that has bloomed since the mid-1980s, says that he is "deeply unhappy" with the latest developments in the Serbian opposition, "Vesti" reported on 10 August. He declined to be specific, but stressed that he has "a very critical attitude toward the whole situation." PM [18] SESELJ BLASTS SERBIAN OPPOSITION CANDIDATE...Serbian RadicalParty leader and Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj said on 9 August that united opposition presidential candidate Vojislav Kostunica is "NATO's candidate." As evidence of his claim, Seselj argued that the "Voice of America, Free Europe, Deutsche Welle, and the BBC have all praised Kostunica over the past few days in Serbian language broadcasts," London's "The Guardian" reported. Seselj argued that Kostunica is "more cunning" than other opposition leaders at hiding his alleged pro-NATO views, but that Serbs will never vote for "NATO candidates." PM [19] ...SUES INDEPENDENT BELGRADE DAILYSeselj has launched legalproceedings against the daily "Danas." He wants $7,500 in damages because the paper quoted an opposition press statement claiming that Seselj has already spent $1 million for 8 million campaign posters, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported on 9 August. Such lawsuits have long been used by the regime to harass or even bankrupt its critics. Meanwhile, government financial inspectors closed the Belgrade anti- Milosevic Center for Cultural Decontamination. PM [20] KOSOVA SERBIAN LEADER BACKS KOSTUNICAMomcilo Trajkovic toldthe BBC's Serbian Service in Mitrovica on 9 August that Kostunica is the best presidential candidate from the point of view of the Serbs of Kosova. He urged his fellow Serbs to vote for the united opposition candidate, and also appealed to ethnic Albanians to vote for Kostunica to "help bring about change." The Serbian opposition has frequently argued that the long-standing Kosova Albanian boycott of Serbian and Yugoslav elections has deprived the opposition of needed votes against the dictator. The Albanians argue that they do not accept Serbian authority over Kosova and that the Serbian opposition does not have a policy on Kosova that the Albanians can accept. PM [21] SERBIAN AUTHORITIES USING WESTERN CAPTIVES AS POLITICALPAWNS?London's "The Guardian" quoted an unnamed "senior Yugoslav official" on 10 August as saying that the eight Western prisoners of the Belgrade regime are "in effect hostages to [Milosevic's election] effort to present Yugoslavia as being under threat" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 August 2000). Milosevic is seeking to win the nationalist vote, even though Kostunica is "a man who strongly criticized NATO's Kosovo campaign and who refuses to meet officials from NATO countries," the paper added. Independent lawyer Gradimir Nalic told the "Financial Times" that he does not expect that the military court will "hurry" to resolve the case before the 24 September elections. PM [22] DIPLOMATS FINALLY SEE WESTERN CAPTIVESBritish diplomatRobert Gordon, who heads his country's interest section in the Brazilian embassy in Belgrade, met with the two British prisoners on 10 August, Reuters reported. "I was able to meet them, they look fine, in good health. They're looking forward to receiving some reading material. I'll be in touch with them again soon," Gordon said. Meanwhile, Canada's acting Charge d'affaires, Craig Bale, met with the two Canadian captives. "We have seen them, they're healthy, and they've been well-treated," he noted. PM [23] MORE VIOLENCE AGAINST KOSOVAR MODERATESA bomb went off inthe home of moderate Kosovar politician Avni Salihu near Prizren on 9 August, killing his wife and seriously injuring him and his son, dpa reported. This is but the latest in a series of attacks against members of Ibrahim Rugova's Democratic League of Kosova (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 August 2000). PM [24] KOSOVA COURT SENTENCES SERB FOR KILLING ALBANIANSA court inMitrovica sentenced Zvezdan Simic to eight years and four months in prison for killing two Albanian neighbors during the 1999 conflict. One of his lawyers said that this was a "staged political trial," AP reported. The UN civilian administration said in a statement that the court system is functioning in a "professional" manner (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 August 2000). PM [25] FIRST BOSNIAN MUSLIM POLICEMAN DEPLOYED IN SREBRENICAOn 7August, Kadrija Avdic became the first Muslim to join the police force in Srebrenica since Serbian forces took control of the town in July of 1995, Reuters reported two days later. UN spokesman Douglas Coffman said that the 26 year-old Avdic "is the first, but certainly not the last one." Coffman did not specify when other Muslims will join the force. PM [26] ROMANIAN PREMIER STILL ELUSIVE ON PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDACYInan interview with Rompres and Mediafax on 9 August, Prime Minister Mugur Isarescu said he might decide to run for president, but only as an independent enjoying "large popular backing." Isarescu said he was not responsible for the "timetable" set by others on his definitive decision. He revealed that the National Liberal Party (PNL) had offered to back his presidential candidacy on the condition that he join the PNL, but he refused. He would be "betraying" those who believe in him, Isarescu said, if he became involved in party politics. The National Peasant Party Christian Democratic (PNTCD) leadership on the same day voted to back Isarescu's candidacy as an independent and PNTCD chairman Ion Diaconescu said his party had never demanded that the premier join its ranks. MS [27] FORMER ROMANIAN PREMIER READY TO JOIN NEW CENTER-RIGHTALLIANCENational Alliance Christian Democratic (ANCD) chairman Victor Ciorbea said on 9 August after a meeting with PNTCD representatives that his party is ready to join the newly-established Democratic Convention of Romania 2000, provided it safeguards its own separate identity in the alliance. Ciorbea said several times in the past that the ANCD is not willing to merge with the PNTCD, from which it had split after the former premier's dismissal. MS [28] TOEKES DENIES LINKS WITH ROMANIAN SECURITATEReformed ChurchBishop Laszlo Toekes, honorary chairman of the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania, admitted that "he was approached and almost recruited" as an informer of the communist-time Romanian secret services, but insisted that he never worked for the Securitate or denounced anyone. Toekes told the Cluj Hungarian language daily "Kronika," that in 1975 he was taken by Securitate for questioning but refused to cooperate when he realized that he was actually being recruited, Hungarian media report on 10 August. Toekes is currently trying to clear his name in a libel trial, after an Associated Press correspondent accused him of having been an informer. MSZ [29] MORE FORMER ROMANIAN OFFICIALS CHARGED IN MONEY LAUNDERINGAFFAIRViorel Hrebenciuc, former governmental secretary in the Nicolae Vacaroiu cabinet, is charged with complicity in the Adrian Costea money-laundering affair and with "abuse of office" in this connection, Mediafax reported on 9 August. Also charged are his former deputies, Mihai Unghianu and Dan Nicolae Fruntelata (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 9 August 2000). Hrebenciuc was summoned for questioning by the Prosecutor- General's Office but failed to respond to the summons. MS [30] MOLDOVAN FINANCE MINISTER RESIGNSPrime Minister DumitruBraghis on 9 August said the cabinet will examine next week the resignation "recently" tendered by Finance Minister Mihai Manole, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. In an interview with Infotag the same day, Braghis said the resignation is "likely to be approved." Braghis praised Manole's expertise but added that the performance of some departments subordinate to his ministry, and the Internal Revenue Service in particular, has been unsatisfactory. Manole did not specify any reason for his decision to leave the cabinet. The government will also examine the resignation tendered by Environment Minister Arcadie Capcelea, who has been offered a position with the World Bank. MS [31] SMIRNOV TO U.S. ENVOY: 'NO DEAL WITHOUT OUR APPROVAL'Thearsenal of the Russian contingent stationed in the Transdniester is "the public property of the Transdniester people and its withdrawal can only follow negotiations between Russia and the Transdniester," separatist leader Igor Smirnov told William Taylor, U.S. special ambassador in charge of coordination of aid to CIS states in Tiraspol, on 9 August. Smirnov said the U.S. offer to contribute $30 million to cover the costs of the withdrawal may become relevant only after the conclusion of the parleys with Moscow. He said it is "much too early" to discuss the withdrawal, as Tiraspol is not bound by decisions of fora in which it has not participated. Smirnov mentioned in this connection the OSCE 1999 Istanbul summit and the recent OSCE meeting in Vienna. MS [32] BULGARIAN PREMIER WANTS OFFICIAL SACKED IN BUGGING ROWPrimeMinister Ivan Kostov says President Petar Stoyanov should dismiss Interior Ministry Chief Secretary Bozhidar Popov for failure to remove listening devices illegally placed in apartments and offices of officials and other Bulgarian citizens, Reuters and AP reported. The demand comes after the interior, justice, and defense ministries submitted reports to the cabinet following the discovery of eavesdropping devices planted in Prosecutor-General Nikola Filchev's apartment in 1993-1994. Kostov said Popov had failed to track and remove devices after a law forbidding their use was passed in 1997. He said listening devices were planted indiscriminately under the communist regime and the Interior Ministry has lost part of the information on those devices and documents on those devices. The government has now ordered that the homes of some 700 senior officials be checked for "bugs." MS [C] END NOTE[33] ALTAIANS CELEBRATE CULTURAL FREEDOM IN SIBERIABy Lily HydeIt's nighttime, and stars are shining through the holes in the roof of the ail, an Altai yurt (tent dwelling). Arzhan Kezerekov is demonstrating the different styles of throat- singing, a kind of singing unique to the Russian Siberian republics of Altai and Tuva. Kezerekov is only 23 years old, but he is already one of Altai's foremost storytellers. In addition to folk songs, he can sing the Altai heroic epic, an ancient poem which takes many nights to perform in full--Altaians boast it is longer than the Indian epic, Mahabarata. But a true storyteller, Kezerekov explains, is not only responsible for remembering the oral traditions of the Altaians. He also communicates with the spirits that govern the Altai religion and can work good or harm through his music. Most Altai storytellers--along with the republic's shamans, artists, and local leaders--disappeared in the 1930s under Soviet repression. That was followed by a long period of deliberate cultural assimilation imposed by Moscow. But since the end of the 1980s, Altaians have been devoting much of their energy to reviving their culture before it is too late. The Turkic-speaking Altaians make up only about 30 percent of the population of the republic. Altai has been a part of Russia since the 18th century, and many Altaians converted to Orthodox Christianity and married Russians. So it's not surprising the Altai national revival is lagging far behind similar revivals in neighboring Tuva and Kazakhstan, with whom the Altaians have much in common culturally. In Tuva, for example, throat-singing is taught in special schools and Tuvan throat singers have traveled all over the world on tour. But Altai singers and musicians are self-taught, while storytellers usually acquire their skills from a relative. Some Altaians say this has kept the tradition pure, claiming that Altai throat-singing is closer to its original form. Others say this means Altai traditional music is simply unsophisticated. Mikhail Chubulchin is a member of the folk ensemble Charas, which he says was founded to try and develop folk music from its present primitive form. "Our people don't play national instruments, or typically they are self-taught and unprofessional. They play the accordion, or play and sing very primitively. We are trying to widen the use of national instruments. When we play they listen with interest, but generally our people, Altaians, are not yet really engaged in their national music. It's linked with their economic difficulties. Kazakhs, for example, have their national pride and ambition, practically each one from childhood plays on his own instrument, the Kazakh domra. That doesn't happen here. We want young people to listen, if they listen maybe they'll like it and will want to play." Charas and singer Kezerekov were among the hundreds of singers and musicians performing at a national cultural festival, El Oyin, last month. The traditional summer festival, whose name translates as "national games," was a milestone in the revival of Altai culture when it was first celebrated nationally in 1988. Before then, the festival had been celebrated throughout the republic--but only on a local level. According to one of El Oyin's original organizers, Aleksandr Selbikov, when the first festival was held nationally many were doubtful that it could succeed. "There was a lack of faith. People thought it would only be a place for drunks to gather--that was the attitude. It was still the Soviet era, and many were afraid that if we held this festival, if we gathered together, they'd say we were nationalists." In fact, El Oyin--now held every two years in a different part of Altai--did give birth to a whole new national consciousness. Altai's 10 regions have different dialects and cultural traditions, but the festival gave them a chance to unite in a great celebration of national sport, music, costume, and food. Selbikov says: "After the first El Oyin, the whole Altaian social- political movement started. People saw that it was possible to gather together, walk, enjoy themselves, voice opinions and knowledge. And after that they started to gather together and started to found social organizations. I think the significance of El Oyin, especially the first one, is very great. It revived the feeling, the understanding that there is such a people as the Altaians." El Oyin has also led to the founding of national sports clubs and music groups such as Charas throughout the republic. Twelve years after it began, the two-day festival this year included horse races, a local kind of wrestling called Kuresh, yak-lifting competitions and parades, concerts of new, young singers and dancers, and even fashion shows based on national costumes. Some 20,000 people traveled to the republic's furthest southern corner, on the border with Mongolia--a bleakly beautiful steppe-land plagued by mosquitoes--simply to demonstrate that Altai culture is alive and thriving. Lily Hyde is an RFE/RL correspondent based in Kyiv. 10-08-00 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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