Browse through our Interesting Nodes of the Cyprus Government Read the Convention Relating to the Regime of the Straits (24 July 1923) Read the Convention Relating to the Regime of the Straits (24 July 1923)
HR-Net - Hellenic Resources Network Compact version
Today's Suggestion
Read The "Macedonian Question" (by Maria Nystazopoulou-Pelekidou)
HomeAbout HR-NetNewsWeb SitesDocumentsOnline HelpUsage InformationContact us
Friday, 29 March 2024
 
News
  Latest News (All)
     From Greece
     From Cyprus
     From Europe
     From Balkans
     From Turkey
     From USA
  Announcements
  World Press
  News Archives
Web Sites
  Hosted
  Mirrored
  Interesting Nodes
Documents
  Special Topics
  Treaties, Conventions
  Constitutions
  U.S. Agencies
  Cyprus Problem
  Other
Services
  Personal NewsPaper
  Greek Fonts
  Tools
  F.A.Q.
 

RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 153, 00-08-10

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>

RFE/RL NEWSLINE

Vol. 4, No. 153, 10 August 2000


CONTENTS

[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

  • [01] UNKNOWN GROUP PROTESTS DELAY IN SOLVING ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT
  • [02] ARMENIAN MINISTER DENOUNCES PROPOSED NEW POLITICAL ALLIANCE
  • [03] COUNCIL OF EUROPE SPOKESMAN REFUTES AZERBAIJANI PRESS
  • [04] GEORGIA DENIES SUPPLYING ARMS TO CHECHENS
  • [05] BALCEROWICZ PROMISES SWIFT IMPROVEMENT IN GEORGIAN ECONOMY
  • [06] KAZAKH PARLIAMENT DEPUTY CRITICIZES MINISTERS FOR
  • [07] ACQUITTED KYRGYZ OPPOSITION POLITICIAN REVIEWS ELECTION
  • [08] KYRGYZ PROSECUTOR TO APPEAL KULOV'S ACQUITTAL
  • [09] TWELFTH CANDIDATE ANNOUNCES INTENTION TO CONTEST KYRGYZ
  • [10] UZBEKISTAN CLAIMS TO HAVE KILLED 15 ISLAMISTS

  • [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE

  • [11] CLINTON HAILS CROATIA'S PROGRESS UNDER NEW LEADERS
  • [12] MESIC: CROATIA CAN BE EXAMPLE FOR SERBS
  • [13] ALBRIGHT: SERBIAN ELECTIONS OFFER OPPORTUNITY
  • [14] GUARDIAN ANGELS FOR MONTENEGRO?
  • [15] BELGRADE SLAMS STRASBOURG MISSION TO MONTENEGRO
  • [16] EU'S SERBIAN 'WHITE LIST' A FLOP
  • [17] VETERAN SERBIAN NATIONALIST 'DISTURBED' BY OPPOSITION
  • [18] SESELJ BLASTS SERBIAN OPPOSITION CANDIDATE...
  • [19] ...SUES INDEPENDENT BELGRADE DAILY
  • [20] KOSOVA SERBIAN LEADER BACKS KOSTUNICA
  • [21] SERBIAN AUTHORITIES USING WESTERN CAPTIVES AS POLITICAL
  • [22] DIPLOMATS FINALLY SEE WESTERN CAPTIVES
  • [23] MORE VIOLENCE AGAINST KOSOVAR MODERATES
  • [24] KOSOVA COURT SENTENCES SERB FOR KILLING ALBANIANS
  • [25] FIRST BOSNIAN MUSLIM POLICEMAN DEPLOYED IN SREBRENICA
  • [26] ROMANIAN PREMIER STILL ELUSIVE ON PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDACY
  • [27] FORMER ROMANIAN PREMIER READY TO JOIN NEW CENTER-RIGHT
  • [28] TOEKES DENIES LINKS WITH ROMANIAN SECURITATE
  • [29] MORE FORMER ROMANIAN OFFICIALS CHARGED IN MONEY LAUNDERING
  • [30] MOLDOVAN FINANCE MINISTER RESIGNS
  • [31] SMIRNOV TO U.S. ENVOY: 'NO DEAL WITHOUT OUR APPROVAL'
  • [32] BULGARIAN PREMIER WANTS OFFICIAL SACKED IN BUGGING ROW

  • [C] END NOTE

  • [33] ALTAIANS CELEBRATE CULTURAL FREEDOM IN SIBERIA

  • [A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA

    [01] UNKNOWN GROUP PROTESTS DELAY IN SOLVING ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT

    SHOOTINGS

    Leaflets 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 ALLIANCE

    Agriculture Minister Zaven Gevorgian told a press conference

    in 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 PRESS

    ALLEGATIONS

    Robert 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 CHECHENS

    The Georgian

    National 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 ECONOMY

    Polish economist Leszek Balcerowicz said in Tbilisi on 9

    August 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 ELECTION

    TACTICS

    Former 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 ACQUITTAL

    Sharapidin

    Sheishenaliev, 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 KYRGYZ

    PRESIDENTIAL POLL

    Parliament 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 ISLAMISTS

    A spokesman

    for 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 LEADERS

    U.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 SERBS

    Mesic said that

    Croatia 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 OPPORTUNITY

    Secretary of

    State 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 is

    Montenegro'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 MONTENEGRO

    The Yugoslav

    authorities 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 FLOP

    London'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 OPPOSITION

    DEVELOPMENTS

    Nationalist 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 Radical

    Party 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 DAILY

    Seselj has launched legal

    proceedings 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 KOSTUNICA

    Momcilo Trajkovic told

    the 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 POLITICAL

    PAWNS?

    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 CAPTIVES

    British diplomat

    Robert 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 MODERATES

    A bomb went off in

    the 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 ALBANIANS

    A court in

    Mitrovica 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 SREBRENICA

    On 7

    August, 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 CANDIDACY

    In

    an 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-RIGHT

    ALLIANCE

    National 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 SECURITATE

    Reformed Church

    Bishop 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 LAUNDERING

    AFFAIR

    Viorel 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 RESIGNS

    Prime Minister Dumitru

    Braghis 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'

    The

    arsenal 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 ROW

    Prime

    Minister 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 SIBERIA

    By Lily Hyde

    It'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
    URL: http://www.rferl.org


    Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
    Back to Top
    Copyright © 1995-2023 HR-Net (Hellenic Resources Network). An HRI Project.
    All Rights Reserved.

    HTML by the HR-Net Group / Hellenic Resources Institute, Inc.
    rferl2html v1.01 run on Thursday, 10 August 2000 - 15:33:09 UTC