![]() |
Compact version |
|
![]() |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
|
![]() |
Thursday, 15 August 2024
![]() |
||
![]() |
![]() |
|
RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 7, 00-01-11Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 4, No. 7, 11 January 2000CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ANOTHER POLICE OFFICER DETAINED IN CONNECTIONWITH ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT SHOOTINGSPolice lieutenant Artur Hakobian was detained on 10 January on suspicion of operational negligence, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported, quoting a senior official from the military prosecutor's office. Hakobian commanded the police platoon on duty at the parliament building on 27 October that failed to prevent the five armed gunmen who murdered eight senior officials including Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsian from entering the building. Hakobian is the third police officer to be detained in connection with the shootings. A total of 16 people are under investigation for their alleged roles in the killings. LF [02] FORMER ARMENIAN MINISTER OF EDUCATION ON TRIALThe trial opened in Yerevan on 10 January of Ashot Bleyan, aformer minister of education and leader of the Nor Ughi (New Path) Party, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. Bleyan is charged with abuse of power and embezzling public funds. He has rejected those charges as politically motivated. LF [03] AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT VISITS TURKEY...On a visit toAnkara on 9-10 January, Heidar Aliev discussed with his Turkish counterpart, Suleyman Demirel, the proposed Baku- Ceyhan export pipeline for Azerbaijani oil and the prospects for resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Aliev said the Karabakh conflict cannot be resolved without Turkish participation, according to AP. Also on 10 January, Azerbaijani presidential administration official Novruz Mamedov rejected media reports citing Aliev as having said prior to his departure from Baku that Azerbaijan might drop its objections to the reopening of transport connections between Turkey and Armenia, Turan reported. Such reports, he said, are "misconstrued." On returning to Baku on 11 January, Aliev denied media reports that he underwent a medical checkup in the Ankara military hospital where he was treated for bronchitis in January 1999, Turan reported. LF [04] ...COMMENTS ON UNREST IN TABRIZTuran on 11 Januaryquoted President Aliev as saying that the ongoing demonstrations by ethnic Azeris in the Iranian city of Tabriz were orchestrated by unnamed forces interested in exacerbating relations between Azerbaijan and Iran. Aliev denied having received and rejected a request from Mahmudali Chehragani, an Azerbaijani professor at the University of Tabriz and one of the leaders of the so-called South Azerbaijan National Liberation Movement, to be allowed to travel to Azerbaijan for medical treatment. LF [05] GEORGIA CLAIMS TO INTERCEPT RUSSIAN ARMS BOUNDFOR CHECHNYAGeorgian parliamentary speaker Zurab Zhvania told journalists in Tbilisi on 11 January that earlier that day Georgian security officials detained a convoy of military vehicles from an unnamed Russian base in Georgia that was transporting arms to Chechnya, Caucasus Press reported. LF [06] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT OUTLINES ELECTION PROGRAM...Eduard Shevardnadze confirmed in his weekly radio addresson 10 January that he will run for a second term in office in the 9 April presidential poll. He said his primary objectives are to improve social and economic conditions in Georgia, to restore the central government's control over the entire country, and to raise Georgia's international standing, according to Caucasus Press. Also on 10 January, National Democratic Party of Georgia Chairwoman Irina Sarishvili- Chanturia, who had been considered a possible presidential candidate, said her party will not support any candidate in the April poll. Socialist Party chairman Vakhtang Rcheulishvili said that the parties aligned in the Batumi alliance may propose as their presidential candidate either former Georgian Communist Party First Secretary Dzhumber Patiashvili or Adjar Supreme Council Chairman Aslan Abashidze. Patiashvili ran unsuccessfully against Shevardnadze in the November 1995 presidential poll. LF [07] ...DOWNPLAYS THREAT OF NEW ABKHAZ CAMPAIGNShevardnadze told journalists in Tbilisi on 10 January that thethreat made by the newly-formed Interim Committee for Liberating Abkhazia to resort to hostilities in order to bring the region back under the central government's control is not serious, Caucasus Press reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 January 2000). Georgian deputy parliamentary speaker Vakhtang Kolbaya similarly expressed concern that the committee's appeal could encourage ethnic Georgian displaced persons from Abkhazia, whom his parliamentary faction represents, to resort to arms. He called for the swift resumption of talks on a political settlement to the conflict. LF [08] KAZAKH MIG SALE TRIAL RESUMESThe trial of two peoplesuspected of arranging the illegal sale to North Korea of 40 obsolete MiG aircraft resumed in Almaty on 10 January, Reuters and Interfax reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 7 January 2000). Vladimir Abiev, a lawyer for businessman Aleksandr Petrenko, said his client is accused of smuggling military property, while co-defendant Bakhitzhan Ertaev, who is chief of the army general staff, is accused of abusing his official position. Ertaev, who had earlier protested his innocence, claimed that Kazakhstan's Defense Ministry knew of the sale and that he "was merely fulfilling orders" from his superior, Defense Minister Mukhtar Altynbaev, who he demanded be summoned as a witness, RFE/RL's bureau in the former capital reported on 11 January. Altynbaev was dismissed when the scandal broke in August. Kazakh government officials have denied any knowledge of the affair (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 August and 7 September 1999). LF [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[09] SERBIAN OPPOSITION ADOPTS JOINT PROGRAM...Representatives of 17 opposition parties or coalitionsagreed in Belgrade on 10 January to begin joint protests on 9 March to demand that Serbian and Yugoslav elections be held at all levels by the end of April (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 January 2000). The opposition representatives called for an end to "state terror" and "repressive laws," including the 1998 media law, the private Beta news agency reported. The signatories agreed to "cooperate in preparing for the elections, as well as during and after those elections." The opposition leaders added that they intend to "institutionalize" cooperation among themselves. They demanded equality between Serbia and Montenegro and decentralization of political power at all levels. Signatories included representatives of Vojvodina, Sandzak, and Kosova's Serbian minority. PM [10] ...WITH STRONG KOSOVA COMPONENT...The signatoriesalso appealed to the foreign ministers of the EU, the U.S., Russia, and China to fully implement Security Council Resolution 1244 on Kosova and allow "Serbian soldiers and police" to return there "in keeping with [existing] signed agreements." The opposition demands that KFOR protect "the state boundaries of Yugoslavia and Serbia with Albania and Macedonia" in Kosova and ensure full rights and local self- government for all minorities "in that Yugoslav and Serbian province." They call for an end to lawlessness there and for the return of all refugees and displaced persons. Kosova Serb leader Momcilo Trajkovic told the BBC's Serbian Service that he is pleased with the opposition's stand on Kosova. Serbian Orthodox Archbishop Artemije also represented the Serbs of Kosova at the opposition meeting. PM [11] ...PLUS INTERNATIONAL DIMENSIONSThe oppositionleaders appealed in their agreement for international aid for "about 1 million refugees in Serbia and Montenegro and for the more than 2 million [Yugoslav] citizens who live on the brink of starvation." The signatories asked for an immediate end to the ban on air flights and oil deliveries to Serbia. They appealed to the U.S. and EU to end all sanctions once Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic agrees to hold elections. The international community should also return Yugoslavia to full membership in the OSCE and thereby help thwart the "regime's [campaign] to satanize everything in Serbia that is European and democratic," they commented. The opposition leaders added that Belgrade should resume full diplomatic relations with Washington, London, Paris, and Berlin. They also called for full membership for Serbia and Yugoslavia in the EU's Balkan stability program. PM [12] PREDICTABLE REACTIONS TO OPPOSITION PROGRAMTheagreement is the first such pact between the main opposition groups in more than two years, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported on 10 January. Alliance for Change coalition leader Veran Batic hailed the move. Evidence of political jockeying among leaders was nonetheless evident. For example, Democratic Party chairman Zoran Djindjic and the Serbian Civic League's Goran Svilanovic did not sign the documents personally, but Batic did so on their behalf, "Danas" reported. This reflects Djindjic's insistence that he will not subordinate himself to the Serbian Renewal Movement's Vuk Draskovic, who hosted the meeting, the BBC's Serbian Service commented. Former General Momcilo Perisic said that he agreed with the documents but did not sign them because they did not include his key demand for the immediate ouster of Milosevic. Regime media claimed that the opposition also concluded an additional "secret" agreement pledging loyalty to "their masters" in the West, the BBC noted. PM [13] MORE EU OIL FOR SERBIAOn 10 January, some 18 tankertrucks left the oil refinery in Skopje for the Serbian border with heating oil for the cities of Nis and Pirot (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 8 December 1999). The shipment is a gift from the EU in its Energy for Democracy program, which provides heating oil to municipalities governed by the opposition. PM [14] GREEK ELECTRICITY FOR KOSOVA?A governmentspokesman said in Athens on 10 January that Greece will supply some 60 percent of Kosova's imported electricity. Greece will send the electricity via Albania, but it is not clear when the program will begin, AP reported. On 11 January, however, a spokesman for Greece's Public Power Corporation said he doubts that either Albania or Macedonia has the technical ability to transfer the electricity, which his company is willing to provide. Kosova needs to import about 100 megawatts daily, which is roughly half of its total consumption. Its main power plant is operational but in need of repair and improvements. PM [15] ALBANIA, ITALY TO CURB MIGRATIONItalian and Albanianofficials signed an agreement in Rome on 10 January aimed at reducing illegal migration from Albania to Italy across the Otranto Strait. Italy will supply two police helicopters to its neighbor and convert a Kosovar refugee camp in Albania for use by non-Albanians being repatriated, AP reported. Italian Interior Minister Enzo Bianco said that some 80 percent of the illegal immigrants leaving Albania for Italy are non- Albanians. PM [16] AGREEMENT REACHED ON CROATIAN POWER TRANSFERActing President Vlatko Pavletic and opposition leaders IvicaRacan and Drazen Budisa agreed in Zagreb on 10 January that Pavletic will call on Racan to form a government as soon as the recent parliamentary elections are repeated in 11 polling places and the result of that vote officially confirmed (see "RFE/RL Balkan Report," 3 January 2000). The repeat elections are slated for 16 January, which means that Racan can expect to receive a mandate from Pavletic by early February, "Jutarnji list" reported. The three men agreed on the importance of a smooth transfer of power from the Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) to the opposition coalition with minimum delay. PM [17] CROATIAN TV DIRECTOR TO RESIGNIvica Vrkic, whoheads state-run television (HRT), said in Zagreb on 10 January that he will offer his resignation once the new parliament convenes. This is the first time that a top HDZ appointee has publicly offered to resign once the transfer of power begins, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. "Jutarnji list" wrote on 11 January that German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder replaced 51 top political appointees when he succeeded Helmut Kohl in 1998, but it noted that Racan "can expect to replace even more" top officials once the HDZ's 10-year reign formally ends. The Zagreb daily added that evidence is increasingly coming to light of the HDZ's links to Herzegovinian mafia structures and even to international terrorists. PM [18] ROMANIAN PRESIDENT PROMULGATES LANDRESTITUTION LAWPresident Emil Constantinescu went on nationwide television on 10 January to promulgate the land restitution law, which the parliament had passed in December. Also last month, the Constitutional Court rejected an opposition appeal to declare the legislation unconstitutional. The law allows former owners to claim back up to 50 hectares of arable land and 10 hectares of forest; a law passed in 1989 allowed the return of only 10 hectares of land and one hectare of forest. Constantinescu said he wanted to promulgate the law on television "not as a gratuitous gesture but as a sign that the year 2000 will remain in history as the year when land was finally returned to its lawful owners." He also harshly criticized the Party of Social Democracy in Romania for having attempted to block the legislation. MS [19] ROMANIA RENEWS PARLEYS WITH IMFAn IMF delegationheaded by the fund's chief negotiator for Romania, Emmanuel Zervoudakis, began a new round of talks in Bucharest on 10 January on the implementation of the agreement reached with Bucharest last year. In August 1999, the IMF released the first tranche of a $547 million loan, but the second tranche has been delayed since October owing to IMF doubts about whether Romania can meet the fund's condition of a tight fiscal policy and given the political crisis in the country. Prime Minister Mugur Isarescu on 10 January convened a cabinet meeting to discuss strategy at the negotiations with the IMF, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. Government sources said a deficit equal to 3 percent of GDP and annual inflation at 25-30 percent remain Romania's objectives for 2000. MS [20] ROMANIAN RULING PARTY WARNS DISSENTERSNationalPeasant Party Christian Democratic (PNTCD) Chairman Ion Diaconescu said on 10 January that no disciplinary measures have been taken "thus far" against the so-called Brasov group supporting former Premier Radu Vasile. He added, however, that the PNTCD intends to be "stern" in its handling of those who do not comply with the party statutes. The same day, members of the Brasov group met with Vasile to discuss "strategies" at a meeting of the PNTCD's leading executive body planned for later this month. Meanwhile, at a gathering that the Civic Alliance Movement had organized, the PNTCD, the National Liberal Party, the Union of Rightist Forces, and the National Christian Democratic Alliance all agreed that "solidarity" of the center-right forces is required to "coherently counter-balance" leftist "anti-reform" tendencies, RFE/RL's Bucharest bureau reported. MS [21] RUSSIAN PUBLICATION'S PREMISES DEFACED INMOLDOVAUnidentified persons have painted a swastika on the building housing the editorial offices of the Russian- language publication "Novii poryadok" (The New Order) in Chisinau, Flux reported on 10 January. They also painted slogans demanding that "Russian occupants, go home!" and "Freedom to Chechnya." "Novii poryadok" said the attack was "an intimidation attempt or a provocation." It added that a movement calling itself "Novii poryadok" will soon be formed in Moldova. Moldovan Journalists' Association Chairman Valeriu Sahnareanu said his group cannot respond to the incident before the results of a police investigation are made public, but he said he does not rule out that "Novii poryadok" staged the incident itself and that the publication has "neo- fascist leanings." The name of one of Aleksandr Barkashov's Russian National Unity publications in Russia is "Russkii poryadok." MS [C] END NOTE[22] Former Soviet Defense Minister Yazov Speaks Out(Part 2)This interview with the Soviet Union's last defense minister, Dmitrii Yazov, first appeared in the Czech daily "Lidove noviny" on 25 November 1999 (Part 1 was published in "RFE/RL Newsline," 10 January 2000). Petra Prochazkova conducted the interview. Q: Today, your name is mainly associated with the events of August 1991, which are interpreted as an attempt at a putsch. You and then KGB chief [Vladimir] Kryuchkov allegedly gave orders to isolate Gorbachev in Crimea on 18 August. This is an inaccurate interpretation of those events. We wanted to prevent the illegal break-up of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev wanted to liquidate the USSR against the will of the majority in August 1991. We tried to rectify the situation. Gorbachev was terribly confused, he had no idea what to do. He was most influenced by [Eduard] Shevardnadze, [Aleksandr] Yakovlev, and to a certain extent the Americans, the Germans, and Western European politicians. We went to Crimea to convince him that he was making a mistake, to remind him that on 17 March 1991, almost 77 percent of the USSR's citizens had voted to preserve the USSR. He took offense. That was the whole putsch. I told him that we have to fulfill the will of the people and preserve the integrity of the country. But Gorbachev went against the people, that's why I consider him to be a traitor. Q: Do you regret that you didn't arrest Boris Yeltsin back then? Perhaps it would have been better. I knew that things would be bad. But it was not in my jurisdiction to arrest Yeltsin. We had a legal president in Gorbachev.... But Gorbachev is a coward. He was the commander in chief of the Russian Federation's armed forces. Not me.... Gorbachev listened to his advisers, who were greater in number than the generals in our army. Thatcher, Reagan, and Bush unofficially belonged among them.... However, everything was just beginning in August 91. Q: And it resulted in the Belovezha accords on the dissolution of the Soviet Union. But that was a crime, don't you understand? What right did the Ukrainian [Leonid] Kravchuk, the Belarusian [Stanislau] Shushkevich, and the Russian Yeltsin have to sign an agreement on the liquidation of a superpower? That did not conform to the law or democratic principles. Three drunkards met in a forest almost on the Polish border and signed a piece of paper. And Gorbachev, who was the head of state, didn't do anything. So who's guilty...? Gorbachev should have ordered the deployment of the paratroopers, and he should have had all three of them arrested as traitors. Q: Why do you think he didn't do it? Because he sold himself. Him and Yeltsin. For example, [former Czechoslovak communist leader] Gustav Nikodimovich Husak, who I met many times, was an extremely honorable man. Just like [Czechoslovak communist Jozef] Lenart. What, they were bad Czechs? Was [Klement] Gottwald a bad Czech? None of them was a Nobel Prize laureate. Why didn't a single socialist politician ever win that award--and then suddenly Gorbachev won it? He didn't win it for ending the Cold War, as they say he did, but because he sold the interests of socialist countries. In reality, the Cold War didn't end. It continues.... The Cold War is also continuing in relation to the events in Chechnya. Q: Who do you think is responsible for Chechnya? It is the result of the misguided policies of our leadership. They should have negotiated with [Dzhokhar] Dudaev as early as 1991. I knew him personally. He was an excellent airforce commander. An intelligent person, and you could talk to him. Q: So the Western protests against the military operation are justified? What business is it of the Americans? Why are they interfering in Russia's internal affairs? They say we don't have the right to bomb Chechnya.... War is not a political matter, but an economic matter. Politics only serves economics. Lenin correctly said that politics is just a concentrated expression of economics. Economic interests were also behind the disintegration of the USSR. And separatism was added into the mix. Western politicians had been preparing the situation for a long time. We knew it. But what were we supposed to do? Bomb the USA? The main goal of certain American politicians was to destroy the Soviet Union. Their radio stations did some 500 hours worth of broadcasts in the languages of all nations of the USSR. They induced people to get out of the evil empire, Ukraine to fight for its independence. But look at what their so-called freedom brought them! For a Ukrainian who worked in the mines, it means unemployment. Back then, he was not free according to you, but now he is free and has nothing. Many people became the presidents of sovereign states. That's the essence of the matter.... Q: And us? Not even you. In the times of the USSR, Czechoslovakia produced a ton of grain per head and a ton of steel per head annually. Fifteen million people gained 15 million metric tons of steel and grain. Try asking how much you produce today.... Q: Were you better off under the USSR? I wouldn't say so. The Communist leadership didn't have any privileges. We were allowed to buy goods directly from the warehouses without waiting in line, but I never used that advantage. I sent my assistant, sometimes my wife did the shopping. Otherwise, we didn't need anything. We drove in a government car to the government dacha. Now the Defense Ministry has sold off 427 of its sanatoriums and dachas. They were all bought up by businessmen, and the soldiers are left with nothing. Translated by Victor Gomez. 11-01-00 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
|
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |