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OMRI: Daily Digest, Vol. 2, No. 232, 96-12-03
From: Open Media Research Institute <http://www.omri.cz>
Vol. 2, No. 232, 3 December 1996
CONTENTS
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS CLASH AT OSCE SUMMIT.
[02] RED CROSS CALLS FOR MORE AID TO CENTRAL ASIA.
[03] PROBLEMS OF INDEPENDENT MEDIA IN KAZAKSTAN.
[04] UZBEK HISTORIOGRAPHY.
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] BELGRADE DEMONSTRATIONS SHOW NO SIGN OF WANING . . .
[06] . . . WHILE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY URGES REGIME TO EXERCISE
RESTRAINT.
[07] MONTENEGRIN REACTIONS.
[08] SERBS LEAVE BRCKO TALKS.
[09] PLAVSIC PRAISES BRITAIN ON EVE OF LONDON CONFERENCE.
[10] CROATIAN POLICE QUESTION EDITOR ON TUDJMAN ARTICLE.
[11] CROATIAN RAIL WORKERS VOW TO CONTINUE STRIKE.
[12] MACEDONIAN SOCIAL DEMOCRATS WIN MOST MAYORALTIES IN LOCAL POLL.
[13] ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT IN THE OFFING.
[14] MOLDOVA'S NEW PRESIDENT PLEDGES PEACE, PROSPERITY.
[15] FLOODS IN BULGARIA FORCE EVACUATIONS.
[16] BULGARIAN POLITICAL ROUNDUP.
[17] ALBANIA SUSPENDED FROM FIFA.
[A] TRANSCAUCASIA AND CENTRAL ASIA
[01] ARMENIAN, AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS CLASH AT OSCE SUMMIT.
Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliev, speaking at the OSCE summit in Lisbon
on 2 December, accused Armenia of refusing to recognize his country's
territorial integrity and of pursuing "non-legitimate claims for the
independence of Nagorno-Karabakh," Reuters reported. Aliev said a high
degree of autonomy for Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan, along with
security guarantees for the region's population, should be the key
principles for settling the conflict. Aliev added that "we cannot allow the
creation on the territory of Azerbaijan of a second Armenian state."
Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrossyan said the people of Nagorno-Karabakh
should be given the right to self-determination because Azerbaijan is
"unable" to guarantee their safety. Ter-Petrossyan warned that the region's
population would face "genocide or forced deportation" if Azerbaijan's
proposals were accepted. Observers note that Azerbaijan may block a final
declaration by the OSCE on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict if it fails to
affirm the region's territorial integrity. -- Emil Danielyan
[02] RED CROSS CALLS FOR MORE AID TO CENTRAL ASIA.
The International Red Cross representative in Central Asia, Bob McKerrow,
said $21 million will be needed in 1997 to provide adequate aid to the
Central Asian states, according to a 2 December Reuters report. Speaking at
a news conference in Almaty, McKerrow noted that Kazakstan already has
cases of malnutrition, particularly in the western regions where drought
ruined almost the entire harvest. The aggravated situations in Afghanistan
and Tajikistan are also expected to increase the number of refugees in
Central Asia. In Kyrgyzstan there are presently 30,000 refugees, and people
fleeing from the fighting in Afghanistan have appeared in Turkmenistan. --
Bruce Pannier
[03] PROBLEMS OF INDEPENDENT MEDIA IN KAZAKSTAN.
Recent decisions by the Kazakstani government to suspend the broadcasting
of several independent radio and television stations are drawing criticism
from the Russian media. On 29 November AFP quoted Ekho Moskvy as saying the
shutdown of nine stations on 4 November was an attempt by the Kazakstani
government to limit information concerning a demonstration the following
day. The government claimed the stations were broadcasting on frequencies
which interfered with air traffic control. Radio Rossii reported on 30
November that the shutdown was an attempt to put non-government stations
out of business for airing opposition views. It also noted that nearly 100%
of TV and radio broadcasts are in Russian, and suggested that a tender for
frequencies, coming after the New Year, will likely favor companies which
will broadcast in Kazak, the state language. Members of the independent
media and opposition are planning a demonstration in Almaty on 8 December. -
- Bruce Pannier
[04] UZBEK HISTORIOGRAPHY.
Academics working under President Islam Karimov's Academy for State and
Societal Construction plan to issue a three-volume "Modern History of
Uzbekistan," Khalq Sozi reported on 27 November as monitored by the BBC.
The book will cover Tsarist colonialism, "Soviet Colonialism," and
Uzbekistan's modern history of independence. The academics, led by
historian Hamdam Sodiqov, are battling against "false conceptions about the
history of independence" and "former Kremlin and Communist Party sycophants,
" the report said. -- Lowell Bezanis
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[05] BELGRADE DEMONSTRATIONS SHOW NO SIGN OF WANING . . .
Serbia-wide mass protests against Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic are
now entering a third week, showing no signs of waning. Demands center on
the authorities' recognizing the outcome of 17 November run-off municipal
elections in which the opposition Zajedno coalition won majorities in
Serbia's 12 largest urban areas. Vuk Draskovic, a key opposition leader,
has said the protests will dry up when the regime recognizes the results of
those elections, CNN reported on 2 December. The Milosevic regime has
nullified most of those returns, claiming victory in a third round. But
signs are emerging that suggest the protesters are having a significant
impact. Police presence, notably that of riot forces, has been stepped up,
especially in Belgrade. Moreover, the regime has intensified its state-
media campaign against the demonstrators. On 2 December Vecernje novosti
dubbed Zajedno a "terrorist" organization bent on "seizing power
violently." -- Stan Markotich
[06] . . . WHILE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY URGES REGIME TO EXERCISE
RESTRAINT.
A growing wave of international condemnation is mounting against the
Belgrade authorities, and primarily Milosevic. Many Western leaders are on
record deploring the cancellation of the 17 November election results and
are urging the government to refrain from reacting violently to the
peaceful protests. For his part, U.S. State Department Spokesman Nicholas
Burns has said "the results of the municipal elections ought to be
respected. Some way must be found by the government to walk back from its
decision to stifle those elections," Reuters reported on 3 December.
Washington officials have also said an "outer wall of sanctions" will be
maintained against Belgrade, as well as efforts at blocking the Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia's integration into institutions in the international
financial community, partly because of the nullification of those
elections. -- Stan Markotich
[07] MONTENEGRIN REACTIONS.
While hard-line members of Milosevic's Socialist Party of Serbia are
reportedly urging the president to deal forcefully with the demonstrators,
at least some Montenegrin leaders are on record advocating restraint.
Montena-fax on 2 December quoted Svetozar Marovic, speaker of the
Montenegrin republican legislature and member of the ruling Democratic
Party of Socialists, delivering an oblique criticism of those authorities
in Serbia inclined to deal with the demonstrators with force. "No one has
the right to change the foundation of democracy, the will of the people,
irrespective of whether it's done by the authorities or the opposition," he
said. "It is critical in the most difficult of situations that those who
take care of the people and the state keep a cool and rational head," he
added. -- Stan Markotich
[08] SERBS LEAVE BRCKO TALKS.
The Bosnian Serbs have pulled out of arbitration talks regarding Brcko and
said they will not recognize the outcome of those talks. The northern
Bosnian town and its surrounding "corridor" are the land link between the
eastern and western halves of the Republika Srpska, and hence of vital
importance to that "entity." The area had a Muslim and Croat majority
before the war, however, and the Sarajevo government refuses to accept the
results of "ethnic cleansing." It was the only territorial question that
was not at least formally settled by the Dayton agreement and was left to
be decided by international arbitration by 14 December. The ball now seems
to be in the court of the international mediator, Roberts Owen, whom the
Serbs charge made decisions without consulting them or the Muslims. The
State Department said on 2 December, however, that the talks will go ahead
with or without the Serbs, Reuters noted. -- Patrick Moore
[09] PLAVSIC PRAISES BRITAIN ON EVE OF LONDON CONFERENCE.
Republika Srpska President Biljana Plavsic commended the British government
for treating the two Bosnian entities on an equal basis in preparations for
the talks slated to open on 4 December, AFP reported on 2 December. Trouble
seems likely at that Dayton review conference, however, because the Serbs
have announced that Aleksa Buha will participate in his capacity as foreign
minister, Oslobodjenje wrote on 3 December. According to the rules set
down by the international mediators, only the joint foreign minister for
the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina may attend with that title. In any
event, Plavsic said that in London she will raise the issue of Muslim
refugees returning to their homes in Serb-held border areas because she
claims they are soldiers is disguise. It is not clear whether Croatian
President Franjo Tudjman, who is believed to be suffering from cancer, or
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, who is under political siege at home,
will attend. -- Patrick Moore
[10] CROATIAN POLICE QUESTION EDITOR ON TUDJMAN ARTICLE.
Croatian police questioned Vesna Jankovic, the editor of the independent bi-
weekly Arkzin, about an article giving foreign analysts' reports on
assets acquired by Croatian President Franjo Tudjman's family, Reuters
reported on 29 November. Jankovic said she believed the questioning was
linked to an earlier Tudjman announcement that he would clamp down "on
false prophets ... who preach human rights and media freedom." A public
prosecutor launched the investigation under a libel law protecting the
country's top five officials, the same one under which the editor and a
journalist from the weekly Feral Tribune were tried and eventually
acquitted. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[11] CROATIAN RAIL WORKERS VOW TO CONTINUE STRIKE.
Some 11,000 workers of the Croatian state railways (HZ) vowed on 2 December
to continue a general strike that began on 28 November, Slobodna
Dalmacija reported. The strike halted nearly 80% of services. Workers are
demanding higher wages and better working conditions. International
services and some cargo trains continued to operate. Strikers insist that a
collective accord on substantial pay raises be concluded, and that arrears
be paid. The minimum salary for a railway employee is about 1,890 kunas
($380). The Croatian government says the demands have no basis. But Zlatko
Pavletic, the railway union leader, said HZ has internal reserves to
increase workers' wages. The HZ said it was suffering daily losses of some
1.6 million kunas ($300,000) because of the strike. -- Daria Sito Sucic
[12] MACEDONIAN SOCIAL DEMOCRATS WIN MOST MAYORALTIES IN LOCAL POLL.
The governing Social Democratic Alliance (SDSM) was the overall winner in
17 November's municipal elections, AFP reported on 3 December. First
unofficial results after 1 December's second run-off give the SDSM 500 of
the 1,903 council seats at stake, compared with 321 for the right-wing
opposition coalition made up of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary
Organization, the Movement for All-Macedonian Action/Conservative Party,
and the Democratic Party (DP). The Socialist Party gained 140 seats and the
Liberal Party 110. The ethnic Albanian Party of Democratic Prosperity and
the Party of Democratic Prosperity of the Albanians gained 156 and 107
seats respectively. Of the 123 mayors' posts, voted on separately, the SDSM
took 52, compared with 27 for the right-wing coalition. Risto Popov of the
DP was elected mayor of Skopje. -- Fabian Schmidt
[13] ROMANIAN GOVERNMENT IN THE OFFING.
One month after general elections, negotiations over the new Romanian
government have reached a final phase, Romanian media reported on 3
December. Designated Prime Minister Victor Ciorbea is to announce the
cabinet later this week, while Parliament is expected to start hearings on
the new ministers today. The three parties that will make up the government
also convened to discuss the governing program, which is to be perfected by
a group of apolitical experts. In other news, President Emil Constantinescu,
at the OSCE summit in Lisbon, is due today to meet Hungarian Premier Gyula
Horn. -- Zsolt Mato
[14] MOLDOVA'S NEW PRESIDENT PLEDGES PEACE, PROSPERITY.
President-elect Petru Lucinschi on 2 December told journalists that his
four-year term would bring stability and prosperity to Moldova. Lucinschi
made the statement at the first press conference after his victory in the 1
December presidential runoff. Final results show him beating incumbent
Mircea Snegur by an 8% margin. Lucinschi, who is generally seen as pro-
Russian, was quoted as saying that "I have good personal contacts with the
Russian leadership and intend to use them for the good of our country."
Lucinschi will officially take office on 15 January. Meanwhile, the cabinet
headed by Prime Minister Andrei Sangheli tendered its resignation "in order
not to hamper president-elect Lucinschi to form a new cabinet." Parliament
is expected to accept the resignation today. Lucinschi suggested that he
would favor a cabinet of "national trust," made up of technocrats -- Dan
Ionescu
[15] FLOODS IN BULGARIA FORCE EVACUATIONS.
Torrential rains caused floods in southern Bulgaria that have led to three
deaths since 1 December and roads, rail links and power have all been cut
off in the Rhodopi mountains region, international and national media
reported on 2 December. The Civil Defense Service declared a state of
emergency in Zlatograd and Devin, where two thirds of all houses were
flooded. Emergency crews are working to repair the damage in Devin,
Kardzhali and other towns. -- Maria Koinova
[16] BULGARIAN POLITICAL ROUNDUP.
The mainly ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedom (DPS) held its
third National Conference in Kardzhali on 1 December, RFE/RL reported. DPS
Chairman Ahmed Dogan said early parliamentary elections must be provoked by
all legal means "no later than April or May." Dogan was reelected DPS chair
for three years. Meanwhile, the Liberal-Democratic Alternative was formed
on 30 November with outgoing President Zhelyu Zhelev's backing and in his
presence. The new party seeks to replace the present parliamentary republic
with a presidential republic. The delegates decided to press for early
elections for an assembly which will alter the existing constitution. --
Stefan Krause
[17] ALBANIA SUSPENDED FROM FIFA.
Following Albania's suspension from the international soccer governing body
FIFA on 27 November, the Albanian government on 2 December annulled the
previous suspension of Albanian Football Association General Secretary
Eduard Dervishi and reinstated its executive committee, Reuters reported.
The suspension had put a 14 December World Cup qualifying match against
Northern Ireland in jeopardy. Albanian Sports Secretary Marjeta Pronjari
had suspended Dervishi for consistently postponing executive committee
elections. -- Fabian Schmidt
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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