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OMRI Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 211, 96-10-31
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 211, 31 October 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN POWER MINISTERS ACCUSED OF PLANNING COUP.
[02] NEW POLITICAL OFFICE CREATED IN UZBEKISTAN.
[03] MESHETIAN TURKS OF KYRGYZSTAN TO HOLD CONGRESS.
[04] TURKMENISTAN ANNIVERSARY.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL CALLS FOR ARREST OF FOUR BOSNIAN SERB POLICEMEN.
[06] BOSNIAN REFUGEES ORGANIZE ACROSS ETHNIC LINES.
[07] INDEPENDENT MEDIA IN REPUBLIKA SRPSKA RESIST GOVERNMENT PRESSURE.
[08] FORMER YUGOSLAV STATES OPPOSE AUTOMATIC UN MEMBERSHIP FOR BELGRADE.
[09] BOSNIA APPOINTS CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR.
[10] SERBIAN ENTREPRENEURS REGISTER THEIR OWN PROTEST.
[11] BOUTROS-GHALI RECOMMENDS UN MANDATE TO EXTEND FOR A YEAR.
[12] ROMANIAN LOBBYING IN THE U.S. STIRS CONTROVERSY.
[13] ROMANIAN LIBERALS CLOSE RANKS.
[14] MOLDOVAN, RUSSIAN PARLIAMENTS SIGN COOPERATION AGREEMENT.
[15] BULGARIAN ELECTIONS FAIR, OBSERVERS SAY.
[16] REACHING CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.
[17] STRUGGLE FOR MORE VOTES IN BULGARIA'S PRESIDENTIAL RUNOFF.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN POWER MINISTERS ACCUSED OF PLANNING COUP.
Former Armenian National Security Minister David Shahnazaryan accused the
country's "power" ministers of plotting a coup d'etat and demanded their
resignation, ITAR-TASS reported on 30 October citing Vremya. Shahnazaryan,
who used to be one of the closest figures to President Levon Ter-Petrossyan,
called for a dialogue between the authorities and the opposition. According to
him, fresh parliamentary elections are a "political necessity." Meanwhile,
acting presidential spokesman Levon Zurabyan said Armenia's political
situation is returning to normal and praised the opposition for its efforts to
"return to legal activity," Noyan Tapan reported on 30 October. -- Emil
Danielyan
[02] NEW POLITICAL OFFICE CREATED IN UZBEKISTAN.
In an address to the cabinet, Uzbek President Islam Karimov announced that
Qobiljon Obidov will be appointed to the newly-created position of first
deputy prime minister with special responsibility for agriculture and water
resources, Uzbek TV reported on 29 October. Given recent poor harvests in the
Syrdarya and Jizzak regions (see OMRI Daily Digest, 29 October 1996),
Karimov has called for greater oversight and a more defined division of labor
in the presidential apparatus. -- Roger Kangas
[03] MESHETIAN TURKS OF KYRGYZSTAN TO HOLD CONGRESS.
A congress of Meshetian Turks will be held in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, on
2 November, RFE/RL reported. The leader of the Turk Association of Kyrgyzstan,
Maksut Izzatov, claims there are presently 57,000 Meshetian Turks living in
Kyrgyzstan, the majority of whom would prefer to move to Turkey. Large numbers
of Meshetian Turks were forcibly relocated in Central Asia during World War II
from the Caucasus, and in 1989 some were forced to flee Uzbekistan when
rioting broke out in areas where they lived. -- Bruce Pannier and Naryn
Idinov
[04] TURKMENISTAN ANNIVERSARY.
The Chistopol watch factory in Tatarstan has produced a rush order of 81,000
wrist watches for Turkmenistan, ITAR-TASS reported on 31 October. The watches
are designed to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Turkmenistan's
independence. The watch face depicts Turkmenistan's President, Saparmurad
Niyazov. -- Peter Rutland
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL CALLS FOR ARREST OF FOUR BOSNIAN SERB POLICEMEN.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia based in The
Hague issued a statement on 30 October demanding that Bosnian Serb
authorities "immediately arrest" four indicted war criminals, AFP reported.
The court slammed the Serbs for keeping the men on the force in violation of
the Dayton agreement and international law (see OMRI Daily Digest, 30
October 1996). In Sarajevo, the office of the international community's
High Representative Carl Bildt has changed its story, claiming not to have
known anything about the four until a few days ago. But international
police officials told The Boston Globe that they had filed a report on the
four in July, OMRI's correspondent in Sarajevo reported. An IFOR spokesman
said, however, that peacekeepers have no mandate to engage in "manhunts,
" Onasa wrote. Critics charge that the case appears to be one of
international civilian and military officials turning a blind eye to war
criminals still holding official jobs, Oslobodjenje reported. -- Patrick
Moore
[06] BOSNIAN REFUGEES ORGANIZE ACROSS ETHNIC LINES.
Representatives of Bosnian Muslim, Serb, and Croat refugees who want to go
back to their homes despite nationalist opposition have formed a group in
Sarajevo to coordinate their efforts, Oslobodjenje reported on 31 October.
The Coalition for Return says it rejects "the ideology of ethnic separation."
Meanwhile, the United States and OSCE have charged that the Bosnian Serbs are
violating arms control provisions of the Dayton agreement by keeping a
"significant number" of extra World War II tanks in service. The Serbs have
exploited a loophole in the text that allows parties to retain such weapons if
they are intended for export, research, or museums, Reuters noted on 30
October. And in New York, Bosnia's UN Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey told the VOA
that his government will cooperate with investigations to determine whether
Bosnian police had forced a Serb into testifying wrongly against Dusan Tadic
in The Hague (see OMRI Daily Digest, 29 October 1996). -- Patrick
Moore
[07] INDEPENDENT MEDIA IN REPUBLIKA SRPSKA RESIST GOVERNMENT PRESSURE.
On October 28, representatives of the major independent Bosnian Serb media met
in Banja Luka to discuss their response to a recent government campaign
against dissident media voices (see Pursuing Balkan Peace, 29 October 1996).
The representatives of Novi Prelom, Nezavisne Novine and Radio Krajina
from Banja Luka, Alternativa from Doboj, and Extra Magazin and
Panorama from Bijeljina debated coordinating their marketing, starting an
independent journalists' union, and possibly setting up an independent
printing house. The government-owned printing office Glas Srpski recently
refused to print dissident periodicals. Radio Krajina faces attempts by the
Information Ministry to take away its equipment and broadcasting frequency.
Two Alternativa journalists face flimsy libel charges by two officials of
the governing Serbian Democratic Party. -- Jan Urban in Sarajevo and Patrick
Moore
[08] FORMER YUGOSLAV STATES OPPOSE AUTOMATIC UN MEMBERSHIP FOR BELGRADE.
The UN ambassadors of Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Slovenia sent an appeal
to Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali requesting that Serbia-Montenegro
not automatically inherit the UN seat of Tito's Yugoslavia. The four asked
that Belgrade be required to apply for membership, like any other new
candidate lest the move "make an impact on the division of common assets,"
Onasa noted on 30 October. Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia claims that it is the sole successor to Tito's state
and hence it alone is entitled to its rights and properties, a point that the
other four states dispute. -- Patrick Moore
[09] BOSNIA APPOINTS CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR.
The Bosnian three-man presidency on its meeting on 29 October accepted Serge
Robert to the post of governor of the new central bank, Oslobodjenje
reported on 31 October. Under the Dayton peace accord, the central bank
governor is chosen by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and approved by
the collective presidency. In addition, other three senior bank officials were
appointed: Kasim Omicevic and Jure Pelivan from the Bosnian Federation and
Manojlo Coric from the Republika Srpska. All appointed members of the
governing board will serve a six-year term. The presidency also appointed two
working groups. One of them will make appointments for the joint council of
ministers which is responsible for foreign trade and relations, AFP reported.
The second group will examine the issue of Bosnia's foreign-affairs policy.
The High Representative Carl Bildt said it was "too early" for the appointment
of the council of ministers. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[10] SERBIAN ENTREPRENEURS REGISTER THEIR OWN PROTEST.
Among the latest to register their protest against government polices in the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia were "several hundred private businessmen,"
Reuters reported on 30 October. Serbian entrepreneurs are calling attention to
discriminatory taxation and fiscal policies, which reportedly heavily favor
state-run and state-backed firms. Dragan Nikolic, president of Serbia's
association of private entrepreneurs, said, "the fiscal burden should
correspond to the economic strength of taxpayers." In a related development,
on 28 October, Nasa Borba reported that private lawyers were withholding
services to clog the court system in their own three-day job action to protest
high taxes and corruption, which bar association representatives say have
driven many barristers to the brink of poverty. -- Stan Markotich
[11] BOUTROS-GHALI RECOMMENDS UN MANDATE TO EXTEND FOR A YEAR.
UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said on 29 October the UN
Transitional Administration in Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) should have a
presence in this last Serb-held enclave of Croatia until the end of 1997, with
troops leaving in mid-July, international and local media reported. But
Croatian President Franjo Tudjman said he has already agreed with Gen. Jacques
Klein, the UN administrator for eastern Slavonia, on 3 plus 3 extension of the
UN mandate that would end in July 1997. The UNTAES mandate in Eastern Slavonia
expires on 15 January, and the UN Security Council is expected to vote on its
extension sometime in November. Croatian Defense Minister Gojko Susak said
that Croatia was surprised by Boutros-Ghali's recommendation, Hina reported
on 30 October. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[12] ROMANIAN LOBBYING IN THE U.S. STIRS CONTROVERSY.
Independent dailies accused the ruling Party of Social Democracy in Romania
(PDSR) on 30 October of spending large amounts of public money for improving
its image in the United States. The papers based their allegations on
documents provided by two American journalists who claimed that the PDSR
misused $4 million on contracts with consulting firms, originally designed to
influence the U.S. government on granting permanent most favored nation status
in bilateral trade. In response, Presidential Spokesman Traian Chebeleu stated
that the contracts were perfectly legal, and that the timing of the
accusations--the penultimate day of electoral campaigning--was calculated to
leave no place for an official reply. Moreover, Cronica Romana accused one
of the two journalists of being close to the Party of Romanian National Unity,
a former PDSR ally and currently one of its arch-enemies. -- Zsolt
Mato
[13] ROMANIAN LIBERALS CLOSE RANKS.
Two liberal formations on 30 October signed a protocol of post-electoral
cooperation, Romanian media reported the following day. The two parties--the
National Liberal Party and the National Liberal Party-Democratic Convention--
agreed to set up joint parliamentary groups in both chambers. The document,
which was signed by the leaders of the two parties, Mircea Ionescu-Quintus and
Nicolae Cerveni, paves the way for a possible liberal unification under the
umbrella of the opposition Democratic Convention of Romania in the first half
of 1997. -- Dan Ionescu
[14] MOLDOVAN, RUSSIAN PARLIAMENTS SIGN COOPERATION AGREEMENT.
A cooperation agreement between the parliament of the Republic of Moldova and
Russia's two-chamber parliament was signed in Moscow on 29 October, Infotag
reported the following day. The accord was signed by Moldovan Speaker Petru
Lucinschi, and by Yegor Stroev and Genadii Seleznev, chairmen of the Council
of the Federation and the State Duma, respectively. The document provides for
setting up an inter-parliamentary commission to harmonize the two countries'
legislation in the economic field. At the end of a two-day official visit to
Moscow, Lucinschi said that "relations with the Russian Federation are a top
priority for Moldova" and pledged to "improve them considerably" if elected
Moldova's president on 17 November. Meanwhile, media in Chisinau claimed that
Lucinschi was closely cooperating with Russian communists led by Ghenadii
Zyuganov. Lucinschi's supporters denied the accusations. -- Dan Ionescu
[15] BULGARIAN ELECTIONS FAIR, OBSERVERS SAY.
The OSCE's international observer mission on 29 October said that the
Bulgarian presidential elections on 27 October took place in a "calm and
thoughtful fashion," an OMRI correspondent reported. They also said the
elections "assisted in the further development and entrenchment of democracy
in Bulgaria." Observers were critical of certain parts of the electoral law,
however, singling out that candidates nominated by parties represented in
parliament had more air time on the national media, were represented on all
electoral commissions, and did not have to produce bank guarantees for
registration. Observers also noted that according to demographic statistics,
at least 350,000 more people were registered to vote than is possible. --
Stefan Krause in Sofia
[16] REACHING CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.
Three major trends were observed in Bulgaria's 27 October first round of
presidential elections, reported Standart. First, a new political majority
is being formed. Second, the Bulgarian Socialist's Party's (BSP) electorate is
dissatisfied and falling away from that party, and finally, opposition voting
is shifting and undergoing at least a partial realignment. Those conclusions
stem from the relatively high percentage of votes going to the Bulgarian
Business Block Leader Georges Ganchev, the solid showing of united opposition
candidate Petar Stoyanov, and the extremely poor showing of BSP's Ivan
Marazov. 24 Chasa observed that the BSP was "suspiciously" self-critical.
Marazov's loss appeared intentional, noted the daily, because united
opposition candidate Stoyanov, as president, may serve to further conflicts
between government institutions, drawing attention from substantive issues. --
Maria Koinova
[17] STRUGGLE FOR MORE VOTES IN BULGARIA'S PRESIDENTIAL RUNOFF.
After a poor showing by BSP candidates Ivan Marazov and Irina Bokova in the 27
October first round, socialists began wooing voters of third and fourth place
finishers Georges Ganchev and Alexander Tomov, hoping to secure their votes in
the runoff. Premier Zhan Videnov allegedly had an "intense" private
conversation with Ganchev on 28 October, which yielded no result, Kontinent
reported on 30 October. Chairman of the Union of Democratic Forces Ivan Kostov
said the united opposition will hold talks with politicians, adding that on
election night, both Ganchev and Tomov said that the government's politics
needed changing. After meeting with BSP officials on 30 October, Ganchev and
Tomov said they will ask supporters to vote their conscience, national
media reported. -- Maria Koinova
Compiled by Pete Baumgartner and Valentina Huber
News and information as of 1200 CET
This material was reprinted with permission of the Open Media
Research Institute, a nonprofit organization with research offices in
Prague, Czech Republic.
For more information on OMRI publications please write to info@omri.cz.
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