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RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 4, No. 108, 00-06-05Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org>RFE/RL NEWSLINEVol. 4, No. 108, 5 June 2000CONTENTS[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
[B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
[C] END NOTE
[A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA[01] ARMENIAN LEADERS REASSURE WORLD BANK...Recently appointedPrime Minister Andranik Markarian assured World Bank regional director Judy O'Connor in Yerevan on 2 June that his cabinet will continue the strategy of economic reforms agreed on by the bank and the two previous governments, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported, citing Markarian's press office. The premier said he hopes that the World Bank will release the promised structural adjustment loans that are to cover about half of the government's budget deficit. Release of two separate loan tranches totaling $55 million is conditional on the privatization of four energy distribution networks, which the parliament voted in late April to suspend (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 April 2000). Government officials have said the privatization will go ahead, despite legislators' opposition. LF [02] ...AND IMFAlso on 2 June, President Robert Kocharian metwith a senior IMF delegation headed by the deputy director of the fund's European department, Thomas Wulf. Wulf was said to have expressed concern over Armenia's most recent macroeconomic indicators, including first quarter GDP growth of less than 1 percent. Kocharian attributed those disappointing figures to the tense political situation during the first few months of the year and expressed confidence that the situation will improve over the next few months. The IMF and the Armenian authorities have reportedly been negotiating a new Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility, a low-interest loan designed to strengthen the country's highly unfavorable balance of payments. Both Kocharian and Markarian responded to expressions of concern over corruption, vowing to implement a comprehensive "anti-corruption program" intended to create a more favorable business climate in Armenia. LF [03] ARMENIAN PRESIDENTIAL AIDE CLEARED OVER PARLIAMENT SHOOTINGSThe military prosecutor investigating the 27 October Armenianparliament shootings has closed the criminal case brought against presidential aide Aleksan Harutiunian in connection with that incident, citing a lack of evidence, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported on 2 June. Harutiunian had been taken into custody in late December and charged with "inciting" the five gunmen who perpetrated the killings, but he was released in mid-April after a Yerevan court ruled that there were no grounds for detaining him further. Also on 2 June, Armenian National Television Deputy Director Harutiun Harutiunian (no relation to Aleksan) was released from pre-trial detention after similarly spending almost six months in jail on charges of complicity in the 27 October killings. But the charges against him have not been dropped, and he was required to sign a pledge not to leave Yerevan or to divulge details of the investigation. Two other persons accused of "helping" and "inciting" the killers are also likely to be freed shortly, following the retraction by the gunmen's leader, Nairi Hunanian, of his previous testimony. LF [04] RANSOM DEMANDED FOR UN OFFICIALS IN GEORGIAThe as yetunidentified men who on 1 June abducted two Danish army officers serving with the UN observer force in Georgia, two employees of the Halo anti-landmine NGO, and their Abkhaz interpreter in Abkhazia's Kodori gorge, released one of the Halo employees on 3 June. Interfax quoted Veselin Kostov, who is political secretary at the UN mission in Georgia, as saying that the kidnappers are demanding a ransom for the release of the remaining four hostages. He did not cite a figure, but unofficial reports say the sum is between $300,000 and $500,000. In a telephone conversation on 3 June, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze and Abkhaz leader Vladislav Ardzinba pledged to coordinate the efforts of their respective security bodies to obtain the hostages' release. Abkhaz Security Service chief Raul Khazhimba on 2 June blamed the kidnapping on Georgian guerrillas operating in western Georgia, but a spokesmen for the guerrillas denied responsibility. Kodori Governor Iveri Chelidze, who mediated in previous abductions in Kodori in July and October 1999, is trying to establish contact with the abductors. LF [05] COUNCIL OF EUROPE COMMISSIONER MEETS WITH CHECHEN REFUGEES INGEORGIAAlvaro Gil-Robles, who is the Council of Europe's human rights commissioner, met on 4 June with Chechen refugees now living temporarily in Georgia's Pankisi gorge, which borders on Chechnya, Interfax reported. Some of the refugees complained that the humanitarian aid they receive is inadequate. Local residents have complained that the so- called refugees included Chechen fighters. On 2 June, former Georgian Defense Minister Tengiz Kitovani warned that the presence of Chechen fighters on Georgian territory could provoke Moscow to launch air strikes against Georgia, Interfax reported. He claimed those fighters engage in abductions and drug trafficking. LF [06] KYRGYZ PROTESTERS TAKE PARLIAMENT DEPUTIES TO COURTSeveralpermanent participants in the ongoing picket in Bishkek have brought a libel suit against parliamentary deputies, including speaker Abdygany Erkebaev, who claimed in an open letter to the U.S. Congress in April that the demonstrators were being paid to stage their protest, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported on 3 June. Participants in the picket, which entered its 81st day on 4 June, are demanding the release of arrested opposition Ar-Namys party leader Feliks Kulov and the annulment of the parliamentary poll held in February- March. Some 30 voters from the southern town of Kadamjai joined the core of permanent protesters on 3 June to demand repeat elections in their constituency after the Osh Oblast court upheld a local court ruling that their candidate, Nooman Arkebaev, was defeated in the 12 March runoff. Also on 3 June, Kulov's lawyer Lyubov Ivanova told an RFE/RL correspondent in Bishkek that Kulov's trial on charges of abusing his official position while he occupied the post of national security minister may begin before the end of this month. LF [07] TAJIK AMBASSADOR TO KAZAKHSTAN RETURNS 'TEMPORARILY' TODUSHANBESadullodzhan Negmatov, in whose official car Kazakh security officials found some 86 kilograms of heroin in a search late last month (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 24 and 26 May 2000), has returned to Dushanbe, Interfax reported on 3 June, citing the Kazakh Foreign Ministry. Kazakhstan's National Security Committee had reported the previous day that Negmatov had "fled" Kazakhstan. Five Tajik citizens remain in custody in Almaty in connection with the drug haul. The Tajik Foreign Ministry has formally denied that Negmatov is in any way involved in drug smuggling. LF [08] KYRGYZ SECURITY OFFICIAL ANTICIPATES ISLAMIC MILITANTINCURSIONGeneral Bolot Januzakov, who is secretary of the Kyrgyz Security Council, told an RFE/RL correspondent in Bishkek on 2 June that 2,000-5,000 Islamic rebels are being trained at military bases in the Tavildara province of neighboring Tajikistan and could invade Kyrgyzstan at any time. He said that although Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan leader Djuma Namangani is currently in Afghanistan, most of the approximately 800 people who accompanied him there from Tajikistan in late April were elderly people or children. Namangani's fighters remained in Tajikistan, he added. Djanuzakov said that Kyrgyzstan is capable of repelling any attack by the militants. LF [09] REGIONAL OFFICIAL ASSASSINATED IN TAJIKISTANSergeiDavlatov, a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party, was shot dead by unidentified assailants on 3 June while returning from Dushanbe to Garm Oblast in eastern Tajikistan, where he held the post of local governor, AP and Reuters reported. His driver and bodyguard were also killed. Davlatov had earlier supported the United Tajik Opposition. LF [10] OSCE CHAIRWOMAN VISITS UZBEKISTANOn the final leg of hertour of the Central Asian states, Austrian Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairwoman in Office Benita Ferrero-Waldner held talks in Tashkent on 2 June with Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov on the domestic political situation and the situation in neighboring Uzbekistan, ITAR-TASS reported. Karimov assured Ferrero-Waldner that the Taliban claims that Uzbek war planes violated Afghanistan's airspace several days earlier are untrue. Ferrero-Waldner also discussed with Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov bilateral cooperation between Uzbekistan and Austria and between Uzbekistan and the OSCE, Interfax reported. LF [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE[11] MODERATE SERBS LEAVE KOSOVA COUNCIL...Father Sava, who is aleader of the moderate Serbian National Council (SNV) in Kosova, said at the Gracanica monastery on 4 June that the SNV's 62 members have suspended their participation as observers in the UN's transitional advisory council for the province. Sava added that the SNV will consider rejoining the UN's council after a delegation of SNV members returns from an upcoming meeting with the UN Security Council in New York, AP reported. The monk stressed that the recent deaths of eight Kosova Serbs in four incidents within a week or so have demonstrated the unwillingness or the inability of the UN's representatives in Kosova to combat "Albanian terrorism" and "take on the ethnic Albanian leaders suspected of involvement...in ethnic violence and organized crime," London's "The Guardian" reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 2 June 2000). "What we have...is not only individual acts of revenge, but attempts to organize the expulsion of Serbs from [Kosova], as well as other non-Albanian communities...in order to create better preconditions for the declaration of independence" of the province, Sava added. PM [12] ...CALL FOR STRONGER POLICE PRESENCESava also said inGracanica on 4 June that "the [international community's] entire strategy has to be changed. KFOR is a military force. They are not trained to fight against the Mafia and organized gangs. There are not enough policemen, especially policemen trained to fight organized crime," AP reported. Sava added that Kosova needs specially-trained anti-terrorism units that will be able to "identify perpetrators and groups who are trying to destabilize the situation." The monk did not say where he expects the understaffed UN police force in the province to find such forces. But he added that the SNV "cannot allow the international community to stand by and do nothing. They should fight this organized crime just as they fought [Yugoslav President Slobodan] Milosevic and his state terrorism," Reuters reported. PM [13] SERBIAN OPPOSITION LEADER WANTS KOUCHNER TO RESIGNVladanBatic, who is one of the leaders of the Alliance for Change in Serbia, said in an open letter that Bernard Kouchner, who is the UN's chief administrator in Kosova, should resign if he is unable to better defend the interests of the province's Serbs, "Danas" reported on 5 June. Batic added that resigning is the only morally appropriate thing for Kouchner to do if he cannot better protect all the inhabitants of the province, as he promised to do in 1999 when he arrived in Kosova. PM [14] KOUCHNER SHUTS DOWN ALBANIAN-LANGUAGE DAILYUN police andKFOR soldiers occupied the Prishtina offices of the daily "Dita" on 3 June. Kouchner ordered the newspaper temporarily closed down because it published an article in April alleging that Serbian UN worker Petar Topoljski committed atrocities against Kosovars during the 1999 conflict. UN officials have suggested that there was a link between the article and the murder of Topoljski in May (see "RFRE/RL Newsline," 18 May 2000). A spokeswoman for Kouchner stressed that persons seeking justice must use the legal system and not take the law into their own hands, AP reported. "Dita's" publisher Behlul Beqaj, who is a long-standing political adviser to Kosovar leader Hashim Thaci, argued that the paper published "facts" and that "if we cover up the facts, we will provoke more hatred." Beqaj stressed that journalists have a "moral, professional, and national responsibility" to present evidence against "criminals," dpa reported. PM [15] BELGRADE PROTESTS TO SKOPJEOfficials of the YugoslavForeign Ministry presented a demarche to the Macedonian ambassador on 3 June to protest the recent visit by Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski to Kosova (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 29 May 2000). The Macedonian government rejected the note, saying that Belgrade had been officially informed in advance of the visit, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported. Georgievski and Thaci discussed the opening of a Macedonian commercial office in Prishtina and possibly a diplomatic mission as well. Belgrade insists that Kosova is an integral part of Serbia and that Kosova's foreign relations are Belgrade's affair. PM [16] JUL'S BELGRADE OFFICE RANSACKEDUnknown persons broke intoand ransacked the offices of the United Yugoslav Left (JUL) in Belgrade's Zvezdara district on 3 June. The ultra-leftist party, which is headed by Milosevic's wife, Mira Markovic, issued a statement blaming the opposition: "This is the way those who call themselves the democratic opposition are trying to teach democracy lessons to JUL with the help of their shock troops whom they call [the student movement] Otpor (Resistance).... Like their NATO mentors did a year ago, they are waging their dirty little war against our country and our people, targeting those who prove all the time how much they care about this people and this country," Reuters reported. PM [17] SERBIAN REGIME MAKES MORE ARRESTSA court in Pozarevac ruledon 3 June that opposition supporters Momcilo Veljkovic and Radojko Lukovic must remain in detention for another month in a case stemming from a brawl with several bodyguards of Milosevic's son (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 4 May 2000). The judges argued that freeing the men would "upset the public," "Danas" reported. Pozarevac is the hometown of the Milosevic family and known among opposition supporters as the "forbidden city." Meanwhile, police in several towns in various parts of Serbia continued to arrest and detain Otpor and other opposition activists. On 2 June, some 20 Otpor members were detained in Smederevska Palanka alone. In Ivanjica in south-central Serbia, police detained an 11-year- old boy who waved an Otpor flag in public. Police also questioned his father, who is an Otpor supporter. PM [18] ALBRIGHT BACKS DJUKANOVICU.S. Secretary of State MadeleineAlbright told Montenegrin President Milo Djukanovic in Berlin on 3 June that Washington is concerned following the recent slaying of a Djukanovic aide (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 2 June 2000). PM [19] BULATOVIC: DJUKANOVIC ACTING UNDER WESTERN ORDERSYugoslavPrime Minister Momir Bulatovic, who is Milosevic's chief backer in Montenegro and Djukanovic's arch-rival, said in a telephone interview from Belgrade on 3 June that "the Montenegrin authorities are acting under direct instructions of the governments that attacked Yugoslavia" in 1999, Reuters reported. He stressed that NATO's aim is to "destabilize Yugoslavia." In Montenegro, representatives of Milosevic's Socialists arrived from Serbia to make joint campaign appearances with Bulatovic's backers in connection with the upcoming local elections in Podgorica and Herceg Novi, RFE/RL's South Slavic Service reported on 3 June. PM [20] PLAVSIC SETS UP NEW POLITICAL PARTYFormer Republika SrpskaPresident Biljana Plavsic narrowly lost a vote of confidence at a meeting of her Serbian National Alliance (SNS) in Banja Luka on 3 June. Many SNS members blame her for the party's poor showing in the April municipal and local elections. On 4 June, Plavsic said that she and her backers have agreed to form the Serbian National Alliance--Biljana Plavsic. She blamed interference from leading Belgrade politicians, including the Socialists' Nikola Sainovic and the Radicals' Vojislav Seselj, for her defeat, "Oslobodjenje" reported. It is unclear if Dragan Kostic, who is the SNS's new leader, will keep the party in the governing coalition. Elsewhere in Banja Luka, Socialist Party delegates re-elected Zivko Radisic as their chairman on 3 June. PM [21] FIRST MUSLIMS RETURN TO SREBRENICA AREASome 80 Muslimfamilies returned to the village of Suceska near Srebrenica on 3 June, Reuters reported. They are the first sizeable group of Muslims to go back to the area since the massacres of Muslims by Serbian forces in 1995. One elderly Muslim couple has returned to Srebrenica "to die." PM [22] LOW TURNOUT IN ROMANIAN LOCAL ELECTIONSLess than 45 percentof the more than 17 million registered voters cast ballots in the first round of the local elections held on 4 June, according to the latest figures available from the Central Electoral Bureau. Exit polls indicate that in Bucharest, the opposition Party of Social Democracy in Romania's mayoral candidate, Sorin Oprescu, has a large lead (44 percent) over Democratic Convention of Romania and Democratic Party candidates Calin Catalin Chirita and Traian Basescu (17 percent each). A runoff, however, will be needed. The polls also indicate that in Cluj, extreme nationalist Mayor Gheorghe Funar, running on the Greater Romania Party ticket, has secured re-election with more than 50 percent support. Also re-elected is Iasi Mayor Constantin Simirad, leader of the Moldovans' Party, who is reported to have nearly 52 percent support. MS [23] MOLDOVAN PARLIAMENT REPLACES RADIO-TELEVISION LEADERSHIPTheparliament on 2 June voted to dismiss Tudor Olaru as chairman of the Teleradio-Moldova company, Constantin Rotaru as director of national radio, and Arcadie Gherasim as director of state television, RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. The Party of Moldovan Communists accused the three of a "lack of professionalism" and of condoning biased reporting. The move was supported by the opposition For a Democratic and Prosperous Moldova Bloc (PDAM), a member of the opposition Alliance for Democracy and Reforms (ADR) umbrella organization. ADR Chairman Alexandru Mosanu responded that the ADR still exists but might decide to expel the PDAM from its ranks. Communist deputy Iulian Magaleas was appointed new Teleradio-Moldova chairman. The new television director is Anatol Babel, editor-in chief of the PDAM's daily organ, while the new radio director is Vasile Gribincea, until now deputy editor in chief of the station's news department. MS [24] BULGARIA SAYS MEDICS TORTURED IN LIBYAJustice MinisterTeodosii Simeonov told journalists in Sofia on 2 June that the six Bulgarian nationals on trial in Libya for allegedly infecting children in a Benghazi hospital with the HIV virus have been tortured, Reuters reported. He said one of the accused, a nurse, had confessed but later withdrew the confession, saying it was made under duress. Simeonov added that the transcript of the interrogations were written in Arabic and Bulgarian suspects were forced to sign them without understanding their content. He also said that during the investigation "there was pressure to convert to Islam." In response, Libya called on Bulgaria to "avoid controversy" and not to interfere with the justice system. Meanwhile, on 4 June, the trial was postponed for the fourth time. It is to be resumed in September. MS [C] END NOTE[25] LANGUAGE AND ETHNICITY IN KYRGYZSTANBy Nick MegoranTwo recent events in Kyrgyzstan--the adoption of a law making Russian an official language of the republic and the announcement that Bishkek will resettle displaced Afghan Kyrgyz--highlight the continuing tensions between civic and ethnic nationalism that have marked Kyrgyz politics since independence. The language law is clearly a step toward the goal of creating a civic society for all, regardless of ethnicity, which is enshrined in President Askar Akaev's oft-quoted slogan: "Kyrgyzstan is our common home." But the acceptance of the Afghan Kyrgyz suggests that Kyrgyzstan remains primarily the ethnic homeland of the Kyrgyz. This second trend is highlighted by the continuing use of the legendary Kyrgyz warrior-hero "Manas" as a cornerstone of state ideology. The tension between these two approaches has its origins in linguistic imperialism during the Soviet times. Although Kyrgyz is a rich and ancient language, Soviet officials relegated it to second place behind Russian. Knowledge of Russian became the key to social advancement, and Russian education was given more priority in development planning. CPSU General-Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of "glasnost" was seen by many as an opportunity to reverse some of these past injustices and restore a sense of dignity to the Kyrgyz people. It also facilitated the adoption in 1989 of a law making Kyrgyz the state language. The intention was that intellectual and political life in the republic should be slowly switched into Kyrgyz. The celebrations marking the 10th anniversary of the language law in fall 1999 clearly showed, however, that this intention was not fulfilled. In spite of upbeat talk (government newspapers ran headlines such as "Kyrgyz language is becoming an Internet language"), few non-Kyrgyz tried to learn the language. Moreover, many Kyrgyz themselves remained more comfortable with the Russian language in the workplace. One independent newspaper warned that Kyrgyz was becoming "the language of the old and the villagers," and professor of linguistics Sherali Japarov warned that Kyrgyz may soon end up a dead language, just like Latin and Sanskrit. The passage in late May of legislation giving Russian the status of "an official language" was thus recognition of the failure of the 1989 law to achieve its aims and an affirmation of the status quo. Although presented as a measure to stem the outflow of Kyrgyzstan's Slavic population, the move has essentially two political goals: garnering support from the Russian-speaking population in the run-up to the presidential vote this fall, and winning Moscow's support for Bishkek. The Russian language law has indeed won plaudits from Russian speakers, but at the same time it has generated a strong reaction from Kyrgyz nationalists who worry about the fate of their language. This was predictable, and it may well be that President Akaev's intention is to win support from urban Kyrgyz communities and the non-Kyrgyz population as well as to present himself as a liberal, intelligent leader who alone blocks the nationalist hordes. Indeed, the pro-Russian factor may have been important in determining Bishkek's latest actions. Kyrgyzstan's relationship with the West has soured following sharp Western criticism of Kyrgyzstan's March parliamentary elections. As a result, many in Kyrgyzstan view Putin as a potentially more reliable and understanding ally. And perhaps it is no coincidence that also in the same week as the language law passed, the Soviet-era Komsomol youth league was re-launched, and a pressure group campaigning for Kyrgyzstan's entrance into the Russia-Belarus union was founded. But the most important reason for Bishkek's actions may lie in the increasing self-confidence among the Kyrgyz as a nation. Since 1989, the Kyrgyz have achieved dominance in the country, as wealth and political power have shifted into their hands and educational possibilities increased. They feel less threatened by other groups--who have generally accepted their hegemony--and are therefore secure enough to countenance the language law. Such a scenario would be harder to imagine in contemporary Uzbekistan, where state nationalism is very strong, or in Kazakhstan, where Turkic domination over the Slavic population is less firmly established. Many foreign observers saw violent conflicts between Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, and Tajiks in the early 1990s as augurs of even worse conflicts. But Kyrgyzstan has generally avoided the level of ethnic tensions that has existed over its borders in Eastern Turkestan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan over the last decade. This is because it has been able to tread a careful path between asserting the repressed ethnic identity of the Kyrgyz while seeking to develop a state with a strong and inclusive civic identity. Anthropologist Nienke van der Heide has commented on the way Kyrgyzstan's leaders move between these two contradictory doctrines. This approach-- putting Manas in charge of the "common home," so to speak--is surely one that bodes well for the future. The author is a PhD candidate at the Department of Geography, Cambridge University. 05-06-00 Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
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