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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 2, No. 116, 98-06-19Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 2, No. 116, 19 June 1998CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] AZERBAIJAN REJECTS ARMENIAN STATEMENT ON KARABAKHIn an interview with Turan on18 June, Azerbaijani presidential adviser Vafa Gulu-zade said that Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian statement's that the Karabakh peace process is deadlocked as a result of Azerbaijan's intransigence is "groundless." Gulu-zade also rejected Oskanian's argument that Armenia cannot allow the deadlock to continue for a period of years as to do so would permit Azerbaijan to build up its military strength. In such a case, according to Oskanian, Armenia would be have to provide more concrete security guarantees to the Armenian population of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and would consider all other options, including the possible reunification of Armenia and the republic. Azerbaijani Deputy Parliamentary Chairman Yashar Aliev told Interfax on 18 June that Oskanian's statement testifies to Armenia's "aggressive stance and...claims on Azerbaijani land." LF[02] AZERBAIJANI OPPOSITION PROTESTS CRACKDOWNAn independent journalists' trade union, a group for the protection of women's rights, and the Democratic Congress (which is composed of a dozen leading opposition parties) have all issued statements condemning the detention of Amaliya Seidova, editor of the opposition newspaper "Chag," Turan reported. Security forces arrested Seidova after the newspaper's premises were searched on 16 June. LF[03] SECOND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE NAMED IN AZERBAIJANThe Party of National Independence of Azerbaijan on 14 June voted to nominate its chairman, Etibar Mamedov, as a candidate for the October presidential elections, Turan reported. Mamedov, whose political orientation is ambivalent, told Turan he does not believe that opposition leaders' unanimous stance on boycotting the vote will last, given the substantive disagreements between them. Meanwhile, the Consultative Assembly, which unites 11 pro-government parties, issued a statement on 18 June saying that the controversial law on the presidential elections corresponds to international standards. The opposition has condemned that law as undemocratic (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 1, No. 16, 16 June 1998.) LF[04] ARMENIAN PRESIDENT URGES COMPROMISE OVER ELECTION LAWMeeting on 17 June with representatives of the Justice and Unity bloc, which was formed in March to back his presidential candidacy, Robert Kocharian called for a compromise solution to the deadlock within the parliament over the new election law, Noyan Tapan and RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Kocharian argued that Armenia is not yet ready for a parliament elected exclusively under a majority system. The presidential press service quoted him as suggesting that half the seats within the new parliament should be allocated to single- member constituencies and the other half on the basis of party lists. Kocharian also proposed "rating voting" in the party lists, whereby voters would be able to endorse candidates included on those lists (see also "End Note"). LF[05] TAJIK LAW ON POLITICAL PARTIES AMENDEDPresident Imomali Rakhmonov on 18 June endorsed amendments to the controversial law passed last month banning religious-based political parties. The amendments were drafted by a trilateral commission composed of representatives from the government, parliament and the opposition. Oppositionists objected to the original wording of the law, which, they feared, would be used to ban the influential opposition Islamic Revival Party. Under the compromise wording, political parties are now forbidden to use either religious organizations or their premises for political ends. LF[06] TAJIK PRESIDENT DENIES RUSSIAN OFFICERS BACK OPPOSITIONIn an interview with "Krasnaya zvezda" published on 18 June, Rakhmonov said he is aware of rumors that some Russian army officers serving in Tajikistan support the opposition. But Rakhmonov insisted that those rumors are without foundation. LF[07] KAZAKHSTAN, CHINA TO INCREASE MILITARY COOPERATIONWrapping up his first visit to China on 17 June, the chief of staff of Kazakhstan's armed forces, Bykhtyzhan Yertayev, told ITAR-TASS that he reached agreement with his Chinese counterpart, Fu Quanyou, on sharing experience in the fields of military construction and reform of the armed forces. Yertayev also met with Chinese Defense Minister Chi Haitian and toured Chinese army units in Shanghai, Nanjing, and Urumqi. LF[08] CANADIAN OFFICIAL QUESTIONED OVER KYRGYZ CYANIDE SPILLThe Kyrgyz Security Ministry has begun questioning the former president of the Canadian-Kyrgyz gold-mining joint venture, one of whose lorries discharged 20 tons of sodium cyanide into the Barskoon River last month, Interfax reported. Legal proceedings have been launched in connection with the spill. Meanwhile, the Movement for Ecological Safety, founded earlier this week (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 18 June 1998), met for the first time in Bishkek on 18 June to discuss the aftermath of the spill, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. Chairman Topchubek Turgunaliev said the movement will conduct an independent investigation into the accident. It will also campaign for the cancellation of the contract between the Kyrgyz government and the Canadian company CAMECO and launch legal proceedings against all those responsible for the accident. LF[09] FORMER KYRGYZ PREMIER APPOINTED AMBASSADOR TO GERMANYPresident Askar Akaev on 17 June appointed former Prime Minister Apas Djumagulov as ambassador to Germany, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported. Djumagulov replaces Omar Sultanov, who was named head of the presidential administration in late March. The former premier, 64, was appointed director of the state oil and gas company following his resignation in March 1998, which, he said, was aimed at making way for a younger and more energetic head of government. LF[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[10] BELGRADE REJECTS CONTACT GROUP'S DEMANDYugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic said in Brussels on 18 June that his government is willing to resume talks with Kosovar leaders but without international mediation. He rejected the key demand of the Contact Group that Serbia withdraw its security forces from Kosova. Jovanovic said that Serbia has the right to station forces on its own territory and that security troops are needed in the troubled province, the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" reported. Fehmi Agani, who heads the Kosovar negotiating team for talks with the Serbs, told the Belgrade daily "Danas" that there can be no talks unless Serbia withdraws its security forces and accepts international monitoring of the situation. PM[11] GELBARD CALLS MILOSEVIC OFFER 'RED HERRING'Robert Gelbard, the U.S.'s special envoy for the former Yugoslavia, said in Washington on 18 June that Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic's recent offer to reopen talks with the Kosovars is a "red herring" because it was the Kosovars who broke off the previous negotiations in response to Milosevic's use of armed violence in the province. Gelbard called the Kosovars' attitude "understandable." Meanwhile in London, Amnesty International said that relatives are searching for some 150 missing ethnic Albanians in Kosova. The statement added that the organization is investigating reports of Serbian forces systematically looting and setting fire to homes of Kosovars who have fled to Albania or Montenegro. PM[12] RUSSIA SEEKS TO PIN DOWN MILOSEVICSergei Kislyak, who is Russia's permanent representative to NATO, told a special meeting of the NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council in Brussels on 18 June that Deputy Foreign Minister Nikolai Afanasevskii will soon go to Belgrade to obtain from Milosevic a detailed plan for implementing the pledges he recently made to President Boris Yeltsin (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17 June 1998). The minister will then go on to Prishtina, and a second Russian envoy will visit Tirana and Skopje to discuss the Kosova crisis. PM[13] KOSOVAR PRIME MINISTER PLEDGES ORGANIZED RESISTANCEThe government of the Kosovar shadow- state and representatives of five Kosovar political parties met in Tirana on 18 June and agreed to appoint "people with full executive authority" to organize self-defense in those districts under attack by Serbian security forces, the Kosovar news agency KIC reported. This is the first time that the shadow-state government, which favors non- violence, has announced efforts aimed at resisting the Serbian forces. Spokesmen for the Kosova Liberation Army (UCK) have repeatedly called the shadow-state authorities defeatist and ineffective for shunning armed resistance. The Serbian armed crackdown has swelled the ranks of the UCK and given rise to the slogan among ordinary Kosovars that "we are all UCK." In Kosova, there was continued fighting in the western region between Gjakova and the Albanian border, KIC reported. FS/PM[14] U.S. WARNS UCK AGAINST NEW OFFENSIVEState Department spokesman James Rubin said in Washington on 18 June that the UCK will be playing into Milosevic's hands if it launches fresh attacks on Serbian forces. "We are aware that the Kosova Liberation Army is promising another offensive [that will] make, in our view, the situation even worse. That is a sure-fire way to give President Milosevic another pretext to kill innocent Albanians, and the Kosova Liberation Army should think about that. The ball is in President Milosevic's court to create the conditions that will allow serious negotiations to begin." Rubin added that there is a danger that "radical Islamic elements" from Iran, Afghanistan, or other Muslim countries could join the fighting in Kosova, but he stressed that there is no evidence that they have done so. Many Kosovars are Muslim, but both the shadow state and the UCK are secular in orientation. PM[15] FRANCE SAYS KOSOVAR INDEPENDENCE POSSIBLERubin also said in Washington on 18 June that "we support enhanced autonomy [for Kosova], but people are deluding themselves if they think that they are going to achieve independence." In Paris, however, Defense Minister Alain Richard noted that Milosevic may be deluding himself if he thinks he "can maintain a unified Serbia with a [Kosova] that is merely autonomous. This is an extremely dangerous period for Mr. Milosevic...because, if he continues like this, in three months or six months, we will no longer be able to discuss merely autonomy." Independence is the officially stated goal of the shadow state and the UCK. Representatives of the international community have repeatedly told the Kosovars that the only acceptable solution is some form of autonomy within federal Yugoslavia. PM[16] ALBANIAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR END TO "ETHNIC CLEANSING"Visiting Kosovar refugees in the northern city of Bajram Curri on 18 June, Rexhep Meidani said that "we have to stop the bloodshed, genocide, and ethnic cleansing by any [possible] means." He added that if Milosevic does not take part in serious negotiations with shadow-state President Ibrahim Rugova, NATO should carry out air raids on Serbia without UN approval. He added that force "is the only language Milosevic understands." Meidani, together with U.S. ambassador Marisa Lino and OSCE ambassador Daan Everts, visited the city's hospital, a new refugee camp at Qafe Molle near the border with Kosova, and a family that is hosting 50 refugees in its house. A high-ranking government delegation accompanied Meidani to assess the situation and coordinate relief efforts between civilian and military authorities. FS[17] ALBANIA PROTESTS BORDER SHOOTINGA Foreign Ministry official on 18 June handed over to the Yugoslav charge d' affaires a note protesting the recent killing of an Albanian citizen by a Serbian sniper inside Albanian territory (see "RFE/RL Newsline, " 17 June 1998). The statement said that "such adventurous acts must be stopped, or they could have grave consequences." The official Yugoslav news agency Tanjug denied the Albanian charges and reported that the man was killed when he tried to enter Yugoslav territory. On 17 June, BBC television broadcast footage that substantiated the Albanian position. Meanwhile in Belgrade, some 250 parents of conscripts staged a protest to demand that the army return their sons from Kosova. PM[18] ALBANIA STARTS AIR FORCE EXERCISESThe Albanian air force began air maneuvers at Tirana airport on 19 June in a show of force in reaction to several recent violations of Albanian airspace by Yugoslav aircraft. The force has 12 airplanes of the types MiG- 17, MiG-19, and MiG-21. Elsewhere, Albanian customs officials in Durres told journalists on 18 June that they had seized a truck carrying smuggled weapons from Ancona on 11 June. The arms included 30 automatic guns, a sniper, 30 antitank launchers, maps, and communications equipment. FS[19] CROATIAN WAR CRIMES SUSPECT BACK IN ZAGREBDinko Sakic, the commander of the World War II concentration camp at Jasenovac, arrived in Zagreb on 18 June following his extradition from Argentina, where he has lived for over 50 years. He will face war crimes charges in conjunction with the deaths of thousands of Serbs, Jews, and Roma at the camp. Sakic maintains that no one died of anything other than natural causes during his tenure at Jasenovac. PM[20] ROMANIAN HEALTH MINISTER REFUSES TO RESIGN...Francisc Baranyi, who admits to having been forced to sign up as a Securitate informer, is refusing to resign, despite Prime Minister Radu Vasile's request that he do so. Baranyi said on 18 June that he wants the premier to study his file and witness the fact that he never informed on anyone. He added that the decision on whether he will resign must be taken by the leadership of the Hungarian Democratic Federation of Romania, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Government spokesman Razvan Popescu said Vasile is sticking to his position and wants all ministers to submit written declarations on their past links with the former communist secret police. MS[21] ...AS SECURITATE LINKS CONTINUE TO DOMINATE PUBLIC DEBATETransportation Minister Traian Basescu on 18 June said that the reports he made to the Navrom maritime company during the 12 years he was captain of a ship are "likely to have been forwarded to the Securitate." Also on 18 June, Romanian Information Service director Costin Georgescu said Greater Romania Party leader Corneliu Vadim Tudor's written pledge to act as an informer "does not figure" in his Securitate file. At the same time, Georgescu refrained from saying the pledge, published by the daily "Ziua," was a forgery, as claimed by Tudor. MS[22] TURKISH PREMIER IN ROMANIAMeeting in Bucharest on 18 June, Mesut Yilmaz and his Romanian counterpart, Radu Vasile, agreed that bilateral trade must increase from the $600 million to $1 billion over the next year. The two premiers also discussed the crisis in Kosova, saying after their meeting that they have "common views" on the ways to solve the conflict and on other regional developments. Yilmaz is scheduled to meet with President Emil Constantinescu on 19 June. MS[23] MOLDOVAN ENERGY CRISIS BRINGS PUBLIC TRANSPORT TO HALTHalf of the Moldovan capital, Chisinau, was without electricity for several hours on 17 June, causing trolley buses and broadcasting to grind to a halt, RFE/RL's bureau reported the next day. Ukraine, from where Moldova imports one third of its electricity, suspended exports after one of its reactors at Chornobyl was shut down earlier this week. Moldova owes Ukraine $11 million for electricity supplies. The energy crisis has been made worse by Gazprom's recent decision to cut gas deliveries by 50 percent. BASA- press on 18 June reported that Prime Minister Ion Ciubuc has resumed negotiations with the Tiraspol separatists on the price of electricity supplies from the Transdniester. Tiraspol claims Chisinau owes $19 million for deliveries, of which Ciubuc promised to pay $10 million by 1 July. MS[C] END NOTE[24] IMMINENT RIFT WITHIN PRO-PRESIDENTIAL CAMP IN ARMENIA?by Emil DanielyanDisagreements over the country's new political system are emerging within the broad coalition that supports Armenian President Robert Kocharian. The euphoria over the election last spring of the president, shared by most opposition parties and the state apparatus, is starting to wane in the face of intensifying conflicts of interest. The issue provoking controversy is how the next Armenian parliament should be elected. The answer to that question--which at first glance seems insignificant--will determine how the new political landscape in Armenia differs from the previous one. Four former opposition parties within the pro-Kocharian Justice and Unity bloc want the majority of parliamentary seats to be allocated according to the system of proportional representation. They argue that elections based on that system are more difficult to falsify and will promote the development of political parties, a prerequisite for democracy. But the bloc's other member, the Yerkrapah union of Karabakh war veterans, headed by Defense Minister Vazgen Sargsian, favors allocating the overwhelming majority of the 131 seats in the next parliament in single-mandate constituencies. The Yerkrapah argues that most of the country's intellectuals are not aligned with any specific political party and will therefore will not play a role if party lists take precedence. In reality, this seemingly conceptual debate is all about how to win elections. The Yerkrapah's position is indicative of the interests of a wider class that can tentatively be called the "people of power." Such people have no developed political ideology but have clearly defined economic interests that hinge on close ties with government bodies and, especially, on control over local authorities. The single-mandate system frees them of the need to formulate political programs by shifting the emphasis to the personalities of the candidates. It also creates fertile ground for vote manipulation through ties to local quasi-mafiosi clans, leverage over the authorities, and substantial financial resources. Such tactics enabled the Pan-Armenian Nat reported ruling party, to ensure the victory of Levon Ter-Petrossian in the disputed 1996 presidential elections. Opposition politicians contend that the relationship between Kocharian government's and the "power class" (top bureaucrats, local bosses, businessmen, and so forth) has so far been based on an arrangement whereby the latter gives full political backing to the former in exchange for non-interference in its sometimes dubious economic activities. The power class has remained largely unaffected by the change of leadership in Armenia last winter after many of its members transferred their allegiance from the HHSh to the Yerkrapah. (Some HHSh members have, however, been stripped of their jobs, others are under investigation for financial abuses.) Its position, however, could be jeopardized if it loses control over the parliament. The single-mandate system would leave the other Justice and Unity parties with few chances of winning considerable representation in the parliament. After many years of political isolation, they want to gain a broader share in the government system than is currently provided by the handful of minor positions distributed to the former opposition groups. Free and fair parliamentary elections (which it believes are possible only under a proportional representation system) is the only way to achieve that goal. Meeting with representatives of the Justice and Unity group on 17 June, Kocharian urged them to try to reach a compromise. He proposed that half the seats in the new parliament be allocated under the single mandate system and the remaining half on the basis of party lists. He also said that he backs the idea of "rating voting" to be applied to party lists. According to it, as well as voting for political parties, Armenian voters would also make their choice among concrete individuals included on electoral slates. It remains unclear whether the Yerkrapah will accept this compromise, or whether they will forge ahead with their intention to draft a new law from scratch. If they opt for the latter course, a showdown between the two camps will probably occur in the fall, when the new Yerkrapah draft law will be submitted for discussion. Some parties have already said they may boycott the summer 1999 parliamentary elections. Such a move would run the risk of renewed political polarization and signal the end of the new regime's declared "national unity." The author is a Yerevan-based RFE/RL correspondent. 19-06-98 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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